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That sounds really interesting.
I just popped in. Are we gassing the queen then?
If it stops you from seeing that your country is doing something wrong, then it's not real patriotism. Love is not blind. I think it improves your ability to oppose the atrocities of your own government for that reason. A true patriot can see through the 'us or them' shtick if it is vacuous.
I'm as opposed to a slavish kind of patriotism as you are. But a person at the other extreme is likely to be just as lacking in objectivity. I'm thinking of the British fellow travellers during the Soviet years. It took a lot of them an unduly long time to realise that, on the whole, the Western liberal democracies were the good guys.
I don't think a situation where the majority of the citizens of a country do not love the country they're in, is a healthy situation for that country to be in. The benefit of it is that it gives people a sense of duty and responsibility to their country: the desire to give something back: 'not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country' and all that. It improves social cohesion: it removes the feeling of 'them' and 'us' (we're all British), and it increases the sense of belonging and felicity. All good things in my book, and i'm sure there are other benefits I can't think of.
He might have but he didn't. The ordinary men and women of this country did that ...on the front down the mines in the fields and factories but history always portrays the men with the cigars the gin the roast pheasant ...as being the ones who built this nation ...saved this nation and on it goes. The ordinary people got a small metal gong if they were lucky.
Swear allegiance to this country? No fucking way. Who'd want to swear an allegiance to this dump?
i DON'T THINK YOU'VE TRAVELLED MUCH .....i'm going to remove the bleedin caps lock key ...
What country do you like?
I fail to see the difference... The whole point of loyalty to the Queen is that she's the personification of the country - not that's she a nice old lady who keeps corgis...
I swore allegiance to her as the head of state of the UK.
Canadians will swear allegiance to her as the head of State of Canada, Australians as the head of State of Australia and other Commonwealth Countries such as India and South Africa won't swear allegiance to her at all.
Theoretically at least the Queen can declare war on herself if the UK and Australia went to war
I'm not 'loyal' or 'devoted' to the Queen. I don't even know her. I'd rather be devoted to my friends and family and those that I care about.
The queen is supposed to represent something, but I'm not sure what that is...
I think even people who are in favour of the monarchy would dislike this idea, we shouldn't have to prove anything to people we don't know, especially over something so trivial.
I don't see how it would help with things like anti-social behaviour. If people aren't suddenly filled with patriotism and the desire to become perfect British citizens when they look a coin or stamp, being forced to swear allegiance to someone they haven't met and has done nothing for them is just going to make them apathetic at best, or resentful. If this was happening when I was at school I never would have turned up, it sounds more boring than double R.E.
She is supposed to be the living, breathing, walking, talking, hand-shaking embodiment of the nation. The UK in a single person. So you'd be pledging alleigance to the UK really...
But she's a frankfurter eating nazi. Doesn't make sense.
We have been Americanised enough.
The british have always had the willingness to fight for king and country ...but not the swearing of alleigances to individuals.
Nah, asll the Queen represents in ceremonial shit, the tranditionalism of the UK in not getting rid of pointless, outdated stuff. The fact we cling onto things as "it's been like that for ages" so let's not get rid of it.
Philip is always providing a laugh, though.
yes the problem is we know very well what we are swearing alligenge to a bunch of money grabbing bastards that can't run the country proporley, ok we swear alligeance to the quenn but she has no real power (and if she has should bloody well use it ) so really we are swearing to those that act in her stead. Can you honestly say that you are proud of what this country has become. I went to Italy to live 15 years ago I never swore shit to no one but I was proud to be british just the same, now I have come back and my pride has melted. there needs to be something to be proud of no this flipping mess.
people murdering one another because they have nothing better to do and getting off with it scott free. taxes rising with ridicolous exscuses. the very people we swear alligence to ripping us off of our money and putting it in their pockets or badly spending it. We ever more HAVE to make laws to protect a so called minority that hardly exist and it doesn't matter that we all suffer the law in the name of a so called minority. Its just a shambles I cringe every time I hear the news and what new ideas those bright sparks in the goverment have gotten themselves why don't they just come back to earth and look at what this country rallly needs.
and of course tell america to PISS OFF because at this point swearing aligence to the uk is going to be as good as swearing it to Mr Bush. its just one big farce and we know it is so it will be meaningless anyhow. AND COST US OUR MONEY !