Britishness Diluted

Like many an infantile disorder, the virus of patriotism appears to be adapting to a new generation by taking on new shapes. Britons are now less likely to take pride in the nation's history, in which they did not participate; and more likely to take pride in the nation's cultural and sporting heritage, in which for the most part they also did not participate. It's rather like the Catholicism of crusaders and inquisitors being replaced by the Anglicanism of hypocrites and social workers: the symptoms may be less inconvenient, but the disease remains the same. If one insists upon viewing a geopolitical abstraction as a personality, a less charitable commentator than your correspondent might be tempted to consider the former slaver who takes pride in sponsoring a library; or the doddering ex-rapist whose present impotence has driven him to boast of more refined pursuits.