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BRITISHNESS Thanks so much to Sue, from San Diego, for pointing me to the Daily Telegraph feature on "What It Means to be British." Reading the columns, and the e-mails and letters responding to them, filled a wonderful afternoon for me. Let me quote . . . "A YouGov survey for the Telegraph has found that Britons' sense of national identity depends far more on shared values and institutions than on nostalgia for warm beer and village cricket." "...nearly 90 per cent of YouGov's respondents are not shy about saying that they are proud to be British." "Values such as peoples' right to say what they think, fairness and fair play, politeness and tolerance of other people and their ideas stand out." "...red telephone boxes and double-deck buses scarcely figure in Britons' sense of what their country means. Pubs and Shakespeare matter more." "After years of being embarrassed about our past, people want to sing Land of Hope and Glory." "Where once patriotism was seen as more embarrassing than pornography, the British are now beginning to feel that the only way to hold this country together is to give everyone a motive to want to belong, and a reason to be proud of owning a British passport." "Perhaps because a large proportion of non-Muslim Britons have peaceful Muslim friends and neighbours, a majority also rejects the idea that this country is in the front line of a "clash of civilisations." "Partly because it is rooted so deeply in the present as well as the past, Britons' sense of national identity seems secure. People never ask themselves the question, "What does it mean to be British?", they just go about the business of being British." These are just a few snippets from the articles. The letters and e-mails written in response make even more absorbing reading. See below for all the links: Mentioned as being particularly British were: a sense of humour, eccentricity, compromise for the greater good, gardens, a sense of fair play, a deep love of animals, love of the countryside, balanced news, basic integrity, social and legal justice, love of the seaside, creativity, tenacity, the ability to laugh at ourselves .... I'm sure you can add your own essence of Britishness. The columns are at: www.expat.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/07/27/nbrit27.xml www.expat.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/07/27/nbrit127.xml. The e-mails and letters written in response are at: www.expat.telegraph.co.uk/global/main.jhtml?xml=/global/2005/07/28/uviewbritish2.xml www.expat.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/exclusions/uviewbritish3.xml www.expat.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2005/07/28/dt2801.xml www.expat.telegraph.co.uk/global/main.jhtml?xml=/global/2005/08/02/nbrit02.xml I know you will enjoy them. Bits and Pieces Index Home Last Updated: August 21, 2005 ©2000-2005 DBE in Louisiana, Inc. All rights reserved. Questions/Comments? Contact the Webmaster Betty Calzada.