"For far too long, we have left patriotism to the extremists"

[mr blur]

Interesting article by David Blunkett in today's Guardian:

"What is it that unites, on the left of British politics, George Orwell, Billy Bragg, Gordon Brown and myself? An understanding that identity and a sense of belonging need to be linked to our commitment to nationhood and a modern form of patriotism."

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,9115,1441453,00.html

[BlueEyedSon]

1. "Patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels."

--Samuel Johnson

[T_i_B]

5. Or, in David Blunketts case...

the first refuge.

[Wat_Tyler]

2. But what kind of patriotism? British or English?

It has always been difficult to be patriotically British, because of the artificial nature of the British state - there is no real joint British identity, so it is difficult to be patriotic about it.

[tjwmason]

6. I always used to think of myself as British when growing up

But then I went to university in Scotland and realised that there are great differences.

That said, I would reject exclusive Englishness as much as exclusive Britishness.

Patriotism (as the name suggests) is about an extension of the family, I would dare to categorise the British as a family of nations.

Further, I would note that patriotism is just like any other form of loyalty. It has the potential to be of great use, and to foment great good (for example patriotism during the darkest days of W.W.II did help us to continue to resist the Nazis); but it can also be misused and turned to very bad ends (B.N.P. - need one say more).

[Anarcho-Socialist]

3. I believe the fact that thinkers can't adequately pin down

what modern "Britishness" is - is what makes the concept of British identity interesting. The great cultural differences between the four British countries and within it's ethnic groups could be regarded as a strength.

Venerations of flags, imagery of battle and the British Empire will not unite us. Patriotism in it's most base sense is somewhat of a fraud.

The concepts that can unite Britain are peace, safety, civil rights, co-prosperity and democratic institutions.

[applegrove]

4. Patriotism is about lack of empathy for others. Empathy is about

caring about people unless they lie, cheat & hurt you and then you stop carrying about them and care about the ones who share your values of peace and freedom and good information for kids to learn about themselves.

The world will me more and more integrated. Patriotism is just used by the conservatives to get the poor and middle class to vote for things that go against their best interest. Disraeli coined the idea in 1870... remake the fringe conservative party into the party of patriotism and trick people into voting for something that costs nothing, gives them nothing in return and gives the elites a big payoff.

[Kipling]

7. Define patriotism...

If by Patriotism he means everyone thinking "Britain is a nice country, we like democracy and peace, let's all be mates" then that's great. But I suspect he means "Britain is numba 1 and foreigners are losers! Nuke Iran and fuck the EU".