How to actually preserve British culture and values?

[constantcycle]

Seeing all of the flag-flying and marches in the name of "preserving British culture" and "promoting British values," I was wondering if anyone has any advice on how to actually do these things rather than stoking division and hatred?

I already support museums, visit the National Trust sites and national parks whenever I can, and buy from local businesses as much as possible. I love listening to British music and attending events with local artists. I do my best to buy local produce, and I love a good farm shop when I can afford them! I also take lessons in my local language, one of the several dying British languages people are doing their best to conserve. I'm thinking maybe I should find some volunteering opportunities too.

Is there anything more I could be doing, or that others may not have considered? I'd love to see this sudden surge in patriotism used for the good of British society and all of the diverse communities within it!

I don't think the people supporting the marches/flags have got a clue about what British culture actually is. The white British supremacy rubbish isn't something I recognise from my own daily life, it feels like another US import that's morphed into something else on dry land here.

Taking the piss out of idiots holds a very important place in British culture. I think we could all do that.

Also do not allow community centres to be taken over by Muslims as a Mosque, meaning councils will not rent out community hall to Scout groups, children's birthday parties, tea dances, Bingo or anything else the local community might like. At the same time bussing in Muslim asylum seekers from miles away to attend community centre (make shift Mosque) every day. Local people are furious they can never rent local community centre from Labour councillors who will only rent it to this Muslim group.

And not even renting it out at a commercial rent, a peppercorn rent is being charged only, meaning not good value for tax payers.

Culture isn’t something to be preserved, it’s something that constantly changes and developed. We don’t listen to Cliff Richard records any more… if you want to support British culture support the people who are making it - go to the theatre, the gallery, the cinema, read books, make things, get out into your community, whatever that looks like.

Your last point is incredibly weird and insular.

The best thing you can do as British people to combat the narrative of the flags and hate speech is to publicly represent the values of fairness, tolerance and a concern for justice.

Do you feel unsettled when people speak Welsh?

Yeah, those Muslims. The ones that cancel Christmas every year, and force local councils to celebrate Winterval. 🙄

So your local community centre is a mosque rented out on the cheap and going by your timetable it can't be had for anything else.
Methinks you're telling the truth somehow.

In fairness, it does appear to be a thing for some monoglots, who always suspect that anyone speaking another language around them is (1) saying nasty things about them and (2) doing it to be deliberately unsettling.

It really isn’t this. This is leftist nonsense.

Part of the whole problem.

Preserving the hard fought freedoms of women would be at the top of my list. Personally I do believe women's rights to be at risk from religious beliefs (muslim, catholic, fundamental Christian), the incel culture, Andrew Tate and a smallish but vocal trans sector. So I would like to see a British Suffragettes annual event. I would also like to see politeness and respect reinstated and celebrated, particularly during political debates. I would greatly enjoy more Morris Dancing and May Day events, showcasing traditional crafts. I would like to celebrate other festivals or special occasions too. Bonfire night and treacle toffee should supercede Halloween!

Yeah agreed on Cliff .. I'll stick to Northern soul.Now here's an odd thing Northern soul on the whole was a very British culture.Its mostly obscure American label soul record's and the dancing has been put all around the world..A great British export via America.

Every day we see British culture around us. I love passing the students in their uniforms queuing for the bus, chatting with their friends. I live next to 100 acres of National Trust land where local farmers graze their cattle and people play golf. When I get to work the first topic is usually about the weather, before I put the kettle on. Pruning all the roses in the garden, moaning about the state of the lawn, having a sneaky G&T before bed, moaning about all the pot holes, feeling indulgent because you popped into M&S for a few food bits, going to the local country Fayre and loving seeing the produce competition, having a bitty drawer in the kitchen, being a member of the National Trust and visiting Stately homes everywhere you go, The Last Night of The Proms, hiding behind the sofa when there is a penalty shoot out, volunteering at the local litter pick up, queuing in the rain, windbreakers on the beach, cut flowers in the hallway, Friday fish and chips, bunting, afternoon teas with lashings of cream, - I could go on and on. We all share many traditions, usually passed on in families and generations.

