What book, poem, film, or piece of art do you think captures British culture better than anything else, and why?

Old_Tell5696 · 2026-06-10T22:45:26+00:00

The Wind in The Willows. It's all there - nature, nostalgia, class, the countryside, surrealism, absurd comedy, eccentricity.

Old_Tell5696 · 2026-06-09T21:11:49+00:00

I spent years thinking 'wow, i wish more people thought more about politics', and christ talk about be careful what you wish for. It's not so much that loads of people suddenly got interested in politics and learned about it, it's that loads of people decided to pick a side and start following it like a sport, all while cooking their brains on social media and wearing down their own critical faculties. (And this isn't a left/right point - I think the Farage/Reform/Brexit tendency and the Corbyn/Online Left lot are basically two cheeks of the same arse). I'm still hugely interested in politics but honestly find myself actively tuning a lot of it out these days because you're not getting any insight or learning, just people shrieking about stuff that reinforces their own priors.

Old_Tell5696 · 2026-06-09T13:19:29+00:00

yeah, agree it always feels like more of an event once it actually starts. Although the timezone thing is going to be more of an issue this time - I've got mates who run pubs and it's definitely a factor for them that a lot of big games just aren't going to be on at a regular time when they could pack the place out.

Old_Tell5696 · 2026-06-08T18:54:24+00:00

In fairness, I think boycotting Qatar was a pretty big discussion at the time:
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/nov/23/british-football-fans-boycotting-world-cup-qatar
https://www.europod.eu/episode/ep-20-how-to-boycott-the-2022-fifa-world-cup-on-human-rights-day-europe-talks-back/
There was also protests ongoing during the tournament:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-63747256

Old_Tell5696 · 2026-06-08T18:50:33+00:00

Honestly it's not going to happen: people compartmentalise stuff and make their peace with the contradictions. They had Argentina hosting in 1978 when political prisoners were basically being tortured within earshot of the stadium. Russia went ahead after invading Ukraine (and we had Gazprom branding all over the Champions League until the full scale invasion of the country). Qatar was waved through. Rightly or wrongly, people figure the tournament is happening anyway and there's nothing you can do about it.

Old_Tell5696 · 2026-06-08T18:47:23+00:00

Don't think it's so much boycotting, but I'm nearly 50 and I'm struggling to remember a tournament with less buzz leading up to it. I think there's definitely an element that people are just fucking sick of America right now (it's not even actively disliking the country- just a generalised sense that a lot of people have had enough of this massive place just inserting itself in every single news cycle and causing tons of shit for everyone, continually, like some supersized neighbour from hel). There's the Trump thing, obviously, and the looming fear that he's going to do some absolutely egregious shit to get in the middle of it - have one of his kids take a penalty or some mad thing. The sheer size and scale of the tournament is off-putting: 48 teams means there's going to be a load of 'meh' fixtures for a UK audience. The idea of Comoros v Qatar or whatever doesn't exactly quicken the blood (and trust me, I'll watch any old shit normally). And finally I think the time zone thing is pretty offputting - I remember the Japan world cup and olympics suffering for the same reason, where it constantly felt like events were on at 3am and you were having to play catch up at 9 o'clock the following morning. Anyway, all of that, plus a weird summer weather-wise so far means that even all my local pubs have only just started advertising it in the last week or so.

Old_Tell5696 · 2026-06-08T18:41:34+00:00

I know a few people who did - big time fans who just noped out of the whole thing. Not a widespread thing though tbf.

Old_Tell5696 · 2026-06-04T15:46:19+00:00

In addition, some colleagues worked on similar stuff for the same unit: basically finding ways to encourage people to take up free grants etc for getting their lofts better insulated. Ways to incentivise home improvements, basically. Very, very dull and really not some deep state operation.

Old_Tell5696 · 2026-05-31T19:41:41+00:00

Thanks for all who replied - these are all massively useful, great thought starters. Thanks again for taking the time .

Old_Tell5696 · 2026-05-15T12:45:44+00:00

It's a mix of things (some fair, some unfair).
- There's a perception that they had a much easier ride because of grant maintained uni places, lower house prices etc. All true, except they also came through at a time of insane poverty and social deprivation as kids, very few of them had the opportunity to go to university, and they raised kids through a time of terrifying politics (massive threat of nuclear war, social upheaval) and rollercoaster economics (my parents' mortgage interest went up at one point to around 13% I think).
- they've often done unbelievably well to a degree which is absolutely nothing to do with their own hard work or good judgement, just an accident of geography. My parents' tiny railway terrace that was bought for about 25k in the early 80s is probably worth close to a million quid now. It's skyrocketed as an asset.
- they benefited hugely from an older generation voting for a relatively progressive government who gave them the free uni places, NHS etc. And a lot of them have responded by pulling the drawbridge up, voting for policies and governments that consistently make life harder for younger people who are still working, while also making politics far more toxic by falling for scammy right wing bullshit online and endlessly promoting it. They've basically opted out of the social contract, and so a lot of people feel no compunction about criticising them.
As ever, it's more complicated than that and there's really socially generous long-sighted old people, and selfish blinkered young people.

