What is British culture?

[Section 8]

Not wanting to spark another debate about Brexit, racism or get into deep political discussions which may become opinionated and heated, but what is or what do you think is British culture?

After the recent referendum and the rise of UKIPS into the media I have heard many times that our British culture is being "eroded" away by immigration. I admit I'm not much of a nationalist or Royalist and see foreign people as just other people who come here and do what they wish to do in freedom and is none of my business.

Despite this I have tried to think differently to see other points of view but I'm completely unable to fathom what exactly is being eroded. My own 98 year old Auntie voted "Leave" as she didn't want us to lose our identity. Again I'm bemused how we lose our identity as I'm either different or lucky as I can personally say I've not noticed any real effect that immigration has had on my life at all.

 

[itfciain]

I have to admit I get puzzled by the rhetoric of 'Make Britain Great again' and also, over here 'Make America Great again'

I am confused as to which periods in time they are alluding to - WW1, WW2, mass unemployment, 3 day weeks, race riots etc

I think this idea of 'British Culture' and 'Great Again' are basically an attempt to hoodwink people into believing that the past was better than the current and that in some way these particular politicians can make it all better again - so basically utter bollocks

Oh, and they clearly have a racist under current - which is funny considering on a Saturday, British culture for most men 18-45 involves having a few beers (foreign), whilst watch football and cheering on a bunch of non-British players and then going out for a Chinese or an Indian !

 

[poncho]

Of interest iain now your state side and seen the american way of life/thinking is it better than britain?

 

[itfciain]

Of interest iain now your state side and seen the american way of life/thinking is it better than britain?

To be honest mate - it is all pretty much the same - overall high percentage of decent people happy to help everyone whatever background/skin colour and then a few knuckle draggers that are just an embarrassment to themselves and those around them

 

[weasel]

British culture?

Going out shopping in good old British shops like Harrods (Egyptian owned) and having a coffee in nice traditional British coffee shop like Starbucks (US owned) before heading home in your (German) car to watch an (American) box set on your (Japanese/chinese) TV whilst enjoying a nice traditional British take-away meal of Tikka Masala (ok, that actually is British).

 

[Robstyley]

I don't think immigration has got anything to do or has any effect with/on British culture. I love this country despite everything that's going on. To me British culture is about all the great traditions, people and things we like to do in this country whether it be Sport - football, cricket, motorsport etc, Food & drink - fish n chips, roast dinners, full English etc, Music - Beatles, Stones, The Who etc... the list goes on and on. I'm sick to death of people being down on it, and also saying we don't have a culture. We have a rich and interesting culture, a beautiful country and some of the best and funniest people you'll ever meet. No amount of immigrants will ever change or spoil that for me. Must say though, if immigrants or visitors take offence to our country or our ways, or English take offence to their ways - **** em'

 

[weasel]

I take your point about "make the country great again." But it's normally said by politicians who are seeking election or who have just been elected. It allows them to imply that, firstly, their predecessor was useless and ran the country down, and secondly, that they are the second coming and will be the bestest ever.
All when realistically, their predecessor has done about as well as could be expected and that the new guy is promising idealised, over simplistic solutions to incredibly complex problems that they know won't work or that they have no intention of sticking to. But then the general public at large don't want to hear the truth, that problems are complex and will take years or decades to fix and will probably end up costing them money. They want cheap and easy solutions. Which is why they keep voting for parties that promise cheap and easy solutions and those few that tell the truth get crucified at the ballot box.
Until that changes we will always have people offering simple solutions (like leave the EU spend the £350 a million a week we give them on fixing the NHS) to incredibly complex generational issues (we have an ageing population, a record number of OAP's and an NHS that is chronically over managed and under staffed at the front line).

And that goes for ALL political parties.

 

[Ian_C]

Of interest iain now your state side and seen the american way of life/thinking is it better than britain?

To be honest mate - it is all pretty much the same - overall high percentage of decent people happy to help everyone whatever background/skin colour and then a few knuckle draggers that are just an embarrassment to themselves and those around them

Pretty much exactly the same north of the border too Iain.

I don't know to what extent, if any, this is going on across the pond, but here, cultural erosion is seen mostly in traditional holidays. In schools, we no longer have costumes or even a mention of the day on Halloween. Certainly no images of witches, black cats, skeletons, etc. It is now "Black and Orange Day". Ditto for Christmas. "Red and Green Day", with an emphasis on sharing and family over Santa and Frosty, although at least those symbols are still mentioned in a reduced way. The other holidays are the same, all to avoid the different religious viewpoints. **** that - I'm not religious, and some of my best childhood memories were Halloween and Christmas parties.

Same at the retail level and in politics too. People are advised to say Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas, and Christmas trees are banned from many City Hall foyers. We've gone decades without it insulting the non-religious, so these recent moves are to appease the immigrants of different faiths.

On the flip side, there is an increasing pattern to build prayer rooms in some schools for Muslim children, and while it's not for me, I have no problem with this. Inclusion of other cultures in our society is fine - sacrificing our own traditions to appease new cultures is not.

