I am a British Citizen NOT an “English Subject”!!!

Originally posted by OtherSideOfTheCoin
With the recent shootings in America I as a Brit don’t the unthinkable; I created a thread calling for greater gun control.

Now I do not wish to discuss gun control in this thread but rather another issue that it raised regarding us British and how we seem to be perceived

Many times in my debates I came across ignorant and stereotypical statements that went along the lines of this

You English are all the Queens subjects and live in an Orwellian nightmare ruled with a Sharia judicial system

A few points I wish to make, firstly I regard myself as a Scottish BritvI am from Scotland but whenever I have to declare my nationality I always say I am “British” (Scottish Brit is rarely an option). It is so frustrating when Americans or come to that any people for another country call me and my fellow countrymen “English” we are not.

Ok, but then what AMERICANs are you talking about?
South Americans, North Americans, Central Americans?
There is no country called AMERICA. So you must mean
Americans like calling a group of people from Europe Europeans.

There is the United States of America.
An area of North America made up of States bound by a Constitution.
And if this Constitution becomes broken, well what you have is a big problem.
Because the States might break up into their own smaller countries.

So citizens of the USA, you sure you want to limit your constitution?

reply to post by FoosM


But regardless, you are American right?

A Scot is not English. That would be like calling you Mexican or, God forbid, Canadian. (Just kidding Canucks eh?)

Originally posted by FoosM
Because the States might break up into their own smaller countries.

Sorry a bit off topic but...

That would be one way of ridding the States of the oppressive Federal Government eh? They don't respect State law, nor the will of the people. State law is more local, Federal law is far removed from the wants and needs of local communities. Centralised power is always bad news.

Im English.
Im NOT Scottish, Northern Irish or Welsh.
I dont consider myself to be British anymore than I consider myself to be European.
I am looking forward to the day when Scotland finally becomes an independent state and Wales goes the same way.
Just thought Id throw that into the pot.
Many thanks

You are passive society dominated by authority, you have no right or capability to resist and you act that way. Your children are raised to revere authority and never question it.

reply to post by ararisq


Which country is this again?

There is no country called AMERICA.

reply to post by FoosM


In being short for United States of America, there is. America, not The Americas.

Originally posted by OtherSideOfTheCoin
reply to post by zedVSzardoz

 

but have you EVER in your life said God save the queen? sworn an oath to her majesty or in any way made a pledge of allegiance to the monarchy?

No I have never sworn an Oath to the Queen or the Monarch; I am not a very big fan of the Queen so I don’t think I have ever seriously muttered the words “God save the Queen”.

So you've never sung your National Anthem? First verse:

"God save our gracious Queen,
Long live our noble Queen,
God save the Queen!
Send her victorious,
Happy and glorious,
Long to reign over us,
God save the Queen!"

edit: Who but subjects of a queen would sing that?

Originally posted by Morg234

You are passive society dominated by authority, you have no right or capability to resist and you act that way. Your children are raised to revere authority and never question it.

reply to post by ararisq

 

Which country is this again?

Its that weird alternate Britain that only exists in the mind of people that think Hugh Grant movies are realistic social commentary.

Its the Sunday television version of the UK.

reply to post by OtherSideOfTheCoin


I agree that a Brit is not just English, I met an American guy in london before and he thought London was England its self, however we are passive but its the same with most western societies as we are all bound by consumerism, which would be capitalism, We live in a functionalist society our Prime Minster and ruling body policy is based on Functionalist sociological theory we all share this common consensus the majority are unfortunately too wrapped up in one state one person screw you jack mentality to even realise this we are all the same its when we break the barrier and start communicating properly with respect and mutuality with each other that this will be realised until then it will be a case of screw you and screw him.

Originally posted by primus2012

Originally posted by OtherSideOfTheCoin
reply to post by zedVSzardoz

 

but have you EVER in your life said God save the queen? sworn an oath to her majesty or in any way made a pledge of allegiance to the monarchy?

No I have never sworn an Oath to the Queen or the Monarch; I am not a very big fan of the Queen so I don’t think I have ever seriously muttered the words “God save the Queen”.

So you've never sung your National Anthem? First verse:

"God save our gracious Queen,
Long live our noble Queen,
God save the Queen!
Send her victorious,
Happy and glorious,
Long to reign over us,
God save the Queen!"

edit: Who but subjects of a queen would sing that?

edit on 19-12-2012 by primus2012 because: (no reason given)

Most people, myself included, probably have not.

We'll have heard it on the TV many a time but unless you've decided to attend a royal event or you are a sportsman on a national team I don't know when you would be obliged to sing it. Most people if asked couldn't tell you the words to it unprompted.

In Scotland we pretend to have the song 'Flower of scotland' for the football team but after the 1st verse most of us don't know that either. "Oh flower of scotland, dum dum de dum, something about thinking again".

