As mentioned before we are often told that there is no such thing as the ‘British Identity’…no such thing formed by 2000 years of history, of culture, of traditions, language, industrial and scientific innovation as well as the new political ideas that spring from all that…such as liberty, freedom of thought, freedom of speech, freedom of association, democracy…never mind the humour and way of looking at the world.
The elusive search for Britishness
In the course of the debate about what British identity is, the multicultural argument has been championed particularly vocally and been given prominence, especially by the BBC. The multiculturalist position is one that essentially wishes to reduce British identity to being, by definition, diversity. In other words, that multiculturalism is the very essence of Britishness.
Under this view British identity becomes simply the sum total of a cacophony of a vast host of other often divergent cultures from around the world.
“The one aspect of our national story that people seem to be scared of is a discussion of England and Englishness.
“I think it is born out of a misplaced paranoia and a desire not to offend.
With that in mind here is one to watch from the British Broadcasting Corporation, starts tomorrow:
Liberty
Series 2 Episode 1 of 5
- First broadcast:
- Monday 27 January 2014
Bettany Hughes examines changing ideas of liberty by allowing a neuroscientist to take control of her brain and by perusing the pornography of the French Revolution.
The Ideas That Make Us is a Radio 4 series which reveals the history of the most influential ideas in the story of civilisation, ideas which continue to affect us all today.
In this ‘archaeology of philosophy’, the award-winning historian and broadcaster Bettany Hughes begins each programme with the first, extant evidence of a single word-idea in Ancient Greek culture and travels both forwards and backwards in time, investigating how these ideas have been moulded by history and have shaped the human experience. In the first programme of this series, Bettany examines changing ideas of liberty with neuroscientist Professor Patrick Haggard, classicist Professor Paul Cartledge, historian Dr. Stephen Pigney and Ruth Porter from the Institute of Economic Affairs.
Other ideas examined in this series are comedy, hospitality, wisdom and peace.
Been reading about the history of far right influences in Europe.
Oswald Mosley was once part of the European Social Movement(I think that`s it…so many of `em!”) and it advocated the following
1. A European national parliament/forum with “elections” ,and this superstructure would command the economy, politics and culture of all subsidiary nations
2. National satraps keeping flags, but clearly only patchwork regions with no say on anything of note..the superstructure above was sole arbiter and forum for any such attempts to influence politics, economies or culture…even micro levels were not to be allowed to flourish
3. Local council types of democratic pretences that would feed into national regional spats, but-one again-would be financed and hog ties ultimately to the European National Parliamentary Assembly (or whatever name it was yet to be given).
The slogan of the ESM was Progress-Solidarity-Unity.
Now then Beeb…in a week where you didn`t report,( let alone condemn )the Lords and its unelected derailing of an EU Referendum option from last Friday…tell me again…what IS this “liberty thing” you`d like us to know more of.
All the EU has done is replace its Gestapo SS outfits with tie-dye green pastel shades from bleached hemp plants,,,and it will soon be an Islamic shade of Green if we don`t wake up.
Who`d have thought Labour politician Oswald Mosley would now have such influece, what with his plans and policies very much enforced by the EU and the BBC.
It is worth stressing that Moseley was a leftward leaning Labour MP, and that his politics were more in keeping with the far left than with the so called far right. May I suggest that like his hero – the national socialist Hitler – he had more in common with today’s left in Europe than traditional British conservative politics
I wonder how many mentions Hobbes, Locke and Smith get in schools these days compared to Marx, Engels and Lenin?
Let alone John Stuart Mill, whose dual failings were being English and speaking up for the individual against the state.
Or Edmund Burke.
I had a similar go at the lack of Libertarianism/ English history being taught in schools.
http://www.ukipdaily.com/liberty-fairness/#.UuV12bTFLIU
Don’t forget Mark Easton’s article about the 2011 census data, when he triumphantly realised that the foreigners who live here were the most likely to call themselves ‘British’.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24302914
The map starkly shows that those who live in urban ghettos are those most likely to call themselves ‘British’.
As Easton puts it
The analysis also reveals that those whose ethnicity is white British are the least likely to describe their identity as British – just 14%. About half of people with black or Asian ethnicity picked British.