That's how we see cultural erosion here.

Ian

 

[itfciain]

You know Ian, I am sure a lot of that is actually driven by those that feel the need to appease rather than those from other cultures.

I used to work around Bradford a lot and had a lot of Asian customers - they were amazed (and shocked) that the local council (predominantly white run) tried to do away with mentions of Christmas etc - the people I spoke to were of the opinion that if they moved to, and decided to live in this country then they had to adopt the culture - they were embarrassed that these things were being done in their name

 

[Ian_C]

It's a bit of both Iain, but definitely more so the fault of people in authority trying to do the PC thing. Radical immigrants who are pushing for changes are certainly a small minority amongst all immigrants. I'm not so much blaming other cultures, as just showing the end result and how it's going the wrong way (in my opinion).

Ian

 

[itfciain]

It's a bit of both Iain, but definitely more so the fault of people in authority trying to do the PC thing. Radical immigrants who are pushing for changes are certainly a small minority amongst all immigrants. I'm not so much blaming other cultures, as just showing the end result and how it's going the wrong way (in my opinion).

Ian

No I agree entirely - I never understand why people who hate a culture or a country so much can bare to live there

 

[Section 8]

Same at the retail level and in politics too. People are advised to say Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas, and Christmas trees are banned from many City Hall foyers. We've gone decades without it insulting the non-religious, so these recent moves are to appease the immigrants of different faiths.
Ian

You may be confusing political correctness with health and safety.

The same things are often said in the UK about appeasing other faiths, but in reality it's generally spouted by the right wing media or those that read it and believe it. In reality nobody calls it happy holidays, nor do they have their union jacks taken down or have areas of the UK under sharia law.

Happy holidays is an Americanism that has arrived into the UK so is more about American influence rather than appeasing faiths. Just like Halloween which is now far more celebrated than it ever was when I was a child. Bonfire night and "penny for the guy" were way more celebrated.

The only traditions that I can think have lessened are things like walking day, bonfire night and conker fights, but these are lost to local councils and health and safety not immigration.

 

[x-pack]

I think British culture is somewhat centred around a longing for the past. Like Iain said, this 'make Britain great again' thing is baffling. When exactly was Britain 'great' is the question? Everyone will have their own view on that. I don't think it's now. Some aspects of modern day British culture are thoroughly depressing so it is hardly surprising that people have this notion of making it great again.

Put the 'great' back in Great Britain! Maybe we should go back to making shoddy cars for 3 days a week or working in't mill :?

 

[peekaygee73]

I've been thinking about this for a few days now, and I think your definition of British culture very much depends on when/where you were born.

As someone born in the 70s the 60s seems to play a huge part in British culture. You have the music of the Beatles, Stones, The Who, The Kinks, etc... You have the fashions of Mary Quant, influenced by Mods and other subcultures. You had England winning the World Cup (not sure if the guys in Scotland/Wales have heard that one ). It feels like the 60s have loomed large over us more than any other era before or since, and I suppose this is because it's portrayed in the media as the last time Britain was 'Great-with-a-capital-G'.

As for erosion of culture, I see the main cause of that as being capitalism and the growth of multi-billion pound (ironically I nearly typed dollar there) corporations. As has already been mentioned Halloween seems to be much more celebrated than it was; Christmas starts on November 6th, but it's all sell-sell-sell; schools now have proms; people aspire to be rich/famous whilst putting in as minimal an amount of effort as possible, 'cos the magazines and papers show it's possible; people will queue for days to get the latest bit of tech they don't need; people will fight in shops over items in 'Black Friday' sales; materialism seems to be more rife than ever.

Then there are other aspects to British culture. Queueing; saying sorry to someone when they barge into you; drinking tea; crap customer service. These are the kind of things which define the behaviour of the nation, but again it changes over time. I asked my Danish colleague what defines British culture, and he said his parents' perception was that everyone in Britain looks like Onslow from 'Keeping Up Appearances'; there's too much traffic on tiny roads; and bloody awful food. :shock: :lol:

 

[Section 8]

Seeing some of the replies I think many of you are in the same boat as myself. Other than a few regional traditions and some stereotypes I see no core cultural activity that we share.

As for those who say we're having our culture and identity eroded, I can only come up with the idea that we are on average a less white and a less religious nation. Maybe this is what they mean?

Immigration has certainly not made me an atheist, nor has it made me less white skinned or less British. I still eat my pies straight from the foil, point at planes and drink bittuh out of a dimpled pint mug. No amount ever will.

 

[rdpla]

When i asked a Japanese friend what he considered to be british culture his reply was
Fish and chips
The Queen (gawd bless ya maam)
Fog ?? ( back in the 50/60s maybe)
Soccer and cricket
and always complain about the weather...

on the flip side, when people ask why i stayed in Japan, i always say. coz i fell in love with the culture....!!

