Good to hear that!

Kā tas izpaudās, ja drīkst zināt?

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in general, I would say it is the over-exaggeration of the importance of trivial things, from 'We are all going to die waiting in traffic jams because of Brexit' to the hysteria of the football commentary and of course the more prosaic private limitations on possibilities.

Some of it is a snapshot of a nation (people) in the process of understanding and adapting to the ugly truths of planet earth, so it could all end up better/more sane in the long run.

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Man prieks, ka tev ir Latvija, tiešām (un otrādi - ka Latvijai esi tu). Dzīvot tādā vidē nepavisam nav veselīgi. Labi, šeit jau arī cilvēki jūdzas nost par sūdiem, taču iedzimtais fatālisms reizē kalpo par tādu kā austrumu reliģiju domai raksturīgu pašironiju, neuztveršanu sevi pārāk nopietni. Kā arī zināmu pacietību un pieticību. Vismaz man tā labpatīkas iztēloties, he.

Jāatzīst, es vispār jūs, britus, laikam tomēr īpaši nepazīstu un tāpēc īpaši nesaprotu. Ar tiem britiem, ar kuriem kaut cik regulāri komunicēju, nekad netika runāts par neko, kas ir ārpus tēmas (mēs spēlējām vienu nopietnu virtuālo spēli ilgi jo ilgi). Taču, jā, ja tā paskatās, britiem ir zināma morālā trauma, jo viņi arvien vairāk tiek nostādīti priekšā faktam, ka tā Britānija, kas bija pirms simts, divsimts un trīssimts gadiem, ir kaut kur tālu, tālu prom un vairs nekad neatgriezīsies. Grūti noteikti ir pieņemt, ka Britānija tagad ir normāla rietumeiropas valsts, nevis impērija. Un tāpēc noteikti ir grūti sākt to act like one.

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We aren't a normal West-European country, thank God :)

I look on it a bit more whimsically (aging ex-pat). I look back on my childhood and the attendant culture as a fairytale. I look on the indie/hc gigs we put on as something magical in a unique culture now mostly out of sight: the whistling riffs a portrait in the air - the smell of fags, the taste of Southern Comfort, the endless Norfolk skies... all the possibilities.

We have been fucked, I would say, slowly with digital remorseless insistence since then. It comes from above, not below, and it has turned us into a pantomime of hysterical self-hatred - woe is us - we gave the world football hooligans and the Empire: we are shit and we, sadly, feel it in the bones.

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What I want to say is that with regard to Empire guilt, we are chucking the baby out with the bathwater. We don't have to be like everyone else - it isn't something we should aspire to - we should be free to rejoice - show a little enthusiasm for our culture - the old one - the one that hasn't forgotten the words to auld lang syne and can covort about in a seas of mystified others on the banks of the Thames - the one that threatens extra work for the fire service on November 5th.

I am probably conflating my thoughts on England with the effects of my sister-in-law's psychological war on her husband and kids - all three intimidated into a joyless, limited existence without perspective

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You have been majorly fucked, so it seems. What do you think, could one argue that you bought it up yourselves? Or is it like a "sign of the times" (change as a product of the age).

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We can't openly admit what has happened/is happening to us. I don't want to be too alt-right about this, but look back... look back and see for yourself - the culture is being annihilated - the causes are the attendant disinterest of digitalisation, the smothering of aspiration, the reliance on a state to keep our heads above the flood of liquid debt, and the 'what-you-looking-at?' of demographic change.

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Bet ja tas nāk no "augšas", nevis pašas tautas, varbūt nav tik bezcerīgi. Vai tev šķiet, ka mosties jau ir par vēlu?
Manā mierinošo grāmatu plauktā ne pārāk sen nokļuva dažas Rodžera Skrūtona grāmatas, un tiešām mierina, sevišķi tas, kā viņš lieto jēdzienu "heritage". Mierinošo grāmatu plaukts, protams, daļēji ir pašapmānam, bet pavisam bez tā nevarētu.

