Amidst all this debate about cultural sovereignty and political independence, it occurs to me that the UK today represents a genuinely unique cross-pollination of European and world cultures; that everything generally regarded as representative of Britain or Britishness is a cultural import from somewhere else. The language we speak is a mash-up of German, French, Latin and Greek, the Royal family are mostly Germans, the iconic cup of tea originates in India, even the British Bulldog is part Chinese. This means that, despite what bigots like Nigel Farage would have you believe, there is no singular British identity, and there hasnt been since the dawn of recorded history. Only the Welsh can possibly claim to be part of the original British culture and (perhaps characteristically) theyre keeping quiet about it. What we have here is a truly international culture, comprising every nation and every racial group in a way that is exceptional in Europe, if not the world, and it occurs to me that this fact might be the strongest argument for preserving this current Union of distinct nations, with all its contradictions and dysfunctionality, as an admirable symbol of unity and peaceful co-existence to the rest of the world. That said, if the Scots people (themselves a heady mix of Pictish, Irish, Scandinavians, French and Germans) decide to go their own way then that is entirely their right, and the rest of us should support whatever decision they make. Friday morning musings.
Posted on: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 10:39:45 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015