XTreme

.....of the British Empire! We used to rule half the world you know.

Now we can't even buy a wooden fence in a ferreteria without coming out with a wheelbarrow by mistake.

What went wrong?

rugbymatt

We?

Now you are British!


We didn't rule half the world, the ENGLISH ruled half the world, and it was helped along by sending the peripheral peoples of Britain off to war like cannon fodder.

XTreme

I've never said I'm not British you howling spermtrumpet.

rugbymatt

I believe you have said that you are Welsh not British in the past but never mind.

XTreme

How can I say I'm not British, when I was born there, lived there for 51 years, and have a British passport?

rugbymatt

Then stop bleating on about being Welsh all the time and saying that its only the "English" that act like twats in Spain.

We are all aware that you have been brave and live a life less ordinary out there and most of us admire you for it but don't make another thread into an anti English one eh?


Oh and on a personal note, I personally think that its that "we ruled half the planet" crap that harbours and festers the very worse of the English character!

But that's just my opinion.

XTreme

I didn't mention the words "English" or "Welsh".....you did Matt.

The thread (in case you didn't grasp it) was about how a nation that was once so powerful and respected in the world has (since WWII) produced successive generations of morons. Both on an individual and governmental level.

Every generation since then has lost a little bit more in terms of repect, honour, integrity etc to the point where the British (to the rest of the world) are viewed very differently from what they were in the past.

That's .....what it was about.

Now....you said I've been brave? Where? How? Rescuing animals or something?

That's not brave. WTF is brave about that?
I'll tell you what my definition of being brave is though....my late father and my late father in law being on the first assault on the D Day Landings. That's brave!
And no doubt there's plenty of other 50+ here who could recount similar stories of their family's commitment to the war effort at that time.
Our perception of bravery was heroics such as that.
Now our perception of bravery is rescuing a cat from a tree, continuing to play a match when you're in pain, telling a chav to bugger off etc.
Which shows once again the point I'm making.....it's all gone wrong somehow.

rugbymatt

Sorry I fell asleep half way through that, could you repeat it?

XTreme

Sorry Matt....I inadvertently moved it up an intellectual notch or two and left you floundering!

What I was alluding to is how modernism, and its successor post-modernism, have created societies and economies driven by the ruthless pursuit of self-interest and personal greed.
The obsession with materialism has eroded, or you could argue destroyed, family values, and individual and collective social responsibility.

So people have air conditioning, swimming pools, new cars etc etc....but can't take their car for an ITV without an army of interpreters to flash the lights and beep the horn.
All the worldly possessions.....but yet incapable of being able to do anything in an alien environment for themselves.

Are other nationalities so inept? I don't think so!

And for the hard of understanding....let me summarise....

crispy

PHEW...........you two deserve each other

leighbloke

OK, fess up, who wrote that for you?

Mitzyboy

Its not ineptitude .... its quite likely that a foreigner moving to the UK without full english language speaking capabilities would have the same problems understanding british beaurocracy and systems as some Brits have here with the Spanish system

crispy

I would just like to say at this point, the OH went with his friend to take the friends car for an ITV. Friend speaks fluent Spanish having lived in Spain for over 10 years before marrying his Spanish wife, has spent the last 45 years speaking Spanish to family and friends. OH on the other hand knows less than me....but hey guess who understood the instruction to flash when asked.....yes you are right, not fluent speaking friend but arm waving, hand gesticulating limited lingo speaking OH. We were really proud of him

leighbloke

No, not anymore - now the relevant department would make you an appointment and arrange for an interpretor to be there - I pay for this.

XTreme

We're not talking about bureaucracy here......we're talking about personal responsibility.
And how some Brits have this mentality of "We're all marooned on a desert island together....and we've got to help each other". Well no we don't.....they can go and order their own bloody fence.
As for the UK, I'm not sure I've heard reports of Mcdonalds and Primark's outlets beseiged by coachloads of Polish immigrants and convoys of interpreters.
But then I'm not an avid reader of Vogue, Vanity Fair, and SpermTrumpet Gazette like you are.
'Night JonBoy!