Why Have Americans Forgotten Their British Roots?

I don't hate anybody ed. Just do what you think you should do.

And who knows baby
Someday maybe
I'll come and be crying to you

It should be mentioned the revolt of the 13 colonies had more to do with the power of the leaders than no taxes without representation. They were paying only a token tax. All revolts are directed by the beliefs of the leaders, the Russian and French Revolutions being good examples.

Perhaps USAians dont remember their British origins because there were a larger number of German immigrants. Or perhaps because of people like Judge Lynch who would order the execution of people because they were British. Or perhaps because of fools who prefer to say they speak American and not English.

But their laws and customs have a distinct British inheritance, despite loud protestations of the opposite.

perhaps it should be mentioned that had there been a popular election ( a vote of the people) there would have been no war of independence.

I don't think Americans have forgotten their British roots. In all the grocery stores in the town in which I grew up, there is now a British section in the imported food aisle. They have stuff like Byrd's custard, and PG Tipps tea and brown sauce and Heinz tinned beans....

I myself extend a great deal of gratitude toward Britian and the British. I am so grateful this country is here with its wonderful British people and thrilled and enjoying the fact that it's so different from America, where I grew up.

At the same time, I am so grateful that I grew up in America as opposed to here. And I'll tell you why- it's infused my being (and I didn't even know this until I moved here) with the absolute belief that I, in my standing as a human being, am equally important as anyone else, and that I don't need to be held back or down ever by the circumstances of my birth or ancestry - which happen to be less than royal or even titled.

I was having this very discussion with my British students this past week. We were talking about capitalis(z)ation and the sentence was:

The queen lives in buckingham palace.

They had to tell me which words to capitalis(z)e. They answered: queen, Buckingham and Palace.
I told them 'queen' did not need to be capitalis(z)ed unless it was part of the title of a specific queen - as in Queen Elizabeth II.
They disagreed - I asked them why - they said the word queen was a title. Then they used the example of 'doctor'. I said, 'Yea, but you only capitalise doctor when you say it as part of a name as in Doctor Welby - you don't capitalise it when you say, 'The doctor works in the hospital.'

So then I asked the other teachers in the staff room - they were split. Those who were royalists said to capitalise it and those who weren't said don't.

Then we started talking about what I'd do if I met the queen. I told them I would introduce myself and say hello to her. They asked if I would curtsy. I said, 'Probably not.' Then they asked what I'd do if I met the president (they also asked me if I'd capitalise that word, 'president' without an accompanying name (like Obama). I said I wouldn't - and I didn't without even thinking about it a minute ago in the sentence just above. I told them I'd say, to President Obama just like I'd say to them if I met them on the street, 'Hey, how're you doing,' and shake his hand - no bowing or scraping or curtsying.
Then they asked what if I went to Japan and someone bowed to me - I said if they bowed to me, I'd bow to them- but I wouldn't just start bowing to some Emporer on my own accord.

I think it's that mindset of believing that someone is automatically more important than you, not because of anything they've done, but because of the circumstances of their birth that Americans (in general) can't really embrace.

Although the original descendants of the Mayflower are held in high esteem in some circles in America-so people haven't totally forgotten their British roots or let that crap go.

And I notice a lot of American people say stuff like, 'I sorted it out' as if they're quasi-British or something.

'Then they asked what if I went to Japan and someone bowed to me - I said if they bowed to me, I'd bow to them- but I wouldn't just start bowing to some Emporer on my own accord.'

My question for myself is - why did I instinctively capitalis(z)e emporer?

That's weird...

I am looking for a new position, would not mind to be abroad a little. Could you check my application ?

Independence Day, 2010
Ma'am,

I would like to apply for the position of Herb Strewer in Great-Brittain. I always liked all of your countries, but England is my favourite. I would not mind occasional ceremonies in other parts of Great-Brittain, or the Common Wealth, as long as travelling expenses are covered. I expect housing and provisions to be taken care of by the Crown.

I am well experienced with herbs and ceremonies and could start as Prince William gets married. By the way, you and Prince Phillip, Duke of Odin's Burght, looked very well during your visit to Canada. Will you be visiting Jamaica shortly ? I could look for a mix local herbs which might give you a cheerfull feeling !

