Party Vibe

Absolute load of reactionary bollocks, there is no Englishness cos English people aren’t all one homogeneous thing/group/share same ideas etc etc added to this progressive nationalism/patriotism is a load of wank for similar reasons. It’s basically subtle nationalism in my view. And no there isn’t “a stretch of land that caters for libertarian socialists?” Only by the total destruction of state, capitalism and our current social relations will we have that lark.

But oh what good lark it shall be ; )

@Falcon Patel 373901 wrote:

Absolute load of reactionary bollocks, there is no Englishness cos English people aren’t all one homogeneous thing/group/share same ideas etc etc added to this progressive nationalism/patriotism is a load of wank for similar reasons. It’s basically subtle nationalism in my view. And no there isn’t “a stretch of land that caters for libertarian socialists?” Only by the total destruction of state, capitalism and our current social relations will we have that lark.

Do you not think it’s healthy for a nation to have a certain amount of unconditional pride in its own national identity (whatever that might be)? This doesn’t have to be based on a belief that we are superior to other nations – for instance I’m from Yorkshire, and like most people from Yorkshire I am proud of that (and for no logical reason, I don’t consider myself superior to our friends on the wrong side of the Pennines for instance, though we mercilessly take the piss out of them). In the same way, the Scots, Welsh and Irish are proud of their respective nations. In these countries (+ Yorkshire, Liverpool and other areas with strong regional identities) the sense of community spirit seems much greater than in the rest of middle England, and I don’t think this is a co-incidence.

The lack of any “English identity” in this country, or fear of expressing one has led to a divided society where everybody keeps themselves to themselves and lives in their own areas, whilst many of our national symbols have been hijacked by the BNP and used to represent some kind of British WWII-era wet-dream. I think it can only be a good thing for people to have pride in something that they are a part of (in the case of England this doesn’t necessarily mean going to St. George’s Day parades and watching the Queen’s speech, the English identity may be as much about celebrating the diversity of our population as much as it is about remembering tradition).

And with regard to your comments on socialism, most of the successful socialist nations have been based very heavily on nationalism (it’s difficult to make people accept socialist principles such as collective ownership when they have no collective identity as a nation).

Some interesting ideas and questions cheeseweasle, I’ll try and reply a bit later to all those things when I have more time.

I was born in England but I’ve lived in Wales most of my life and I always considered myself English. Since coming to uni in England though, I realised I’m definitely Welsh haha (gotta love those free prescriptions :wink:.

But it strikes me that a lot of “English” characteristics are actually the ones that get labelled as British.

An example is the English/British national anthem, God save the Queen should be British, Jeruslam or something similar should be English.

I think that is one of the reasons that there seems to be a bit of an “English” rather than “British” trend at the moment.

@Cam 375803 wrote:

Anyone thinking we should have a sense of pride, needs to take a long hard look at themselves.

So I need to take a long hard look at myself for being proud of this country and being equally proud to be an Englishman???????

How are the faults of the world the general public’s fault? I mean I don’t go around murdering innocents and I can’t say I know any people that do.

I really can’t stand people who hate this country. Yeah it might be shit at times but I reckon we have a pretty good way of life tbh.

Personally I love it here, Ok the weather can be shit and it is fucking well cold atm but apart from that rock on baby.raaa

@General Lighting 375857 wrote:

I don’t think I could be accused of being overly jingoistic –

never heard this word before! had to look it up!!

Jingoism – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

@Cam 377073 wrote:

Yeah……a long hard look. This country is ‘effin shameful. Ignorance does seem to be bliss :love:

We have a great way of life at the expense of others around the globe. Living in the great British bubble is no excuse for ignoring cause and effect. And really…….Is it that great?

In one breath you’re being blasé about people that murder innocents (know any soldiers by the way?) and in the next you talk about the weather. That kinda sums up the Britishness/Englisness of today for me.

Yeah…..Rock on and fuck everyone else. Thatcher really did fuck the kids raaa

So I should stop enjoying life because someone else in the world is having a bad time of it?

Also What is with this shit about soldiers killing innocents as well, Do they roll into a town and line people up and shoot em? I don’t think so dude. I do know some soldiers but they’re not nazis, they don’t go around popping civilians, they just do a job this corrupt government has given em and I think they’re doing a pretty good job.

You need to drink a beer and chill out a bit more man. This negative attitude is not healthy and also if you hate it so much here why not move. :love: