To be English not British

What do you think it means to be English, not British but English? Ask a Scots man where he is from and he'll say Scotland, ask the welsh and they'll say Wales. Ask an English man and you'll get a plethora of answers from the UK, Great Britain or London. The word England is so synonymous with Britain that in numerous languages they even use the same word for both.

I ask this because I'm reading Jeremy Paxman's 'The English' and it has made me realise that I don't really know what Englishness means. We laugh at Korean patriotism but they know who they are, maybe its in the Han and Chong inside them. We even laugh at American kids who pledge allegiance as being naive, but we don't even know who we should be allied to. Name a country as big as ours that doesn't even have it's own parliament (there would be a revolution everywhere else). Scotland has the Scottish parliament, Wales the Welsh assembly but England only the British government. Scottish MPs can vote on English matters but not vice versa (this actually was crucial in the recent vote on rising English student fees). 13 of the last 50 prime ministers have been Scottish even though 85% of Britain is English. Which is two fingers to those who believe the English refuse to let minorities have a role in society.

The English have often been charachterised in the past as polite, reserved, unexcitable and having an island mentality. Our greatest memories have been of achieving when all was against us. The blitz, d-day landings, Agincourt to name but a few.

When I'm abroad I have mixed emotions about if I'm proud to be English or not. I do firmly believe that no country in the world has had more influence on the world as a whole, this is even more surprising given the size of England. I'm not naive enough though to think we went to distant lands offering flowers as gifts.

The British empire as bad as people may think was certainly better than the French, Portuguese, Spanish or Japanese. At the time I think empire building was inevitable given the serious advancements that Europeans had over the rest of the world. Had it not been Britain it would of been someone I'm sure. It is easy to look back in disgust but harder to look at the scenerio that presented people at the time. I think we gave independence pretty much at the right time (I know natives of these countries will disagree) but if you look at former British colonies with a couple exceptions they are leading the developing world; Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, NZ, Aus, Hong kong, Shanghai, India are all regional leaders.

Our history led us to be a leader in science, literature, construction and every major field. What
other country has Brunel (engineering), Faraday (electric motor), Blundell (Blood Transfusion), Berners-Lee (World wide web), Stevenson Brothers (railway steam engines), Whittle (jet engine), Swan (light bulb (with Edison), Sir Isaac Newton (gravity, ok he didn't invent it but discovered it), Charles Darwin, Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte and Co, Dicken, Orwell, Wordsworth, Kipling, Shakespeare, Ricardo , Keynes, as alumni (also Marx kind of). I can go on just in the last 50 or so years Stephen Hawkings, JK Rowlings, Beatles, Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Jonathon Ive (designer of Ipod) and David Beckham.

This perhaps is the major change in defining what English is. The majority are historical feats of world leadership or considered British accomplishments with the exception of Becks. I guess it is bringing us full circle to the position of underdog again as bigger countries are beginning to be the leaders in these fields. England though has not lost all its infleunce, go to any bar in the world and you will hear English music be it greats like pink floyd, rolling stones, beatles, the who or modern day indie. On the TV will be the English Premier League. I'm not being arrogant to say its the biggest domestic sporting competition in the world, in Asia, Africa or South America you don't watch the NFL, NBA or La Liga, Serie A you watch Rooney and co strutting themselves around the country. (I believe it is our greatest asset) who else in the world is better known than David Beckham (he got a loudest cheer of anyone in the olympics and he's not even an Olympian.

My point here is that England has contributed more than most to world and even though we have been blamed for many things we as English have taken it in our stride to the extent we have sacrificed our own culture to promote British culture. England will be the last colony of Britain empire and we're ok with that because to be English is to understand that we are gentleman to the last, polite, noble and will bow down with honour , we will sip our tea and curse at the European avalanche that is coming towards us and tut at the brats across the pond, safe in the knowledge that we once ruled the world and changed it in the end for better.

So if you are reading this and think that on this occasion i'm being arrogant sit back drink your tea, listen to the Beatles on your English designed iPod, on the English invented net, under your English light bulb reading this English language blog and think how your country would compare and how your life would be different without our inventions, our aid, our soldiers dying for your country, our culture and in your mind listen to my queens English ' yes I'm arrogant, yes I'm proud, I'm English I can afford to be, can you?'

(actually I'm half english and half Portuguese, so the arrogance has a power boost ala mourinho)