Proud to be British

[JoetheRam]

Someone once said the difference between a patriot and a nationalist is thus: a patriot loves his country, a nationalist hates every country but his own.

I'm inclined to agree.

[BaaLocks]

2 hours ago, King Kevin said:

That post suits your username perfectly.

In what way? Go on, I'm interested.

[StringerBell]

11 hours ago, eddie said:

Half of the people on here proclaiming their pride at being British have made enough disparaging posts about the Welsh and Scots in the past.

So?

[bigbadbob]

9 hours ago, eddie said:

Are you serious?

You see that little search box at the top? Just type in 'Welsh' and read some of the comments yourself.

Did the search thing, read the comments, don't know what you're on about.

[Anon]

5 hours ago, McRamFan said:

He was not making a point, he made a sweeping generalisation.

It was across so many channels and platforms because the demand was there, you get that point?

Fair enough, I'm absolutely certain you're correct and ramit genuinely meant that the royal wedding was shown on every television that channel that exists.

Of course I get the point. The world is filled with sad acts who have nothing better to do with their weekends.

[Gaspode]

13 hours ago, Highgate said:

You are right nationalism can go horribly wrong very quickly.  And nationality is nothing more than an accident of birth usually!.  But on the other hand i understand the feeling of affection and belonging to a homeland, as long as that doesn't include some sort of notion that that country or its citizens are somehow better than others.

When nationalism gets tied to ideas of ethnic identity then it's usually at its most poisonous. 

The problem in the UK is that the Welsh and the Scots have such an in-built inferiority complex that it's hard not to feel superior if you're English....

[Stive Pesley]

41 minutes ago, Gaspode said:

The problem in the UK is that the Welsh and the Scots have such an in-built inferiority complex that it's hard not to feel superior if you're English....

chicken and egg perhaps?

I suspect we will grow out of patriotism as the world becomes more globalised. My generation were brought up by children whose parents fought in the war. Most of them didn't even leave the country on holiday until the event of cheap air travel in the 80s

My parents were clearly quite patriotic - despite the fact it was qite a few years before I was born, i still knew the England 66 world cup squad by heart and everything about it. I even cheered when Forest won their European Cups because I was told "we have to support the English team" in any sporting event (I deeply regret this)

But these days I couldn't care less about patriotism, it feels a very out-dated notion. Quite silly when you think about it and try to boil down to why you feel that way. It literally makes no sense

 

[Gaspode]

9 minutes ago, StivePesley said:

chicken and egg perhaps?

I suspect we will grow out of patriotism as the world becomes more globalised. My generation were brought up by children whose parents fought in the war. Most of them didn't even leave the country on holiday until the event of cheap air travel in the 80s

My parents were clearly quite patriotic - despite the fact it was qite a few years before I was born, i still knew the England 66 world cup squad by heart and everything about it. I even cheered when Forest won their European Cups because I was told "we have to support the English team" in any sporting event (I deeply regret this)

But these days I couldn't care less about patriotism, it feels a very out-dated notion. Quite silly when you think about it and try to boil down to why you feel that way. It literally makes no sense

 

It was a JOKE ?

[McRainy]

2 hours ago, StivePesley said:

My generation were brought up by children

You think you had it tough.

My generation was brought up by cats and dogs. 

[JoetheRam]

7 hours ago, Lambchop said:

You think you had it tough.

My generation was brought up by cats and dogs. 

Cats and dogs? Luxury!

[GboroRam]

1 hour ago, JoetheRam said:

Cats and dogs? Luxury!

I was brought up by bacteria. Remember bifidus digestivum?

[StaffsRam]

10 minutes ago, GboroRam said:

I was brought up by bacteria. Remember bifidus digestivum?

Was he that Latvian fella that Clough bought?

[SSD]

It’s nice to feel some passion about the country you live in. I think of the Royal Family like a business. They bring in A LOT of tourists and of course the money that comes with it. I asked whilst I was travelling to folks, what would be one of the first sights you see when you visit England. The vast majority said Buckingham Palace..... 

People complaining about the palace needing massive upgrades, to bring it to modern environmentally standards. The same people who moan saying we don’t invest in making older properties greener. And cost wise, the majority of the money to pay the bill is from the Royal Family, who’s tourism money is being used to good effect. 

They could quite happily sit on their arses, contributing nothing to society but they support thousands of charities, serve in the military and some compete for their country at the Olympics. There are far worse privileged families out there in this country, who’s houses we ACTUALLY pay for out of taxes.

So give them some slack. They make me feel patriotic and give me hope about a country who’s identity is slowly withering. 

[GboroRam]

10 minutes ago, SouthStandDan said:

I asked whilst I was travelling to folks, what would be one of the first sights you see when you visit England. The vast majority said Buckingham Palace..... 

If we did away with the monarchy we wouldn't need to bulldoze every palace. People would still be able to come and look at them.

[Stive Pesley]

1 hour ago, GboroRam said:

If we did away with the monarchy we wouldn't need to bulldoze every palace. People would still be able to come and look at them.

Funny how people assume if you're against the hereditary constitutional monarchy then that means you want to flatten all the palaces and line the royal family up against the wall. IT'S NOT THE TOURISM BIT OR THEIR RIGHT TO EXIST THAT WE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH

Anyway - the UK and the royal family are like the US and guns. Everyone knows it's senselessly unjustifiable but we'll never get rid of them

 

[GboroRam]

41 minutes ago, StivePesley said:

Funny how people assume if you're against the hereditary constitutional monarchy then that means you want to flatten all the palaces and line the royal family up against the wall. IT'S NOT THE TOURISM BIT OR THEIR RIGHT TO EXIST THAT WE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH

Anyway - the UK and the royal family are like the US and guns. Everyone knows it's senselessly unjustifiable but we'll never get rid of them

 

So you're not in favour of cigarette and blindfold style republicanism?

[eddie]

1 hour ago, GboroRam said:

So you're not in favour of cigarette and blindfold style republicanism?

Trump said this morning that if you don't stand up for the US national anthem, then you probably should not be in the country.

Quote

"You have to stand proudly for the national anthem, or you shouldn't be playing. You shouldn't be there. Maybe you shouldn't be in the country.You have to stand proudly for the national anthem. And the NFL owners did the right thing if that's what they've done."

 

[Parsnip]

 

[ViewsFromTheMiddle]

 

[ramit]

4 hours ago, Parsnip said:

 

i think i have just gone mad.  No strike that, i am sure of it, but that's okay, because i am not the best squirrel in the hole