Are you proud of Britain??

Chimerical · 29 Aug 2009 at 14:24

Countries like France, Italy and Germany seems to beat Britain on a number of things so no.

We could be so much better.

Von Smallhausen · 29 Aug 2009 at 14:30

I am proud to be British but not proud of what Britain has become.

The near collapse of duty, responsibility and massive increase in state reliance has the country in a rut that I can't see it emerging from.

aardvark · 29 Aug 2009 at 14:43

Von Smallhausen said:
I am proud to be British but not proud of what Britain has become.

The near collapse of duty, responsibility and massive increase in state reliance has the country in a rut that I can't see it emerging from.

another post i agree with.
people talk about 'broken britain' but i truly think it really is at the moment and for the foreseeable future i can only see it getting worse.
i am hoping that the new age of austerity, which is undoubtedly coming, will force people to reassess what is really important and that the best qualities of people will come out (as opposed to peoples worst qualities, which seem to dominate at the moment).

rare · 29 Aug 2009 at 14:46

It's more complicated than that. Your countrymen are like an ultra-extended family. You share blood with your countrymen and probably common ancestry thousands of years back. Unless of course, you're a recent immigrant. In which case I see your point.

Otherwise, in a small way, the achievements of your countrymen are like the achievements of very very distant siblings. If you could be proud of your brother or sister or mother or father, you could be proud of your country.

I understand it, I just cant subscribe to it!

I may not be more related to a family living in manchester than I am a family living in France, other than the fact that we share a common language. I just cant find it in me to be proud of a country and its actions on which I had no influence over

I do have the Union Flag hanging in my room and a picture of Churchill on my wall though, as I do admire this country and its achievements, just as I am of any other great figure or nation that has achieved great things. But I do not find myself being proud of them...

Darg · 29 Aug 2009 at 15:03

While not technically being British (my dad is) I would say that I am proud of Britain's history and especially the areas in which Irish were involved. The Peninsula war against Napoleon, the world wars, all had a lot of Irish who went across to the British army to fight. In the case of Wellington's army 1/3rd of them were Irish (he was Irish himself

).

So yes I am proud of Britain and I am proud that Ireland was a part of Britain during her finest moments.

Hellsmk2 · 29 Aug 2009 at 15:07

chiLLZ said:
I am proud that it stood its ground in ww2 when bigger countries stayed on the sidelines for a long time and that it has a NHS and still has a lot of power relative to its size. I was not even born here but my ancestors were from here before they moved away.

theres plenty to not be proud of though

Proud that we recinded on agreements with Poland and left them up the creek without a paddle for two years before actually reacting to the Nazi threat?

Anyhow, to answer the question - I am ridiculously proud of this country in general. It's the most multi-cultural country in the world by a long way, which is a great thing despite what the Daily Hate tells you.

K1LLSW1TCH · 29 Aug 2009 at 15:08

Proud to be Welsh.

What I don't like is that when there's some kind of sporting event, tennis for example, and there's an outstanding English player, they are English. However if it's a Welsh, Northern Irish or Scottish person and they are the outstanding player, they are portrayed as British... Hardly fair I think.

Doctor_Zhivago · 29 Aug 2009 at 15:12

K1LLSW1TCH said:
Proud to be Welsh.

What I don't like is that when there's some kind of sporting event, tennis for example, and there's an outstanding English player, they are English. However if it's a Welsh, Northern Irish or Scottish person and they are the outstanding player, they are portrayed as British... Hardly fair I think.

Way to go of topic. It is are you proud of Britain not if you are proud being British.

EvilDreams · 29 Aug 2009 at 15:29

K1LLSW1TCH said:
Proud to be Welsh.

What I don't like is that when there's some kind of sporting event, tennis for example, and there's an outstanding English player, they are English. However if it's a Welsh, Northern Irish or Scottish person and they are the outstanding player, they are portrayed as British... Hardly fair I think.

Plus if they lose, then they're back to being Scottish, Welsh, or Northern Irish again

DragonWoLf · 29 Aug 2009 at 15:37

Proud yes, I do criticise sometimes but tbh the gov't sucks balls. That's my only gripe.

rypt · 29 Aug 2009 at 16:12

K1LLSW1TCH said:
Proud to be Welsh.

