Being British.

British TV is showing ‘In the Name of the Father’ again tonight. It’s the story of the Guildford Four. Just in case anybody doesn’t know, the Guildford Four were a group of innocent Irishmen who were tried, convicted and imprisoned for a terrorist crime that the government and police knew they hadn’t committed. It’s a story of disingenuous politicians, corrupt policemen and a bigoted legal system, all prepared to punish the innocent in the name of self-interest and propaganda. Very British. It’s one of the reasons why I’m prepared to stand up and say ‘I am not proud to be British. Why should I be?’ It isn’t the only reason, of course, since I’m aware that there isn’t a country in the so-called developed world that hasn’t been guilty of abusing the innocent and misusing its power. We British don’t have a monopoly on such things; we’ve just been very good at it. What I really question is the whole concept of nationhood.

I’m an old fashioned internationalist. I dislike flags and national anthems. I squirm when somebody tries to tell me that I should be more patriotic. I groan when I hear ‘I’m proud to be British,’ or see some dim, deluded fool on American TV saying ‘I’m a patriotic American.’ What is there to be proud of? What is the value of patriotism? I manage a wry smile when I hear that line from Rule Britannia, much favoured by proms-deluded students and the jam-and-Jerusalem crowd - ‘Britons never, never, never shall be slaves.’ The people who take such delight in those words don’t seem to realise that slaves is precisely what they are: slaves to a lifelong process of brainwashing that insinuates into them an unthinking allegiance to a sense of identity in which they had no choice. Patriotism is a measure of moral weakness, an indication of being unable to think deeply and independently for oneself. Is that something to be proud of?

This concept reaches the height of absurdity with the notion that the greatest cause to which we can be called is to ‘fight for king and country.’ It had its beginnings at different times in different parts of the world, but always it was invented to further the personal interests of kings, princes and potentates. Nowadays, it serves the interests of a more complex political system, but it’s no less absurd for that. I believe in fighting for a just cause, for a high ideal, to protect the innocent, or to preserve my freedom. Any notion that fighting for king and country is inherently right and honourable denies freedom. It forces the unwitting into a narrow and essentially self-centred mindset, in which nationhood is more important than the interest of humanity. That cannot be right.

What I can allow myself to take pride in is the fact that I can place an honest hand on a genuine heart and say ‘I am not proud to be British. I am not a patriot. I left such concepts behind when my brain cells started to function properly.’ People are what matter to me, not countries.