This Is England
What a beautiful weekend. The kind that makes you glad to be alive. The weather here in the UK was glorious for all four days.
On Saturday it was St George's day (patron saint of England) and we'd heard there were events on in "town" (Nottingham city centre), so we took the kids in to see what was going on.
The day normally passes by mostly uncelebrated, but there seems to be an effort over the past few years to do something about it and we thought "why not celebrate being English?!".
Nottingham had put a big flag on Town Hall, as you can see:
While we were there I overheard the following exchange:
Son: "Dad, why is there a big flag on that building?"
Dad: "Because it's red-neck day!"
What he said caught my ear because of what we'd witnessed when we arrived. The city council had organised a parade. I guess any body was welcome to join in - there were Scout troops, brass bands, a dragon, St George on a horse. The usual suspects. They were the minority though.
The majority of the parade were, what I assumed to be, supporters of some far right political party exercising their right to march. It was a disturbing site and made me feel uneasy. You can probably picture it -- shaven-headed and tattooed men in vests chanting "We're H.A.P.P.Y we're England till we die". Women and children too! It was just like seeing away fans being herded back to the train station by mounted police.
As well as feeling uneasy I felt ashamed. It was a reminder of why I personally have nothing to do with St George's day and don't particularly like the St George's cross as a flag.
If you're not entirely sure of the differences between English and British (not sure I am completely) here's a quick guide:
It's not that I'm unpatriotic. I just don't really associate myself with being English. I'm more proud of being British than I am English and I much prefer the Union Jack as a flag.
It's a good job really as yesterday a neighbour dropped off a 6' x 12' Union flag for us to decorate the street with on Friday for our Royal wedding street party.
I'm not really a Royalist either. I just think that without them we'd have little left to be proud of in this country. We've got a rich heritage and it's a shame not to celebrate it.
My intentions in organising the street party were merely to give the children on the street something to remember when they're older. It would be a shame not to continue the tradition of street parties, of which, apparently, ours is one of only 500 happening on Friday.
Here are some stats on what the rest of the nation makes of it all.
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The royal wedding hasn't helped republican sentiment in Australia either. In fact republican sentiment has been waning since a Tasmanian married the Crown Prince of Denmark. So now we have two royal families to follow - the pommy Windsors and 'our' Danish princess. Seems we are suckers for a tiara and yards of white fabric.
But it is entertaining if you don't take it all too seriously.
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You're an Aussie then? I always assumed you were American! Sorry. I always assume that until I find out otherwise.
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Ah - the micro political establishment: the tribe - is what you witnessed. Tribalism is a useful mechanism in times of trouble, but becomes unnecessary during times of peace. The trouble is that peace is somewhat fleeting as things go, so people tend to try to honor their tribal root instincts as a way to be at the ready for the inevitable (perhaps self fulfilling prophecy) degradation of the general peace. Times of social and political upheaval usually magnify tribal sentiments. Please don't mistake me as calling the English or your St. George revelers and marchers a "tribe" as I know they are far more numerous (and presumably erudite) than that, but that's the root of the mindset. Is it good or bad? It depends on whether you find yourself inside or outside a tribe.
The American colonies (formerly of the crown) decided that a confederation of tribes was better than strict tribalism and later that a stronger federation was the only thing that was going to stand up to the Crown and time. So, what could be called the British Federation is likewise a strategic and economic superior structure to individual kingdoms which were superior to the clans and tribes they were comprised of. But when uncertainty enters, usually via a decline of trust in the ruling MPs, people, seeing the failure of federation to address their tribal concerns, return to tribal thinking. Hence the chanting.
It's not bad to be patriotic or to prefer a smaller unit to a larger unit. It is healthy to have a distinct culture and heritage. It is contrary to larger societal peace, however, to distinguish yourself solely on your tribal affiliation. That's sort of like someone asking: "What makes you uniquely American?" and me answering, "Well, I'm AMERICAN, dammit!". Well that clears it up a bit, doesn't it? It would perhaps be equal parts entertainment and foolishness to have asked those marchers: "but what makes you English?". eh... erm.... we're not welsh! Aha! ;-)
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Weather has been awesome... and I've been working all weekend and bank holidays to hit a deadline. Watch the end of this week turn into the wettest weekend on record to annoy me!
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This I learned: those of the far-right are coincidentally called "rednecks" too, in the UK.
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