I call it the England factor. Do you think we are doomed to always come 2nd in everything?
I was aimlessly waiting for a train at the mayhem that is Clapham Junction today -and my girlfriend asked me why the British Transport system is so bad. I had no answer.
I've always noticed that in England, there is a certain grudging acceptance that what we do is rubbish. That our trains are late, that our workers are lazy, that we get knocked out in the semi finals of everything (usually in a pathetic manner).
The typical English mentality is to go, "*sigh* Why us?!?!"
Do you think this mentality is justified? Do we suffer from some sort of curse of averageness? Or is it our defeatest mentality that causes it all?
Matt
Answers:
I think that it is an English hobby to sigh and complain. The weather is always a good topic, after which one must find something else to grouse about. There are plenty of choices: transport, the latest doings of the government, the unfairness of things around us, the appalling postal system, the cost of living. All this makes for a cathartic conversation, at the end of which one can smile suddenly (as the train eventually pulls into Clapham Junction and one prepares to be physically separated in the crowd from one's interlocutor) and say: "Well, we've taken the world apart and put it to rights again!" and have a vague sense of achievement. It's basically an attitude of resignation.
We are the best in the world at coming 2nd. No one is better
We hope for excellence. and accept mediocrity
yes matt - u r losers!!
but we love ya! beating u guys in every sport we play is pretty excellent!
That's not true -
We have the highest number of teenage pregnancies in Europe. Keep it up girls!
It's not THAT bad.
How many countries offer what England/Britain has?
I'm sure there are lazy German workers and useless government officials in Norway too.
It's human nature to whinge.
Try to look at the good stuff.
Isn't there a Monty Python you could sing (and whistle)?
in my experience we're lucky if we even make it to second place - that's why I moved to Barcelona, hoping some Spanish luck would rub off on me, and it sure did :)
good luck with being English though
I do think so. I live in Britain too. The thing is, Britain always has this negativity surrounding itself. I mean, Britain got the highest rates of teenage pregnancy. Britain is the worst at saving energy, British office workers wastes the most time.. And so on. I just think it is the British people, that, that is the way they behave, i dont have any idea why though. It could be a curse. But you know, i doubt that though, it is definitely the defeatest mentality, nice question Matt.
I know what you mean because I endure London transport every day too. But.
Having spent a year away from England in the past you come to appreciate all that is here - and all that is so much better than anywhere else in the world -stuff we take for granted.
I see what you're saying - but I think the true English mentality is more never say die - that's how a tiny island once became the capital of the world. Of course, we're nowhere near that anymore, but I think over the past two centuries we've shown ourselves to be mentally strong. Time we all got a bit of pride back without worrying about negative perceptions of outsiders.
i know one thing, that you had your glory times for decades, and present time is just not your best.
Well we won the Ashes in Cricket,we won the rugby world cup.thats about it really.transport is awful,why dont our big cities have a decent transport system like in the US?
I was a soilder in the Royal artillery and we were second best at nothing,we have the best army in the world serving the wost goverment in the world,sack blair and labour and lets get Britain back to being the worlds leading nation in everything,we need a Oliver cromwell figure again,look him up and see how good a nation we were under him.
The culture is geared toward anti-competition. Any marginalising that takes place due to any form of weakness, including self-induced, is considered something that must be prevented and banned rather than something that justly favours the strong. So, essentially, as the PC nanny state expands its reach, second best will increasingly become an impossible to reach aspiration - it sometimes feels like the country is only a hairbreadth from outlawing competetive sport altogether because it disadvantages the lazy and weak.
Far better to be 2nd at everything than last in everything. Trains are not always late, the vast majority of the workforce is hardworking, we have won the world cup in rugby and football and we don't take a load of boll***ks from the government like other [certain] countries do. Mind the french might win the one about the government. All in all, I'd rather be here than a country where I was scared to open my mouth in case someone reported me for what I said.
it could be worse, you could be french or lord save us, Canadian
Part of the problem with England is that it believes it's own tabloid hype, they believe / expect everything that's on the front page of The Sun and Star, it's these papers that make and break people. As for transport, I think it's the same all round. Don't be too defeatist, "always look on the bright side of life"......
