Envy, Hatred And Patriotism

I find it increasingly difficult to be a patriot. As this government, like the last shower, increase their suppression of freedoms and liberties they slowly kill off some of the most important things that made people proud to be British.

At the same time this government, like the last lot, are happy to bomb foreign countries they take a dislike to, or whose governments are being attacked by nutters who turn out to be the kind of islamic nutters they are taking away our freedoms and liberties to supposedly protect us from.

But worst of all there is a small minded hatred creeping into peoples' attitudes in this country that I find deeply unpleasant. Yes the bankers cocked up, but nothing like on the scale of the last Labour government who took the national coffers from being in balance to being over £170 billion in debt. Ironically those spewing forth the most venom about bankers probably cough up a small fortune in replica football shirts, season tickets and Sky TV subscriptions to enable footballers to be paid up to £250,000 a week.

I suppose after 13 or so years of Labour telling people they have a right to anything they want, it is inevitable that we have a degree of envy and hatred towards people who have succeeded that makes us sound like a nation of small minded, petulent school kids.

I read an article this week about an actor who went to Eton. He's had to fight for parts and recognition because of prejudice against his background. If he'd been treated that way because he went to a bog standard comprehensive on a sink estate there would have been a national outcry and a campaign to support him. It seems that to the politically correct/socialist nutters hatred and bigotry isn't always wrong.

This weekend we had a nutter disrupting the boat race because he dislikes elitism. I suppose if, God forbid, he has children he would be happy for them to be taught by teachers with no qualifications. If he supports a football team I assume he will be happy for the manager of his team to select a fat bald 52 year old to play centre forward. When he needs an operation will he be happy to have an untrained surgeon in the interests of 'equality'?

Increasingly I hear the venom of individuals and trade unions. This week the thoroughly unpleasant and self seeking National Union of Teachers have been banging on for even more pay and even better conditions. Interestingly I've heard teachers over the decades defending their long holidays with the weak defence that they spend most of their holidays training up and planning for the next term. This week I heard an NUT leader defending their six week summer holiday claiming that they need it because their job is so stressful. Bull! Stress is being sent by a Labour government to fight in Afghanistan or Iraq. Stress is going into a burning building to save people. Stress is driving an ambulance to the scene of a multi car pile up. Stress is trying to stop violent thugs from burning and looting shops.

Sadly we have ceased being a nation of shopkeepers and increasingly appear to have become a nation of small minded, success hating losers who expect something for nothing.