British culture

Post Reply New Topic

This is such a good series. This is exactly how British folk behave aborad, in the working class destination of Benidorm, Spain.

Never been to a British drugs rave personally, but I have been to a nightclub before and have deliberately bombarded my Autistic senses into shellshock with thundering music.

The upside (or downside) of this, whichever way you look at it, is that biological females on alcohol will grope biological men like crazy in these places.

That defense might carry some weight if we resurrected him and put him on trial. But I think the objection is to revering him in the here and now, when so many of us don't approve of racism or any of his other dangerous traits. He was useful in wartime, but in peace time, not so much. Me, I don't trust any leaders enough to revere them.

The wartime he presided over, ensured all of the freedoms Britain enjoys today & contributed to freedom in the west.

So yes, it is okay to revere him. Forever, actually. He is not time-limited.

Hmm......dictionary definition of "revere":
"To regard with awe, deference, and devotion."

https://www.thefreedictionary.com/revere

If you want to do that, it's not for me to stop you. Just that for me, reverence makes little sense.

I don't see the point in deferring to anybody except in the sense of recognising their superior knowledge or expertise in solving a particular problem, to trust and follow their advice. For example, if the guy next door grows vegetables better than I do, I might put some energy into trying out any tips he can give me. If Churchill were around now, I might respect his opinions on war strategy if I were waging a war. But deferring to the whole person, I don't see how that can work, because none of us are great at everything.

Devotion, for me, would be limited to people I'm close to. Churchill never even knew me.

Awe - an overwhelming feeling of admiration or fear - no, I have a bit of admiration for his war skills, but it's not overwhelming, I'm just moderately impressed. And I don't suppose either of us is scared of him.

I don't understand why you see it differently, but for all I know there could be a mistake in my reasoning somewhere. Perhaps one day somebody will explain it clearly to me and I'll change my mind. Meanwhile, you're entitled to your opinion of course.

Oh, I didn't mean to impose my views on you. You can think Churchill is a wanker for all I care.

Yes, we are both entitled to our opinions. That's what I am trying to promote here... freedom.

The archetype is still to be found among the inbred British aristocracy and the petit bourgeoisie who have money and aspire to join the aristocracy. Professor's Slughorn, Quirell and Gilderoy Lockhart from Harry Potter best exemplify this eccentric bumbling archetype who come from "good stock". The female version is exemplified by Sybill Trelawny. The aspiring aristocrat who overcomensates their eccentricity in order to "fit in" include John Cleese's character Basil Fawlty and who can forget Hyacinth Bucket from "Keeping up Appearances". Utterly annoying but excellent portrayals.

I worked for an English female ex-pat who looked like a real-life Marg Simpson (including the blue hair) who spoke like she was acting in an English drama 24-7. It's quite nauseating to listen to after a while.

I didn't think you were trying to impose anything. Me neither. If the British government wasn't so keen on promoting patriotism and the worship of "great men of British history," which I think they do to keep us under their control, I probably wouldn't be so keen to argue against it. Though I doubt I'd ever feel patriotic even if the gov didn't care one way or the other.

I agree that patriotism is used manipulatively & coercively. It happens everywhere in the world, under any flag. Personally, I die for freedom and I am a willing participant in pro-freedom wars.

But I think it is wrong to force anyone into a war they don't want to fight. Let them sit on the sidelines - they'll end up suffering in some way anyway, probably beating themselves over and over, questioning whether they are a coward?

Everyone thinks differently, when it comes down to it. Society tries to force group-think to control people.

This the best summary I have read so far.

Well one of these led Her Majesty's government for 11 years in the 80s. Nauseating?

I knew quite a number of Brits who grew up under Thatcher and found her uncaring and her voice nauseating. The 1980s were notorious for unemployment and poor living standards that sent many Brits to come live in Australia.

She and her husband Dennis came from humble origins but her parent's educated her in Oxford and she snagged Dennis who was a wealthy divorced businessman and they used their money to climb social ladders.

Thatcher (nee Roberts) prior to getting married joined the famous "Vermin club" formed by British conservatives in the late 1940s in response to a labour minister's comments that British conservatives were "lower than vermin".

She followed the usual British conservative ideals in the 1950s/60s which was despising colonials, anti-immigrationist and anti-working class. She and many British conservatives (including Winston Churchill) were Toynbeeists who believed in manifest destiny that Britian had a right to rule an empire because they were the pinnacle of social evolution (Darwinist philosophy that the British were rulers because their environment created a hardy resilient stock where the strongest survived creating the British stock.

A good introductory source for British culture:

https://www.britannica.com/place/England/Cultural-life

Thatcher was awful in every respect.

Winston Churchill was an excellent war time leader, but his vision of White-British people being a super race was bordering on Nazism.

Black people will rule the world!

On the subject of English/British Culture. It might be my age but I thought the influence of British culture on Australian culture has whittled away due to the universal appeal of American culture.

As a child Dr Who, the goodies, Monty Python and Ab Fab were larger than life. British new wave music was also the "in-thing" from the 1960s - 1980s. Even BBC radio,

The last most influential television series was Eastenders and the Bill which were so big up to the 1980s. The final hurrah seemed to be awfully funny ben Elton skits in the series "The Young Ones" (a parody of Cliff Richard's "Young ones")

From the end of the early 1990s American culture became so big in Australia. Everything from fast food, music, clothes, sport and entertainment.

British television is so now boring now. There is nothing iconic anymore. Social media is dominated by America. Everything that is viral starts there now.

Some UK television shows still have their moments I think. I liked the US version of Manhunt, but when I saw the UK version I was reminded at how far ahead the UK can be with some things. I guess both were popular, but I don't care what's viral and what's minority-appeal. But I wouldn't waste my time with a traditional live-to-air TV set, expecting to somehow find something good among the mountains of chaff, and I don't understand why anybody bothers with that any more.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5618256/episodes/

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7801964/episodes/