Chorus
"Land of hope and glory, mother of the free
How shall we extol thee, who are born of thee?
Wider still and wider shall thy bounds be set
God, who made thee mighty, make thee mightier yet
God, who made thee mighty, make thee mightier yet"
Is this still in the least bit relevant to the UK in the 21st century? It was written in 1902.
How about "Rule Britannia" written in 1740?
Chorus:-
"Rule, Britannia! rule the waves
Britons never, never, never, will be slaves"
The verses are even more Jingoistic - "(characterized by extreme patriotism, especially in the form of aggressive or warlike foreign policy)".
The last vestiges of our Colonial "greatness" ended in the 1980's.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_that_have_gained_independence_from_the_United_Kingdom
We had 62 Colonies by my count, which seems a bit greedy to say the least. The current Commonwealth is made up of 53 countries, mostly former Colonies. At least that is voluntary, although there are some fairly "iffy" leaders.
The thing is, we punch above our weight. We aren't, by any measure, a leading nation any more.
I don't see many signs of hope, let alone glory at the moment. I see discord, petty bickering, a desperate grab for political power & a huge & ever widening gap between the haves & the have not's in the UK.
Shame on us. Colonialism probably wasn't our finest hour, but at least we did achieve something. It's about time we started to adapt to reality & forgot our "glorious" past.
How shall we extol thee, who are born of thee?
Wider still and wider shall thy bounds be set
God, who made thee mighty, make thee mightier yet
God, who made thee mighty, make thee mightier yet"
Is this still in the least bit relevant to the UK in the 21st century? It was written in 1902.
How about "Rule Britannia" written in 1740?
Chorus:-
"Rule, Britannia! rule the waves
Britons never, never, never, will be slaves"
The verses are even more Jingoistic - "(characterized by extreme patriotism, especially in the form of aggressive or warlike foreign policy)".
The last vestiges of our Colonial "greatness" ended in the 1980's.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_that_have_gained_independence_from_the_United_Kingdom
We had 62 Colonies by my count, which seems a bit greedy to say the least. The current Commonwealth is made up of 53 countries, mostly former Colonies. At least that is voluntary, although there are some fairly "iffy" leaders.
The thing is, we punch above our weight. We aren't, by any measure, a leading nation any more.
The Eight Great Powers of 2017 are:-
- The USA. It has been for the last century, the most powerful country on earth.
- China (tie)
- Japan (tie)
- Russia.
- Germany.
- India.
- Iran.
- Israel.
I don't see many signs of hope, let alone glory at the moment. I see discord, petty bickering, a desperate grab for political power & a huge & ever widening gap between the haves & the have not's in the UK.
Shame on us. Colonialism probably wasn't our finest hour, but at least we did achieve something. It's about time we started to adapt to reality & forgot our "glorious" past.
Maybe ditching "Land of Hope & Glory" & "Rule Britannia" would be a good start.
No comments:
Post a Comment