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What makes you proud to be British?

189 replies

AnythingButMagnolia · 18/09/2018 12:21

A friend and I were talking about coming home from holiday and appreciating the UK 'anew' after being in other cultures. One thing she said was "we are so *tolerant". It gave me a warm fuzzy glow. I think that's really something to be proud of.
*
i recognise some posters may disagree but I am thinking in broad terms and historically etc etc...
Don't mean to start a 'heavy' thread, just a place to share other warm fuzzy things. Brew

OP posts:
Methe · 18/09/2018 15:51

The way everyone gets out of the way when an ambulance comes with blues and twos on.

Our beautiful arcitechture

Our history

Tea!

Sohardtochooseausername · 18/09/2018 15:51

(Joke.) but as a ‘nation’ we are a total embarrassment at the moment. I’m glad I’m in Scotland.

GallicosCats · 18/09/2018 15:54

Surely every empire from Alexander the Great onwards has gained power through warfare, slavery and invasion? We weren't alone in that. And our empire didn't last even half as long as the Roman empire, so to describe it as 'the greatest' is a tad jingoistic. Historically, though, it is an achievement and I think we should acknowledge it as such, even if we detest the means used to gain it (which in terms of world domination are pretty standard).

Anyway, I like the glorious chaotic richness of the English language and the sheer range of culture it opens up. I like the way the weather is 'extreme' here when the temperature is 30 degrees plus, when we get a bit of snow in the winter, when the wind blows a couple of trees down or when it rains a bit harder and more frequently than usual. Grin I like it that we have big black scary hairy spiders that are completely harmless to humans. I like having the kind of climate that enables DH to grow a massive range of veg on the allotment. And I enjoy the Last Night of the Proms which is full of bonkers people in the audience.

Pride in being British? Nah. We should stop putting ourselves down and saying we're the worst when we're patently not, but pride is for peacocks and LGBT marches. I like being British; that's enough.

DemocracyDiesInDarkness · 18/09/2018 15:57

God, that obtuse argument. Because our families are here, our careers, our children's grandparents. I don't like what we are right now, but I'd like to be part of seeing it improve.

Or do you just hop from country to country every time you have a negative feeling about it? Like it's just a free and easy thing to do.

Mistigri · 18/09/2018 15:57

I'm not proud to be British.

My kids have dual nationality but never admit to being British any more ... seen through the eyes of a European teen, Cool Britannia was taken terminally ill in 2016.

Member · 18/09/2018 16:01

Being able to drink water from a tap & knowing that even if-you’re not keen on the taste, you can quench your thirst without risk of stomach upset or worse

PassMeTheHaribosAmego · 18/09/2018 16:09

Our sense of fairness
Queuing properly
Saying please & thank you a dozen times when making a purchase
Apologising when someone has knocked into you
Smiling at dogs

BitOutOfPractice · 18/09/2018 16:10

Oh yes, parks. And indeed. ParkRun

Our prowess in so many sports (lots of which we invented / codified)

WhatsGoingOnEh · 18/09/2018 16:14

It hasn't been "cool" to be proud of being British for years, well before Brexit. Remember how shocked we all were when our Olympics was, actually, brilliant?

I don't walk around feeling proud of being British but there's nowhere in the world I'd rather live.

Our humour, stoicism, culture, history, Royal Family, architecture, innovation, education, and overall sense of right and wrong are world class.

RickOShay · 18/09/2018 16:19

It took me years and years to stop feeling guilty and somehow responsible for the atrocities of the British Empire.
I am truly sorry.
I think Hawkins’ descendant apologised for his ancestors actions.

Kismett · 18/09/2018 16:19

I'm not British; I moved here and have struggled with it a bit so it's been interesting to read this thread. I wonder if as the years pass I will come to feel differently. I think that moving here right after the referendum vote has coloured my view of the country.

WhatsGoingOnEh · 18/09/2018 16:21

I am truly sorry.

That's a bit OTT. Nobody can possibly be responsible for things that happened before they were born.

Goingonandonandon · 18/09/2018 16:23

I did wonder how long it would take for some smarty pants to say Well if you’re not happy then just go. 4 pages, has be a record on Mumsnet.

