Nothing has weakened the Union more than the last 25 years' takeover of popular culture by football, including the colonisation of that game itself by people and areas that rarely play it, indeed would almost never have dreamt of taking the slightest interest in it in the past.
Saint George's Flag used to be flown from churches on certain days, and that was it. Certainly not one in three people, probably not even one in four, and possibly not even one in five, would have known what it was, or would ever even have recalled having set eyes on it in their lives. Most people would have associated anything like it with medical facilities.
Mostly for the purposes of selling low quality, largely foreign beer, the whole concept of "Engerland" has been created and propagated.
That concept is English identity with all of the good parts taken out, all of the bad parts not only kept in but celebrated, and several new ones added for the purpose despite never having previously had anything to do with how English people defined themselves in particular, if at all.
The misappropriation of Saint George's Flag is central to all of that, as is the practice of treating the national football team as the nation, referring to it as "us" in conversation and so on.
Don't do it.
Jon Simons.
ReplyDelete