Well, thanks for telling us all what we think.
What do you think British culture is, because it is definitely not American culture…
Off Topic Politics Thread
- Thread starter ChilcoSaint
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What do you think British culture is, because it is definitely not American culture…
British culture is evolving as it always has done ever since humans have lived here. Ancient Britons, Romans, Anglo Saxons, Vikings, Normans, Jews, Irish, African, West Indian, Asians and most recently from continental Europe.
It is evolving at a faster pace now because the planet is more connected through technology than it has ever been. I'd like to think that I would be accepted in any country of the World that I chose to live in and have the freedom of choice where and of course there are millions of people of British heritage throughout that World.
I think the idea that British culture is somehow being lost is a bit of a myth, Christianity is receding naturally in the same way that smoking is, people are more informed about it.
It is evolving at a faster pace now because the planet is more connected through technology than it has ever been. I'd like to think that I would be accepted in any country of the World that I chose to live in and have the freedom of choice where and of course there are millions of people of British heritage throughout that World.
I think the idea that British culture is somehow being lost is a bit of a myth, Christianity is receding naturally in the same way that smoking is, people are more informed about it.
Exactly this. Our current culture is based on all the multifaceted, multilayered cultures which have gone before. All the layers of history preceding these times have left their own mark, their literature, their poetry and music, their societal norms, and their different tensions and stress-points between the different strata of society. Immigration has, from prehistorical times, enriched the land we enjoy today.
The only constant factor in all this is that our culture, just like our racial mix and our religious preferences, are constantly changing. That is the Britain I love, the place that opens its arms to people from the four corners of the Earth and adapts itself to them.
Anyone who pretends that there has always been some kind of consistent, white Christian culture spread across the diverse peoples of these islands is simply deluded.
The only person that knows if Elon Musk was doing a Nazi salute is Elon Musk (and even that's questionable). It certainly isn't a case of "obviously wasn't", by the way. In fact I'd suggest it is more "probably was", given everything. That's opinion, you see.
Protest movement getting to Musk.
"On Saturday morning, I woke up to a nightmare of notifications. On Sunday, it got worse. Elon Musk had tweeted and amplified inflammatory lies about me and Tesla Takedown, a growing national grassroots movement peacefully protesting at Tesla showrooms that I’m proudly a part of. Musk tweeted: “Costa is committing crimes". Must find a Tesla Takedown near me and get some posters printed.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/mar/13/elon-musk-tesla-takedown-protest?
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In fact, saying that Musk "obviously wasn't" doing a Nazi salute is incredibly intellectually dishonest. Os may be many things, but I actually don't think he's thick, but unfortunately we're in this position where because it's all about 'winning', he's incapable of proper criticism where it's due, because he has to get one over Loading or Jabbo or something.
Was thinking about the salute last night, and I'd say it almost definitely *was* a Nazi salute.
The only thing in favour of "obviously wasn't" is the following -
In the other corner - on "definitely was" we have the following -
Was thinking about the salute last night, and I'd say it almost definitely *was* a Nazi salute.
The only thing in favour of "obviously wasn't" is the following -
- well known liar Elon Musk says so
In the other corner - on "definitely was" we have the following -
- it's exactly the sort of stunt Musk would play to see if he can get away with it. It's exciting to him and he's a child (as per the Beavis and Butthead first five minutes with Rogan). "I did a Nazi...hurr hurr"
- his recent very vocal support for the likes of the AfD party in Germany would tell you that he leans toward that direction (if not the whole way).
- if you're doing a spontaneous throwing your heart out to people, pretty much everyone would do it where you 'clasp' or grip you heart, then throw it out from a clenched hand like confetti. That's the normal way of doing that. You don't do a flat hand to the chest and out, y'know a...umm....Nazi salute. Which leads us on to -
- here's the big one. I don't care how autistic you are (and how offensive is that excuse to autistic people) - EVERYONE but everyone knows that you don't do that action. Everyone has done it once to try it out, at school or in private, and you know in your gut that it is entirely unacceptable and not to do that. Slapping your chest then throwing out that salute. Every. Single. Person. In. The. World knows what that means. Including Elon Musk. And you don't do it because you're suddenly overcome with excitement.
