Are you proud to be British?

Nope. I don't get what there is to be proud of... me being born here was literally a coincidence at best.

Maybe that's just because I'm English though... hell, people my age are doing everything to distance themselves from this country these days xD
 
Efour said:
Living abroad in Sweden it amazes me the instant, I'll say respect, for use of a better word, I get from total strangers when they find out my random place of birth and upbringing.

I'm personally not really proud to be British, I'm pretty saddened the way it's going in the next year.

It's freaking disturbing to see random people and random objects printed with union flags plastered all over them as a selling point. It is amazing the cultural influences Britain has, I honestly can't see it lasting in the next 50 years.

Speaking British English is amazing. Truly advantageous.
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Fair enough and you are obviously entitled to your opinion but what AMAZES me in these discussions is just how far people are willing to go to denigrate the UK without putting up a mirror.

Do you truly think that The Swedish have done more for the world? Or are you saying that You are not proud of nationalities in general? There is no wrong answer but it does irritate me that we use the excuse of focusing on the nation in the OP rather than any direct comparison. If we are bad than WHO is good?

I would never be arrogant enough to say we are the best because we are not but when criticizing it is always best compare that factor to another nations.

As I said earlier I feel we have much to be proud of when compared PROPORTIONALLY to most other top tier nations.
 
I don't think you should be 'proud'of being British especially in the historic sense.

As I dont agree with collective, intergenerational guilt it doesn't make much sense to feel pride in a collective and or intergenerational way unless that pride is pride in one's contribution to the nation.

Of course I'm nore then willing to point out the better parts of the UK' past when offering a counterpart to those who beleive I should bare some original sin for being born a white, male British Citizen

On another point I find the language often used when talking about politics and observations of cultural trends to be rather annoying....

There's nothing inherently bad about something being 'regressive' much like there's nothing inherently good about something being 'progressive' it all depends on what one is progressing to or regressing back from.

Not all change is for the better.

In a similar vein talk of inequality being (universally) bad is a nonsense. One could envisage a country were everyone is more or less equally poor with a corresponding low level of inequality. Much like one could envisage a country where the poorest are as poor as those in the former example but the average wealth is far higher causing their to be a high level of inequality compared to the former example. Only a fool would say that country 'A' is a better place to be the country 'B' so it not the inequality in of itself that's a problem.
 
Superficial said:
Fair enough and you are obviously entitled to your opinion but what AMAZES me in these discussions is just how far people are willing to go to denigrate the UK without putting up a mirror.

Do you truly think that The Swedish have done more for the world? Or are you saying that You are not proud of nationalities in general? There is no wrong answer but it does irritate me that we use the excuse of focusing on the nation in the OP rather than any direct comparison. If we are bad than WHO is good?

I would never be arrogant enough to say we are the best because we are not but when criticizing it is always best compare that factor to another nations.

As I said earlier I feel we have much to be proud of when compared PROPORTIONALLY to most other top tier nations.
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Not kissing the arse of Britishness isn't the same thing as denigrating the UK. You seem to be using American spellings for things as well, so you can't be that proud to be British!
 
Superficial said:
Fair enough and you are obviously entitled to your opinion but what AMAZES me in these discussions is just how far people are willing to go to denigrate the UK without putting up a mirror.

Do you truly think that The Swedish have done more for the world? Or are you saying that You are not proud of nationalities in general? There is no wrong answer but it does irritate me that we use the excuse of focusing on the nation in the OP rather than any direct comparison. If we are bad than WHO is good?

I would never be arrogant enough to say we are the best because we are not but when criticizing it is always best compare that factor to another nations.

As I said earlier I feel we have much to be proud of when compared PROPORTIONALLY to most other top tier nations.
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Yes not proud of nationality in general. It means nothing, it will come to mean nothing in the future.
I've worked abroad since 20 now live abroad. So I've been special i know.
I class all Europe equally broadly similar.
 
Yeah, i'm so glad I forced myself out of my mothers womb when she happened to be located in Britain. I could have popped myself out in Sudan, Guatemala, or Uzbekistan but decided Britain was the best place to be born so worked very hard to achieve that.

As for being British, it is decidedly embarrassing at he moment given Brexit and the complete mess the UK will endure for decades to come. Sadly will have to wait some time before I can get a new passport.
 
Efour said:
Yes not proud of nationality in general. It means nothing, it will come to mean nothing in the future.
I've worked abroad since 20 now live abroad. So I've been special i know.
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I'm not trying to pick a fight - just trying to get onlookers to think in a different way.

