Is patriotism dead in the UK?

[Charlie]

It dawned me over the summer that the majority of my friends who are British are not very patriotic. While this isn't shocking news, it is more of the change that is interesting (to me at least). I was speaking to an old engineer (in his 60s/70s) about the university's formula student racing team. And he was saying how he'd like to have a totally British car and go to the American teams and show them how it was done. It was after this that it dawned me, I can't think of any friends that have ever said I picked this because it was British made. It happened again when I was buying a waterproof coat, I was choosing between a Rab jacket and a Montane jacket. And the sales person (in his 50s/60s) said, "it is great to be able to choose between two British companies."

I think back and the only people that I can ever remember being proud of the fact something was made by a British company are old people. I've got a couple of ideas of why this might be, but what do other people think? Why has the patriotism been lost in the younger generations? Is it a good thing? Or is it to blame for some of the problems in today's society?
____________________
Past: Honda x8rs, Honda City fly, Honda Hornet 250, Honda VFR750, Yamaha xt600e.
Current: Honda CBR929RR & Yamaha XT660Z Tenere

[ollieholt]

yes patriotism certainly on the decline, modern society deem it racist due to political correctness. to be british and proud isn't seen as a good thing.

mainly because of the like of the daily fail.

i am very proud to be british, even more so to be english. our country has a very bold history and of that i am proud.
____________________
< This? Well this is just a day brightner.

[MaybeGuy]

the sooner i leave england the better. Its a horrible little cunt of an island
____________________
Blue_SV650S wrote: it was a sh1te wheelie, but it proves that he can get it up in 3rd and can do angles. In summery, mattsprattuk is a gobby little sh1tebag, dopehead tw4t, but sadly for all of us, he probably isn't THAT full of sh1te!!
Kickstart wrote: Hi I tend to agree with Matt. All the best Keith

[.....]

Maybe because 'Britishness' has become so diluted over the last few years and people are afraid to speak out in case they are branded racist in the new faux politically correct society.

Plus we have no industry any more (except financial), we produce nothing, consume too much, have huge swathes of people sat on their arses all day blaming 'the foreigners' for taking their jobs when they're just plain lazy, our Government have been shown to be fat pigs feeding from the trough, people living in poverty while our armed forces fight illegal wars slaughtering thousands of innocent people and the bankers who brought our country to its knees living it up while the rest of us work longer hours and have less money.

Great Britain? I don't think so.

[Kickstart]

Hi

I would prefer to buy something British made, but not sure that is patriotism. More self interest, that something British made means the money spent doesn't disappear straight out of the country.

However don't really see any reason to be blindly patriotic, and while there are plenty of engineering achievements in Britain that you could say we should be proud of, most are old and the relevant industries have been hammered over the last half a century(*). I also find the idea of being proud of something that you had nothing to do with to be a bit unsettling.

(*) Most manufacturing industries including the British bike industry (destroyed by bad management and lack of investment), military aircraft (destroyed by half baked ideas of using missiles), trains (destroyed by poor long term planning and fragmentation of the UK railway industry), ship building (undercut by cheaper competition), nuclear power (flogged off to foreign competitors, etc.

All the best

Keith
____________________
Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[Flip]

The trouble is there nothing to be proud of any more. There's nothing left in the UK, just benefits and misery.

[Souleh]

To be proud to be british is racist in the mainland and sectarian in Northern Ireland.

No one wants to be racist or sectarian.

(SUPPORT THE TROOPS)

[Flip]

[Mr.Everready]

[hellbound]

[silky666]

[MarJay]

Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel, and a virtue of the vicious.
____________________
British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F; Cheap project: CBR900RR FireBlade
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[The999Kid]

Im proud to be English, Im not British, i was born in England and will always tick 'white other' and state White English on equality forms...

thats as far as i go with it.

as far as im concerned the EDL are using patriotism as an excuse for racism and prejudice. Thats why i dont fly a flag from my bedroom window anymore..
____________________
NDB 19/10/1989 - 1/11/2010 |Nowhere.Elyseum wrote: I get the distinct feeling that Tim should be our secret weapon for future trolling. I don't know many people that can rip the piss in Iambic pentameter

[MinhDinh]

Well does anyone actually care?

People moan about the queen.
People moan about petrol prices.
People moan about the weather.
People moan about the government.
People moan about work.

People here are too busy trying to earn a living by work, maybe spend some money going out or some time on the net, but from a general point of view, people don't care much unless it's for themselves.
____________________
Hit the G spot.

[Ed Case]

What does being British mean to me ?.........nothing.........I'm English, and there's a world of difference. As we've not had 'Freedom of Speech' for many years I can say no more.

[Im-a-Ridah]

[Im-a-Ridah]

[ollieholt]

[Kickstart]

Hi

Not convinced with that graph.

There is nothing to say whether it is inflation adjusted (and if not it shows a massive collapse). Also even if we assume it is inflation adjusted, the consumption of manufactured goods has risen at a far greater rate.

All the best

Keith
____________________
Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[.....]

[Hetzer]

What, exactly, is left of this country over which to feel patriotic? Absolutely nothing.
____________________
"There's the horizon! Ride hard, ride fast and cut down all who stand in your way!"

[colin1]

Without an understanding of history, the decline in patriotism may seem puzzling.

However a hundred years ago, things made in Britain probably were the best in the world and 150 years ago, they definitely were.

Our empire covered about a third of the globe.

However, the rest of the world caught up, and now 'made in Britain' is more likely to say shoddy quality than good.

To be competitive, decent British brands such as Triumph and Rab that used to manufacture wholly in this country, now manufacture abroad, as costs are lower, and standards arent necessarily lower.

America is dominant, so Americans have the same patriotism that us Brits did 50 years ago when we still thought we were fairly dominant.

I reckon in 50-100 years Americans too will have a similar decline in dominance, as other countries take over.

The American Empire is not as obvious as the British empire, but they still have power and influence through their corporations, and habit of invading countries if they are stategically important. As they decline, that will decline too, and it will be China invading countries on some world policeman bullshit.

At the moment being patriotic in Britain, is associated with people who are hanging on to the past of when Britain was great, so they are assumed to be fools.

However, there is still a lot which is good about this country, which we take for granted.
____________________
colin1 is officially faster than god

[oldpink]

certain parts are more patriotic than others
depends on the mix of cultures, I don't like London and have just moved away after 2 years
but other places I could live in, being back in Scotland for a while has been good
and the Scot's are very patriotic but more so to Scotland than to the Uk as a whole
____________________
I have become comfortably numb

Theory & hazard 24-may 2016, CBT 8th June 2016, MOD 1 2nd Aug 2016 Mod 2 2nd-Nov 2016 - Current bike CBR 600 RR

[Im-a-Ridah]

[keggyhander]