He did it on purpose because he thought it would be fun and to see if he'd get away with it. That's the guy you're siding with right there. Probably worth thinking that one through.
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I'm not sure which one you mean Ian there's so many, link please.
More lies and disinformation from the orange arsehole.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/12/politics/fact-check-trump-canada-claims/index.html
On the home front I can understand why these people are taking strike action.
Staff from the Rapid Response Team at Guys and St Thomas’s Hospital are taking a break from a busy morning’s infection control.
This is the team tasked with one of the most dangerous jobs in the hospital – the deep cleans that prevent deadly diseases spreading.
“We are proud to be on the front line of the NHS,” one of the team tells me.
“Every day we might be facing ebola, monkeypox, tuberculosis, MRSA, C. difficile, norovirus, and of course Covid. We use toxic chemicals and complex equipment like vaporised hydrogen peroxide and ultra-violet machines to decontaminate areas of the hospital from infectious diseases.
“So, we are risking our lives exposing ourselves to diseases, but also to toxic chemicals and radiation.
“There is a high risk of contracting diseases, for us and our families.”
For this skilled, dangerous, highly responsible work, these Covid heroes are paid just £12.08 an hour – making them among the lowest paid workers in the National Health Service.
Staff from the Rapid Response Team at Guys and St Thomas’s Hospital are taking a break from a busy morning’s infection control.
This is the team tasked with one of the most dangerous jobs in the hospital – the deep cleans that prevent deadly diseases spreading.
“We are proud to be on the front line of the NHS,” one of the team tells me.
“Every day we might be facing ebola, monkeypox, tuberculosis, MRSA, C. difficile, norovirus, and of course Covid. We use toxic chemicals and complex equipment like vaporised hydrogen peroxide and ultra-violet machines to decontaminate areas of the hospital from infectious diseases.
“So, we are risking our lives exposing ourselves to diseases, but also to toxic chemicals and radiation.
“There is a high risk of contracting diseases, for us and our families.”
For this skilled, dangerous, highly responsible work, these Covid heroes are paid just £12.08 an hour – making them among the lowest paid workers in the National Health Service.
I agree with all of the above, except your second sentence. But I'll leave it there as the next ban is more than a week
A piece about Musk “signaling” support for white supremacy.
https://knowyourmeme.com/editorials...ning-of-the-14-american-flag-emojis-explained
https://knowyourmeme.com/editorials...ning-of-the-14-american-flag-emojis-explained
Other news..
"Andrew Tate cannot hide fury as Florida ‘welcome’ brings yet more legal trouble."
"It was a welcome to Florida that Andrew Tate was not expecting, far less the warm embrace he believed he was entitled to.
The controversial influencer, an accused rapist and human trafficker, walked straight into a state criminal investigation after descending the steps of the private aircraft that flew him and his brother Tristan from Romania last month, inducing a fit of apoplexy in Tate that appears to be still raging two weeks on."
"The US president’s son, Donald Trump Jr, has previously called their detention in Romania “absolute insanity”, while Trump himself denied any knowledge of their release.
The Financial Times reported last month, however, that McBride had lobbied members of Congress to speak up for them; and that the US special envoy Richard Grenell, a Trump acolyte, raised the case with Romania’s foreign minister, Emil Hurezeanu, at the Munich Security Conference in February."
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2025/mar/14/andrew-tate-florida-investigation
"Andrew Tate cannot hide fury as Florida ‘welcome’ brings yet more legal trouble."
"It was a welcome to Florida that Andrew Tate was not expecting, far less the warm embrace he believed he was entitled to.
The controversial influencer, an accused rapist and human trafficker, walked straight into a state criminal investigation after descending the steps of the private aircraft that flew him and his brother Tristan from Romania last month, inducing a fit of apoplexy in Tate that appears to be still raging two weeks on."