To finish off..No matter what, i will always be a foreigner here, for obvious reasons i cant easily blend into a crowd, but when I was last in the UK( 4 years ago), just walking down the high street, the mish mash of nationalities and languages being spoken all around me, I felt more of a foreigner in my home country than i do here..

Robert.

 

[weasel]

I've been thinking about this for a few days now, and I think your definition of British culture very much depends on when/where you were born.

As someone born in the 70s the 60s seems to play a huge part in British culture. You have the music of the Beatles, Stones, The Who, The Kinks, etc... You have the fashions of Mary Quant, influenced by Mods and other subcultures. You had England winning the World Cup (not sure if the guys in Scotland/Wales AND NORTHERN IRELAND have heard that one ). It feels like the 60s have loomed large over us more than any other era before or since, and I suppose this is because it's portrayed in the media as the last time Britain was 'Great-with-a-capital-G'.

As for erosion of culture, I see the main cause of that as being capitalism and the growth of multi-billion pound (ironically I nearly typed dollar there) corporations. As has already been mentioned Halloween seems to be much more celebrated than it was; Christmas starts on November 6th, but it's all sell-sell-sell; schools now have proms; people aspire to be rich/famous whilst putting in as minimal an amount of effort as possible, 'cos the magazines and papers show it's possible; people will queue for days to get the latest bit of tech they don't need; people will fight in shops over items in 'Black Friday' sales; materialism seems to be more rife than ever.

Then there are other aspects to British culture. Queueing; saying sorry to someone when they barge into you; drinking tea; crap customer service. These are the kind of things which define the behaviour of the nation, but again it changes over time. I asked my Danish colleague what defines British culture, and he said his parents' perception was that everyone in Britain looks like Onslow from 'Keeping Up Appearances'; there's too much traffic on tiny roads; and bloody awful food. :shock: :lol:

I corrected your glaring typo!

 

[peekaygee73]

I've been thinking about this for a few days now, and I think your definition of British culture very much depends on when/where you were born.

As someone born in the 70s the 60s seems to play a huge part in British culture. You have the music of the Beatles, Stones, The Who, The Kinks, etc... You have the fashions of Mary Quant, influenced by Mods and other subcultures. You had England winning the World Cup (not sure if the guys in Scotland/Wales AND NORTHERN IRELAND have heard that one ). It feels like the 60s have loomed large over us more than any other era before or since, and I suppose this is because it's portrayed in the media as the last time Britain was 'Great-with-a-capital-G'.

As for erosion of culture, I see the main cause of that as being capitalism and the growth of multi-billion pound (ironically I nearly typed dollar there) corporations. As has already been mentioned Halloween seems to be much more celebrated than it was; Christmas starts on November 6th, but it's all sell-sell-sell; schools now have proms; people aspire to be rich/famous whilst putting in as minimal an amount of effort as possible, 'cos the magazines and papers show it's possible; people will queue for days to get the latest bit of tech they don't need; people will fight in shops over items in 'Black Friday' sales; materialism seems to be more rife than ever.

Then there are other aspects to British culture. Queueing; saying sorry to someone when they barge into you; drinking tea; crap customer service. These are the kind of things which define the behaviour of the nation, but again it changes over time. I asked my Danish colleague what defines British culture, and he said his parents' perception was that everyone in Britain looks like Onslow from 'Keeping Up Appearances'; there's too much traffic on tiny roads; and bloody awful food. :shock: :lol:

I corrected your glaring typo!

Cheers. It's a discussion I've had with Welsh and Scottish friends/colleagues but I hadn't realised it bothered the NI guys so much.

<Goes away and reads Weasel's posts>

Oh yeah! :wink:

 

[spoons]

I'd say immigration has everything to do with British culture as we are one of the most diverse nations in the world

For over two thousand years we have been invaded, settled and visited by most of modern day Europe and as such you will probably only find a true Britain somewhere in the Scottish Highlands.

Recent immigration just adds to our ethnic diversity and makes us all the better - we'd all be inbred otherwise, just look at the Royals :lol:

 

[weasel]

Cheers. It's a discussion I've had with Welsh and Scottish friends/colleagues but I hadn't realised it bothered the NI guys so much.

<Goes away and reads Weasel's posts>

Oh yeah! :wink:

:lol: i suspect it bothers us a bit less than it bothers the Welsh and especially the Scottish. Although you lot really do need to change the record on that one, it was 50 years ago FFS.

What does bother us/me in particular, is the fact we in Northern Ireland, appear to be ignored or an after thought at best a lot of the time. The number of times TV programmes mention England, Scotland, and Wales, and ignore us, is amazing. Also, next time you see an advert on TV for a special offer on pretty much anything, have a look at the small print on the screen, 75% of the time it says " Does not include Northern Ireland." Insurance companies are the worst. We apparently, aren't worthy.
Another example, the Parcel2go website doesn't quote for Northern Ireland. I did ask, they "don't cover NI". Strangely every single courier they use DOES. Tends to get a bit frustrating after all these years. Especially when your a grumpy auld bastard like me.

Anyway, i'm hijacking the thread.