Why aren't we proud anymore?

Cherrytree My wonerful old headmaster insisted that we should all take pride in our school work and our appearance.

‘Taking pride‘ in your work or your appearance is usually taken to mean striving for excellence, or at least doing the very best of which you’re capable, so that’s something any headteacher would hope that his or her pupils would do.

That’s a far cry from congratulating oneself on something for which you have had to make absolutely no effort to achieve.

Nearly five years ago, someone ( soontobe, actually) started a thread with the title "I am Glad to be British because" www.gransnet.com/forums/chat/1219455-I-am-glad-to-be-British-because

Reading through it, I see some familiar names and some from Memory Lane. I also see that the tendency to argue over how many angels can stand on the head of a pin and how unfair it is to devils that only angels get a mention was just as much in evidence then as now.

I found what I was looking for - my post from that thread. It reads:-
"Returning to the original post (which was, in case anyone had forgotten, "I am glad to be British because . . .")
This is where I was born, and where many generations of my family were born, and it is my home.
This is where my children were born, and my grandchildren, and it is their home.
This is where modern democracy was forged, and it is still a stronghold of democracy, where we are not imprisoned for disagreeing with the government of the day and voting against it.
This is a country where it is not obligatory to belong to one religion or one political party, or to face ostracism, or worse, for being different.
This is a country where in court one is innocent until proved guilty, not the other way round.
It is not necessary to be rich to have the necessities of life.
Education is available to all.
Healthcare is available to all.
Most people are tolerant and polite.
The climate is neither extremely hot nor extremely cold, floods are rare, earthquakes are small.
The countryside is beautiful and varied. There are wildernesses and manicured parks, sandy beaches and towering cliffs, forets and flower-beds.
There are theatres, concert halls, museums, cathedrals, mosques, synagogues, stately homes, palaces, traditions, ceremonies, pageant.
Our national cuisine has elements from all over the world.
People from all origins, all religions or none, all cultures, all colours, live mostly in harmony."

A few of my points are under threat at the moment.

That was a brilliant post Elegran and I too am glad to be British for all those reasons you state.
I’m just not proud, though.
There’s a difference.

What I’m not proud of is the exceptionalism- e.g. we British are best because....why aren’t we glad that lots of countries are beautiful, are clean, have great art, culture, history, food whatever. We are not the best in the world at lots of things - does that matter? Why can’t other countries shine too? Take pride in your own achievements, look after your environment , surely that is better than waving a flag and boasting about your own greatness, it’s that belief in superiority which has led to wars and conflicts.

BTW I’m in awe of your memory and your ability to use GN’s search facility

We've had lots of wonderful holidays in Scotland and Wales, and have only ever experienced kindness, friendliness and great hospitality, never a hint of prejudice. Admittedly it was a long time ago and perhaps things are different now.

Good posts vegansrock and janeainsworth. Value points IMHO

Valid. Not value. ?

No one is saying other countries aren't great, of course they are. It's constantly running our country down that's so depressing!

That was my point exactly Jabberwok.

A few of my points are under threat at the moment.

So glad it was you that said that, Elegran

I read all of that thread and found it very amusing. same bunfight, same protagonists...

FWIW I have no 'pride' in being British, English or whatever, as it's just accident of birth that put me here, but I can never get over what wonderful and extraordinarily varied scenery we have.

paddyanne Your Scottish Saltire is also part of the Union flag of the United Kingdom.
The only country not represented on it is Wales.

The flag of St George has not been taken over by britnats but was taken over by English Nationalists, who unfortunately gave it a bad name y their behaviour.
It's a pity that Scottish and Welsh patriotism and even nationalism is looked on as a Good Thing but English Nationalism is not.
Perhaps it needs a rebrand.

Your post is worth repeating, Elegran.

I'm British and happy to be so.
Some of my ancestors were not but were, I presume, very glad to call this country home.

As others have said, there is no reason to be proud of one’s nationality, which is an accident of birth. There are some good things about Britain and lots of bad things. I hope I can look at the country dispassionately. I live in England, but have lived in Scotland too. I am part Scottish, but feel more English. I have no particular pride in either, nor in the Irish that is a large part of my heritage.

My only true pride is that Shakespeare was English.

But, vegansrock I hope you aren't saying that being glad that our country has certain good points means we are automatically assuming that no other country has them? That was what some people in that old thread were claiming when posters praised some element that they liked about Britain.

I could, for instance, say that I was glad my late husband had a sense of humour, without meaning that no other man had one!

I think its a national trait to be self deprecating and we do it so well. I am happy to be British with all our ups and downs. We have produced many great people and for a small island achieved so much. You are right of course Elegran that doesn't mean that other countries have not done the same.
I currently live in another country but England will always be home although I am very happy where I am. Sorry if that sounds contradictory.

It’s an accident of birth ( where we are born) but I am proud to live in the UK, nowhere better.?

I feel that there's no point posting on here.
The German family I'm friends with complain about Germany, my Polish friends about Poland, Irish about Ireland and so on. Certainly there was plenty of complaining about the USA even years ago when we lived there! I don't honestly think it's very different.

I so agree with this. Let us be a bit proud of our country.
I’m fed up with being told all the negatives, fed up with being told we are all racists.

I think the press and media are a lot to blame, in the way they portray our country withthe need they put out . With BBC bias......

The media seem hell bent on running our country down no matter what the government do or say the media turn it in to a negative I was very proud of our country but now it's horrible I wish I could afford to leave but the problem is which country is any better

Dare I suggest Globalisation, and the EU, has affected many of the peoples of their countries, thinking of the "proud to be..."
I am and always will be, and often say,

I am English, and proud to be English.

As a teacher I worked hard to pay a small part to ensure that our school was the best it could be and gave great opportunities to our students. Because I was part of that effort I was proud of our school and our students.
As an English woman (although I don't live in England now), I have worked hard to contribute to the prosperity of my area. So I feel entitled to be proud of being English. Your homeland might be an accident of birth but if you invest effort to contribute to society you are allowed to feel pride in it.

I was very proud to be British in 2012, I think that the Olympics showed us at our very best. Since then Brexit has divided the nation and those divisions are still very evident. As for its handling of COVID, over 60,000 deaths and counting tells it’s own story. The test and trace app apparently won’t be ready until the Winter, we could have joined in with the EU and used theirs, but we know best. New Zealand has less deaths overall than we have in a daily basis. I fear for the country my grandchildren are going to be growing up in but they will be able to buy Tim Tams.

Well, I don't know which countries you are talking of in Europe.

I can only say that in Scandinavia we are quite capable of seeing the ridiculous side of our own countries and critising what is wrong.

The same in my experience applies to the Belgian and Dutch, and of course to the Germans, who are sensitive to criticism because of the Hitler era.