I see this time and time again - We look at the forum as though we are equals...but we are all of equal weight with respect to our opinions but each have our own persuasions and prejudices that anonymity gives greater license too.

When I look at this forum and see people criticizing I ask myself a simple question: Do they feel particularly connected to Britain...or any country but if not you are more likely to criticize I think or in this case feel less proud.
 
I am very proud of Britain, our heritage and of being British. While I acknowledge much of our history has been questionable I also acknowledge the historic influence we have had with our legal system, education, transport, etc. I am able to see shades of grey rather than just black and white.
 
How is attributing the success of science to individuals and their partners regardless of country of origin taking anything away from the UK. It is giving credit where is credit due. Generalizing their success and crediting it to a single country is prideful and dismisses the achievements of any collaborators or research it was based on. Where would Isaacs Newton's mathematics be without Leibniz or Kepler? Even Newton acknowledge he was just a dwarf on the shoulders of giants and owed much of his work others.

I'll say it again - science is borderless.

Claiming Britain is mainly responsible for advancements in science due to list of nobel prize winners is like saying Germany is responsible for music because of a list of notable composers.
 
I was when I was a child, then as I grew up the concept of patriotism/nationalism based purely on the history of where you happen to be born seemed increasingly stupid. I agree with the idea of being proud of what you achieve and the society you live in (if you agree with how it operates) and console myself that (as another poster observed) we are not yet as bad as the USA. However, Brexit in particular has exposed and encouraged toxic, reactionary and frankly ignorant views that make a mockery of the image of Britain being a modern, liberal, trading nation and champion of equality, tolerance and fair play. Our current government and international image is a sick joke and if they do manage to go ahead with the madness of Brexit I can see the country suffering for decades as a result. We are well past the point where winning an international sporting event will turn this around.
 
Avenged7Fold said:
How is attributing the success of science to individuals and their partners regardless of country of origin taking anything away from the UK. It is giving credit where is credit due. Generalizing their success and crediting it to a single country is prideful and dismisses the achievements of any collaborators or research it was based on. Where would Isaacs Newton's mathematics be without Leibniz or Kepler? Even Newton acknowledge he was just a dwarf on the shoulders of giants and owed much of his work others.

I'll say it again - science is borderless.

Claiming Britain is mainly responsible for advancements in science due to list of nobel prize winners is like saying Germany is responsible for music because of a list of notable composers.
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With all due respect you are again ignoring the consistent performance of British institutions and there really is no way that the British are 'fluking it' for hundreds of years. Once and again I am focusing on the created ENVIRONMENT.

I have acknowledged the input of foreign nationals why can you not acknowledge that that research happens because British people and foreign researchers wish to work in the best possible institutions...many of which have hundreds of years of history in the UK?

Edit: No Science is not "Borderless" that is just a buzzword. Science has Borders because the best science happens within only a small number of nations the USA, UK and Switzerland are prominent members of a very small clique of major scientifically achieved nations that provide an environment the best wish to work in. That is where the pride is in my view.
 
Will you brexit moaners get over yourselves! I voted remain principally as I had no confidence that the UK governent be they Tory or Labour would make a particularly better job of things and acknowledge that leaving the EU would not be a simple or cheap proposition. But the fact to remains that the public never voted to be part of the European Union in the form we currently are.

Being part of the EU is nothing to be particularly proud of much like not being part of it should be a source of guilt / shame etc

A UK out of the EU will just be like most of the rest of the countries in the world
 
Efour said:
It's freaking disturbing to see random people and random objects printed with union flags plastered all over them as a selling point. It is amazing the cultural influences Britain has, I honestly can't see it lasting in the next 50 years.
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I can, the rest of the EU will carry on with closer integration, there will be something 'different' about us still. Once some of them have gotten over their bitterness over Brexit etc.. then I think we'll still see a similar effect.

They're still going to be watching British TV programs, listening to British music etc..
 
Caracus2k said:
Will you brexit moaners get over yourselves! I voted remain principally as I had no confidence that the UK governent be they Tory or Labour would make a particularly better job of things and acknowledge that leaving the EU would not be a simple or cheap proposition. But the fact to remains that the public never voted to be part of the European Union in the form we currently are.

Being part of the EU is nothing to be particularly proud of much like not being part of it should be a source of guilt / shame etc

A UK out of the EU will just be like most of the rest of the countries in the world
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well said - that issue should be kept out of here.
 
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