Untitled - Now Then

It’s normal to define
yourself by where
you come from.
Your family.
Your street.
Your town.
Your footie team.
Your friends.
It’s a perfectly logical step. If you
get used to what’s around you, then
when greeted with the unusual you
will be defensive. Take that to an
extreme and you get xenophobia,
which essentially means you get
scared by what you aren’t used to.
If you think about this for a second,
I’m positive you can recall an
occasion when you treated
someone differently just based on
the fact that they were any of a
number of things, he was French,
he was gay, he was a gay
Frenchman, whatever...
Now that’s what gets loosely
termed as racism.
Nasty word eh? That basically
means you don’t like foreigners.
But that’s normal isn’t it, we are all
tribes, tribes of families, of race, of
friends and peer groups, that’s how
humans function. Its essential to our
identity.
I’m very lucky to have grown up in
Britain. It’s a great country. We take
the piss out of everything. A healthy
questioning nature encourages
healthy debate.
We have the freedom to disagree
wholeheartedly with any politics,
with religion, with any largely held
view.
We love our underdogs, the outside
bet, and it is that toleration of members,
of our tribes that pushes the
boundaries that makes our country
great.
I once got called a ‘multicultural
fascist’ by a member of a far right
popular political party. It made me
laugh, then actually consider what
he was talking about.
White Britain.
The country of invasions.
Our place names are in Viking,
Saxon, French, and various forms
of Celtic and we claim a distinct
identity?
The streets I’ve lived on in Yorkshire
have been white. Yes, but a white
identity claimed in distinct tiny
local chunks; cursed as a Wessie
on the seaside. And yes, there’s
been foreigners here from before I
was born, living in the streets and
hills long before I was even thought
of; working here, belonging to the
land they live on.
The Indian, the Pakistani, the
Jamaicans, the Somalians, the
Polish, you see my point...
They come here, they live here, they
drink in our pubs, they work in our
jobs, and by and large they are accepted.
This is what makes Britain
great. Its a country that understands
and adapts, with new times,
new peoples, without losing its
identity, because that IS its identity.
Hate to break it to you Daily Mail
reader - that luxury sandwich in
your hands was packaged by, most
likely, Polish catering staff - same
as your luxury apartment was built
with Polish muscle, most likely...
An empire is defined as a
gathering of various distinct
peoples under one flag. We are still
very much an Empire, but an
empire in people’s hearts and
minds as opposed to geography.
We have always accepted new
settlers onto our land, be it in war
or peace, they lived with us, they’ve
married, and they’ve ultimately
become part of us.
It’s how Britain’s always been, as
long as there’s been a Britain. We
can go on forever about the American
gran or Welsh dad but we’ve
all got the same passport.
I don’t think the fascists are
particularly wrong, otherwise they
wouldn’t have a following. I don’t
think they have all the truth though.
Its like seeing ripples on a pond
and trying to give a detailed
description of the rock
that caused the splash.
Communities will always want to
live close together. You’ll want the
grandparents fairly close so you
can check up, you like the kids to
go to the local school, you’ll like to
shop at places you know cater for
your needs.
The problem comes when you
aren’t from that area. You drive into
it, for example, and see every shop
sign’s in script, salwar kameez
everywhere, and frankly you don’t
see the Britain you expect.
You form an opinion that you’ve
just driven into Bradistan, and you
aren’t entirely wrong, but you’ve
just judged it based on outward
appearances, not considering the
reasons for people being where
they are.
... just the same reasons as
you live down the road from your
mate Barry and the pub...
What’s the point of this?
Basically, hope? In a world where
we are constantly told there are
malevolent forces at work to disrupt
our way of life, we are found living
side by side, amongst our many
tribes in these tiny islands.
It’s something to be proud of. We’ve
always accepted people and new
knowledge - and it’s why we’ve
grown stronger.
Now don’t go out and hug your
neighbour, unless you really feel like
you want to. But do remember, the
next breath you draw is still, for now,
free and tolerant air.
That’s a fucking good thing.
JONES.
WHITE POWER.
SIMPLE REASONS FOR HATE.
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