Defining the British

Lauren found a great article from the NY Times about Gordon Brown’s recent proposition to formulate a British “statement of values” defining what it means to be British.

“The proposal, part of a package of British-pride-bolstering measures announced by the Prime Minister’s government, raised a host of tricky questions. What does it mean to be British? How do you express it in a country that believes self-promotion to be embarrassing? And how do you deal with a defining trait of the people you are trying to define: their habit of making fun of worthy government proposals?”

Some of the suggestions were:

“Once Mighty Empire, Slightly Used”
“Dipso, Fatso, Bingo, Asbo, Tesco”
“At Least We’re Not French”
“We Apologize for the Inconvenience.”

The winner, favored by 20.9 percent of the readers, was “No Motto Please, We’re British.”

David Bishop, author of the winning motto said:
“The point I was making is, this idea of a statement of Britishness; I cannot think of anything less British than that.”

“Part of the trouble with the whole exercise is that Britain never really began as a country, but rather “just evolved endlessly through time,” said Vernon Bogdanor, a professor of government at Oxford. “In the past, Britain was something that just happened,” he said. “You didn’t have to think about it. No one’s ever sat down and thought about what it means to be British.”

It is funny to live in a country now that just “evolved endlessly through time” and it definitely helps explain why Brits are so bad at celebrating national holidays. I miss American history…we were so decisive: colonize, declare independence, set up successful democracy, and settle down to plan great 4th of July parades.

In a related and doubtless controversial note, the Times had an online contest to find a six word motto for the US with 1300+ entries including:

“Still Using Fahrenheit, Feet, and Gallons”
“Just like Canada, with Better Bacon”
“Hubris: it’s not just for Greeks!”
“We came. We saw. We conquered.”
“Supporting Free Trade since 1776 (sic)”
“Enlightment scientific rationality meets puritan morality”
…and many, more