Any English people on here?

Ant · Post by **Ant** » 05 Oct 2014, 05:05

That's right and there is nothing sinister about it, you can be Scottish and British and have no connection to England at all.

If you are English then you are indeed British, but, you can be British without being English.

Fran · Post by **Fran** » 05 Oct 2014, 06:27

Point of Information:
Location = your current physical location

Ryan · Post by **Ryan** » 05 Oct 2014, 08:08

For many people it's to do with patriotism, but for me it's more to do with my dislike of imperialism. I hate that the cultures that make up Britain are subsumed under one name, such as Scotland, Ireland or Wales. Countries that have their own language and traditions, and yet when anybody thinks of Britain they either think of the English or a small patch of land on the map called the United Kingdom. It's rather frustrating. I'm not Scottish or this thing they call "British". I'm English

ALynnPowers · Post by **ALynnPowers** » 05 Oct 2014, 09:04

Okay, so my general American ignorance is going to show up right now, but I have a question. Ireland is not part of Britain, right? Only Northern Ireland? And those are technically two different countries? I should just google this, but it's much more fun to stimulate discussion here...

Liot · Post by **Liot** » 05 Oct 2014, 10:21

Alynn - Great Britain is England, Scotland and Wales. The United Kingdom is those three plus Northern Ireland. What is often referred to as Ireland or Eire has been a separate country since the nineteen twenties. That's caused a lot of trouble and strife but the majority in Northern Ireland, like the majority in Scotland, want to stay with the union. This is something that sticks in the craw of many anti British people who want to paint the British as Imperialistic and the bad guys. The reality is that most Britons like the idea of the union and are not subservient to any one part of it.

Everyone is entitled to their own view on whether the UK as one entity is good, bad or indifferent. Personally I think that the sum of all the parts is greater than the whole.

It can't be too bad a place when people migrate from across the world to try to get into Britain having passed through several other European countries but didn't want to stay in any of them; their goal is the UK.

Ryan · Post by **Ryan** » 05 Oct 2014, 12:22

I don't need to paint the British as imperialistic. All you have to do is a Google search on the British Empire and the entire history of Britain's imperialism can be found right there. And trust me, none of those countries WANTED to be colonized

Ant · Post by **Ant** » 05 Oct 2014, 16:26

What century are you living in, this is 2014. Empire? Every country has a past. Don't forget our country has been invaded in the past. Don't get brainwashed by bigots.

Liot · Post by **Liot** » 05 Oct 2014, 16:41

They say that the sun never set on the British Empire because God didn't trust the Brits in the dark. On the other hand, I wonder how the countries that were taken over by the British would have developed and fared if they had not been part of the British Empire. We did a lot a bad things in the name of Empire but we also did a lot of good. As Ant says, all countries have a past, some of it good and some of it bad. The US is a great country but in living memory people of the wrong colour or religion were marginalised and worse.

Ryan · Post by **Ryan** » 05 Oct 2014, 19:01

That is very true. The economic benefits were advantageous not only to us but those countries too. But many of those countries are still suffering because we refused to let them go for much too long (Ireland, for example) and Scotland still have very limited power within the UK even though they're a part of it. It's difficult to see past the negative aspects of (I still say) imperialism. I'm not completely ignorant of its benefits, though. England has a lot of economic dependence on Scotland, which is why so many were against Scotland gaining independence recently. I was too, by the way. It would've been economically catastrophic for all of us. So I'm not "brainwashed" -- I have my own thoughts and opinions but not the time to worry about whether they're popular or not.

Thank you both for this discussion, though. I hope there are no hard feelings between us

Liot · Post by **Liot** » 06 Oct 2014, 00:26

Ryanj1

I should hope there are no hard feelings on anyone's side. A lively discussion with respect for the other's opinion is one of the joys of life, in my opinion.

Ryan · Post by **Ryan** » 06 Oct 2014, 00:34

I very much agree with you. I'm very glad I joined this site!

ALynnPowers · Post by **ALynnPowers** » 29 Oct 2014, 22:01

Liot wrote:Alynn - Great Britain is England, Scotland and Wales. The United Kingdom is those three plus Northern Ireland. What is often referred to as Ireland or Eire has been a separate country since the nineteen twenties. That's caused a lot of trouble and strife but the majority in Northern Ireland, like the majority in Scotland, want to stay with the union. This is something that sticks in the craw of many anti British people who want to paint the British as Imperialistic and the bad guys. The reality is that most Britons like the idea of the union and are not subservient to any one part of it.

You were so super helpful! I had forgotten that I even asked that question. And thank you for not being condescending with your answer. I know I look like an idiot, but I seriously had no interest in geography or European history back in the day when I was forced to study it. As a result... I now know nothing.