Tema: Opinion about the British People and Country

As a British-descended citizen of the States I don't have any real nostalgia for or devotion to the mother-country and its monarchy in their contemporary forms (however England prior to, say, the Renaissance period is another matter entirely!), although for a variety of reasons, i.e. the excesses of the Crown, the refusal of the Crown and Parliament to listen to the grievances of the Anglo-Americans- until well after an American victory was inevitable thanks the help of France, Holland, and Spain, and so on. Then I could cite various and sundry other facts about the mother-country that I'm not happy about- most of all the judaization of England thanks to Oliver Cromwell's readmission of the Jews into England in 1656 after they were banished from the country in 1290 by Edward Longshanks for a variety of practices (usury, money-lending, supposed ritual murders, etc.). As Cromwell needed financing for his New Model Army Jewish financiers from the Continent became an obvious source of income for the despot. And here, I believe, one truly sees the beginning of the British Empire (and more distantly its sucessor the U.S.A.). Cromwell also presided over the execution of Charles I of the House of Stuart (something that ought to interest any supporter of the Jacobites). More contemporarily, during the World War 2 era, there were bands of fascists (such as Arnold Leese and Oswald Mosely and their followers) who paraded around in imitation of the Nazis and Mussolini's Blackshirts- much like there are Nazi-imitators, past and present, in the U.S.A. There're a few in the U.K. today who think that a return to fascism will save the country from its social, political, and moral troubles- as if England becoming an organic Catholic nation once again is out of the question.

I won't mention the Jacobites, since I don't know of them besides a little bit, nor of Henry VIII's schism with Rome.

In general I like English people- it's the country that I'm more ambivalent about. I've had people ask me "Why do you feel this way about England?" That is why do I feel ambivalently about the country. I could answer this way: "Because some Anglo-Americans haven't forgotten why there was a separation in the first place." I think I'm in a tiny minority; I don't believe in any "special relationships" between the U.S.A. and the U.K.- far from it actually and also I believe that my country has followed its parent a bit too far, even outdoing it in a number of ways. What was one of the things the U.S.A. inherited from the mother-country: a dream of empire, manifest destiny, and so on.

Interesting and so much thinked opinion, however, the matter is not if you feel nostalgia for Britain, but what do you think about the British people and country. I do not have nothing against Jews, by the way, I myself I am an Hebrew Catholic, I just think the Jews should not dominate the economy the way they do. I believe in a restoration of Catholicism in England and in a Restoration of the dynastic union of independent countries that was Britain at its military height in Europe, in 1603, where it was still catholic.

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Interesting and so much thinked opinion, however, the matter is not if you feel nostalgia for Britain, but what do you think about the British people and country. I do not have nothing against Jews, by the way, I myself I am an Hebrew Catholic, I just think the Jews should not dominate the economy the way they do. I believe in a restoration of Catholicism in England and in a Restoration of the dynastic union of independent countries that was Britain at its military height in Europe, in 1603, where it was still catholic.

My feelings on the British people and the British nation are two different things, as I've indicated. I think it's also a bit more of a complex question as well- the idea of Britishness is more recent and to be be British is to be English, Scots, Welsh, etc. All English are British but not all British are English, if I understand the concept, kind of like how you can say all Castilians are Spanish but not all Spanish are Castilians. You've got to also consider that there're British people all around the world- such as in the U.S. and Canada- who aren't citizens of the U.K.

I think of Britain (England) as a country like this:

In its contemporary form, which I don't really care for, but frankly I'm not crazy about the contemporary form of my own country either.

In its historical form, which I do care for since I have a common heritage with the people in the British Isles- the Celtic period, the Roman period, and so on.

Etc.

My opinion on the british is twofold:

1) The british people as a whole, which i have no problem at all, and as a historian i actually enjoy reading about their culture. They are an accomplished people who have managed many things since roman times, and i cannot fault a whole people for the decisions of their government. This said, i agree with Annuit Coeptis in that i don´t care about contemporary british culture, i mostly like their traditions and history, not what the current world has forced them to become. The distinction between english and british is also well done, because many outsiders don´t grasp the differences, as i have seen the use of british almost as a synonim for english.

2) The british government. I am an avid reader of history and i understand very well the harm the british government has historically done to the spanish nation, however, all of it is in the past, so i consider it merely as an historical grudge, and i could forgive the british government without problems, except for one big thing: the decision of the contemporary british government to keep Gibraltar is an continued insult to the spaniards, and is a constant reminder of all the past grievances.
We can´t move on and start anew our relations, as long as they continue to keep the land from our peninsula that they stole on a sucession war, refusing to give it back, and instead populating it with native english people, making it a fiscal and smuggling paradise, breaking the treaties as for which they got hold of it, etc. I don´t blame the current english government for his story, but it is hard to see them on a different light when they keep up their imperialistic claims, and continue to hold ransom part of the hispanic peninsula.