Yes, it's that special day when condescending clowns line up to lecture the English about how their patron saint was a non-binary muslim Turkish Palestinian refugee.
Heartfelt thanks for this, we have to put up with this nonsense every single year, for as long as I can remember. I sometimes say “And the Patron Saint of Germany is English - what point are you trying (and failing) to make?”.
“In intention, at any rate, the English intelligentsia are Europeanized. They take their cookery from Paris and their opinions from Moscow. In the general patriotism of the country they form a sort of island of dissident thought.
England is perhaps the only great country whose intellectuals are ashamed of their own nationality.
In left-wing circles it is always felt that there is something slightly disgraceful in being an Englishman and that it is a duty to snigger at every English institution, from horse-racing to suet puddings. It is a strange fact, but it is unquestionably true that almost any English intellectual would feel more ashamed of standing to attention during ‘God save the King’ than of stealing from a poor box.
All through the critical years many left-wingers were chipping away at English morale, trying to spread an outlook that was sometimes squashily pacifist, sometimes violently pro-Russian - but always anti-British”.
George Orwell, 1941
p.s.
For calling out the flaws and hypocrisy of the British 'intelligensia', the likes of GB Shaw, HG Wells, RH Tawney and others, snubbed Orwell. They had believed that he was 'one of them'.
Eric Blair took the pen-name George Orwell around 1932 - from St George and the River Orwell in Suffolk.
Orwell was joined in his contempt for the prosperous left by Churchill - who whilst keeping friendly with Shaw and Wells, regularly mocked them gently........
They had believed that he was 'one of them'. Yes, it was like outing yourself as a Brexiteer amongst a pack of fellow lawyers back in the day; or now, declaring your MAGA support in any English middle class gathering 😂
Yes, a pleasant fireside soirée at my place between Christmas and New Year, ended abruptly when I stated that Trump offered great hope to the Western world.
😂😂😂
Leftardery is a mental condition.
I am convinced that it is a combination of guilt, narcissism and cowardice.
Guilt: traditional Labour voters who have done very well from their high-paying (non)-jobs in the public/charity sector or academia, need to maintain their ‘credibility’ with their own self.
Narcissism: I am a good (and important) person and cannot be wrong.
Cowardice: complete inability to admit mistakes; no courage to step outside their comfort zone of virtuosity; and no desire to be thought of as ‘difficult’ or ‘dangerous’.
The worst of it is that they teach their kids to be equally selfish, weak and unpleasant beings.
The late, great roger Scruton wrote compellingly about the psychological phenomenon of Oikophobia: the dislike or repudiation of one's home and native culture. He pointed out that it is a normal feature of adolescent development (who doesn't rebel against their parents and home life when growing up?) and that probably explains it. These are people who are stuck at a particular stage of growing up. They started the process of becoming adult, but it then stalled.
Who cares where St George originally hailed from? He’s a symbol, not an actual person who landed on our shores in a dinghy claiming “asylum”. Everyone makes a huge hoo-haa about St Patrick, who, as you mentioned, wasn’t Irish either. He was actually English. Personally, I ignore the leftie naysayers. Who gives a damn what they think- they’re never going to suppress our national pride or St George, and what he represents.
"Who cares?" is not an adequate response to the left's consistent distortions, fabrications, and outright lies.
Young people are listening. It's important to respond with the facts. Not to them directly - they don't deserve it and getting involved in an exchange with a leftist is a no win situation - but for the benefit of young people who might fall for this brain rot.
I totally agree with your sentiment, and in no way was I criticising the author of this piece. However, I’m a bit tired of being trolled and lambasted by people much younger than me, who think they know better. I’m just an old boomer, whose opinion is irrelevant. Good luck if you think you can persuade these young people otherwise, however experience tells me that they’ll have to find out the truth the hard way.
Didn't we all think we knew everything back then? Some folk never grew out of that development phase.....you're right, keeping the conversation going is vital, how else will they learn that there are alternative opinions?