Yours sincerely,

Mr. Pepijn H. Sweep LL.M. BBA

Magister in Philosophy, Theology and Social Sciences

I have a friend who's a Christafarian I should introduce you to.
oh, and 'cheerful' - one 'l' (and that's in British and American English- see we Brits and Yanks can agree on some things).

Come on over - I know loads of folks who would appreciate your skills - just make sure you don't turn entrepeneurial with them or you'll end up seeing a part of England you probably don't really want to see...(I teach in a prison).

Curious as I am, I will stay away from prison, thanks !

I do know to distinquish illegal herbs; they're expensive usually.

not that i would ever digress but...

Happy 4th to the US Folk



Kettle's on, making a brew... tea anyone?


<now, carry on >

They are not expensive from an economic point of view. They are expensive because of sociological and psychological reasons provided by someone more important than you.

During the BBC's coverage of the 2009 Royal Ascot race meeting the cameras followed the drive up the track from the gates of Sandringham to the parade ring and included the egress from the coach of The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. This year the cameras cut away from the shot as soon as the postillion had opened the door and lowered the steps.

This important difference was presumably because the spin doctors at the Palace had viewed the 2009 exit from the coach with some disquiet as the Duke's joints were obviously a bit stiff and become even moreso by this June.

These events happened on all five days in both years.

It seems pretty obvious that a "word from the Palace" had been brought to bear on the BBC's senior staff who are all aware of how important such things are if they have any interest in appearing in future Honours lists. Honours awarded to famous people such as sportsmen and women and elderly actors and actresses serve to distract Media from all the others in the list.

According to Alan Clark's racy diaries it is the Honours system which makes this country tick and the USA by eschewing such a system has had to invent from scratch its own methods. Whether those methods will be adequate when the unexploited goldmine becomes exhausted is a moot point.

According to an opinion poll on Fox News last night only a small proportion of Americans think that the Founding Fathers would be pleased if they came back now and saw the fruit of their efforts.

The fortunate combination of a vast unexploited wilderness and European technological expertise could hardly result in anything other than a delusion that the superior excellence of Americans is due to the innate excellence of their genetic characteristics. A bit like those persons five years into a large lottery jackpot.

The accident in the Gulf of Mexico is a sign for those with a proper historical perspective that exploitation of the continent is reaching a similar level to that in Europe and thus the free ranging entrepreneurial spirit is becoming less appropriate and soon to be replaced by more socialist orientations.

This will, of course, involve much kicking and screaming as can be seen on those threads which concern themselves with President Obama.

On this auspicious Day I feel moved to recommend a root and branch overhaul of the American education system in which no featherbed is left undisturbed.

Health reform is starting at the wrong end I'm afraid.

Fair enough, but some people, five years after winning a jackpot have squandered it - others take what they start with and make it grow.

Is the ability to be flexible, adaptable, innovative and adventurous or yes- open to risk-taking enough to be entrepeneurial, genetic? I don't know. But I have noticed that there is an attitude or willingness to be open to change that is more present in the psyche of a lot of Americans than seems to be present in British people. On the other hand, British people seem to be much more respectful and/or mindful of the value of tradition.

I don't think one is necessarily superior to the other, but I do think it helps explain how the two countries have evolved so differently and why British people whose ancestors stayed put may not be able to understand the allure of the concept of a place like 'America' to those who saw fit to take that large leap of faith and the resultant nationalized psychology of 'possibility' in their descendents.

Some people, a neat phrase which can be used condimentally, think that drilling a mile down in the Gulf, gigantic fiscal deficits, demanding nuclear power plant expansion and importing oil from countries which breed terrorism, might well be a sign that some squandering has taken place and that future generations are unworthy of consideration beyond the lip-service variety which allows the squanderers to imagine they are on the moral high ground with a sweet and easy assertion.

I would argue that the ubiquity of the assertion and the dogmatic belief in its validity is a clear sign of that very thing running almost out of control. When a deaf ear is turned to questioning the validity (the Ignore function or changing the subject) the sign lights up the night sky.