I find it weird when people act confused about what British culture is, as if there’s no such thing. I suppose it might seem like that if you’ve always lived here and it’s the soup you swim in, but it’s a very insular perspective.

For me, English culture is easier to define because obviously the other home nations have very distinctive cultures, although obviously each one is heavily influenced by the others. Things that are important to me are the history, music, traditions, foods and stories of my family and local area. I live in a rural area where these are very much still practiced. As well as the broader British values of being tolerant, outward-looking and inventiv

To be honest I think a lot of these protesters have lost touch with the sort of English culture I and my family still have. Maybe because they have moved around or live in big, diverse anonymous towns or have just replaced their traditions with being online and maybe football. They are probably yearning for something but don’t quite know how to get it back.

I think your list is really good OP, I would add some other events which I always think showcase the best of British culture like Wimbledon, the polo, racing (if you are into that), goodwood, Henley regatta and your local country shows. And also going out for afternoon tea or a picnic!

Shopping local is the one I struggle with most and really need to get better at!

Listen to The Archers. I'm sure all the marchers today are avid Archers fans.

Look after our beautiful countryside, celebrate the seasons (we've been blackberry picking today). Resurrect a traditional Sunday lunch. Watch a village cricket match. Learn Gaelic or Welsh.

A lot of people do; it's the whole "they were all talking English until I walked into the pub" thing. A lot of discomfort at the idea of not being allowed to understand everyone's conversations 🙄

It depends how you define British culture. It also depends what you value. Personally, though I’m a conservative and a patriot, I don’t want to conserve everything. I detest the royal family and fox hunting and The Sun newspaper, for example.

To me, British culture is, above all, British literature. If you want to preserve our culture read our literature. Read Dickens and Jane Austen and George Eliot and the Brontes and Virginia Woolf and P. G. Wodehouse. Read the poetry of Wordsworth and Blake and Byron and Shelley and Keats and Tennyson and Ted Hughes and Philip Larkin. Read Chaucer and Shakespeare. Read Boswell’s biography of Dr Johnson. Read about British scientists like Darwin and Newton and Hawking. And teach all that to your children. British history is bound up with its literature. To me, WW1, for example, is the poetry of Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon.

Until very recently, most of our writers saw themselves as part of a single, continuous literature. Shakespeare read Chaucer. Milton knew his Shakespeare. Blake knew his Milton. And Wordsworth knew his Blake. Even poets like Ted Hughes and Philip Larkin were patriots (not stupid nationalists, let me stress, just mildly patriotic). They thought of themselves as British writers who were part of a British tradition stretching back to Chaucer. Every other country is proud of its literature so I don’t see why we shouldn’t be, especially when we have produced one of the greatest bodies of literature in the world.

I think speaking English when out and about is important. It's something that makes people feel that there's a community. If you don't live in an area where many languages are spoken then you just won't get how weird it is and it can be unsettling.

I was in London a couple of weeks ago and loved hearing different languages being spoken. We contributed to it too, by speaking our first language (Welsh). If that unsettles people, I think they need to stop and examine why.

I 100% agree with this and find it sad that this continuous tradition going all the way back to the Anglo-Saxons is not more celebrated. It's incredible.

Excellent, Dappy777. And Betjeman and Alan Bennett. Siegfried Sassoon has the best description of a village cricket match I've ever read. The Compleat Angler, Gilbert White's Selbourne.

Define British culture?
It’s really hard.

Probably the best thing about it - the depth and diversity.

I think its the same as defining any other culture.

If you think of another country you would think if thier history, language, folklore, literature, art, clothing, music, architecture, food, the way the celebrate, sports they enjoy, the religious beliefs, thier education system, their form of government.

It might not be that every single person in that country does all those things all the time, but they would recognise them. They might not be exclusive to that country either but thats ok. Its still part of thier culture.