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The Political Thread

Started by The Legendary Shark, 09 April, 2010, 03:59:03 PM

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Tjm86

Quote from: IndigoPrime on 14 April, 2017, 01:02:15 PM
speaks of the UK's "long and successful history as a trading nation ....

That would be Elizabethan piracy, the African slave trade, the South Sea Bubble, the East India company, the Opium Wars, ....

I'm assuming from the government's current policy that they are intent on pursuing the Great British tradition of Fraud, Larceny, Bribery, Exploitation and outright theft.  Perhaps that is why Farage and co are so optimistic.

IndigoPrime

To be fair, the graph they showed started at 1940. But, yeah, plenty of Leave nutters seem to think things were better in the old days while wilfully ignoring the nature of the British Empire. Still, I'm sure it'll all somehow be the EU's fault when our trade as a share of GDP nosedives from its modern-day highs back towards the 20s it was mired in pre-EEC.

Tjm86

To be fair, Britain was one of the lesser affected nations in the Great Depression because it hadn't recovered as far after the First World War.  France and Germany came off worse because of their links with the States.  Considering 2008 I think that there is a lesson there.  In fact, thinking about it, how many major global financial problems have the Americans caused in the last 100 odd years? 

JayzusB.Christ

Quote from: Tjm86 on 14 April, 2017, 01:38:10 PM
I'm assuming from the government's current policy that they are intent on pursuing the Great British tradition of Fraud, Larceny, Bribery, Exploitation and outright theft.

Well, quite.  I'm far from a rabid nationalist, and indeed half English by blood, but I'm glad my country stood up to the jolly old Empire and got out of there.
I certainly wouldn't like to be forced, like Scotland, into this Brexit shitstorm.
"Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest"

IndigoPrime

The way things are going, I'm pretty sure half the Brexit mob still think Ireland is part of the UK.

Tjm86

Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 14 April, 2017, 03:23:47 PM
and indeed half English by blood,

My sister and I were discussing our ancestry yesterday after we realised her husband's family had lived in the Doncaster region for 500 years!  Mam from East End, Dad from West Country.  His father from America, mother from Wales, paternal Great - Great grandfather from Germany .... on Mam's side, one side of family from England (don't talk about them too much), other side from Ireland.  Bit more digging turns up Spanish and French (definitely not something to admit to) ancestry.  Me, I'm an English expat living in Wales.  Mongrel and proud of it!

IndigoPrime

I imagine a great many people on these islands are a mix. I was looking online earlier, and it's interesting to see Irish reactions to Brits clamouring for passports. Not one of them was negative. A few, natch (and I think entirely reasonably) hoped it would lead to some people reconnecting more with their Irish past, rather than just grabbing another citizenship for convenience's sake. (From my own standpoint, it's something I planned to do 20 years ago, but for some reason never did. I probably should have done, too, since it would have been a whole lot easier when my grandparents were still here.)

Mikey

Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 14 April, 2017, 03:23:47 PM
I certainly wouldn't like to be forced, like Scotland, into this Brexit shitstorm.

Not forgetting that a majority in Norn Iron also voted to remain - one genuine, cross community issue! On a related note, I was in the running for a job there, but the competition has been cancelled because the European funded part now won't happen. Cool, eh? I can now pick from the myriad other job opportunities here.

Oh.
To tell the truth, you can all get screwed.

TordelBack

Quote from: IndigoPrime on 14 April, 2017, 04:01:21 PM
I imagine a great many people on these islands are a mix.

Everyone is a mix, everyone everywhere. With the possible (and contested) exception of a tiny handful of west African groups, everyone is descended from immigrants and mixtures of other migrants, other human species and sub-species. National or racial purity and claims to particular territories on basis of same are utter and complete bollocks. Anyone asserting anything along these lines is deluded.

The Legendary Shark

I do so love the idea that we're all humongrels.
[move]~~~^~~~~~~~[/move]




JayzusB.Christ

It always seems ludicrous to me when people brag about their Viking / Celtic / Saxon / whatever heritage.  Basically it's a case of tracing one particular strand of an insanely complex web and stopping when it sounds cool.

That said, I'm immensely proud of my single celled primordial soup forebearers and put my fighting spirit down to their DNA.
"Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest"

CrazyFoxMachine

It's far worse than simply deluded - it's utterly depressing. It's simply another mechanism whereby people desperately try to find cold hard evidence to explain away their significance and face up to their individual choices. If you can say "well something my ancestor did was good - I can be proud of that anyway" it's the ultimate "I'M NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANYTHING I DO". It's extraordinarily intricate the shell of bullshit a human can construct around themselves to defend or explain away their poor decisions and failures.

HAPPY EASTER.

TordelBack

#12777
Mmmm. All claims to 'rights' over territory amount to 'my great grandfather conned/drove off/infected/out-shagged/murdered someone else's great grandfather', and all assertions of national identity amount to 'why don't you talk exactly like what we do round here' sung to a catchy (or not) tune. 

Embrace the swelling pride in your nation's unique destiny, lest the great-grandchildren of different murderers with a bit of an accent but a better chorus sense weakness!


The Legendary Shark

It's why "governments" wrap themselves in flags - you don't believe in it, you don't believe in your country, its people or its glorious history. It's scary how many people fall for that.
[move]~~~^~~~~~~~[/move]




Hawkmumbler

Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 16 April, 2017, 10:59:13 AM
It's why "governments" wrap themselves in flags - you don't believe in it, you don't believe in your country, its people or its glorious history. It's scary how many people fall for that.
I think your confusing racial supremacy with cultural pride (not to be confused agan with nationalism) their Sharky. It's totally possible to be proud of ones culture, whilst acknowledging each's inherent privileges, witout being a nationalist or racial supremacist.