England's main faults

[Tooting Carmen]

Note how I say England, not Britain, for reasons I shall explain.

(1) They may be good at inventing things - railways, TV, football, cricket, rugby etc. - but others usually improve on them and beat them at it. Maintenance and improvement are not always English fortes.

(2) Partly-related to the above is how England often grossly underachieve in things, regardless of how blessed and advantaged they may be in terms of wealth, population or resources. Case in point: the English rugby team. Apart from the Wilkinson-Dallaglio-Johnson era when they won the World Cup in 2003, English rugby has most of the time nowhere near reached its potential, when considering how the RFU is the wealthiest rugby union in the world and something like 40% of all the world's rugby players come from England. The fact that England have only managed a 20% winning ratio against New Zealand and 52% against Wales, despite being much better-resourced and having a far bigger player pool than either of them, speaks volumes.

(3) Far too many English people are indifferent or even actively hostile to foreign languages, due to a weird mixture of both imperalism and parochialism. Even in other parts of the British Isles, they cannot believe that some people may actually genuinely prefer to speak in Welsh or Irish among themselves and don't just switch into them in order to antagonise them. Let alone the fact that their lack of knowledge of foreign languages is virtually without parallel at least in the developed world - even many Americans are now learning Spanish and of course many Canadians can speak French.

(4) The English (and American) media have promoted the idea that they represent more than anyone else how White people are 'supposed' to look. Quite apart from this being exclusionary and insulting towards Southern and Eastern Europeans in particular, it is also a tad ironic, when you consider how the English themselves are noticeably darker-haired and possibly darker-eyed than Scandinavians, Dutch and Germans.

(5) More than anywhere else in the developed world (including even the US), England since the 1980's has been obsessed with privatising and marketising everything - utilities, railways, airports, buses and there are nowadays even growing encroachments into the NHS and the education system.

(6) English history is taught incredibly badly and selectively. At school, we learn more about the racism and atrocities of Nazi Germany and the Southern USA than England's own serious misbehaviour in Ireland, India, Australia or North America. (That said, we are taught about the slave trade, so at least Africa is covered a bit).

[Kamal900]

Agree with (1), lol. Cricket is seen today as a South Asian game when in reality it was first created and brought to the region by Anglo settlers.

[Tooting Carmen]

Agree with (1), lol. Cricket is seen today as a South Asian game when in reality it was first created and brought to the region by Anglo settlers.

And similarly football for Germany, Southern Europe and South America and rugby for Oceania and South Africa.

[Graham]

Oh, this is a minefield you linked me to Tooting. I'd rather critic my own people before another different people. We share a lot of the same issues as the English, they are more likely to be blind to it.

[Livin]

English people are superior To welsh, scots and Irish.

Sorry but you guys are puppies for them.

And This also goes for Greece and Cyprus.

[Graham]

English people are superior To welsh, scots and Irish.

Sorry but you guys are puppies for them.

And This also goes for Greece and Cyprus.

[Longbowman]

3) is unfair. Few anglophones learn foreign languages for the same reason few non-anglophones learn foreign languages that aren't English or neighbouring languages
6) is pointless, it's a weakness we don't celebrate our history, not bemoan it even more. Also this applies to the rest of the UK any way you cut it

apart from that England's faults are mostly the same as the rest of the UK - lack of willpower and ambition.

[Tooting Carmen]

3) is unfair. Few anglophones learn foreign languages for the same reason few non-anglophones learn foreign languages that aren't English or neighbouring languages
6) is pointless, it's a weakness we don't celebrate our history, not bemoan it even more. Also this applies to the rest of the UK any way you cut it

apart from that England's faults are mostly the same as the rest of the UK - lack of willpower and ambition.

(3) This is where you are wrong. Even though of course non-Anglophones prioritise learning English before other languages, plenty of them speak other languages too. For example, the EU estimates that around two-thirds of Dutch people can speak German and one-third can speak French. Similarly, believe it or not it is estimated that around 20% of French people can speak Spanish to at least an intermediate level. And of course many Eastern Europeans speak at least one of German or Russian.

(6) The dirty and cruel aspects of British history are taught much much less to British children than e.g. the dirty and cruel aspects of German history are to German children. Heck, you'd probably find even American schools teach their country's history more honestly than Britain's schools do about ours.

[Creoda]

1. Maybe

2. Leaving aside the fact the sport doesn't really matter, I don't think England underperform that badly in sport. They're one of the top nations historically and presently in numerous world sports, most countries are competitive in fewer major sports. The rugby team has won a World Cup, and the Olympic team has done very well (yes it's GB but it's mostly England).

3. I don't see that as a fault, it's one of the benefits of winning wars, that you can force your language on others and don't have to learn theirs. Were the Romans faulty for not speaking Barbarian tongues?

4. I don't see much of this being explicitly said by English people, but it's fairly typical for any people to see themselves as 'the norm'. Also the English are one of the more genetically European ethnic groups, so it's not without some merit.

5. Maybe, but that's also a reaction to the excessive socialism of the post-war period and it's consequences.

6. I'm sure English history is taught very badly, but not because there isn't enough about 'racism' and atrocities, or teaching kids to feel guilty about their nation in general.

[Westbrook]

A main fault is the most recent generations have lost their sense of identity and pride thanks to peace. People under 35 would rather be EU citizens first.