Originally posted by primus2012

Originally posted by OtherSideOfTheCoin
reply to post by zedVSzardoz

 

So you've never sung your National Anthem? First verse:

"God save our gracious Queen,
Long live our noble Queen,
God save the Queen!
Send her victorious,
Happy and glorious,
Long to reign over us,
God save the Queen!"

edit: Who but subjects of a queen would sing that?

edit on 19-12-2012 by primus2012 because: (no reason given)

about 99% of people I know haven't sung the anthem and about 70% don't know the anthem word for word in the 1st place so we are not all subjects and never will be.

reply to post by primus2012


They're not forced to sing the National Anthem at school, or before football matches, in the UK.

They don't pledge an allegiance to anything. They don't fly the national flag on every building.

The USA is far more nationalistic than most of Europe.

reply to post by OtherSideOfTheCoin
Like on your gun control thread i suggested you research gun control and how the crime rate has gone up in the UK since your guns were taken from you, now I suggest you do the same thing and research "Shaira law in Britain", not to say you are under Shaira law at this time but the way Muslims are in the UK I doubt it will be long before you as a subject or citizen, what ever you are(least of your worrys) will have to find something to fight with if you want to stay under British law because you can be damn sure the Muslims will have all the guns they need.
Just a thought but since I have read your threads and done a little research on the UK, I would suggest stop worring about the U.S. and research what is going on around you ...................throwing rocks while living in a glass house comes to mind.

Originally posted by ANOK
reply to post by FoosM

 

But regardless, you are American right?

A Scot is not English. That would be like calling you Mexican or, God forbid, Canadian. (Just kidding Canucks eh?)

Are you addressing all Americans, or not?

I think a lot of misconception from the american half probably relates to the issues surrounding how they get their world views. Remember most haven't travelled abroad, and so the TV and internet is their yard stick. I'm not having a go here, it's just true. It has become obvious from all these recent gun threads that the US is very insular, and I think it would be unreasonable to expect that every american will have a balanced world view relating to their counterparts across the pond. It just is.

So my fellow, lovable americans I have some advice. Go overseas for a bit. It changed my view for the better, it has changed a lot of views of people I know for the better, and something tells me it'll change a fair swathe of your views for the better.

see you at the departure lounge.

Originally posted by Morg234

There is no country called AMERICA.

reply to post by FoosM

 

In being short for United States of America, there is. America, not The Americas.

There is no country called America.
That does not exist.

To call the United States of America, simply America, for short, is an exercise of ego or a misunderstanding to whom you owe allegiance to. You owe allegiance to your STATE. There is no country of America. Like there is no country called MEXICO. Its why your central governments have become bloated and corrupted, executing wars without your consent. But you pay for it all.

Originally posted by Battleline
Like on your gun control thread i suggested you research gun control and how the crime rate has gone up in the UK since your guns were taken from you.

That is nonsense because most people didn't own guns for them to be taken away.

The rise in crime had nothing to do with that law, and if you really researched you'll find that is generally the case.

Like the one I posted earlier about Australia (maybe different thread? lol). The crime rate trend did not change after the gun ban, crime did go up but the trend stayed the same. If the ban made a real difference the trend would change and there would either be a sharp upward or downward change in the trend.

It's easy to misrepresent the data to appear as if crime increased, but you have to check the trend over time not some empty statement claiming there was a rise. Technically it's not a lie, just a misrepresentation of the data.

Originally posted by ANOK


It's easy to misrepresent the data to appear as if crime increased, but you have to check the trend over time not some empty statement claiming there was a rise. Technically it's not a lie, just a misrepresentation of the data.

edit on 12/19/2012 by ANOK because: (no reason given)

This is a big problem on here....there seems to be many who don't realize that one set of statistics on their own in isolation can sometimes show a totally different picture than the actual REAL trends.
This is why tabloids and propaganda have a field day....they are good at using them in which ever way it suits their agenda.

Originally posted by tommo2522
i am a brit myself , born and bred Yorkshire lad , its a good thing that people have ideas about us it means were worth thinking about. as far as the world goes , we are number 1 , the history , the really crap humor that only we find funny , we have pretty much rocked it out since anyone can remember , all i will see is come live in the uk , and see what life is really like . and its not like i haven't seen the rest of the world as i was in the forces for 5 years . and if im honest the rest of the world isn't really worth much a thought

Ironically enough I think you just proved the OPs point.

Originally posted by twfau
reply to post by ararisq

 

I don't think the OP was saying more people should be like the British, just that people from outside shouldn't comment unless they've experienced the society. The whole Sharia law thing is completely ignorant as well.

Excellent point!!! And following your recommendation the OP probably shouldn't have spouted off in another thread about something he/she cannot understand, considering it is part of a foreign society and all.

Brilliant!