We could also point out that the fact that in 1923, there was a population exchange between Greece and Turkey, whose purpose was to create ethnically homogeneous nation-states.
Ancient communities on both sides were uprooted. It caused immense suffering.
Fuck ‘em! That’s what I say. All they do when they sneer at us, is to highlight their own ignorance. George was the saint given to England and that’s all that matters. It’s what he represents. Just goes to show we are not the racist, ignorant thugs they label us as. It’s the racist, liberal elite who every year turn their backs on our ‘Turkish’ saint. Who’s the racists now, you twunts!
There's more evidence for monsters in Loch Ness than there is intelligent life forms on the left of British politics 🙄 and the entire labour front bench I will add, having endured PMQs today (hubs has a sado masochistic streak). Thank you for this excellent article 👍
1700 years of pictures of St. George slaying the dragon and you choose to illustrate with AI slop? For shame.
I do agree with the rest though. It's uncanny how mediocre 'elite human capital' is. Well-paid professionals, smugly self-assured, highly credentialed, yet lacking even the most basic education. Eastern Rome, what's that? They're clowns cosplaying as aristocrats.
Heartfelt thanks for this, we have to put up with this nonsense every single year, for as long as I can remember. I sometimes say “And the Patron Saint of Germany is English - what point are you trying (and failing) to make?”.
“In intention, at any rate, the English intelligentsia are Europeanized. They take their cookery from Paris and their opinions from Moscow. In the general patriotism of the country they form a sort of island of dissident thought.
England is perhaps the only great country whose intellectuals are ashamed of their own nationality.
In left-wing circles it is always felt that there is something slightly disgraceful in being an Englishman and that it is a duty to snigger at every English institution, from horse-racing to suet puddings. It is a strange fact, but it is unquestionably true that almost any English intellectual would feel more ashamed of standing to attention during ‘God save the King’ than of stealing from a poor box.
All through the critical years many left-wingers were chipping away at English morale, trying to spread an outlook that was sometimes squashily pacifist, sometimes violently pro-Russian - but always anti-British”.
George Orwell, 1941
p.s.
For calling out the flaws and hypocrisy of the British 'intelligensia', the likes of GB Shaw, HG Wells, RH Tawney and others, snubbed Orwell. They had believed that he was 'one of them'.
Eric Blair took the pen-name George Orwell around 1932 - from St George and the River Orwell in Suffolk.
Orwell was joined in his contempt for the prosperous left by Churchill - who whilst keeping friendly with Shaw and Wells, regularly mocked them gently........
https://winstonchurchill.org/publications/finest-hour/finest-hour-190/shaw-wells-and-maugham-authors-churchill-knew/
........the likes of Keir Starmer, James O'brien and Gary Lineker come to mind (though of course none of them could produce their literary quality.
Thanks for the link. Most informative and entertaining.
They had believed that he was 'one of them'. Yes, it was like outing yourself as a Brexiteer amongst a pack of fellow lawyers back in the day; or now, declaring your MAGA support in any English middle class gathering 😂
Yes, a pleasant fireside soirée at my place between Christmas and New Year, ended abruptly when I stated that Trump offered great hope to the Western world.
😂😂😂
Leftardery is a mental condition.
I am convinced that it is a combination of guilt, narcissism and cowardice.
Guilt: traditional Labour voters who have done very well from their high-paying (non)-jobs in the public/charity sector or academia, need to maintain their ‘credibility’ with their own self.
Narcissism: I am a good (and important) person and cannot be wrong.
Cowardice: complete inability to admit mistakes; no courage to step outside their comfort zone of virtuosity; and no desire to be thought of as ‘difficult’ or ‘dangerous’.
The worst of it is that they teach their kids to be equally selfish, weak and unpleasant beings.
Next they will be telling us dragons aren't real 🏴 I'm Welsh,f#ck that sh!t! 😂😂😂
I saw a documentary on that called Game of Thrones. At least I thought it was a documentary. It is easy to be confused these days.
