{"id":21551,"date":"2012-08-11T13:46:50","date_gmt":"2012-08-11T09:46:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/?p=21551"},"modified":"2012-08-11T13:46:56","modified_gmt":"2012-08-11T09:46:56","slug":"the-london-olympics-what-have-we-learned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/middle-east-sports-news-and-analysis\/the-london-olympics-what-have-we-learned\/","title":{"rendered":"The London Olympics – What Have We Learned?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

So what do the London Olympics say about Britain that we didn\u2019t already know? Not much, I would suggest.<\/em><\/p>\n

That we can organise a good ceremony? Watch any state event \u2013 weddings, funerals, commemorations and celebrations \u2013 and you know there will be something that will bring a tear to the eye.<\/p>\n

That we are friendly and welcoming to foreigners? If we weren\u2019t, the millions who flock to our country every year despite the horrendous price of things in the capital and elsewhere would surely give us a miss?<\/p>\n

That we have good athletes? We\u2019ve always had our stars, but the difference this time is that we have used more than balsa wood and glue to produce them.<\/p>\n

That we like winners? Witness the grief that accompanies every failure of our national football teams to make the grade in major championships, and our joy when our golfers destroy the Yanks in the Ryder Cup.<\/p>\n

So will a New Britain emerge in the wake of the medals, the stadia and the triumphant closing ceremony? I don\u2019t think so. We are, and will continue to be, what we are.<\/p>\n

Which is in equal measures grumpy, pessimistic, racist, tolerant, inventive, creative, philistine, irreverent, envious, magnanimous, chippy, chauvinistic, snobbish, precious, lazy, energetic, wise, foolish, humorous, brave, resilient, combative, small-minded and cruel.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not proud of my nationality \u2013 which after all is an accident of fate \u2013 but equally I\u2019m not ashamed of it. I am proud of the achievements of my compatriots while at the same time I\u2019m sometimes ashamed of their misdeeds.<\/p>\n

But I do feel lucky for the things I enjoy through having been born being British. Our language \u2013 beautiful, complex and multi-layered \u2013 and the huge body of literature stretching back to Chaucer and beyond. Our music \u2013 from Tallis to the Beatles. Our national sports \u2013 cricket, football and golf. Our mongrel culture \u2013 still absorbing new ways, words and attitudes from successive generations of immigrants. Our countryside \u2013 mountains, lakes, rivers, cliffs and meadows \u2013 still green and pleasant. And even our weather \u2013 four seasons in a day, yet rarely threatening us with death and destruction.<\/p>\n

And flawed though they are, I appreciate our institutions. Our legal system \u2013 drawn from generations of precedent and still evolving despite the often foolish interventions of the lawmakers. Our parliamentary democracy \u2013 still the least worst form of government. The monarchy \u2013 quaint, antiquated, sometimes stuffy yet ineffably at the centre of our identity. Even the press \u2013 prepared to investigate, reveal and speak out despite its occasional excesses and the snaffling control of its proprietors. And yes, our National Health Service, ready to treat me in my hour of need without questioning my ability to pay.<\/p>\n

I have visited and lived in countries that have some elements of the British patchwork. Wealth, health, landscapes, institutions and culture that match or exceed ours. And others that fall far short except in the qualities of their people.<\/p>\n

But for all our faults and failings, and for all that we are nobody\u2019s chosen people or promised land, I have never for a second wished to be other than a citizen of this infuriating yet magnificent country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

STEVE ROYSTON: So will a New Britain emerge in the wake of the medals, stadia and closing ceremony? I don\u2019t think so. We are what we are. An English man writes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":21552,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[154,7],"tags":[11075,926,18337],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21551"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21551\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}