"The US president’s son, Donald Trump Jr, has previously called their detention in Romania “absolute insanity”, while Trump himself denied any knowledge of their release.
The Financial Times reported last month, however, that McBride had lobbied members of Congress to speak up for them; and that the US special envoy Richard Grenell, a Trump acolyte, raised the case with Romania’s foreign minister, Emil Hurezeanu, at the Munich Security Conference in February."
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2025/mar/14/andrew-tate-florida-investigation
This is priceless:
Perhaps the best assessment of the humorless Trump I have seen so far - from a British perspective.
Someone asked "Why do some British people not like Donald Trump?"
Nate White, an articulate and witty writer from England, wrote this magnificent response:
"A few things spring to mind.
Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem.
For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace - all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed.
So for us, the stark contrast does rather throw Trump’s limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief.
Plus, we like a laugh. And while Trump may be laughable, he has never once said anything wry, witty or even faintly amusing - not once, ever.
I don’t say that rhetorically, I mean it quite literally: not once, not ever. And that fact is particularly disturbing to the British sensibility - for us, to lack humour is almost inhuman.
But with Trump, it’s a fact. He doesn’t even seem to understand what a joke is - his idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult, a casual act of cruelty.
Trump is a troll. And like all trolls, he is never funny and he never laughs; he only crows or jeers.
And scarily, he doesn’t just talk in crude, witless insults - he actually thinks in them. His mind is a simple bot-like algorithm of petty prejudices and knee-jerk nastiness.
There is never any under-layer of irony, complexity, nuance or depth. It’s all surface.
Some Americans might see this as refreshingly upfront.
Well, we don’t. We see it as having no inner world, no soul.
And in Britain we traditionally side with David, not Goliath. All our heroes are plucky underdogs: Robin Hood, Dick Whittington, Oliver Twist.
Trump is neither plucky, nor an underdog. He is the exact opposite of that.
He’s not even a spoiled rich-boy, or a greedy fat-cat.
He’s more a fat white slug. A Jabba the Hutt of privilege.
And worse, he is that most unforgivable of all things to the British: a bully.
That is, except when he is among bullies; then he suddenly transforms into a snivelling sidekick instead.
There are unspoken rules to this stuff - the Queensberry rules of basic decency - and he breaks them all. He punches downwards - which a gentleman should, would, could never do - and every blow he aims is below the belt. He particularly likes to kick the vulnerable or voiceless - and he kicks them when they are down.
So the fact that a significant minority - perhaps a third - of Americans look at what he does, listen to what he says, and then think 'Yeah, he seems like my kind of guy’ is a matter of some confusion and no little distress to British people, given that:
* Americans are supposed to be nicer than us, and mostly are.
* You don't need a particularly keen eye for detail to spot a few flaws in the man.
This last point is what especially confuses and dismays British people, and many other people too; his faults seem pretty bloody hard to miss.
After all, it’s impossible to read a single tweet, or hear him speak a sentence or two, without staring deep into the abyss. He turns being artless into an art form; he is a Picasso of pettiness; a Shakespeare of ****. His faults are fractal: even his flaws have flaws, and so on ad infinitum.
God knows there have always been stupid people in the world, and plenty of nasty people too. But rarely has stupidity been so nasty, or nastiness so stupid.
He makes Nixon look trustworthy and George W look smart.
In fact, if Frankenstein decided to make a monster assembled entirely from human flaws - he would make a Trump.
And a remorseful Doctor Frankenstein would clutch out big clumpfuls of hair and scream in anguish:
'My God… what… have… I… created?
If being a twat was a TV show, Trump would be the boxed set."
Perhaps the best assessment of the humorless Trump I have seen so far - from a British perspective.
Someone asked "Why do some British people not like Donald Trump?"
Nate White, an articulate and witty writer from England, wrote this magnificent response:
"A few things spring to mind.
Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem.
For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace - all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed.
So for us, the stark contrast does rather throw Trump’s limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief.
