SEND GEORGE HIS DAY

it's hard to feel proud of being english
the scots
the welsh
the irish
they all got their patron saint days
which i bet they celebrate with gusto
parades
concerts
costumes
bagpipes
bottoms up
four-leaf clovers
they all celebrate kicking out the english
just like korea celebrates kicking out japan
the gloating bloated imperialists
good riddance they think
us lot
what do we celebrate?
morris dancing?
being kicked out of someone else's country?
do most englanders even know it's their national day?
okay
granted hannah's teacher gave her a sticker
the cross of st george
but where are the flags?
where are the customs?
where is the pride?
it aint celebrated
it's at best acknowledged
at worst it's overlooked
forgotten
or treated with utter indifference
so why is it so hard to feel proud of being english?
or british for that matter?
what about all we've achieved over the years?
the crusades
military conquest
international slavery
imperialism
colonialism
plundering the resources of africa india and the middle east
nuclear weapons
neo-colonialism
turmoil in zimbabwe
nato
dropping bombs on countries like serbia
that won't play ball
invading afghanistan and iraq
acting as the number one us lapdog
i scent george
(ha! ha! ha!)
making ourselves the number two target for terrorism
crap frozen processed food
i could go on...
i dunno
you know me
i always try to see the glass half full
real ale?
pubs being turned into bland cloned corporate chains
or closing down altogether
football?
the top four in the pee-ship get richer
and the rest get poorer
a democratic parliament?
where you got a 'labour party'
who takes away the lowest 10% tax bracket
and replaces it with...a 20% bracket!
a beacon for democracy throughout the world?
don't make me laugh
just read mark curtis' web of deceit or unpeople
pop music?
well i guess the fab four are beyond reproach
not to mention the kinks
the stones
mr bowie
billy bragg
steve kilbey
(well he is half-english)
the church
(ditto)...
but hey
why should we revere that obscure st george fella anyway?
that dragon-slaying knight of byzantium
resurrected as a symbol for the crusades?
by some ironic twist
my latest read arrives in today's post
written by a sound-as-a-pound bloke called paul kingsnorth
the title?
'real england'
the subtitle?
'the battle against the bland'
say no more...