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I don't have a problem with people celebrating St George's Day, but to me it represents patriotism at its most useless and performative - a day to say "isn't it great being English" while doing absolutely nothing for the betterment of the society you're supposed to love so much. In fact, many so-called patriots seem to actively despise a large proportion of their fellow countrymen, as evidenced by a lot of the replies in this thread.
More than anything, I've come to dread St George's Day for the faux-outrage culture war it generates every year, just like Easter Eggs and Christmas. People aren't happy celebrating quietly, they have to launch into some Partridge-esque tirade about the PC lefties who have apparently banned being English. It's so boring.
I've always sort of felt a little of this. People cling to their roots from other countries because their great great granddad came from there, no matter how obscure, and national pride can seem a little bit 'meh' at times. After all, boundaries are man made and completely invisible. Why should we have to produce a passport to cross an invisible line?
But, when you are born and bred in a country and support that country's football team or take a certain pride in that country's monarchy, well in the end you back your own horse. And with national pride rife in Scotland and Wales (and rightly so) we English do try and bang our own drum on occasions. When the government will allow us to that is.
Haha!
It is impossible to "fantasize" or parody the Left on matters of race. They view white people, tout court, as racists, all the while hating white people with every fiber of their being.
It is entirely rational to support people and institutions that are closest to us. Hence, we support our compatriots over those of other countries. Human beings are inherently "groupish." This is how groups have successfully competed against other groups and survived to the present day. And the desire to survive is quite rational.
As to "creating divides," well, it's the multiculturalists who are to blame for this. They have interjected incompatible peoples into polities and then done everything they can to discourage assimilation to a common culture.
Alas, in this day and age when the very notion of indigenous European identity is under relentless assault, public celebration of days such as St. George's is all the more important. We must come out of the closet and figuratively combat the forces that would subjugate and replace us whenever we can.
Personally I don't 'think it's a good look' for an Englishman to go round calling people cretins, generally we try to come up with some barbs that at least have a bit of class. But each to their own.
We're talking about being English here not British. Schoolboy stuff Sir.
Unlike St Patrick's day of course which everyone is expected to love despite the betterment of society extending no further than increasing Guinness's share price.
In any event why does someone need to get a VC or write Land of Hope and Glory to be an Englishman? Obeying the law, advocating justice and fairness for all, paying your taxes and not hating everything the country was built on is more than reasonable.
I fail to see the correlation? How does loving Chavs, dole scroungers etc demonstrate one's patriotism?
This I can get on board with, apart from the last bit.
Personally I don't really need St George's day to be anything massive. For lesser nations I guess they need a day to assert how amazing they are. For the English a sneering superiority is already ingrained anyway so we can just shrug safe in the knowledge that we aren't a Jock, a Taff or a Paddy.
You seem to suggest that aspiring to Partridgean values is something to be ridiculed? 'This country' is a perfect summary of where we are these days.
I'm not going to debate any further because I promised myself not to get into politics on a James Bond forum, and it's probably pointless seeing as we obviously have entirely different worldviews.
However, and I know you're probably pulling my leg, but do you honestly not realise that Alan Partridge is supposed to be an unflattering parody of an idiotic, small minded little Englander? Coogan, Iannucci, et al. are all raging lefties - Coogan even appears in Labour Party political broadcasts.
I agree with this. As a leftie I've always thought we need to reclaim a sense of national pride in our rhetoric, it's something Orwell wrote about a lot.
Hoorah !!!!!!
As a proud nation, willing to celebrate or show support for our country, it always surprises me that St. George's day is not more widely celebrated.