I'm half Welsh and there's one in my garden right now 😂😉
Have you been at the Welsh Absinthe (Dragon's Breath) again Donna?
The late, great roger Scruton wrote compellingly about the psychological phenomenon of Oikophobia: the dislike or repudiation of one's home and native culture. He pointed out that it is a normal feature of adolescent development (who doesn't rebel against their parents and home life when growing up?) and that probably explains it. These are people who are stuck at a particular stage of growing up. They started the process of becoming adult, but it then stalled.
Thank you. I am English living in Scotland. I don't fly my flag outside as I used to in England, but it's up inside. 😊
I’m Scottish living in England. I’ve had enough of the People’s Republic for one lifetime.
I loved living in England, but I love Scotland more, apart from the politics, but I guess the total UK politics is in meltdown.
Who cares where St George originally hailed from? He’s a symbol, not an actual person who landed on our shores in a dinghy claiming “asylum”. Everyone makes a huge hoo-haa about St Patrick, who, as you mentioned, wasn’t Irish either. He was actually English. Personally, I ignore the leftie naysayers. Who gives a damn what they think- they’re never going to suppress our national pride or St George, and what he represents.
"Who cares?" is not an adequate response to the left's consistent distortions, fabrications, and outright lies.
Young people are listening. It's important to respond with the facts. Not to them directly - they don't deserve it and getting involved in an exchange with a leftist is a no win situation - but for the benefit of young people who might fall for this brain rot.
I totally agree with your sentiment, and in no way was I criticising the author of this piece. However, I’m a bit tired of being trolled and lambasted by people much younger than me, who think they know better. I’m just an old boomer, whose opinion is irrelevant. Good luck if you think you can persuade these young people otherwise, however experience tells me that they’ll have to find out the truth the hard way.
I'm an old Boomer too - pleased to meet you.
I agree with you about persuading ideologues. You can't - and that has nothing to do with age.
But we can't give up on youth. Even when they sound passionately convinced of their arguments, there might be a kernel of doubt. Plant that seed.
I was one of them. I thought I knew it all when I was 18.
I think back on the older people who patiently presented another side, and I'm filled with remorse. They did God's work.
We owe kids the truth.
Didn't we all think we knew everything back then? Some folk never grew out of that development phase.....you're right, keeping the conversation going is vital, how else will they learn that there are alternative opinions?
We could also point to the Armenian Genocide.
We could also point out that the fact that in 1923, there was a population exchange between Greece and Turkey, whose purpose was to create ethnically homogeneous nation-states.
Ancient communities on both sides were uprooted. It caused immense suffering.
A double Nakba.
Fuck ‘em! That’s what I say. All they do when they sneer at us, is to highlight their own ignorance. George was the saint given to England and that’s all that matters. It’s what he represents. Just goes to show we are not the racist, ignorant thugs they label us as. It’s the racist, liberal elite who every year turn their backs on our ‘Turkish’ saint. Who’s the racists now, you twunts!
There's more evidence for monsters in Loch Ness than there is intelligent life forms on the left of British politics 🙄 and the entire labour front bench I will add, having endured PMQs today (hubs has a sado masochistic streak). Thank you for this excellent article 👍
A great piece and message. And all the better to hear it coming from a Scot. Well said!
Love it! Thank you so much for this, Fergus! 🇬🇧❤️🏴❤️🏴
Love this article. Thanks for enlightening me.
1700 years of pictures of St. George slaying the dragon and you choose to illustrate with AI slop? For shame.
I do agree with the rest though. It's uncanny how mediocre 'elite human capital' is. Well-paid professionals, smugly self-assured, highly credentialed, yet lacking even the most basic education. Eastern Rome, what's that? They're clowns cosplaying as aristocrats.
Had no idea this was going on. Thanks for enlightening me. The Left is a malignant tumor. (And I was a liberal for 50+ years until October 8, 2023.)
Brilliant 👏🏻
Oh, and I should mention they’ve tried doing the same thing to Saint Nicholas too.