I imagine it is genetic in all human beings when the circumstances demand it and conditioning proceeds accordingly and is inhibited when the circumstances are otherwise. The movie Pat Garret and Billy the Kid is about the change from the former to the latter. Billy representing freedom, the character Jason Robarts played the inhibition of the new circumstances and Pat Garret the hired agent of the change. How the West was won is not the same as how the West is to be governed once won.



After six years on A2K I would emphatically disagree with that.



That is because we don't underestimate our forbears as it seems to be incumbent upon immigrants to do. Justifying the wisdom of being an immigrant is a powerful motivating factor.



But the problem is that the psychology of possibility weakens as the immigrants become settled in and are done with exploiting the goldmine. It was Europeans who settled America because they were the only ones with the capacities to do so. Any other source of immigration would have had to take the aboriginal population on with no better weapons and skills than the latter had.

this Canadian would like to thank Britain for the following

wine gums
The Bill
Doc Martin
River Cottage
David Bowie
Jam & Jerusalem
PG Wodehouse
Miss Read
Patricia Routledge (Keeping Up Appearances, Hetty Wainthrope, Ladies of Letters)
David Jason (DI Frost)
Rowan Atkinson (Blackadder, Not The Nine O'Clock News, The Thin Blue Line)
Hugh Laurie & Stephen Fry (Jeeves & Wooster, A Bit Of Fry & Laurie, Blackadder, Kingdom (Fry))
Black Books
The Vicar Of Dibley
The BBC
The Kinks
The Housemartins (Fatboy Slim, the Beautiful South)
Heartbeat
Porridge (the show, but the food is all right too, not sure it's a British invention)

back with more alter

The 'some people' I was referring to in terms of having not squandered the jackpot they inherited were the ancestors of current Americans- not this generation of Americans. I'd say Americans of today are a different breed from their ancestors who essentially built the country from the ground up.
I was just there and I was thinking that if I had to assign a label to Americans today (anyone born within the past fifty years, in fact) it would be 'spoiled' (or spoilt).
Yeah, if I had to choose one word to describe us- it'd be spoiled. Because we have had it done for us and the pickings there are just so bountiful that our expectations of what should be standard fare have risen accordingly.
But I can't take credit away from those whose industry and risk-taking made it all possible.
They were a different breed.


Yeah, exactly- that's what I was saying. And the people who are governing now have never needed to develop or display the strength of character, courage or fortitude that was necessary when the building was going on.


Well, I can't comment if you're going on the assumption or assertion that the behavior or attitudes that are common on this internet forum are representative of those of all Americans in real life. I've seen a lot of behavior on this forum of which I can honestly say I've never seen evidence in real life in America. Thankfully.
I do agree the European men on this forum seem to use better manners, in general, compared to the American men. But I have to say that I have not found that to be true in real life. There are as many polite American men in real life as there are polite British men. I don't know why the internet brings out such testosterone based rudeness in American men.


That's the point. Becoming an immigrant is less about employing wisdom and more about being open to and willing to experience something new and different.
I don't know if becoming an immigrant was the wise thing for me to do, but I do know it's enriched my life a thousand fold.


Yes, because those who are the recipients of the exploitation of the goldmine become spoiled - or spoilt - like I said.

Yeah - I don't think anyone's disputing that. But the people who left were different in one way or another from the people who stayed. That's all I'm saying.
I think I'd have been happy either way actually, but having been raised in America I can't accord one person in a society (say the Queen) any more right to be treated in a way which a spoiled attitude or affect might result than any other.

Has any one considered that America is what it is, just because us white folk had guns and those pesky red skins had bows and arrows. I dont think the native American appreciates us at all. Americans are under the illusion that freedom from the Brits was about tea and taxes, freedom was the allowance to exploit Indian land more than the Brits would permit. Washington,the man who instigated the British war with the french was a devious rebel who understood independence was essential for the expansion of the colonies. He had fought as British subject against the French. He helped secure America for the British, for the sole purpose of exploiting the colony further. I think the Americans should appreciate our naivety when handling Washington and his rebels. Washington was a rebel with a cause, the cause was unrestricted exploitation of the red mans land. Hero, rebel or exploiter it depends or your historical links.

Usually the Indians were better armed than the US Army.

only in the movies, hoss...