Plus, we like a laugh. And while Trump may be laughable, he has never once said anything wry, witty or even faintly amusing - not once, ever.
I don’t say that rhetorically, I mean it quite literally: not once, not ever. And that fact is particularly disturbing to the British sensibility - for us, to lack humour is almost inhuman.
But with Trump, it’s a fact. He doesn’t even seem to understand what a joke is - his idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult, a casual act of cruelty.
Trump is a troll. And like all trolls, he is never funny and he never laughs; he only crows or jeers.
And scarily, he doesn’t just talk in crude, witless insults - he actually thinks in them. His mind is a simple bot-like algorithm of petty prejudices and knee-jerk nastiness.
There is never any under-layer of irony, complexity, nuance or depth. It’s all surface.
Some Americans might see this as refreshingly upfront.
Well, we don’t. We see it as having no inner world, no soul.
And in Britain we traditionally side with David, not Goliath. All our heroes are plucky underdogs: Robin Hood, Dick Whittington, Oliver Twist.
Trump is neither plucky, nor an underdog. He is the exact opposite of that.
He’s not even a spoiled rich-boy, or a greedy fat-cat.
He’s more a fat white slug. A Jabba the Hutt of privilege.
And worse, he is that most unforgivable of all things to the British: a bully.
That is, except when he is among bullies; then he suddenly transforms into a snivelling sidekick instead.
There are unspoken rules to this stuff - the Queensberry rules of basic decency - and he breaks them all. He punches downwards - which a gentleman should, would, could never do - and every blow he aims is below the belt. He particularly likes to kick the vulnerable or voiceless - and he kicks them when they are down.
So the fact that a significant minority - perhaps a third - of Americans look at what he does, listen to what he says, and then think 'Yeah, he seems like my kind of guy’ is a matter of some confusion and no little distress to British people, given that:
* Americans are supposed to be nicer than us, and mostly are.
* You don't need a particularly keen eye for detail to spot a few flaws in the man.
This last point is what especially confuses and dismays British people, and many other people too; his faults seem pretty bloody hard to miss.
After all, it’s impossible to read a single tweet, or hear him speak a sentence or two, without staring deep into the abyss. He turns being artless into an art form; he is a Picasso of pettiness; a Shakespeare of ****. His faults are fractal: even his flaws have flaws, and so on ad infinitum.
God knows there have always been stupid people in the world, and plenty of nasty people too. But rarely has stupidity been so nasty, or nastiness so stupid.
He makes Nixon look trustworthy and George W look smart.
In fact, if Frankenstein decided to make a monster assembled entirely from human flaws - he would make a Trump.
And a remorseful Doctor Frankenstein would clutch out big clumpfuls of hair and scream in anguish:
'My God… what… have… I… created?
If being a twat was a TV show, Trump would be the boxed set."
These days, if you say you are a comedian and quite clearly you're not, you should be thrown in jail.
These days, some people just repeat the same boring talking points over and over and over and over and over and over.
What, these days they just repeat the same boring talking points over and over and over and over?
Yes, these days, they repeat the same boring talking points over and over and over.
The same boring talking points? These days they repeat them over and over?
Can't view that being ex UK also horrified to be informed BBC sounds, which I use daily usually for 6 music, often cruising the archive, is being restricted to UK listeners. Instead, "BBC Audio" is going to offer access to BBC Radio 4 and the World Service only, in addition to what is likely to be a limited range of BBC podcasts. I think the Beeb have missed one there, making them subscription would bring in much needed revenue. Maybe there's some sort of commercial restriction. I have radio 1-4 from my TV/internet provider and will have a hunt for a VPN that works, tried a few none worked all were identified and access blocked.
It’s Stewart Lee telling his joke about the cab driver who told him these days you get locked up for saying you are English. It is bang on the nose for all the misinformation rightwingers put out about British freedoms.
On that note, so many people who slagged off UK freedom of speech are getting angry at the billboards of Musk doing his nazi salute going up around London. Teeheehee.