Be the Briton
As the Government talks once again of defining (for its own purposes) that elusive concept, over at the Ministry of Truth, Unity is pondering the nature of Britishness
To become British, one simply needs to find one’s sense of Britishness within oneself and not conform to the values and expectations of others, a solution that is, in all respects, consistent with the traditions of liberal individualism that the present government are seeking to do away with.
Yes, my apprentice. It is not enough to merely study Britishness. To become British one must find the inner Briton. Britain as neither a monarchy nor a democracy, but rather a state of mind. I suspect you could apply similar reasoning to any nationality, really, but it does seem particularly apposite in the case of this country.
It’s hard to reduce ideas of identity to a simple list of attributes, something that is more associated with nationalistic dictatorships than anything I’d recognise as a liberal democracy. Indeed I wonder if that is the attraction – government extending its role even over our very concept of ourselves.
On the other hand, apparently there are always two things about any subject. So for me what are the two things about Britishness? What sums up that ‘liberal individualism’ that Unity correctly identifies as the core feature of being a Briton?
- Mind your own fucking business.
- I said, mind your own fucking business.
Yeah, that sounds about right.
One of the most important signs of the existence of a democracy is that when there is a knock at the door at 5 in the morning, one is completely certain that it is the milkman.
Winston Churchill
November 15th, 2006 at 7:49 pm
[...] Apart from that one aberration however, you would not normally find me cussing. Nor, for that matter is it a part of my usual writing style. I prefer a cool, serene delivery. And, to be fair, when I started this blog, such was the intention. However, when faced with a barrage of illiberal authoritarianism from Whitehall on an almost daily basis, coupled with imbeciles claiming that such erosion of our liberties is in some way good for us, is it any wonder that I display the outward two signs of Britishness? Indeed, the purveyors of our imminent descent into totalitarianism and the fools who follow slavishly at their feet are not deserving of serene, thoughtful dissection. No, what they deserve is a vicious hatchet job delivered with all the force of Anglo Saxon terminology. [...]