Freedom of speech

[nigel]

The british press have total freedom now to say and do whatever they like and its fantastic for the public to be able to know what is going on. Some governments around the world restrict their press to such an extent that their people must think they are living in a dictatorial society.

We, as british people must be proud that we live in such a society. Anyone can stand up and shout anything from the rooftops without fear of being arrested. I am not saying that Britain hasn't got problems, we sure have (look at our health system, crime and immigration for starters) but I am saying that we aint got it all bad.

What do u reckon? Sometimes I hear so much negative talk about our country; are failing out love with Britain or are we just picking on minor issues? Its time Patriotism was brought back to Britain. We want to feel proud to be british again - they have even curbed British cinema, thanks to Gordon Brown's crazy idea to cover the tax loophole into the investment of films.

What do you think? Do you feel patriotic about your country? Are you proud of your consitution? Are you safe walking down the street at 4 in the morning without fear of being mugged or murdered?

[rjschwarz]

In the US we have freedom of speech and I think it's great but there are two main issues with it.

(1) Freedom of speech means you've got to put up with some pretty unusual stuff. Nazi's can speak out in the US without being arrested as long as they don't incite violence. Howard Stern a radio jock can talk about lesbians on the radio and freak some people out. No matter who you are there is something somewhere that you're not gonna like and freedom of speech means you better learn to deal with it.

(2) All of this stuff coming out is seen by the entire world. They judge the nation on it and get a really distorted view of your country. People in the country realize it's distorted. Brits know the MIrror, the Guardian, the Independent and immediately know if they are gonna bother reading the story or not. Folks elsewhere don't and they read stuff you might know is bullcks the second you see the headline and they'll believe it. Or they'll see that you argue about some issue and think you obsess on it when really there is nothing else for the news to talk about today so some idiot comment Oasis made is filling the airwaves or whatever. Or in the US we talk about guns and gun control problems a lot so a lot of people think we have a real problem but to be honest I've never witnessed a crime in my life let alone a gun crime or violent crime and I've lived in the US for my entire life.

Anyway I think it's healthy for the country itself even if it gets misunderstood by others.

[rjschwarz]

Regarding Patriotism and the UK I'm constantly amazed that the inhabitants of that little set of islands would feel anything but incredible pride. Look at the globe and the first world countries are nearly all ex-British colonies because the English governed properly and instilled rule of law and a culture of hard work instead of raping and pillaging. Even colonies filled with outcasts and prisoners turned out to be world leaders.

England was on the right side of two world wars. They even stood up and attempted to stop slavery when the US was too cowardly to do so. English colonies in the third world fared far better than other European colonies and it's not a stretch to say that given a bit more time and less of a rush to decolonize a lot of the problems in these countries could have been avoided.

I still don't get cricket though, and can't really fathom why the British, Scotts and Welsh can't brew a decent lager but those are trivial things.