England represents very different things to different people.
Many see her as 'El Dorado' where everything is free. Housing, money, health care, education, etc; all are handed to them on a plate, and they are prepared to take great risks to come here to get at it. As a result they mostly hate us.
Others see her as a place of opportunity. A place where if one works hard one is well rewarded.
Personally I see England as a place where freedom and liberalism are cherished, in a country of beautiful villages, country Pubs, and well-managed farming. My mental image of England is rural, even though I live at the very centre of a busy south coast city. 'Jerusalem' is the constant soundtrack accompanying my bucolic vision, and I travel around thanks to a Land Rover Series 3. Yes; I live in a dream-world.
Some sadly see our country as a battle ground where the past is despised and the future is uncertain. They have real difficulty with those who made our country great, and are unable to forgive whatever faults they may have possessed. They hate certain ethnic groups, and love no-one. They are a strange phenomenon of 21st Century Woke youth culture.
Luckily England is still a country of great innovation. We led the Industrial Revolution, and are at present amongst the world leaders in AI. We also took civilisation to much of the world, along with France, Spain, and Holland; even though the Wokies detest all we achieved. We used to be a great manufacturing country but, alas, the Trades Unions put a halt to much of that. Sadly we no longer have the great Ship Builders and we no longer have any Coal to fire our metal-bashing industries. The Unions who were there to protect workers rights, actually ended-up causing their unemployment.
It is interesting to note here that the Trade's Unions in Russia are there to provide health and education facilities, as well as holiday destinations for their members. If they went on strike they'd probably all end-up in a gulag! Why on earth can't our Communist unions be more like their Russian cousins?
But, regardless of the enemies within, we are still a world leader on many fronts. Our financial institutions are still very powerful, we are world leaders in medical advancement, and we are still great innovators. Let's just hope that things aren't made too difficult for them. Many wealth makers are quitting England for more fiscally friendly climes, but they'll be back again when there's a new government in place.
It might sound old-fashioned, but I still feel privileged to have been born English. It remains one of the greatest freedom-loving countries in the world. We are peace-loving, tolerant, and mostly friendly.
We are also known as being a tea-drinking and dog-loving country, and I think that says as much about us as anything.
I am proud to be English and still glad to in this beautiful, fascinating country. And I am proud of our trade union traditions and the determination of workers to secure better conditions and rewards for themselves, their families and their communities. It was in fact these working men and women who put the "great" in Great Britain. My step-grandfather was a ship builder on the banks of the Tyne and my blood family on my mother's side were all in coal mining. My father's family were agricultural labourers. These people knew hard work and poverty but they were the real backbone of this country - not the toffs of "Downton Abbey" and Eton School.
ReplyDeleteWith Shipbuilders and Miners in your family, you well know what disasters befell them in the name of their Unions. Scargill, Red Robbo, and their ilk, were responsible for real crimes against the working man. And all for political reasons (as you well know).
Deletep.s. All those Etonians and other TOFFS, were huge employers. Who do you think built all the shipyards, factories, and even the mines? You mustn't follow the lefty line of being anti enterprise and wealth creation. It's what made Britain 'Great'.
DeleteI have never understood people being proud of their birth nationality. To me it is akin to being proud of your eye colour or shoe size. I can understand someone being pleased they are a certain nationality but proud?
ReplyDeleteI am a dual nationality and perhaps I can be proud to have that second nationality as it was something I had to work for, ie it was just through birth.
Not many people are proud of their countries these days; they probably have very little to be proud about. The French are notoriously proud of their country but they're in a minority. England has done so much good for the world, and still does, that I think I have the right to be proud; not that I have contributed much myself. Neither my shoe size or my eye colour can claim the same.
Delete'...took civilisation to the rest of the world'??? You mean invading the countries, stealing the riches, enslaving the natives and drowning the indigenous ways and beliefs with Christianity? I may like the happy accident of being born in the same land as Shakespeare, but I'm not proud of a lot of its history (conveniently ignored in the school curriculum). And I'm not 'Woke'.
ReplyDeleteIf you take a look at most of our old colonies they all have roads, railways, industries, infrastructure, as well as jobs. They faced resistance, but that was only to be expected.
DeletePlaces that were not colonized have these things as well Cro.
DeleteI can't think of anywhere!
DeleteJapan, Thailand, China and Turkey are four to get you started.
DeleteI could explain, but I can't be bothered.
DeleteYou are a loyal and faithful Brit. I'm impressed.
ReplyDeleteThat said, the world is in a reset and change is coming.
It's a very different world to that of my childhood. We were taught to respect those who had fashioned our country. These days even Churchill comes under fire from the Wokies. They'll be having a go at The Queen before long.
DeleteYour idyllic description of England, villages and countryside, is my memory of it. I haven't been there for about 40 years and I know it has changed. I'll keep the old image
ReplyDeleteMe too. It used to be idealistic. Sadly much of that is being destroyed by 'new thinking'.
DeleteI like tea and love dogs.
ReplyDeleteI probably like dogs more than I do many humans; I'm very keen on tea too.
DeleteThe purity that won the war cro…..you old trouper
ReplyDeleteSpirit
ReplyDeleteThere is a certain amount of 'tongue in cheek' about the above, but generally I think the UK is a pretty good place.
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