i'd be pretty interested in reading a proper comparison of how our national identities are painted for us.
i mean, from the off we're taught that we're historically cunts. barbaric pagan beginnings, subjugated by the romans who improved our society tenfold despite being a conquering outside force. conquered again by the normans and ruled by cunts from then on. a national legislature built on various royal and imperial vanities, excesses and acts of brutality. henry viii was on every classroom wall and we're spared no details of what a bastard he could be. the victorian age is equally taught as a time of unprecedented wealth and innovation, and one of immense exploitation and dehumanisation.
even in our modern history, we're taught far more about the futile slaughter and human deprivation of the trenches of WWI and the holocaust than we are of any of our victories. taking more pride from the blitz spirit or the evacuation of dunkirk than the successes in normandy or the desert. we were basically told that all the troubles in ireland were largely our fault even while there were still monthly car bombings.
through it all though, there is a fatalistic humour. such is the mix of sublime, ridiculous and cuntishness that has moulded our history that any attempt to pin a single linear overarching theme or narrative is immediately laughed off.
