Anthony Barnett (London, OK): A strong article in today's Mail by Paul Kingsnorth in advance of his important forthcoming book Real England: The battle against the bland. He joins together an economic argument pitched in class terms against the influence of global corporations with a national argument, that the fight-back can't succeed if its politics is British based:
All around us, we can see the steamroller flattening out our lives. This street market is closing down, that corner shop disappearing. People feel something is wrong, but they just don't know how to stop it.They moan to each other in pubs and write letters to local newspapers. But if they bother to complain, they are fobbed off. It is patronisingly explained to them that these are small, insignificant local matters, of no import in the grand scheme of things.
They must think about wider issues such as economic growth or the War on Terror. If they persist, they are called "Luddites" or "nimbys".
The subtext is that no-one has the right to defend the place where they belong. We should have better things to do with our time.
Well, I believe there are few better things to do. This matters — a lot.
And, though it's unfashionable to say so in polite company, I've realised that it is England rather than that political construct, Britain, that matters to me.
Not because I'm a jingoist who think it's better than everywhere else. Not because I don't like foreigners or have a visceral desperation to win the World Cup. Simply because it is my country, the place I was born and grew up in and where I belong.
I know its landscapes and history and feel connected to both. I couldn't write about Scotland or Wales in the same way, because I am not part of them and they are not part of me. For better or for worse, I am English.
But we are a confused people these days. Recently, a Scottish nationalist was telling me how successful the Scots have been in creating a renewed sense of national identity since devolution.
It puzzled him, he said, that the English couldn't do the same. "Why can't the English talk about their identity or culture?" he asked.
I didn't know what to say, because I don't understand it either. The English, perhaps uniquely among European nations, are becoming almost a de-cultured people.
From our high street shops to the vocabulary we use, we are becoming a cheap and nasty imitation of the worst of consumer U.S.
We have lost sight of who we are and where we have come from. We can't sing our own folk songs or, increasingly, cook our own national foods. We sneer at morris dancers while we sip our skinny lattes.
You can read the full article here; hat tip SecretPerson












M Anderson (not verified) said:
Sun, 2008-04-13 07:47Phillip Hosking:
"English imperialism was the driving force behind the creation of the ‘UK’.
It was not the Scots, Welsh, Cornish and Irish that decided on the British project and who then subjugated the English."
In 1603, was King James VI the driving force behind the british project?
On 12 April 1606, a new flag to represent this regal union between England and Scotland was specified in a royal decree.
What about Seymour vandeleur?
What does Nova Scotia mean?
What about new south wales?
What about Perth in Australia?
Dun Edin - Edinburgh is in New Zealand? How did it get this name?
What about Aberdeen? Places with this name can be found in no less than 34 locations around the world, including Australia, Canada, Jamaica, Antigua, Guyana, South Africa, and Sierra Leone. And there are 18 Aberdeens in the USA!
Are you stating that all these names became place names by accident?
Phillip Hosking:
"For many years before devolution Britian was simply greater England to the vast majority of English people."
Stereotyping again Phillip?
Phillip:
"Many Indians and Pakistanis where willing partisans in the empire but you’re not going to try and tell me that it was a British/Indian project are you?"
I dont see what this has to do with the issue.
By the way, what does the advent of the British empire have to do with me or any of my English patriot comtemporaries? We werent alive!