Are you proud to be British?

MookJong said:
I am very proud that we have such a long democratic history. It is this free society which has enabled so many fantastic Brutish minds to flourish in the sciences and arts.
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Just quoting for posterity as it made me laugh.
 
Caracus2k said:
The majority of people moving to the UK from places like Jamaica, India and Africa has been since they have been independent so not at all the same.
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Just to be clear - you believe that people who came to Britain from, say, Pakistan pre-1947 were not immigrants?

By your logic native Americans in the USA are 'immigrants' if they say decide to move from somewhere like Nevada or Utah (where most remaining tribes reside) and move to somewhere like New York.
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The USA is a nation, not an empire. Puerto Rico is a better example if you want to talk about the US. People from Puerto Rico are definitely considered immigrants by most Americans.
 
Tunney said:
Just to be clear - you believe that people who came to Britain from, say, Pakistan pre-1947 were not immigrants?

The USA is a nation, not an empire.
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Re the USA the distinction between nation and empire is not relevant. The (West) Roman territory was actually a Republic for most of its history like the USA.

And yes I would consider it a different case if someone came to the British Isles before their country was independent.

Although I do think there is a distinction between overseas colonies and a continuous area of land to a nation state conquered and incorporated in to the country.
 
Caracus2k said:
Re the USA the distinction between nation and empire is not relevant. The (West) Roman territory was actually a Republic for most of its history like the USA.
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It’s totally relevant. Native Americans who live in the US are full America citizens with the right to vote in presidential elections. People from Puerto Rico or US Virgin Islands are not.

The Roman Republic also made a distinction between Roman citizens and those from the empire. Non-Romans certainly didn’t have the right to vote, for example. Non-Romans were seen as immigrants and the law treated them as such.
 
RoboCod said:
I'm lucky to be born British. I could have been born in a back end hell hole where I'm fearing for my life throughout it.

Instead I'm surrounded by ejits who complain that they can't afford the latest iPhone. People who suffer heart problems because they've spent a life gorging on Big Macs. People who think a hard life decision is Sky Q or Sky+ :)

Still proud though. The Brits are brilliant.
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This wasn't always the case :). I agree though, very lucky to be born into a safe and comfy life, many millions around the world have it much worse. I'm thankful for the people that fought so hard to protect our values and way of life that affords us the opportunities we have now.
 
Tunney said:
It’s totally relevant. Native Americans who live in the US are full America citizens with the right to vote in presidential elections. People from Puerto Rico or US Virgin Islands are not.

The Roman Republic also made a distinction between Roman citizens and those from the empire. Non-Romans certainly didn’t have the right to vote, for example. Non-Romans were seen as immigrants and the law treated them as such.
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Still a very different scenario to large groups of people coming in frequent successive waves into the empire from completely different cultures like the roman empire saw with the germanic tribes regardless of the position of the various people previously inside the roman empire. Like I indicated it's completely different for someone to have come to the UK when their country was part of the empire then after. That's one of the main points of becoming independant.
 
I thought nationism was frowned upon these days, I mean Germany removed the "deutschland über alles"

Personally, I'm neither proud nor anything else over an accident of birth. and I don't see why anyone should be.
 
Skunkworks said:
I have a natural affinity for my nation and people. It’s not perfect, but clearly one of the most advanced and accomplished.
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Yeah that pretty much sums me up too. It goes back to our basic tribal instinct unless you've had that affinity beaten out of you through the educational system. It's perfectly natural to be suspicious of the unfamiliar but it needs to be balanced out with the reality these days. :p

Saying that I've got a bit of dirty foreigner polluting my DNA anyhow (Peruvian) thanks to my nan. :D There's some really interesting English history in my family though.
 
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jmc007 said:
I always knew OcUK was full of foreigners, first generation born Brits. So obvious with the comments, a true Brit knows His land; the land of our fore Fathers. Do you even know England means the land of Gods new covenant, you would be surprised to find out how many of us still remember.
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Lol
 
jmc007 said:
I always knew OcUK was full of foreigners, first generation born Brits. So obvious with the comments, a true Brit knows His land; the land of our fore Fathers. Do you even know England means the land of Gods new covenant, you would be surprised to find out how many of us still remember.
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First generation born Brits are not foreigners, although they might choose to act that way - taking the nationality, culture and customs of their parents (that's a problem in some cases for sure, where you have British-born people who reject western values). Anyway, I doubt many of us have to go back too far in our ancestry to find dirty foreigners :p

For example, I'm the grandson of a dirty foreigner, and the great-grandson of another dirty foreigner :p

There is a problem with some first-gen Brits but I would very much doubt they represent the majority of first-gen Brits.
 
I am happy that I live in England, sometimes glad that I can loosely claim English nationality, quietly, but occasionally loudly proud of my French heritage, but after visiting Benidorm, Spain, (practically under duress), and once accidentally spending a night in Albufeira, Portugal, I imagine that those who say that they’re proud to be British, may have their pride dented a little if they go there.
In the final analysis though, I think that Brits have a great deal to be proud of.
 
Maybe at one time, but not really any more. Our sense of national pride (using that word in the correct context not hijacked by the LGBT mob) has gone down the pan. Could you honestly see the population of the UK today standing shoulder to shoulder ready to see off a foreign military invasion in the way that people stood ready in WWII? Probably not. The country is overrun with political correctness and do-goodery where a person who passes what is deemed as adverse comment about a bloke who prefers to dress as a woman is more likely to get prosecuted than the burglar who ransacks your house. We have a Government who are more concerned with their own posteriors than sorting out the various messes they have created - the biggest one being Brexit, the author of which (Cameron) ran away screaming like a little girl when the vote didn't go his way.

This song by Pendragon (link to lyrics http://lyrics.wikia.com/wiki/Pendragon:This_Green_And_Pleasant_Land ) kind of sums up how I feel, at times.
 
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