What I don't like is that when there's some kind of sporting event, tennis for example, and there's an outstanding English player, they are English. However if it's a Welsh, Northern Irish or Scottish person and they are the outstanding player, they are portrayed as British... Hardly fair I think.

Thing is though, that sort of view (From both sides) is one of the things that is wrong with Britain. You either have to be a united union, or be 4+ separate countries.
You can't have all this devolution of power malarkey where only Scottish MPs set the rules for Scotland, but ALL MPs set the rules for England.

K1LLSW1TCH · 29 Aug 2009 at 16:15

EvilDreams said:
Plus if they lose, then they're back to being Scottish, Welsh, or Northern Irish again

Exactly. lol!

twist3d0n3 · 29 Aug 2009 at 16:29

can't say i'm proud of the majority of the population, yet i am proud to be british. there is an extreme lack of respect for the fellow man in this country, and family values seem to have left the majority of people. i blame the capitalist regime as people are more concerned with getting rich and powerful (apart from the chav contingent).

Westyfield2 · 29 Aug 2009 at 16:46

I'm proud of being British. I'm proud of our armed forces. I'm proud of our history. I'm proud of our monarchy.

I'm not proud of our government, our benefit/claim culture, our chavs.

I was down at the rugby last night (Bath Rugby) and before the match started amongst the birthdays etc announcements it was announced that in one of the boxes (guest of some company) were 15 injured troops from Afghanistan. The whole ground cheered and applauded, louder and longer than when a try was scored. I felt proud to be British.

Huxon · 29 Aug 2009 at 20:16

Hell no, I might as well be living in Poland.

Anksy · 29 Aug 2009 at 20:24

Westyfield2 said:
I'm proud of being British. I'm proud of our armed forces. I'm proud of our history. I'm proud of our monarchy.

I'm not proud of our government, our benefit/claim culture, our chavs.

Exactly what i think too, inlcluding what i said entertainment and sport wise, which can be put in the category of history, but on the government side i couldnt really care, the only bit i care about is the armed forces, they do not benefit them as much as they should.

i suppose im too young to care though about the government, im in the army and so thats the only bit of the government that ****** me off atm.

weescott · 29 Aug 2009 at 21:13

K1LLSW1TCH said:
Proud to be Welsh.

What I don't like is that when there's some kind of sporting event, tennis for example, and there's an outstanding English player, they are English. However if it's a Welsh, Northern Irish or Scottish person and they are the outstanding player, they are portrayed as British... Hardly fair I think.

Exactly.

Doctor_Zhivago said:
Way to go of topic. It is are you proud of Britain not if you are proud being British.

Sentance sence make please?
Is being proud of Britain and being proud of being British not an inter-related subject? The fact that the OP started off with "England/Britain"; why would any other home nation be proud of England? Or England proud of any other home nation for that matter?

bodybag · 29 Aug 2009 at 21:16

NO, its terrible being British.

Who else in the world would put up with what we have to?

The only nation in europe to pay for car tax, TV license fees and probably the most expensive fuel in europe(petrol/gas/electricity....so on....) stealth taxes...corrupt governement.

Oh and I didnt vote for our troops to goto war did you?, just a few men/women made that decision!

We have no back bone...the government do/take what they want from us and we obey...

Nothing GREAT about great britain..

This country is made of 2 teirs, them that have and them that dont.....and them that dont "lets squeeze them more"....

BigBruiserAl · 29 Aug 2009 at 21:19

bodybag said:
We have no back bone...the government do/take what they want from us and we obey...

Nothing GREAT about great britain..

+1 as a a group of people weak as Pi$$ Sorry

singist · 29 Aug 2009 at 21:29

OK, given the standard of English language used in this thread, I can see that many posters can't even present themselves as being able to communicate in their native tongue let alone have any intelligent input.

Why do people keep slating Brown or 'the government' when they/we put them there? ...... how about coming up with an alternative instead of just the usual ****?

If you don't like what/who is there, change it! ....... stop expecting someone else to do it all for you and take a part in society!