Hey, it's not that bad, i think it's justified to a certain extend. some countries can't even get to second place. Accept that, its the way things go, there some are stuff we are unable to control
What an amazing question. Just look at the very profound responses. I am not British, so this is a helpful learning experience for me. For what it is worth, as an objective "outsider", let me say that I have always found you British to be an inspiration. Your resilience, dignity, sense of fair play, and your eccentric stubbornness to be individual: all of this is more than admirable. Do not judge yourselves by the swing of history's fickle pendulum. This is not a question of being "great". It is a process, not a competition. Your community is evolving again, growing, changing along with the whole world. We are all becoming something different, and rapidly. None of us is doing a very good job at managing it. Our common task, part of your national challenge and ours, is to rally the best of all of our cultures to establish peace, make justice, and get this global community organized. Who better to do that job than you?
Well Matt from a true blue Aussie here. all I can say when it comes to sport against Aussies get used to it, WE ARE TAKING BACK THE ASHES THIS YEAR..so YES you are doomed to come 2nd at everything again.
Maybe a sense of pride by your nation ,like we have would change that philosophy big time..then that's out of your hands.cheer up at least you come 2nd not 3rd or lower.(chuckle) cheers mate it can only get worse..(joke).
We are taught at school that its not the winning but the playing thats important, so we dont develop the 'Killer instinct' so necessary in any kind of competition..
No we're not doomed to always come 2nd in everything.we've been resting on our laurels since handing the Empire back to everyone..We've been there, done that, seen it all..you've got to give the rest of the world a chance to taste the sweetness that comes with being number one.
Just lately I recall off the top of my head that we gave the Yanks a thrashing in golf...
and if you go to this URL you'll see we've been first with a lot of stuff that the Americans with their "in yer face" PR claimed as theirs.
http://www.historic-uk.com/cultureuk/bes.
Now and again, as we see fit, we let the colonials in Australia retain the Ashes to keep them happy and quiet. We have to tend our investment in Australia...after all we bankrolled their early days and there's nothing in our history to say we ever stopped investing in Australia so it's kind of hard to let go of something we think we own.
Maybe if we worked as hard as the Chinese do we'd get better results both in sport and work.
What say you?
we have low expectations, I think, though we're always angry after the event. I recommend reading AA Gill's "The Angry Island" - it's a great read, and so much of it rings true!
We're second because we let them. That basic.
do the people on here have to much free time?
Guys, I had to repeat this! This is classic?
how come things that sparkle distract people?
How long do you think humanity has left before extinction?
A young man got on the bus this morning with a mug of coffee (yes, a ceramic mug, not one of those from?
Why do people never act on their first instincts?
What first come into your mind when you say classy girl?
Is the USA in decline, soon to be supplanted by China?
I've always noticed that in England, there is a certain grudging acceptance that what we do is rubbish. That our trains are late, that our workers are lazy, that we get knocked out in the semi finals of everything (usually in a pathetic manner).
The typical English mentality is to go, "*sigh* Why us?!?!"
Do you think this mentality is justified? Do we suffer from some sort of curse of averageness? Or is it our defeatest mentality that causes it all?
Matt
Answers:
I think that it is an English hobby to sigh and complain. The weather is always a good topic, after which one must find something else to grouse about. There are plenty of choices: transport, the latest doings of the government, the unfairness of things around us, the appalling postal system, the cost of living. All this makes for a cathartic conversation, at the end of which one can smile suddenly (as the train eventually pulls into Clapham Junction and one prepares to be physically separated in the crowd from one's interlocutor) and say: "Well, we've taken the world apart and put it to rights again!" and have a vague sense of achievement. It's basically an attitude of resignation.
We are the best in the world at coming 2nd. No one is better
We hope for excellence. and accept mediocrity
yes matt - u r losers!!
but we love ya! beating u guys in every sport we play is pretty excellent!
That's not true -
We have the highest number of teenage pregnancies in Europe. Keep it up girls!
It's not THAT bad.
How many countries offer what England/Britain has?
I'm sure there are lazy German workers and useless government officials in Norway too.
It's human nature to whinge.
Try to look at the good stuff.
Isn't there a Monty Python you could sing (and whistle)?
in my experience we're lucky if we even make it to second place - that's why I moved to Barcelona, hoping some Spanish luck would rub off on me, and it sure did :)
good luck with being English though
I do think so. I live in Britain too. The thing is, Britain always has this negativity surrounding itself. I mean, Britain got the highest rates of teenage pregnancy. Britain is the worst at saving energy, British office workers wastes the most time.. And so on. I just think it is the British people, that, that is the way they behave, i dont have any idea why though. It could be a curse. But you know, i doubt that though, it is definitely the defeatest mentality, nice question Matt.