The British identity reflects the increasing diversity of our society.
Nauseating bBBC drivel.
All my grandchildren in London have been given bucketloads of lessons about Islam – the pillars of faith, the layour of a mosque etc. But precious little info. about the core values and history of England/Britain.
One of them was taken on a school trip to the British Library last month, mainly on an English Lit course – and was shown the Magna Carta there. She had never heard of it before – and the teachers did not explain its significance.
The new series on BBC on “ideas that made us” starts with liberty. But its other topics are listed as “comedy, howpitalisity, wisdom and peace”. Sounds like a total hotch-potch. How about the rule of law, constitutional democracy – REAL core ideas. And Judeo-Christian morality ?
All my grandchildren in London have been given bucketloads of lessons about Islam – the pillars of faith, the layour of a mosque etc. But precious little info. about the core values and history of England/Britain.
One of them was taken on a school trip to the British Library last month, mainly on an English Lit course – and was shown the Magna Carta there. She had never heard of it before – and the teachers did not explain its significance.
The new series on BBC on “ideas that made us” starts with liberty. But its other topics are listed as “comedy, hospitality, wisdom and peace”. Sounds like a total hotch-potch. How about the rule of law, constitutional democracy – REAL core ideas. And Judeo-Christian morality ?
It doesn’t seem a lot better at Eton. Call Me Dave famously didn’t appear to know what it even was when questioned on US TV.
I have to say, in my experience, Americans seem to know (and care) more about the roots of liberty than we in the UK.
What do those that give up the values of their own society to gain a temporary electoral boost deserve?
If we import by the million people from cultures that care little about liberty or personal freedom are we going to
improve this country?
i despise this word british and the way it is used by the left to undermine and rob english people of are cultural identity and heritage,every other ethnic group in this country is encouraged by the left to celebrate there cultural and ethnic identity,not the english,we have to hide are english identity as if we are lepurs in are own country,also,this word british is has been abused by people who hate the british,dont you get sick and tired of hearing about foreigners who have claimed asylum in this country being described as british subjects,british citixens,british nationals who have been involved in terrorist plots in this country to kill british people in this country and fight are armed services abroad,do you want to be associated with that lot by calling yourself british, i was born in england,i am english,i am not british,simle as that.
If you are, as I am, you do not have to boast of being so. We did so many good things and in the ,main behaved well and yes we did spread democracy. Pity our present “government” have scrapped all that we once stood for!
For what it’s worth, from the little that I’ve read, other countries such as Germany are also being subjected to the ‘there’s no such thing as German’ propaganda. And that, for me, shows there is an international conspiracy to inculcate these ideas into the minds of us indigenous peoples in the civilised Western world. This is executed with the help of each country’s national propaganda machinery, such as the bbc.
Exactly. Don’t hold your breath for the BBC to produce a documentary entitled: “Pakistan: is there really a Pakistani culture?”
New BBC program to show that there is no such thing as a Chinese or Japanese culture.
A new version of the Seven Samurai will have 2 Blacks and one Whitey, along with PC Japanese.
It hard for the BBC not to be influenced by a EU promises and bribes to offset indigenous English despair at ‘hidden’ agendas and programmed ‘immigration’.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10423013/BBC-faces-new-bias-row-over-charity-given-millions-by-EU.html
Our own High Court Lords seem to distrust ‘democracy’ was revealed fairly recently on a EU referendum blocked by Lords amendments: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2545621/Law-guarantee-EU-referendum-dead-parrot-Labour-Lib-Dem-peers-block-Bill.html
The BBC political bias is distributed throughout the entire world as an impartial ‘NEWS WORLD SERVICE’ when in fact it is about ‘state control’. Chris Patten (BBC Trustee) is a member of the secretive ‘Common purpose’ order (as is Cameron) whilst BBC trustee Lord Bagley ensures ‘UN Agenda 21’ is applied to engineer ‘favourable broadcasts promoting another secretive agenda’. http://www.maxfarquar.com/2012/11/bbc-trust-trustees-inquiry/
In short you cannot trust any of them to take any action against the EU on any account against a centralist totalitarian and secretive state. Worse still America cannot save us from the creeping socialist malaise if we vote to ‘stay-in’ the EU it can only get worse.
