IS BRITAIN BECOMING TOO AMERICANISED?

SHOULD WE TAKE A LEAF OUT OF THEIR BOOK?

‘Pride’ is something that often springs to mind when one ponders upon what makes someone typically British. But what is ‘pride’? Pride is defined in the Dictionary as ‘a feeling of pleasure from one’s own achievements’, so why is it that we, as a nation, have so much pride? Are we proud of our brutal class system, keeping the proletariat poor and the bourgeoisie wealthy? Are we proud of our dreary weather? Are we proud of our innate ability to find something to complain about in any situation? I’m certainly not.

Now, I know that I myself am now complaining, but this is something I feel needs to be addressed. It’s all jolly good to feel proud of this country whilst pondering over life’s complexities with an Earl Grey and EastEnders, but once we get rid of our superficial, self-righteous ‘we-gave-you-Shakespeare-and-The-Beatles’ snobbery, it’s plain that we are, in fact, second best to the States. Think about it: David Cameron or Barack Obama? Jonathon Ross or Ellen De Generes? Blackpool Tower or the Empire State Building? Girls Aloud or the legend that is Britney Spears? I know what I’d choose. They just do it better than us. At the moment, everyone loves the United Kingdom due to the 2012 Olympics. So surely we did that better than the USA? Nope. They got 104 medals and we got 65. We just can’t compete. We are a rude nation, known for our out of hand drunkenness and unruly lifestyle and yet all the Americans ever seem to do is ‘have a nice day’. Sure, we can pick on them for their obesity epidemic but over a quarter of adults in Britain are classed as obese anyway. Considering one third of Americans are classed as obese, we cannot even do obesity as well as them.

Taking all of that into account, I don’t see why Matthew Engle made such a fuss about Americanisms creeping their way into our language. Although the Americans are accused to being too excitable, we British could do with a shot of whatever they’re drinking because all there ever is over here is doom and gloom. We don’t do television as well as them. We don’t to festivities as well as them. We don’t do celebrity as well as them. But the most important of all, we most certainly do not do politics as well as them. In fact, the only thing we do manage to do better than our friends across the Atlantic is teenage pregnancy.

Americans moving to the United Kingdom is simply unheard of. However, we have lost the likes of Russell Brand, Emma Watson, Jeremy Kyle, Simon Cowell and Robert Kazinsky to the States, the latter of whom said that he will ‘never return to Britain’. I think there is good reason in this. In Britain, our crippling class system means that only the rich will achieve their dreams. An overwhelming amount of our politicians and Prime Ministers were privately educated and from upper class backgrounds, yet, in America, even the poor can say that they want to be President without being scoffed at. Barack Obama – arguably the best US President of all time – started off small. Have you ever heard of the British dream? No? Because we don’t have one.

So, instead of being an advert for tea, crockery and tablecloths, we should take a leaf out the American’s book and create something for our nation to be proud of. Instead of being second best, let’s try to be THE best at something.