This is your best piece to date! As always realistic, well researched, broad minded, even handed but best of all provokes personal reflection. I am eagerly looking forward to the next ten to twenty podcasts which this piece will provoke.
One question: why oh why do you finish your best podcasts with “Unfortunately we have run out of time to discuss ….. this further”. I rarely tire of most topics you two cover. Also maybe could you include Jim’s statistics on the podcast email as I have to replay,stop and start the pod to write them down.
A great piece, but we have to try and explain why, despite all this evidence, so many people “want their country back’?
I am currently in Ireland, and I am an immigrant from Zimbabwe (I came to the UK in 1986) and I believe that some core essence of The UK has been lost. It is ineffable and impossible to describe, but things feel more bleak than before and now, I find the same expressions of national discord in Ireland. Identical. So it’s not Brexit…
Why do so many people feel out of sync with the ‘great story’ you’ve presented here?
Thanks for that, much appreciated (please tell your friends that you like (some!) of our work :))
I know plenty of politicians who say they want their country back but I'm not aware of any data that says it's something that the wider population wants. People want things to be better, but that's not the same as saying things have to go back to the past- I for one am appalled to think that we could go back to the social, political and economic structures of the past.
My piece was about nostalgia - partly arguing that it can be a very unreliable friend. Our memories play tricks on us. It's a well documented psychological thing.
To be honest, I'm not sure that we can define what a 'core essence' of a country is. Or that everyone can agree what that is. Fish & chips? Tolerance? respect for the law? Warm beer etc. Different people will have different answers to that one. Even if we could agree on a core essence, I am sure that it would not be invariant through time. Each generation would have its own core essence - that's because things do change all the time.
And that's the thing - despite all our protestations to the contrary, we hate change. The more there is of it, the more we hate it. It's uncomfortable, unsettling and we take time to adjust. If change produces both winners and losers then the losers really do hate it.
My own prejudice is that the older we get, the more we hate change, whether we have won or lost from it. As we approach the end of our lives we viscerally hate the thought that the world we lived through has changed beyond recognition. Kind of invalidates the life we lived. Reminds us of fundamental transience.
Why do people feel 'out of sync'? Some do, not everyone. I think anxiety levels are higher, but that's a story about social media, the state of the world, the price of houses and waiting times at A&E. And other things. It's almost like we are being encouraged to be anxious. In a clinical sense. That's not nostalgia but it is a big problem.
This is your best piece to date! As always realistic, well researched, broad minded, even handed but best of all provokes personal reflection. I am eagerly looking forward to the next ten to twenty podcasts which this piece will provoke.
One question: why oh why do you finish your best podcasts with “Unfortunately we have run out of time to discuss ….. this further”. I rarely tire of most topics you two cover. Also maybe could you include Jim’s statistics on the podcast email as I have to replay,stop and start the pod to write them down.
Martin Murphy
Thanks Martin! Your kind words are very much appreciated. Jim will be delighted with your suggestion about his stats.
We do have to be mindful of time - our listeners have told us that 30 mins or so is optimal. As it is, we often go over that!
As always, please tell your friends about the pod and our articles. Particulalry the ones you like!
Thanks again
Chris
This is possibly the most cogent exploration of this phenomenon I’ve read so far. Congratulations.
That’s very kind of you Steven. Much appreciated.
A great piece, but we have to try and explain why, despite all this evidence, so many people “want their country back’?
I am currently in Ireland, and I am an immigrant from Zimbabwe (I came to the UK in 1986) and I believe that some core essence of The UK has been lost. It is ineffable and impossible to describe, but things feel more bleak than before and now, I find the same expressions of national discord in Ireland. Identical. So it’s not Brexit…
Why do so many people feel out of sync with the ‘great story’ you’ve presented here?
Thanks for that, much appreciated (please tell your friends that you like (some!) of our work :))
I know plenty of politicians who say they want their country back but I'm not aware of any data that says it's something that the wider population wants. People want things to be better, but that's not the same as saying things have to go back to the past- I for one am appalled to think that we could go back to the social, political and economic structures of the past.
My piece was about nostalgia - partly arguing that it can be a very unreliable friend. Our memories play tricks on us. It's a well documented psychological thing.
To be honest, I'm not sure that we can define what a 'core essence' of a country is. Or that everyone can agree what that is. Fish & chips? Tolerance? respect for the law? Warm beer etc. Different people will have different answers to that one. Even if we could agree on a core essence, I am sure that it would not be invariant through time. Each generation would have its own core essence - that's because things do change all the time.
And that's the thing - despite all our protestations to the contrary, we hate change. The more there is of it, the more we hate it. It's uncomfortable, unsettling and we take time to adjust. If change produces both winners and losers then the losers really do hate it.
My own prejudice is that the older we get, the more we hate change, whether we have won or lost from it. As we approach the end of our lives we viscerally hate the thought that the world we lived through has changed beyond recognition. Kind of invalidates the life we lived. Reminds us of fundamental transience.
Why do people feel 'out of sync'? Some do, not everyone. I think anxiety levels are higher, but that's a story about social media, the state of the world, the price of houses and waiting times at A&E. And other things. It's almost like we are being encouraged to be anxious. In a clinical sense. That's not nostalgia but it is a big problem.
You’ve surpassed yourself, Chris.
Wow! Thanks so much