You’ll probably be aware that I’m a dedicated Anglophile, nothing and no-one will ever convince me that England and Britain are not the finest nations on earth.
While we were inventing, among other things, and in no particular order
The Locomotive
The Postage stamp
The Hovercraft
Various sports, football, rugby, cricket etc. etc.
The Computer
Television
…and so on and so forth.
Our friends across the pond were inventing
The Machine Gun
The Colt revolver
The Submarine
The Iron Clad Battleship
The Automobile
The Airplane
Napalm?
Agent Orange
…and so on and so forth.
Don’t for one minute get me wrong, I like America and Americans but it appears to me that while the British were doing their best to better the world, the Americans were also doing their best to fuck it up.
Before anyone jumps in with a USA v GB tirade, I’m not interested in the slightest. I will say this though, we managed to abolish slavery without having to have a civil war about it, the USA didn’t
You’ll probably be aware that I’m a dedicated Anglophile, nothing and no-one will ever convince me that England and Britain are not the finest nations on earth.
We are not at odds over the achievements of the UK. My point was that the Scots, Welsh and Northern Irish, as well as the English are separate nations forming a single state. This fact is underlined by the establishment of a Scottish National Assembly in Edinburgh, a Welsh Assembly in Cardiff and the reconstitution of a ‘parliament’ in Stormont/Belfast, thereby recognising their nationhoods. There are now certain (muted) calls for an English (as distinct from British) parliament.
As to which is the finest/greatest nation, it is the kind of absolutist question that no one will ever agree on. Most (all?) nations have their good and their bad points, and all expressions of approval or disapproval tend to be quite subjective, one’s point of view being determined from one’s experience and indoctrination - ok, call it schooling. So for every expression of approval and support on the one hand, there is someone viewing the same nation from another standpoint, and with a different perspective and a different opinion.
Americans will naturally tend to consider their country the greatest. Within the US, Texas seems to consider itself the greatest…and so on. But what does all of this mean? In the overall, probably not a lot - unless one goes too far and follows the dangerous mirage of the Herrenvolk.
I don’t really see the point of identifying the greatest nation. I’m an American and it has some good points, but not nearly as many as we seem to think (and more than some of my European friends will admit). Every place I’ve been has had great parts and crappy parts.
In that sense, the United Kingdom is actually less of a group of “nations” than the US. Whereas in the US, the states are guaranteed certain inherent powers which the federal government can never take away* and are considered sovereign entitiesin a limited sense, the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly and the Stormont are guaranteed nothing. All power devolves from Westminster and (the “UK”) Parliament can dissolve the regional bodies whenever it likes, at least in theory.
Oh, bollocks. You also invented the gunboat, the destroyer, aerial bombing…
We had to invent the gunboat to keep the natives in their rightful place.
Same with the destroyer, not sure about the aerial bombing though, thought that was those chappies in WW 1 that chucked hand grenades out of their planes which later lead to those dinky little hand held bombs that both/all sides used
Right - and you think inventing weapons to ensure you can stay on top of conquered peoples and exploit their resources is somehow more honorable than inventing weapons so you can defend yourself (and exploit other peoples’ resources)?
The first bomb dropped from a plane was Italian, but the first purpose-built bomber aircraft was the Handley Page Mk. O (I think).
I’m not having a dig - I’m British (though by descent, I’m one of those oppressed colonials). I’m just pointing out that US militarism (and US weapons development) is no worse than British militarism and the associated development of weapons in other years past.
The same nation that you complained about because it invented the revolver, machine, gun, submarine, ironclad, etc. also gave the world the hydroelectric generator, the radio (sort of), refrigeration, vulcanized rubber, the passenger elevator/lift, the water treatment facility, synthetic insulin and home-delivered pizza.
Think about it for a minute. Tropical beaches, snowy ski runs, unspoiled natural goodness and resources in abundance, a healthy economy, mostly good courts, social freedoms, pretty good living standard, not militaristic or weapons focused, and I’ve never met a Kiwi I didn’t like.
Not to mention should the other boneheaded nations of the world finally lose it and let fly with the weapons of mass destruction, I have read, the only place with a real fighting chance, (mostly because of prevailing winds and weather patterns), of surviving is New Zealand!
They are sort of understated and low profile in a way that seems both wise and appealing, to me Sort of like the quiet, good looking, soft spoken boy at the party!
{Great Britain? It is to laugh, they have unreliable cobblers, kill each other at soccer matches, throw garbage at musicians and talk all snooty like, when they’re having they’re tea. Don’t get me started on warm beer and bad food. Great Britian, good one!}
and KFC