When they’re oaths to be taken(statutory declarations act 1835—–Oaths Act 1888(Oath of Allegiance), these were put in place for checks and balances, to keep in place an impartialness, through the judicial services. It appears that this at the present, is not getting met to requirements. One therefore must imply that separation of power does not exist, which on these lands; no freedom persists. So the big lie, is that the administration of UK, serves human status, which is abundantly clear it does not. A monopolization; served with cronyism, a minority if you like, to put forward a kingship of corporate entity’s; to grant liberty’s. This allows the public subject to become the subjugator, and creates a serfdom over
the interests of life. One must therefore infer that UK administration is a practicing communism, producing polycratic technocrat control, over which the administration deems as public.
No doubt Scott or one of his production line of sockpuppet names will post some fucking drivel about how this is racist and take more personal hotshots at the site and its users while continuing to spend hours out of every day obsessing over what they’re saying.
“No doubt Scott or one of his production line of sock puppet names”
You’ve repeatedly claimed this. It’s completely false. And whenever challenged to produce evidence, you’ve always gone very quiet.
But hey. Carry on, if you like – you’re clearly happy with behaving like a truculent toddler, so don’t let any of us get in the way of what little comfort you seek to bring to your own little life.
Preposterous programme now on about “Wild Arabia”.
Sounds like it could be about Islamic anger at the West, but is as I thought…about animals, plants etc out there in Arabia.
Well that`s what I was hoping for…but instead it`s all Carbon Neutral bollox and how nice the Arabs are to their camels once they`ve raced them alongside the Mercs.
Dreadful crap-those shopping malls burning the worlds oil( well, much of it theirs I grant you)…aircon pods to take you to the airport?
What about Gaia?…I only wanted to see a few animals and cacti, yet what I got was a “Come To Dubai” business ad and the promise that they`ll not thrwo gays into prison for as long as the 2022 World Cup is on.
No Plane Stupid, No anti-oil/fracking, no Greenpeace or League Against Cruel Camel racing?…why not Beeb?
You normally wouldn`t miss out on all this liberal outrage in waiting.
Oh…Salman Rushdie…Anjem and Inglat?…say no more!
Still-a “Wild Arabia” that shows me Arabs pissing water up into the air, no indigenous wildlife and lots of public transport plans and shopping experiences?…hardly Attenborough is it? More Mary Portas…but not a Greenie Protesting anywhere?
Not over-brave or principled the GreenyLefty is he(or she)?
Call me Chelsea this month Owen?…ta chuck!
Whatever the program on the bbc , the tail wags the dog, the sacred agenda steers the ship. The title and description of the program does not mean that you are safe from a dose of thought training.
I prefer not to use the word liberty. It is not the same , in my mind, as freedom.
it is a different concept. Liberty is granted by a king, state or government.
Freedom is not granted but inalienable. I , as an Englishman, was born free. Freedom is my birthright. it is not negotiable or needing any definition.
Liberals cannot understand this. You are wasting breath explaining it to them.
Hence the ridiculous human rights culture and the laws that allegedly guarantee our “liberty” to do or not do something.
No Englishman has any need of such nonsense.
Recently I took one of my grandsons to meet one of the last freemen of old England. A woodsman who lives on the edge of the New Forest.
I told my grandson to remember this man and to value his independence of spirit and his love of England and his small part of it.
Once such men were common throughout the land. Men who you knew would always be loyal and never ever let you or England down.
Proper Englishmen descendants of those who have always known what freedom really means.
Rights, laws and all the modern garbage of the liberal world are as nothing compared with knowing that a man like that would stand with you come what may.
Freedom is part of men like these. The liberal will never understand this.
Worth a repost on this particular thread as it will no doubt not get much of a mention (Magna Carta) in the above bBC programme.
