The PR-otaginist, Dom Whitehurst, who is also a mate of mine, is annoyed. He feels Britain’s going down the swanny. Dom says, “British people don’t care about the UK any more. The era of national pride has passed and all that is left is a divided, self-interested populous with more loyalty to celebrities and brands than to British people.”
To me it sounds like something an old age pensioner with a faded memory and a pair of rose tinted spectacles would say when reminiscing about “the good old days” of years gone by. It’s easy to look back at the past with a utopian ideology of how things used to be so much better, nicer and simpler. But in my opinion it’s false and wrong on a number of levels.
When has Britain ever been in complete unison? I’m no historian but the countries within the UK have fought among each other for many years. Then it was bloody battles, now rivalry is revelled in a game of football. Including our apparent skill for, ahem, moaning, it’s the way it has always been.
Reading Dom’s post it seems his main gripe is that people aren’t courteous to one another on the Tube. Granted, but this is common knowledge to anyone outside of London. “Ya ganin to London like?” “Aye.” “Well, aah heard nee one tarks t’ya on the Tube. Ever!”
It’s hardly a reflection of the state of the nation. That said, you only have to remember the atrocity of the 7/7 bombings to know that when it *really* matters people will come together.
Stephen is a communications consultant based out of the UK. You can connect with him on Twitter or check out his LinkedIn profile. | Email Stephen
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Dom Whitehurst
Right then Stephen, where to begin….
I agree anti-social behaviour in London is far more prevalent in London than elsewhere but it still exists, even oop North. I’m not trying to push for 1950s societal ideals and maybe I picked the wrong examples but why is it that people are fearful of intervening in a one-sided assault, unsure if others wills also step in to help the victim? Why is it that we as a society aren’t up in arms when something awful happens in our communities? Largely, because we don’t have communities, and once again more prevalent in big cities, because when bad things happen we stare at our copies of The Metro in ’see no evil, hear no evil’ denial.
What I was saying wasn’t that things used to be so much better but that we should take positive steps to make society better. Are you really happy with this being the best that it gets? I want more role models amongst adults, I want less easily preventable crime and I want people looking out for each other. That starts at the bottom with manners, politeness and respect for other people. It is something influenced by the Broken Windows crime strategy employed by New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani to great effect.
The strategy is based on the following – “Consider a building with a few broken windows. If the windows are not repaired, the tendency is for vandals to break a few more windows. Eventually, they may even break into the building, and if it’s unoccupied, perhaps become squatters or light fires inside.
“Or consider a sidewalk. Some litter accumulates. Soon, more litter accumulates. Eventually, people even start leaving bags of trash from take-out restaurants there or breaking into cars.”
If we focus on low-level anti-social behaviour by engendering, respect and tolerance and by binding people into communities; we prevent society from spiralling into a worse state.
Finally, yes there has always been antagonism between the four states of The Union but there was always a certain pride in being British. Why is it only recently for example that devolution has taken place as opposed to any point since/or before the war?
As for your last comment about 7/7, I was as blown away as you by the response of Londoners in the face of a terrifying attack but personally I don’t want it take to take an atrocity to bring us all together. If that’s what we can achieve as a society, then let’s use this to get people banding together for good and not just in response to a terror attack.
Stephen
OK, fair enough, I interpreted the crux of your post as a plea to bring back some golden bygone era that never really was, where people tipped their hats to one another in the street and men placed their jackets over a puddle so as not to get the lady’s shoes wet.
Do I think Britain can be improved? Of course. Do I think that it is ‘broken’? Definitely not. Do I think communities still exist? Yes, there are thousands of them scattered across the country.
But, unlike you, I believe people do stand up to those who are victimised and I believe that our society does get up in arms when something awful happens. Two completely different examples that spring to mind are the terrible Baby P incident and the fight to allow Gurkhas who fought for Britain to live here. Britain is a compassionate nation.
And, honestly, feeling British is predominantly an English thing. Ask one thousand people from Scotland if they feel British or Scottish and I’d be willing to bet my life that the majority of them say first and foremost they feel Scottish. But that’s fine, that’s the way it’s always been. And devolution came about because it was put to a vote and the majority said ‘aye’ (except the Tories).
I think one can take a cup half empty approach with these types of things. Yes, bad things do occur and some people do wicked and despicable things but the majority of people are inherently ‘good’.
Tim Callington
Interesting debate. I suppose it goes to show that economic, scientific and technological progress in a society don’t necessarily happen in parallel with moral progress. In fact you could argue that they can undermine moral progress unless they’re managed responsibly.
Robert French
Well, I’m neither British nor a historian, but this post interests me. Perhaps I have that nostalgic image of British manners and decency lingering in my mind. The idea of a lack of national pride, or pride in issues beyond self, are often encountered in the academic environment. So, I probably shouldn’t jump in here, but feel compelled.
The British did, after all, settle in Alabama, USA in the 17th century. We still have a bit of flavor from that influence in our state.
To carry the discussion further, I did find academic research on the topic. The research comes from none other than scholars at Oxford. It is in The British Journal of Sociology regarding the decline of British national pride.
That said, I’m closer than I care to admit to being “an old age pensioner with a faded memory and a pair of rose tinted spectacles”, Stephen.
My generation learned from the Greatest Generation, your grandparents and my parents. Given their loyalty to national values, we tend to share Dom’s feelings with regard to Gen-X & Y. Their too often complete opposite ideal set from we Baby Boomers (and Generation Jones) makes us worry about the future.
Not trying to stir up trouble, but my ancestors are from Ireland. I’m sure they are all still just as well-mannered as my ancestor, Daniel Parnell. I believe he was thrown out for being a rabble-rouser. ;o)
Craig McGill
There’s a Britain? News to most of us in Scotland where – even those who are pro-UK – will readily admit that Britain = Englishness in most situations. And in many cases, the media really hasn’t helped with that (both PRs and journalists).
And devolution has been an issue here for 30 years now – there were votes for it in the seventies. And if Cameron wins later this year, you’ll see another one.