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Thread to celebrate what's good about the UK

PaulMB said:
Yes, but I wonder if this is always, and necessarily the case. I suppose it depends on how the assimilation and enrichment takes place, indeed if it takes place. It can also have negative effects when a lumpen proletariat is imported, and the original natives become lazy and decadent. I'm thinking of the Roman Empire, after it had imported vast numbers of slaves and the army was made up of foreign soldiers rather than Roman citizens. The Greek artists and intellectuals undoubtedly enriched the Empire.
I suppose it depends if the immigrants are treated with fairness and dignity, and if they themselves wish to be absorbed and to enrich the host nation, which is partly consequential.
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"Are treated with fairness & dignity" is, unfortunately, not the norm where employers are concerned, this enriches only the pockets of those who take advantage, not the country in question, it is unfortunately distructive & not beneficial to all concerned. If all was a level playing field, i doubt immigration would be an issue with some, cause & effect. Immigrants desperately needing money, any money, bosses happy to take advantage & pay way below human standards, ordinary folk up in arms blaming immigrants for taking all the jobs??, the blame should lie at the feet of the employers not those who choose a life here. It is a very sad tale that has spiralled over the years through media nonesense, ignorance & greed.

For a more uplifting immigrant message watch the swimming today. Will put a smile on anyone's face.
 
From the perspective of one who lives in the Southernmost country on the African continent (but completed schooling in what was then Southern Rhodesia and had the interesting experience of writing 'O' levels under the auspices of the Cambridge School Certificate and then, two years later, writing 'A' levels via the General Certificate of Education (changeover time), here are some of what is British that has, for a long time been, and still remains, admirable:

a) Entertainment that acknowledges that there are people with IQs >50
b) Humour that is an excellent balance of intelligence, subtlety and a belly laugh
c) Roast beef and Yorkshire pud
d) Much of the best music to come out of the 1960s
e) Documentaries of extraordinary quality and real watchability (BBC particularly)
f) Pubs (both as an institution and on individual merit)
g) A people that still can and do laugh at themselves
h) A large (and disproportionately so) share of technological innovation
i) A long-standing (and on-going) love of audio for the sake of what it does

There are many other aspects, but these stand out...

Some years ago, my elder daughter decided to visit a school friend who had married an English lad and moved there - she was then in her early 20s. On her return after a 2-week stay, I asked for her impressions of the UK and whether or not she'd consider re-locating there.

Her response:

a) She found it difficult to cope with population/housing density - felt a bit claustrophobic most of the time
b) She found the weather a bit depressing - grey, wet and windy (wrong time of the year?)
c) She found the moods of the population to reflect the weather

As far as moving there? Not for her...

Despite my list of admirable aspects above, I found myself agreeing with her when the question was bounced back at me. I could cheerfully enjoy short stays in the UK (in the summers) but I doubt whether I'd survive year after year and endure each annual weather cycle - (particularly now at age 70).

Strangely enough, that was one of the reasons I left Cape Town and moved to Johannesburg. (Those 8 years in Salisbury/Harare had created a real liking for the Highveld summer rainfall climate that made Cape Town, by comparison, unpleasant for 6-8 months of the year - with its South Easter winds in summer, North Wester rains in Winter and the unpredictability of the weather in general).

My favourite response to friends in Cape Town who still ask why I stay in Jhbg and don't "come home to Cape Town" is simple: "Jo'burg has a climate while Cape Town has to be satisfied with Weather".

Sound familiar? :)

Dave

PS: It's a pleasure to see a more positive thread like this one - for a change. (Too much whinging of late). Keep it up lads!
 
Long Summer evenings are as good as it gets IMHO. but then Tropical sunsets are equally special as are Alpine daybreaks.

Every nation has some natural wonder they can be proud of but seeing as God was British I think they deserve a mention in the thread.
 
The World Wide Web wasn't/isn't the Internet. Tim Berners Lee was just one of a great many who had input into "inventing the Internet". Certainly not a "British" thing.

Sadly, a list of good things about Britain will ultimately be a misty eyed stroll down memory lane:

1. The English language (which arguably isn't even an English thing, 50% of the words are derived from French, the rest from German and Skandinavian sources)
2. London
3. The Kinks
4. The Who
5. Fawlty Towers
6. Most excellent dog breeds
7. Winston Churchill
8. Some parts of Scotland
9. Some parts of Wales
10. Ireland
11. Almost all sports of any note.
 
merlin said:
Pink Fish Media is British.
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It's actually hosted in California! I prefer to think of it as European with a small hint of American counter-culture/silicone valley from its server location. It is not based in Little England!

PS At one stage we had a Mod Team scattered as wide as UK, America, Germany, Canada and Japan!
 
richgilb said:
The language. We are so lucky that our language with its bonkers spelling is so commonly spoken around the world and accepted as the language of international trade for so many.
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As one American politician said when opposing a plan to make the Bible available in Spanish at schools in her State: 'English was good enough for Our Lord'.
 
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