The BBC does not recognise the nation of England in the same way it does Scotland. For example, can anyone at the BBC tell me why there is a ‘BBC2 Scotland’, but no ‘BBC2 England’, or indeed a BBC Scotland, but no BBC England. In the person of the Director General, in his arrogance that the world starts at the BBC in England and spreads out to ‘the remote colonies’ of the UK, which need to be named, and given an identity, does he imagine that everyone knows where the BBC broadcasts from; that it assumes that England does not need to be given any respect. We know part of their mindset however, that England is not a single nation but comprised of ‘regions’, and they go out of their way, still, in spite of objections to promote this.
Perhaps England should be recognised as a ‘colony’ too, and named, by the BBC Imperial Emperors. The BBC can then sit atop its grand towers looking at everyone equally.
There must be revolutionary change in the BBC’s structure, and its organisation. The License Tax must be abolished and if there is a need for a public service broadcaster it must be financed out of general taxation.
I should not need the State’s consent via a Licence to watch TV or listen to radio.
They say there’s no such thing as a stupid question. They’re wrong.
“Fish don’t know they’re wet.”
If the sub silentio default position is supposed to be that the BBC is essentially “English” when not otherwise specified, that would go a long way to explaining it. But I doubt they would explain it this way– the reason being, you’d get an argument as to how “English” they REALLY are, as opposed to being how Southeastern. This is why they resort to “England is regional” and you can’t speak of England qua one “entity with an identity.”
They must really believe that the English people, or at any rate those living in England proper, just so take it for granted that they are “English” in a “Yeah– so?” sort of way, that it serves no good purpose, except for sporting rivalry, to “reify” “England.”
This all conjures up England Your England, an Orwell essay (available in full online at no cost), in which he discusses “national identities” within the UK. Worth a read to find out this subject matter was discussed seventy-odd years ago.
Why is there a BBC Scotland, but no BBC England
And why is there an ‘Asian’ Network?
“Why is there a BBC Scotland, but no BBC England”
Perhaps because the BBC split England into regions (in the same way that they treat Scotland as a region).
“BBC English Regions are responsible for all non-networked television, text and radio output in England as well as the BBC’s local websites covering the English Regions.”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/england/about.shtml
Not reading the all way through to the end again ally?
Prang had already covered that, speculating that the BBC regionalise England as part of the policy of denying an English identity .
I was not responding to “Prang”.
Fair enough, though I’m not sure it answers ‘Sr Arthur’s’question and the point about regions had already been addressed
I have noticed that the ‘Socialist Nationalist (and Scottish workers) Party is equally keen on breaking up England into regions.why is that do you think?
I don’t know how a party (“Socialist Nationalist (and Scottish workers) Party”) that does not exist can have a policy about anything.
The BBC does. It’s left ,sneering and bigoted .
Reference to chrisH s first post about Mosley , why do the BBC & all of the other looney left commentators try to call the Fascists
” Far Right ” organisations .
The name National Socialists should be a big clue there , & the Fascists fit exactly the original definition [ from French revolution times ] of far left organisations .
But it seems that since the two lots of socialists fell out , the communist socialists are trying to make out that the Fascists are similar to the right wing parties .
I read some where that this happened by diktat from Stalin.
That after initial negotiations between Stalin and Hitler broke down Stalin declared Fascism reactionary and the western intelligentsia duly followed suite, having previously been broadly sympathetic to both Hitler and Mussolini .
In the days when Communism then Fascism were all the rage there was racism from both sides. In the Russian civil war pogroms didn’t disappear due to some “enlightened left wing thinking.”
It is often painted that anti-semitism was an aberration of the Nazi party but before the Nazis gained one seat in the REichstag there existed another right-wing party: DNVP which advocated hatred for Jews. Basically racism was a core part of European thinking. It is only in modern times that it’s been tagged to the far right. But this is just sleight of hand from the left.
“The Left’s jihad on Western culture:
People must be ‘educated’ to embrace ‘Arab’ culture”
By Nicolai Sennels.
http://www.jihadwatch.org/2014/01/the-lefts-jihad-on-western-culture-people-must-be-educated-to-embrace-arab-culture/
Typical of French intellectuals. France lost it’s way after Waterloo put an end to French dreams of dominating Europe. The country has been second best to Germany ever since.