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LadyEllen -> RE: Multiculturalim is dangurous? (11/27/2007 7:29:10 AM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: NorthernGent
Edited to add: Ellen, if you asked 5 Englishmen what it means to be English, you'd get a different answer from each one, so what exactly are you going to force upon people, here? Your idea of what it means to be English? The few hallmarks that you can ascribe to Englishness are a) difference and b) indifference to Englishness. Maybe your personal circumstances lead to a different social situation, but mine lead me to a group of friends who want to spend time down the pub, with family, with friends, and by and large couldn't care less about London, the south, the queen, the government or any of that; that lot may as well be on the moon, but, under your proposals, it sounds like us Northerners are going to be forced to adhere to your values and beliefs.....'bout time we built that wall and keep you lot down there out of our business.
Strangely enough, people round here dont give two hoots for London or the Queen either.
You know very well that it isnt possible - even advisable, even needful to define what being English is. The only real definition is only obtainable by DNA and even then, it would be virtually impossible to find someone here who is 100% from the original tribes who migrated here 1500 years ago from Jutland. Given the mixing of DNA with Scottish, Welsh, Irish, Danish and Norwegian alone it would be impossible. An ethnic definition is therefore interesting but ultimately pointless as an exercise. Indeed, given mixing since mass migration began, it is quite possible today that a child with one white parent and one Afro Caribbean parent, is more ethnically English than some descended from pre mass migration ancestors.
So we might move on to a sociological/ historical definition - citing traditions and culture. But this will not do either. Nothwithstanding that English culture has never existed as a single entity - changing from place to place in very short geographical measure, we are now living in an entirely different world in which whilst it is the product of our history, the history is not entirely relevant to today. And this, because the people who live in England are very different, and the social scene and political environment have changed significantly, in a very short period of time. In fact, this is why I hold the position that we must reach an entirely new settlement in this country which is freed from traditions which are no longer appropriate to us as we are now.
And we must remain us - that is we must be one nation, regardless of our ethnicities, religions or lack thereof, origins and any other differential factor. My view is, that we have wandered from this idea of a nation, into a situation where we are little more than isolated communities who share a currency and a government. Part of this wandering is down to multicultural ideals in which no central idea is important because each individual group's idea is elevated above any common identity. Indeed, the excesses of modern government can I believe be put down to this too - lacking any means of coherence, we can be divided and ruled.
In the end, I view a nation as a kind of club. If one wishes to be and remain a member of the club, then one abides by the rules of the club. One participates in the activities of the club, and one enjoys the benefits of the club. One is proud of one's membership and supports the club. One takes part in forming the rules of the club, one pays one's dues on time and one does not exclude new members because they are new, nor indeed does one vilify the older members of the club for their age. One does not exclude on the basis of ethnicity, religion, sexuality, gender or whatever - membership is open to all who wish to be members and will abide by the rules.
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