For all the Brits...

[KennyD]

You guys are freakin' complicated.

[Pride]

Yes, yes we are and Im truly glad you created a post to celebrated how retarded our "Crown" system is . Lol I was originally born in England, but due to all the crazy crap going on there Im not as proud to from there as I once was. so I just consider myself American. I like the States a whole lot better anyway. What say you chaps?

[Smorsh]

Republic of Ireland is fuckin' rogue, yo.

[DeftAndEvil]

"Oi!"

I'm not British, but that's what I woulda said. The fat guy from "Shawn of the Dead" said this and for some reason I thought it was freaking hilarious.

[g12man12]

UK: Come join me in the dark side.

Ireland: No! You ate my northern side!

UK: Fool! I own your northern side!

Ireland: Nooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

star wars just randomly popped into my head.

[DukeRaoul]

And that's just whats left of the old empire. I don't understand the seeming feelings of shame that the British have about their history of imperialistic domination, I'de be proud of it.

[Gagsy]

At 2/4/11 03:08 AM, DukeRaoul wrote: And that's just whats left of the old empire. I don't understand the seeming feelings of shame that the British have about their history of imperialistic domination, I'de be proud of it.

It's just the way the government want us to feel. Ashamed of 'owning' other nations. The fact is that we did have the best empire ever. Never forget.

And to the OP, I don't get what is complicated about it all :3

[Dogbert581]

Yep that sounds about right.....

Hahahaha look at ROI out there all on their own

[Rocksbury]

At 2/4/11 03:22 AM, Gagsy wrote:

The fact is that we did have the best empire ever. Never forget.

Just gonna leave this here.

[SkeletonGimp]

Considering about 1/3-1/4 of the world was either under direct British control, a Vassal/Puppet state for the British, or a self ruled British Territory at the empire's peak, the Romans got shit on us.

A map of the British Empire at its peak:

[Quinny]

At 2/4/11 05:36 AM, SkeletonGimp wrote: A map of the British Empire at its peak:

I can't see Gibraltar, but that's because it's too small on that picture.

[SkeletonGimp]

At 2/4/11 05:53 AM, Quinny wrote:

At 2/4/11 05:36 AM, SkeletonGimp wrote: A map of the British Empire at its peak:

I can't see Gibraltar, but that's because it's too small on that picture.

This is true, plus the Sovereign Territories of Cyrups are missing, but that came into prominence in the 1950's so doesn't really count.

[MJOLNIRchief90]

Seems to me like the British empire only got so big because they took over empty space and backwards peoples.

[HitIer]

At 2/4/11 07:09 AM, MJOLNIRchief90 wrote: Seems to me like the British empire only got so big because they took over empty space and backwards peoples.

Have you never played Risk?

[SkeletonGimp]

At 2/4/11 07:09 AM, MJOLNIRchief90 wrote: Seems to me like the British empire only got so big because they took over empty space and backwards peoples.

Sounds like a very effective empire building strategy actually.

[MJOLNIRchief90]

At 2/4/11 07:27 AM, SkeletonGimp wrote:

At 2/4/11 07:09 AM, MJOLNIRchief90 wrote: Seems to me like the British empire only got so big because they took over empty space and backwards peoples.

Sounds like a very effective empire building strategy actually.

They're just padding their score to make themselves look good. At least a fourth of that land is desert or tundra. And another fourth is barely inhabited. 2 percent is great britian itself and the last 48 percent is darker colored people who wanted to be friends and got screwed over.

[SkeletonGimp]

At 2/4/11 07:38 AM, MJOLNIRchief90 wrote:

At 2/4/11 07:27 AM, SkeletonGimp wrote:

At 2/4/11 07:09 AM, MJOLNIRchief90 wrote: Seems to me like the British empire only got so big because they took over empty space and backwards peoples.

Sounds like a very effective empire building strategy actually.

They're just padding their score to make themselves look good. At least a fourth of that land is desert or tundra. And another fourth is barely inhabited. 2 percent is great britian itself and the last 48 percent is darker colored people who wanted to be friends and got screwed over.

