I call it the England factor. Do you think we are doomed to always come 2nd in everything?

Question

I was aimlessly waiting for a train at the mayhem that is Clapham Junction today -and my girlfriend asked me why the British Transport system is so bad. I had no answer.

I've always noticed that in England, there is a certain grudging acceptance that what we do is rubbish. That our trains are late, that our workers are lazy, that we get knocked out in the semi finals of everything (usually in a pathetic manner).

The typical English mentality is to go, "*sigh* Why us?!?!"

Do you think this mentality is justified? Do we suffer from some sort of curse of averageness? Or is it our defeatest mentality that causes it all?

Matt

I'd just like to add, I'm not depressed!! :-D

hehe

Answer 1

I think that it is an English hobby to sigh and complain. The weather is always a good topic, after which one must find something else to grouse about. There are plenty of choices: transport, the latest doings of the government, the unfairness of things around us, the appalling postal system, the cost of living. All this makes for a cathartic conversation, at the end of which one can smile suddenly (as the train eventually pulls into Clapham Junction and one prepares to be physically separated in the crowd from one's interlocutor) and say: "Well, we've taken the world apart and put it to rights again!" and have a vague sense of achievement. It's basically an attitude of resignation.

Answer 2

I know what you mean because I endure London transport every day too. But...
Having spent a year away from England in the past you come to appreciate all that is here - and all that is so much better than anywhere else in the world -stuff we take for granted.
I see what you're saying - but I think the true English mentality is more never say die - that's how a tiny island once became the capital of the world. Of course, we're nowhere near that anymore, but I think over the past two centuries we've shown ourselves to be mentally strong. Time we all got a bit of pride back without worrying about negative perceptions of outsiders.

Answer 3

I do think so. I live in Britain too. The thing is, Britain always has this negativity surrounding itself. I mean, Britain got the highest rates of teenage pregnancy. Britain is the worst at saving energy, British office workers wastes the most time.. And so on. I just think it is the British people, that, that is the way they behave, i dont have any idea why though. It could be a curse. But you know, i doubt that though, it is definitely the defeatest mentality, nice question Matt.

Answer 4

Far better to be 2nd at everything than last in everything. Trains are not always late, the vast majority of the workforce is hardworking, we have won the world cup in rugby and football and we don't take a load of boll***ks from the government like other [certain] countries do. Mind the french might win the one about the government. All in all, I'd rather be here than a country where I was scared to open my mouth in case someone reported me for what I said.

Answer 5

The culture is geared toward anti-competition. Any marginalising that takes place due to any form of weakness, including self-induced, is considered something that must be prevented and banned rather than something that justly favours the strong. So, essentially, as the PC nanny state expands its reach, second best will increasingly become an impossible to reach aspiration - it sometimes feels like the country is only a hairbreadth from outlawing competetive sport altogether because it disadvantages the lazy and weak.

Answer 6

What an amazing question. Just look at the very profound responses. I am not British, so this is a helpful learning experience for me. For what it is worth, as an objective "outsider", let me say that I have always found you British to be an inspiration. Your resilience, dignity, sense of fair play, and your eccentric stubbornness to be individual: all of this is more than admirable. Do not judge yourselves by the swing of history's fickle pendulum. This is not a question of being "great". It is a process, not a competition. Your community is evolving again, growing, changing along with the whole world. We are all becoming something different, and rapidly. None of us is doing a very good job at managing it. Our common task, part of your national challenge and ours, is to rally the best of all of our cultures to establish peace, make justice, and get this global community organized. Who better to do that job than you?

Answer 7

all the above. as quickly as your stored then all your sins are coated with the help of Christs sacrifice on the go. The sins you have committed and the sins you will commit. it is God's atonement. you besides could say sorry once you commit the sin. it is a factor of "determining your salvation" It exhibits which you recognize your sinning and with any luck you go and sin not greater. The previous testomony type had an annual time of atonement while the sacrifice befell for the charge of sins. there is not any "sin forgiveness plan. in case your a Christian no quantity of sinning will shop you out of heaven, yet once you blatantly sin then you definately (and others) could desire to ask your self whether you quite are a Christian via fact in case your a follower of Christ, as "christian" implies, you need to do the failings that Christ commanded.

Answer 8

I was a soilder in the Royal artillery and we were second best at nothing,we have the best army in the world serving the wost goverment in the world,sack blair and labour and lets get Britain back to being the worlds leading nation in everything,we need a Oliver cromwell figure again,look him up and see how good a nation we were under him.

Answer 9

Part of the problem with England is that it believes it's own tabloid hype, they believe / expect everything that's on the front page of The Sun and Star, it's these papers that make and break people. As for transport, I think it's the same all round. Don't be too defeatist, "always look on the bright side of life"..............

Answer 10

No we're not doomed to always come 2nd in everything...we've been resting on our laurels since handing the Empire back to everyone....We've been there, done that, seen it all....you've got to give the rest of the world a chance to taste the sweetness that comes with being number one.

Just lately I recall off the top of my head that we gave the Yanks a thrashing in golf.....

and if you go to this URL you'll see we've been first with a lot of stuff that the Americans with their "in yer face" PR claimed as theirs.

http://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/BestifBrits.htm

Now and again, as we see fit, we let the colonials in Australia retain the Ashes to keep them happy and quiet. We have to tend our investment in Australia.....after all we bankrolled their early days and there's nothing in our history to say we ever stopped investing in Australia so it's kind of hard to let go of something we think we own.

Maybe if we worked as hard as the Chinese do we'd get better results both in sport and work.

What say you?