I know what you mean because I endure London transport every day too. But.
Having spent a year away from England in the past you come to appreciate all that is here - and all that is so much better than anywhere else in the world -stuff we take for granted.
I see what you're saying - but I think the true English mentality is more never say die - that's how a tiny island once became the capital of the world. Of course, we're nowhere near that anymore, but I think over the past two centuries we've shown ourselves to be mentally strong. Time we all got a bit of pride back without worrying about negative perceptions of outsiders.
i know one thing, that you had your glory times for decades, and present time is just not your best.
Well we won the Ashes in Cricket,we won the rugby world cup.thats about it really.transport is awful,why dont our big cities have a decent transport system like in the US?
I was a soilder in the Royal artillery and we were second best at nothing,we have the best army in the world serving the wost goverment in the world,sack blair and labour and lets get Britain back to being the worlds leading nation in everything,we need a Oliver cromwell figure again,look him up and see how good a nation we were under him.
The culture is geared toward anti-competition. Any marginalising that takes place due to any form of weakness, including self-induced, is considered something that must be prevented and banned rather than something that justly favours the strong. So, essentially, as the PC nanny state expands its reach, second best will increasingly become an impossible to reach aspiration - it sometimes feels like the country is only a hairbreadth from outlawing competetive sport altogether because it disadvantages the lazy and weak.
Far better to be 2nd at everything than last in everything. Trains are not always late, the vast majority of the workforce is hardworking, we have won the world cup in rugby and football and we don't take a load of boll***ks from the government like other [certain] countries do. Mind the french might win the one about the government. All in all, I'd rather be here than a country where I was scared to open my mouth in case someone reported me for what I said.
it could be worse, you could be french or lord save us, Canadian
Part of the problem with England is that it believes it's own tabloid hype, they believe / expect everything that's on the front page of The Sun and Star, it's these papers that make and break people. As for transport, I think it's the same all round. Don't be too defeatist, "always look on the bright side of life"......
Hey, it's not that bad, i think it's justified to a certain extend. some countries can't even get to second place. Accept that, its the way things go, there some are stuff we are unable to control
What an amazing question. Just look at the very profound responses. I am not British, so this is a helpful learning experience for me. For what it is worth, as an objective "outsider", let me say that I have always found you British to be an inspiration. Your resilience, dignity, sense of fair play, and your eccentric stubbornness to be individual: all of this is more than admirable. Do not judge yourselves by the swing of history's fickle pendulum. This is not a question of being "great". It is a process, not a competition. Your community is evolving again, growing, changing along with the whole world. We are all becoming something different, and rapidly. None of us is doing a very good job at managing it. Our common task, part of your national challenge and ours, is to rally the best of all of our cultures to establish peace, make justice, and get this global community organized. Who better to do that job than you?
Well Matt from a true blue Aussie here. all I can say when it comes to sport against Aussies get used to it, WE ARE TAKING BACK THE ASHES THIS YEAR..so YES you are doomed to come 2nd at everything again.
Maybe a sense of pride by your nation ,like we have would change that philosophy big time..then that's out of your hands.cheer up at least you come 2nd not 3rd or lower.(chuckle) cheers mate it can only get worse..(joke).
We are taught at school that its not the winning but the playing thats important, so we dont develop the 'Killer instinct' so necessary in any kind of competition..
No we're not doomed to always come 2nd in everything.we've been resting on our laurels since handing the Empire back to everyone..We've been there, done that, seen it all..you've got to give the rest of the world a chance to taste the sweetness that comes with being number one.
Just lately I recall off the top of my head that we gave the Yanks a thrashing in golf...
and if you go to this URL you'll see we've been first with a lot of stuff that the Americans with their "in yer face" PR claimed as theirs.
http://www.historic-uk.com/cultureuk/bes.
Now and again, as we see fit, we let the colonials in Australia retain the Ashes to keep them happy and quiet. We have to tend our investment in Australia...after all we bankrolled their early days and there's nothing in our history to say we ever stopped investing in Australia so it's kind of hard to let go of something we think we own.
Maybe if we worked as hard as the Chinese do we'd get better results both in sport and work.
What say you?
we have low expectations, I think, though we're always angry after the event. I recommend reading AA Gill's "The Angry Island" - it's a great read, and so much of it rings true!
We're second because we let them. That basic.
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