So, St. George’s Day is upon us once more; a chance for people to do a bit of flag waving, sing Jerusalem and say, ‘England isn’t such a bad place to live, really.’ All pretty mundane, run-of-the-mill type stuff that English people are perfectly entitled to do: the Scottish celebrate St. Andrew’s Day, the Irish celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and the Americans celebrate Independence Day.
I have always felt slightly uncomfortable with expressing patriotism myself, for a number of reasons. When one talks about any belief there is always a stereotype to go with it; patriotism is no different. With English patriotism, we get the obnoxious, bigoted, couldn’t-make-it-up-PC-gone-mad idiot calling for the repatriation of whatever minority’s pissed him off and how we’re ‘strangers in our own country.’ Unfortunately, since the late 60s at least it seems to be what a lot of people associate in their minds when they hear the word ‘patriotism.’; they are patriotism’s most vocal proponents. The NF and the BNP have done us no favours in this regard.
Tied in with this is what patriotism itself entails. This concept is completely elastic and subjective – ask 3 different people what they think ‘patriotic’ mean and you’ll get 5 different answers. But in my mind at least is that is has often been tied to militarism and brutality. In the countless wars humanity has instigated, how many men and women have fought and died for ‘their country’? How many have been made homeless, destitute, widowed or orphaned but for those who did battle ‘For God, King and Country’? Like it or not, patriotism has always been a very useful tool for those in positions power to gain more power and wealth – consequently, the slaughter of the human race counts for very little. We’ve got to protect our 'interests' from Johnny Foreigner, damn it! He lives on a different patch of land, that makes him EVIL and us GOOD! Stop me if you think you’ve heard this one before...
I’m not suggesting that patriotism automatically leads to the concentration camp; there is nothing wrong with having pride in the place you come from, where you grew up , or even cheering your national football team (chronic though they may be). However, the minute you start excluding people as not being ‘good enough’, the minute you adopt an ‘us and them’ mentality with someone whose only crime was to be born in a foreign field, the minute you take this playground ‘my-country-can-beat-up-your-country’ nonsense seriously, is when the nastier element of human nature creeps in. This is unquestioning patriotism – what we need is a critical one. The courage to defend your country against attack, but the wisdom to not show undue aggression to others, and when to recognise when we are in the wrong.
The other problem is that where you come from is a grand, cosmic game of Chance. No-one chose to be born in a particular country, it was a sheer random circumstance that put you where you are. Is that a firm enough foundation for one to place pride in?
I find civic pride much more palatable for some reason. Different towns, different cities, different regions, here is where I think you see real differences – histories, accents, sport, ways of thinking and ways of life, even food and drink can be radically different between two cities but 20 miles away from each other. When you think of a country, you tend to think of it as one, homogeneous block – unchanging, static, and to be honest, a bit bland. It is a large unit which the human imagination has difficulty comprehending. Regions and cities are much more personal locations, small enough that a person can empathise with it or despise it outright. I find it easy to call myself Lancashire born and bred – I find it much more difficult to think of myself as English, ‘by the Grace of God.’
St George’s Day, I think, is worthy of support, and is a generally harmless occasion – we just have to remember that we are by no means perfect, and have never conducted ourselves in an exactly saintly manner, as history bears out. All I know is, England is a fine place for ale, and that suits me down to the ground!
The far right hijacked St George's day to celebrate, because it is very close to Hitler's birthday. The English are no strangers to immigration, indeed some immigration is desirable to fill work positions that our own poorly educated and dumbed down workforce are unable or unwilling to do. As for the comment of people complaining of being strangers in their own land – try walking around Leicester or Birmingham or much of London, and look at the ethnic make up those areas, and perhaps you'll understand why the indigenous population feel much like the American Indian did 200 years ago.
ReplyDeleteI think there is a growing awareness among the English that being “English” and “British” are different things, in much the same way as being “English” and “European” are different things. Both Britain and Europe are artificial constructs invented for ease of governance and administration. Indeed, the English EU “regions” we currently live in were a Nazi invention, and were destined to be Wehrmacht army commands for controlling a conquered Britain, which fortunately didn't happen until Gordon signed the Lisbon treaty.
I wholeheartedly agree that unquestioning patriotism, where you are willing to sacrifice your life and the lives of others for conquest and the purpose of subjugation as happened with the BRITISH (not English, you notice) Empire is very wrong.... just as unquestioning loyalty to a hypothetical God, or a man made political belief system, is no excuse for exporting your beliefs and literally stamping your authority by force of arms on other nations.
Indeed, English people have a long, noble history of fighting injustice and for what is right: from people like John Lilburne, who advocated suffrage, equality before the law and religious tolerance: William Cobbett, a notable radical and journalist instrumental in Parliamentary reform and the abolition of child labour: the mill workers of Lancashire, your own county, who supported the embargo on slave-produced cotton from the Confederate states during the American Civil war, even though it jeopardised their own livelihoods, in a time when no work meant no food. The ordinary people of England who stood alone against Hitler with such stoicism, only to have their hard won freedoms frittered away to a European superstate, and their industries sold to foreign owners.
I think the people of England have every reason to take pride in their nation, our people have won us an influence and reputation far greater than its modest size would suggest. And if there is any justice, the people who are responsible for England's present sorry state will one day be held to account. I think that is why the “British” fear a resurgent England: they know they will suffer at the hands of the people they have abused for so long. Mussolini's fate would be very appropriate for many of them.
And yes, real English ale is truly a gift from God. Why would He bless us with it, if we are not His chosen people?