It is easy and lazy to wrap oneself in the national flag in a political climate where patriotism is a dirty word to globalist elites – an equally incorrect contrarian position to the prevailing ‘wisdom’; however, proper British patriotism should be fully understood. It is certainly not as commonly portrayed in the ‘liberal’ (illiberal) media, nor is it as portrayed by those using the flag to meet their own ends.
In this country, we tend not to flag wave on any other than special occasions, so the current trend of flying the flag is demonstrably in resistance to the implied charge that the country is becoming nationalistic. Such an assumption is to profoundly misunderstand the British psyche – we feel no inherent superiority over our fellows, simply pride in and loyalty to our country as well as gratitude for the privileged way of life we lead due to the country’s temperate climate, abundance and to the efforts of our forbearers to keep us free to only be able to complain about the mostly very benign weather. Petty tyrants, imperialists, hurricanes and pestilence are by design problems we should never have to concern ourselves with.
We love and embrace our regional variations, where individuals from certain towns, cities or areas can be readily identified from their accents, uniquely strong and individualistic but equally embraced under the same flag.
We abhor inconsistency of principle, where using ends to justify the means takes precedence, when clearly there will always be a negative impact if used by malign powers on ourselves and our own allies. If the most basic rules of 21st century civilised behaviour do not respect the sovereignty of individual states above all else, then ‘international law’ as often over-quoted has no purpose and no meaning.
We prize the efficiency, efficacy and dedication of our armed forces which still identify with their county regiment forbearers and therefore represent the will and engagement of the population at large; they exemplify our post-colonial dedication to being the sane voice around the world, using our soft power to calm conflict or occasionally as the final reluctant but resilient endorsement of action, when all else fails, in the face of tyranny, oppression or invasion. This is so far from a ‘little-Englander’ isolationism, it is taking a share of the responsibility in the global political climate by engaging when problems are far away from our own shores to ensure they cannot build into an imminent crisis at home.
We tend also to have an instinctive resistance towards our military aligning too closely to or involving itself in politics, which is another way in which we resist the supposed lure of nationalism and despotism. Our country is fundamentally libertarian and tolerant, believing in individual choice and responsibility, which is also anathema to a big government nationalist who would enjoy building a militaristic super-state to buttress their personal authority.
Our legal system has been established as one that through the ages has been a beacon of relative fairness and treats all citizens the same, without fear or favour. It is a measure of the current frustration of the populace that many believe that this principle has been compromised in many aspects, hence the strong push towards restoration of the natural national order. This is no more true than in the Houses of Parliament, where we would prefer the genie to go back into the bottle and for respectful and statesmanlike conduct and motivation for the greater good to hold sway.
The citizens of these isles have long rejected extremist causes and also extremist language as overblown, exaggerated and irrational comments or responses to events and circumstances which we hold the power to deal with in a moderate and reasonable manner; this has been put to the test extensively in modern politics, with many silly comparisons with totalitarian regimes which are either wildly exaggerated, factually inaccurate or simply manipulation or provocation. It takes some effort and courage from the populace to assert itself to tone down these exaggerated behaviours by gentle ridicule and the factual dismantling of an irrational and overblown (un-British) argument.
There are many other patriotic traits of which we should be proud – we err towards being enterprising self-starters. Napoleon famously described the English as a ‘nation of shopkeepers’, which he meant as a slight, but we took as a compliment. Much better to be entrepreneurial and to endeavour rather than feed from the hand of the overbearing nanny state. Even today after years-long expansion, the public sector in the UK is only around 45% compared to nearly 60% in France; also around 52% of GDP is generated from small and medium enterprises compared to 42% in France.
More than anything, though, our patriotism is manifested in our embracing of all our fellow citizens, regardless of race, religion or preferences, empathetic acceptance of reasonable numbers of refugees and legal migrants and extending a warm welcome to tourists. While denying this self-evident truth of essential unity of citizenship by divisive elements has put relations between communities under strain, the patriotic British believe in the fundamental reality that ‘united we stand, divided we fall’.