One can criticise a country and still want to stay, just like one can take the piss out their husband and not divorce them. I hate my kids sometimes, would I abandon them? I generally try to work and make things better, not just abandon ship when thing are not right. We are perfectly entitled not to be 100% happy about this country and see what is wrong with it, without having some eedjit telling us to fuck off.

RickOShay · 18/09/2018 16:23

Well exactly. What can we do?
I am truly sorry as it happens.

Harleypuppy · 18/09/2018 16:28

The right to have health care. I'm proud to live in a culture where everyone pays for everyone to have health care. I can't believe that in a country as rich as America, some people have no entitlement to healthcare.

IWannaSeeHowItEnds · 18/09/2018 16:29

Rick, why would you feel guilty and responsible for events that occurred long before you were born and that you had no hand in? People should live the best lives they can now and that's as far as your responsibility goes.
I don't think it's wise to judge events that took place hundreds of years ago by today's morality, anyway. People and society were different then. I certainly wouldn't be apologising for an ancestor's behaviour - that's odd.

Harleypuppy · 18/09/2018 16:30

I've seen people have written what they're not proud of. The racism and Brexit. Our government has made us look like a bunch of twats.

CiderBrains · 18/09/2018 16:33

Going there's a big difference in not liking certain things about the country you are living in to being absolutely ashamed and embarrassed by it and not want to be associated with it by those living outside it.

Just like being able to take the piss out of your husband is very different to being ashamed and embarrassed by him. If I was that ashamed and embarrassed by my husband and didn't want to be associated with him outside the house then no, he wouldn't be my husband anymore.

People emigrate all the time. If I was that ashamed and embarrassed I would seriously be thinking about moving!

There are things I hate about this country but I'm not embarrassed to be English!

0urKid · 18/09/2018 16:37

Cheese
Pork pies
Walkers crisps
Lucozade
Sunday roasts
Full English
Pot of tea
Jammy Dodgers
M&S lasagne
Pot noodle (Bombay bad boy)
Mr Freeze ice pops (except cola flavour)
Twirls
Greggs
Wetherspoons

Really couldn't find anything not food related.

RickOShay · 18/09/2018 16:38

I lived abroad and took quite a lot of flack for being white English. I used to feel guilty about the empire, I do t now, but yes I am sorry for the suffering it caused.
I think John Hawkins desecendant had himself chained and was then symbolically released, and forgiven.

RickOShay · 18/09/2018 16:39

I think you can feel sorry without feeling responsible.

WhatsGoingOnEh · 18/09/2018 16:43

I think John Hawkins desecendant had himself chained and was then symbolically released, and forgiven.

A bit attention-seeking for a Brit. 😉

Scatteredthoughtss · 18/09/2018 16:46

Not a great deal right now.
A load of twats who are rubbish at geography and can't be bothered to articulate that the UK will remain part of Europe are kind of skewing my vision of things at the moment. Lots of them around.
Then I look at America and Trump, and think, hey, it's not SO bad.

CiderBrains · 18/09/2018 16:46

Things I love are;

Our sense of humour.

The way everyone can be ignoring each other in the street until a tragedy happens then everyone instantly pulls together to help.

Our classic TV comedies.

The greenery.

Our naff traditions.

The way we've half said "no" to going metric like Europe but not quite. Grin

The fact that we aren't like Europe, we are British and just don't work the same way as them (they think a lot of our ways are very odd/downright bonkers.)

Fish and Chips.

British music.

Cake sales.

WesternMeadowlark · 18/09/2018 16:48

It's a hard question to answer for me as we don't have much that's uniquely British.

But I like our art, in all its forms, and all our different kinds of scenery. And what welfare state and healthcare provision we have left at this point.

I think culturally we do have some very fine principles, it's just that most people are terrible at accurately translating intention into action. And at accepting resposibility, learning, and doing better in future, when they fail to do so. And while intention isn't entirely irrelevant or worthless, action is the far more important thing.

So I'm glad we have these ideas about fairness and justice and tolerance, because it's better than not valuing things like that at all, even in theory. But I am thoroughly disappointed in the general lack of interest in actually putting them into practice.

I think our understanding of ethics - including of the relative importance of action vs intent - is improving, albeit all too slowly. But that's a global thing, driven strongly by the knowledge, research abilities, and contact with people outside our immediate sphere, that the internet has brought us.

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