A changing world

In the old days, it was easy to talk about British society. There was the working class, the middle class and the upper class. There were factory workers and farmers, northerners and southerners. But these days it is harder to describe the British. The old differences are still there, but people are divided in many new ways as well.

One difference is the change in age groups. More people are living longer than seventy or eighty years, so the number of old people is growing. (15% of the population is now over 65.) At the same time, fewer babies are being born (the average British family has two children). This means that the population of Britain is getting older all the time. Also, fewer people live with or near their families. This means that many old people live on their own or in old people's homes. And many young people live in bed-sitting rooms, or in flats with other people of the same age. Traditions of work are changing too. About three million people have no job. Poor people these days are not only people with badly paid jobs, but people without a job at all.

The 4 different regions of the UK (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) have always had their own ways of life. But now many people from these regions (especial­ly the Welsh and the Scots) have a new interest in their own special culture. Some Welsh people, for example, want to bring back the old Welsh language, Some of the Scots want a govern­ment of their own. The people of Northern Ireland often feel that the rest of Britain is not interested in them. They feel that no one understands the "troubles" between Catholic and Protestant that have been going on for so long.

There are now about four million "black” and "brown" Britons, who have come (or whose parents have come) to Britain since the 1950s. Most came from the West Indies, East Africa, India and Pakistan, and live in big cities like London, Manchester, Bir­mingham and Liverpool. Some found in Britain the life they were looking for. But many did not. Young people, especially, from these "ethnic communities" find it hard to get, jobs and to be accepted.

But somehow, the traditional British way of life still goes on. Old and young, rich and poor, black and white, Londoner and countryman all agree about some things even if they disagree about others. The things they agree about make them British. The things they disagree about make them interesting.

 

Here is what people in different countries think about the British. Read the passage and make a list of all characteristics given to the British people and decide whether they are positive or negative.

A survey was conducted from London in Eastern and Western Europe, America, India, the Far East, Australia and New Zealand. Those questioned were asked about their views of British life, customs and characteristics.

The unprompted observations make depressing reading. One respondent in France thought the British were 'good at courtesy and phlegm', while another de­scribed them as 'a nation of ugly people with bad taste'. Britain's so-called special relationship with America seems to have done little to sugar American perceptions, either. 'Antiquated and living in the past,' said one. 'Britain is narrow, constrained, conventional, stuffy- but I guess quite picturesque,' volunteered another. One re­spondent in India said: 'The British always look down their noses at you'.

Confronted with a list of adjectives, respondents summed up the British as proud, civilised, cultured, arrogant and cold. The five words which were thought to describe them least accurately were: emotional, temperamental, aggressive, ad­venturous and fun-loving.

When the responses were broken down by continent, subtle differences emerged, which said as much about the countries questioned as they did about Britain. Australia and New Zealand, for example, still don't know whether to love or hate their Commonwealth alma mater. They admire Britain's institutions and democracy, but see the people as intolerant, stuck in their ways and lacking pro­gressive zeal. If they had any affection for Blighty at all, it was a sentimental at­tachment to food brands of the 1950s, such as HP Sauce, Callard & Bowser and Bisto.

The view from Asia has been equally coloured by Britain's past colonial links. India's associations tended to be the most generous, with a common respect for culture, class, tradition and history dating back to the relationship before inde­pendence. The Far East, on the other hand, showed little such sentiment. As a thriving commercial centre itself, it easily cast Britain as a 'has-been' nation, bad at business and lacking entrepreneurial zeal.

The most unrelentingly stereotyped view of Britishness came from America. Americans love the accents, countryside and pageantry, but the American view of British industry seemed to have been formed while browsing around a gift shop. Products such as bone china, crystal, knitwear and even scones were singled out as among our biggest assets. Once again, Britain stood accused of lacking vitality, excitement and can-do attitude.

(from The British Studies Now)