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It also comes from pašas tautas. From old friends, relatives and so on.

It's difficult, for me, to write or think about it coherently (see above rambling). There are so many factors at play. Furthermore, my perception could be warped or otherwise malfunctioning, and I can get carried away. Only sometimes you catch something - a small thing maybe - and it strikes you that it has meaning. For instance, we, three generations of us, sang that auld lang syne, and then later on the TV, you saw just a few pockets of people singing it in amongst a mass of incredulity by the banks of the Thames - those who didn't understand it or sing it could have been tourists, maybe of course, but not all. Other times you watch an old TV series steeped in another culture, or see an old photo - is this what Scruton is referring to when he says 'heritage'?

It would be good if we rediscovered aspects of that culture, and celebrated it - especially in those areas where the 'we' whose heritage it is are or are becoming a minority. It would be the most positive thing we could do.

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Skrūtonam 'heritage' nav tikai konkrētās lietas un parādības vai to kopums, bet tas, ko tās simbolizē - Eiropas kultūras pamatvērtības.
Pāris ar medijiem nesaistīti zviedru puiši par saviem līdzekļiem (par saviem tāpēc, ka pareizie naudas dalītāji neapmaksā to, par kā pareizo ideoloģisko ievirzi nav droši) šogad uzņēma dokumentālo filmu "A Swedish Elephant", un filmas sākumā viņi jautā cilvēkiem ielās: "Kas ir zviedru kultūra?" Pat man kā nezviedrietei bija to neciešami skumji skatīties. Domāju, ka tu daudzas lietas šajā filmā atpazītu, vēsture un mentalitāte it kā cita kā britiem, bet pēdējo desmitgažu atprātotāji un to atstātās pēdas tik baisi līdzīgas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhf61C2-S4I

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paldies - noteikti noskatiishos, kad buus laiks.

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Šodien ziņu straumē pamanīju bildītes ar the Lord Mayor of Sheffield, kura parastā poza esot tupus. Nu jā... tik traki vēl nav pat pie zviedriem :D

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Tiem latviešiem, kuriem patīk kaisīt sev pelnus uz galvas, svētīgi to dzirdēt ;)

Intersanti, cik daudz no tām problēmām, ko saskati UK var skaidrot ar to, ka pēdējos 40 gadus pie varas ir bijušas right wing vai centriskas (faktiski, ekonomiski right wing) valdības?

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Partly, yes. I agree. The smashing of the manufacturing sector and the coal industry in particular destroyed communities in those areas and caused people to look to themselves to fix their financial difficulties.

However, it isn't the whole story. The banking system has been 'extracting exorbitant rent' from people's desire to have a roof over their head (money ex-nihilo as debt through central bank largesse) that most people in an average job require state aid to support a family.

The massive surge in immigration took place under Labour, who famously wished to rub the noses of the Right in diversity. Of course, some of the Right like cheap labour, and the Money Power have no problem financing govt debt, so win-win for them. They also decided to brutally denounce any indigenous Brit who complained as racist, islamophobe etc, which brought about a malaise in morale.

In short: it's complicated.

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I'm afraid that the things that are bad in UK right now (not evetyhing there is bad, of course) could represent how all of Europe's future looks like. Are UK just a decade or two "ahead" from others? I hope to be proven wrong on this.

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Eastern and Central Europe have a certain immunity, I think. The UK is no further ahead than countries like France, Belgium (though they have a resistant Flemish community), and Sweden.

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Sweden is a much better place to live from my experience. I haven't lived in the others, but from what I've been told Scandinavian countries are still the "gold standard" compared to others, although they have suffered from privatization and globalization as well.

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You might be right about that: we'll see.

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Cheers! Where are you from in the UK, by the way? North of England, I guess?

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Until the age of 10, I grew up in Essex. Then moved to Norfolk, where I lived until I was 29 (with three years in North London from 89 to 92). Been in Latvia since then.

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