Times ahead

[suityou01]

This is a serious thread. One of my few.

I went to the pub tonight, with my buddies. We were having a nice time in our bubble, playing darts and getting rounds in. Outside was a young lad in the smoking quarter waxing lyrical about "reclaiming England"

On speaking to him, he frequently interupted with his 'manifesto'. His argument seemed largley around 'not being afraid to be English'.

I pointed out that he was skating the anti terrorism laws, and was risking being branded a terrorist. He said he had all of that at a recent rally in Leicester.

I'm all for free speech but tonight all his arguments seemed 'Non Pc'

I suggested he saught the advice of a PR company as 'rants' would cause people to switch off, but I could not get a word in edgewise.

It set me thinking. What he was saying would have been socially acceptable 30 years ago, and would prolly have made national news. Nowadays he risks incurring wrath from numerous extremist groups, the local police and national scorn (given media spin)

My question is, is this indicative of the times ahead? On reflection this is no longer a question.

To me it is conclusive that our liberties are seeping away and there is nothing we can do. Those confident to speak out are branded racists or terrorists.

I for one am happy to pipe down and STFU just to ensure the safety of my family, how many feel the same?


Is this indicative of the times ahead?

[Clippy]

I for one am happy to pipe down and STFU just to ensure the safety of my family, how many feel the same?

The majority of the population.

[Zippy]

I'd bet most of us could not claim to be English (I certainly can't).
The UK has been built by immigrants. The guy in your pub is a cretin and just because his racism was tolerated 30 years ago, it doesn''t make it acceptable now.
One should always challenge these morons and I won't STFU.

[mudskipper]

The majority of the population.

Disagree - If by STFU SY01 means that we agree with pub cretin's views but are too afraid to voice that, I don't believe that's true. I certainly don't secretly support 'reclaiming England'.

But I do think the English do have a problem with identity. You should be able to be proud to be English without feeling that's a crime. Lots of English people will proudly claim Scots or Irish roots. You don't hear a Scot announcing "Actually, I'm quarter English."

[SizeZero]

There will always be revolutionaries and anarchists. The country is full of armchair warriors, but very few go further than spouting on an internet forum. They feel England is losing 'something' but they don't know what it is, when it went, or how to get it back. They never actually do anything though. So they choose easy targets but they don't really know who to target either, so they follow the media's lead in blaming terrorists, immigrants, politicians, binge drinkers, smokers, fatties, or whoever else is there to point the finger at. Maybe the world is just too crowded now. I have no doubt there will be another war at some point that will involve us all; I hope it's not in my lifetime, but one day we will just run out of food to feed us all.

Perhaps we are already running out of jobs to sustain us all, now that formerly poor countries are producing well educated (more cost efficient) professionals who can compete with our lacklustre arts graduates? Who chooses farming as a career these days? Who makes the clothes we need to wear? (Some here would tell you we don't need these industries so long as we have the city to generate our wealth and import everything else) .

There is nothing wrong with wanting a quiet life with minimal stress, even if it's not particularly exciting. I think that's the aim of most families whether they moved here in the last ten years or their families moved here in Viking or Norman times. Maybe our lifestyle has taken away that thrill of the hunt, maybe modern society has emasculated people so that they have no other release than to throw stones at the neighbours, the 'overclasses' or 'subclasses'?

Anyway, I'm sure the bloke went home to a missus who told him he's talking bullocks and he's suitably humbled this morning.

[EternalOptimist]

You don't hear a Scot announcing "Actually, I'm quarter English."

What about Any Murray. Damned proud to be mostly English, and we are proud to have him

[Troll]

This is a serious thread. One of my few.

I went to the pub tonight, with my buddies. We were having a nice time in our bubble, playing darts and getting rounds in. Outside was a young lad in the smoking quarter waxing lyrical about "reclaiming England"

On speaking to him, he frequently interupted with his 'manifesto'. His argument seemed largley around 'not being afraid to be English'.

I pointed out that he was skating the anti terrorism laws, and was risking being branded a terrorist. He said he had all of that at a recent rally in Leicester.

I'm all for free speech but tonight all his arguments seemed 'Non Pc'

I suggested he saught the advice of a PR company as 'rants' would cause people to switch off, but I could not get a word in edgewise.

It set me thinking. What he was saying would have been socially acceptable 30 years ago, and would prolly have made national news. Nowadays he risks incurring wrath from numerous extremist groups, the local police and national scorn (given media spin)

My question is, is this indicative of the times ahead? On reflection this is no longer a question.

To me it is conclusive that our liberties are seeping away and there is nothing we can do. Those confident to speak out are branded racists or terrorists.

I for one am happy to pipe down and STFU just to ensure the safety of my family, how many feel the same?


Is this indicative of the times ahead?

Be more worried that 12 years of NL brainwashing has made you afraid to admit what he is saying is right.

FYI the views your friend was expressing appears to be growing - not through the middle aged 'little Englanders' but worryingly amongst the youth- tired of being steam rollered into accepting what is going on in this country - and it cuts across all social strata... i.e. might have been the poor white boys 20 years ago - I'm hearing it more and more from educated teenagers


don't know where it will all end though

[Troll]

Lots of English people will proudly claim Scots or Irish roots. You don't hear a Scot announcing "Actually, I'm quarter English."

Feck off

[Troll]

I'd bet most of us could not claim to be English (I certainly can't).
The UK has been built by immigrants. The guy in your pub is a cretin and just because his racism was tolerated 30 years ago, it doesn''t make it acceptable now.
One should always challenge these morons and I won't STFU.

The old model was that within two generations you were English no matter what your ancestry - that way we absorbed waves of immigrants throughout history; people who today you wouldn't be able to identify other than perhaps an unusual spelling of a surname.
What has happened in recent times is the promotion of groups of immigrants history and culture to the extent of deliberately keeping them separate and distinct from the mainstream

I think your claim of "not to be English" proves this point

[EternalOptimist]

Be more worried that 12 years of NL brainwashing has made you afraid to admit what he is saying is right.

FYI the views your friend was expressing appears to be growing - not through the middle aged 'little Englanders' but worryingly amongst the youth- tired of being steam rollered into accepting what is going on in this country - and it cuts across all social strata... i.e. might have been the poor white boys 20 years ago - I'm hearing it more and more from educated teenagers


don't know where it will all end though

I think the OP was more about PC suppressing freedom of speech, rather than the item of free speech in question.

although I do agree with you