Doesn't sound much too different to how the Romans operated. Took over the desert tracks of North Africa and the barren plains of Spain, flipped over several vassal kingdoms in the east and northern italy/modern day france. Rest was forcefully taken from Celtic peoples, Slavic Germans and Goths and Persians. Rome had few substansive rivals after Carthage was 'dealt' with, its biggest enemy was itself and how it dealt with large nomadic tribes who originally sought their protection (Goths, again)

[SuspiciousPenguin]

I find american geography quite confusing, becuase you have the 50 states of which I might be able to name about 25-30 and then they're in reigions like new england and all this shizzle like WTF!?!?!?!

[Rawter]

The brits have the best sense of humour and thats a fact

[SkeletonGimp]

At 2/4/11 08:17 AM, Inizio wrote: The explanation.

Misses out the Sovereign territories of Cyprus, they're just military bases but recognised in law as part of British territory in the same way as gibralta.

Also, up untill not too long ago, the Crown was officially the Crown of the British Kingdom and France (Right up till Queen Victoria, English royalty saw themselves as the rightfull rulers of France by virtue of Henry V's marriage into the French blood line waaay back in medieval times.)

[IncendiaryProduction]

Their government confuses me.

We've been studying European government influences on American government for like a week.

What I don't get, is why you still have royalty if they can't do shit?

[SkeletonGimp]

At 2/4/11 09:40 AM, IncendiaryProduction wrote: What I don't get, is why you still have royalty if they can't do shit?

Good question, and it's really not easy to answer. I'm lost for a solid reason to keep her, but lost for a solid reason to get rid of her too.

Consider this, Crown Estate land (land owned by the queen, including all the oil fields in the North Sea being drilled by BP) is making us a fuck load of money, the royal weddings are always huge for business (despite nay sayers whining how much the security bill costs, in terms of VAT from sales made the taxman makes a killing) and they're our best source of positive PR for foreign nation visits.

Royals also have an edge when it comes to dealing with Arabic nations with defacto royal rulers, such as Jordan and Saudi Arabia. They're seen as people of 'equal footing' compared to a prime minister who will usually have see their 'counterpart' rather then the King/Sheik himself (who is the real source of power) on most state visits and phone calls.

[IncendiaryProduction]

At 2/4/11 10:07 AM, SkeletonGimp wrote: explanation

What is the general attitude towards royalty from the citizens?

[unowned]

a pathetic state with a despicable history

im glad i block all ips coming out of that shithole

[IncendiaryProduction]

At 2/4/11 10:17 AM, unowned wrote: a pathetic state with a despicable history

im glad i block all ips coming out of that shithole

Just because the history of that country is riddled with shame, doesn't mean you should be angry at the people that live there now.

And another question: Is the way Britain's history is looked down upon, the reason that in general the citizens are not very patriotic; and why the British look at us strange for being so proud of our own country?

[SkeletonGimp]

At 2/4/11 10:12 AM, IncendiaryProduction wrote:

At 2/4/11 10:07 AM, SkeletonGimp wrote: explanation

What is the general attitude towards royalty from the citizens?

Mostly positive when taken in a broader point of view. As with most celebrity/political figures, when a Royal fucks up you tend to see a spike in people saying the Queen should resign blah blah blah, but the overall trend is that Royals are quite popular, especially the current younger generation;

HRH Princes William and Harry, soon to be royal Kate Middleton and Prince Andrew's children. Andrew and Harry are particuarly well liked by the current and previous generations alike for being 'war heroes'. Prince Andrew flew Search and Rescue helicopters in the Falklands, which was a dangerous job considering Argentine constantly harrassed us with fast jet and ground man-portable AA weaponry.

Prince Harry served in Afghanistan, secretly at first, as an Air Controller for the House Hold Cavalry, serving on front line patrols. He didn't jsut sit in a base somewhere, he was pretty much in the thick of it. Shame that the internet broke his cover and forced him to come home earlier then he wanted to.

Personally, I'm a strong Royalist and took my oath of allegiance when entering the Military very seriously. In my eyes, they serve a multitude of usefull roles, and unlike many Royals, our Princes who join the military tend to have substancive military roles (have to start as commissioned officers, actually fly aircraft/go on tour with Navy/Have served on front line) rather then just get appointed a general or something and then proceed to do sod all.

[grime-reaper]

At 2/4/11 10:22 AM, IncendiaryProduction wrote:

At 2/4/11 10:17 AM, unowned wrote: a pathetic state with a despicable history

im glad i block all ips coming out of that shithole

Just because the history of that country is riddled with shame, doesn't mean you should be angry at the people that live there now.

And another question: Is the way Britain's history is looked down upon, the reason that in general the citizens are not very patriotic; and why the British look at us strange for being so proud of our own country?

British people are generally much less brazen, braggy and crass than Americans. Most British think it's pretty tasteless to boast about your own country.

[ARGNAGRAM]

At 2/4/11 03:22 AM, Gagsy wrote: It's just the way the government want us to feel. Ashamed of 'owning' other nations. The fact is that we did have the best empire ever. Never forget.

Same happened to Spain, and look where it is now...
Also, same with Macedonia.

[IncendiaryProduction]

At 2/4/11 10:24 AM, grime-reaper wrote: British people are generally much less brazen, braggy and crass than Americans. Most British think it's pretty tasteless to boast about your own country.

But a lot of British people just don't understand what it's like to be patriotic of a country like America.

In 234 years, we broke free of a government that was oppressing us, built a country from practically nothing, and became one of the major superpowers of the world.

234 years. All immigrants, mostly to escape religious persecution, built a country from scratch. No buildings. No roads.

We worked hard and made a name for ourselves. You should be considered tasteless to not be proud of that.

[SkeletonGimp]

At 2/4/11 10:22 AM, IncendiaryProduction wrote: And another question: Is the way Britain's history is looked down upon, the reason that in general the citizens are not very patriotic; and why the British look at us strange for being so proud of our own country?

This, again, is not a very easy question to answer simply due to its complexity.

I suppose, ever since the dawn of the British Empire it's actually been this cultural 'thing' to keep your privilage on the hush. The aristocrates of britain looked at the revolutions in France, Russia et al in, to put it simply, shock. I think after the French Revolution, it became common place for the upper class to keep its lip shut about how wealthy they were. Hallroom balls became more private affairs, Aristocrates stopped going out to 'view upon' the peasants and locked themselves up in their mansions and pretty much became reclusive.

In turn, since the rich stopped rubbing it in the face of the poor, the lower classes generally ignored them. They had bigger issues to worry about, and what's not seen generally isn't thought about. The fact that the Commons had plenty of power and Royalty stopped being an influence in politics from the 1700's onwards helped too, as most laws were made by men who could be seen as 'common' (generally wealthy merchants, but because they didn't have fancy titles the poor man wouldn't be able to tell the difference if he didn't know him)

After the collapse of the Empire, Britain has found itself without a real 'place' in the World. We're all patriotic, for sure, but not in the "FUCK YEAH! UK RULES!" kind of way, since we've already been butt hurt plenty for trying to be expansionist or exert our influence. Instead, we've kind of molded ourselves into a nation of 'prudists', viewing ourselves as the centre of morality and ethics, quitely confident in our military, ethics and nation. It's because we're so quiet people view it incorrectly as 'shamefull', and in turn we get a bit offended when people indirectly insult us by claiming to be 'the best' and therefore better then us. TL;DR we're a nation of quiet, self rightous snobs.

In regards to how Britain views American patriotism.... America has a history of filling its people with confidence in its superiority, which I believe is the main source of America's forward thinking outlook of its own power. It's why American's probably feel they can say "USA is the BEST!" because it's leaders say it is, and no one in the world can really turn round and substantially disagree. Who the fuck's going to actually take the US on in their home turf and prove they're better? The Cold War was an acception, as Russia was definatly a huge rival to US power, but people grow fiercely patriotic when their nation, or culture, is under threat in both war and 'peace', even Britain.