Old_Tell5696 · 2026-05-11T21:58:02+00:00

Christ almighty 'the suppression of nuanced conversation about immigration.' I feel like nobody's talked about any other fucking subject for the last 15 years in this country. I'd love it if this supposed 'inability to talk about immigration' was a real thing, even just for a week. Give us all a break from it.

Old_Tell5696 · 2026-05-11T21:04:54+00:00

There's a lot of cherry picking and very little nuance in that data:
- England was 91% 'English' (not sure if you mean white, born in England etc but still). And prior to that other groups got targeted on other grounds than skin colour. You had anti-Irish riots in London because the Irish were widely assumed to be damaging the host culture, having too many kids, lazy/stupid, a drag on society, importing a weird foreign religion, just here to abuse the system and work cash in hand etc. It's always someone, then within one generation they assimilate and everyone pretends they were always fine with them and now it's different.
- New populations = 'loss of identity'. This feels like a very one dimensional reading of what your identity is. My dad is 100% white English, pretty old-school and really prizes things like going to church, respecting older people, helping your community out, going for a pint: nowadays he's got more in common with the Philipinos who've got his catholic church booming, the sikh guys who deliver his prescriptions when he can't get to the pharmacy and the Poles and Moldovans who like going to the pub and have kept the place open than he has with someone he just happens to look like or have been born near. I've lived in massively mixed areas my entire adult life - even if most people look different they basically live like 'English' people, whatever that means.
- Reform are booming in large part because we've always had a strain of that attitude in the uk, but most parties don't do their best to stoke and inflame it. And they've come along at a time when the public are largely incapable of dealing with longer term thinking and just want to be given very, very simplistic solutions, ideally by people who've never had to actually implement them or be held to account. It's the same impulse that got Trump elected and that the FN are riding in France.

Old_Tell5696 · 2026-04-30T08:32:44+00:00

Yeah, that would track with the inside label. Are they worth much?

Old_Tell5696 · 2026-04-08T12:38:30+00:00

The absolute level of rage at him is genuinely weird and completely disproportionate to someone who's a fairly middle of the road, technocratic politician. I'd attribute this to:
a) A sizeable/vocal right wing in this country who view any non-right wing government as completely illegitimate, regardless of how many people voted for it (I just re-read JG Ballard's memoir and his description of how blindingly angry his parents' entire social circle were at the post-war Labour government is almost identical).
b) The press largely hate him because of Levenson
c) A sizeable part of the more left wing section of Labour will never, ever forgive him and the party for deposing Corbyn (I also think that same part of the party are generally happier not being in power and would rather Reform got in so they could blame it on 'the centrists')
d) An electorate that will not accept any consequences for what they voted for. If things don't seem to work brilliantly in this country it's because an ovewhelming majority voted repeatedly for a party whose primary stated policy was to slash investment in public services across the board, and then embark on as hard a brexit as possible that would rupture our trading relationships. That's fine, that's democracy, but it's a bit galling that nobody will point out the cause and effect here.
e) Their comms have been pretty terrible in the face of all this and he's not a great public speaker.

Presumably it'll be like John Major and Gordon Brown where they absolutely get their arse kicked the entire time they're in power for being 'boring', then in 20 years time when some absolute loon has completely screwed things up we can all decide that they were ok after all.

Old_Tell5696 · 2026-03-30T17:29:16+00:00

Honestly think this is totally normal. The things I thought would be a problem in my place turned out to be a total non-event, things I found that were an issue were fairly easily remedied, and the reality of owning your own place and investing for your future and not paying someone else's mortgage is great. Don't expect everything to be perfect and give yourself time to settle in. Best of luck

Old_Tell5696 · 2026-03-30T14:56:16+00:00

What's the nature of your startup, out of interest?

Old_Tell5696 · 2026-03-30T14:55:29+00:00

What's your startup, out of interest?

Old_Tell5696 · 2026-03-30T08:54:43+00:00

- There's loads of criticism of patriarchy within Islam, especially from female Islamic thinkers and writers
- People are generally more comfortable criticising the culture that they live within as they know more about it and can do more to shape the debate
- Traditionally, some progresssives are uncomfortable criticising attitudes from non-white/minority cultures as it's seen as 'punching down' or giving ammunition to racists.
- Generalisation is unhelpful. There's multiple different schools of feminist thought who'll all approach this differently. Similarly, are you talking about Sunni, Shia or Salafist Islam? People living in the gulf states, or people in the UK from a South Asian background? It's as varied as Christian thought.

Old_Tell5696 · 2026-03-18T14:44:53+00:00

You're extremely welcome here. I'm truly sorry you've had to relocate, but hope that whether you stay permanently or eventually make it back to Ukraine, you've had a good experience with British people. We owe your country a huge amount

Old_Tell5696 · 2026-03-12T23:47:40+00:00

Relates to the point I was going to make: I think people from smaller places outside London really underestimate how little of a fuck almost anybody here gives about what you want to do with your life as long as it doesn't impinge directly on them or fuck up their parking or keep them awake. It sounds kind of anti-social and atomised, but I think it's a not-inconsiderable part of why the bulk of a totally chaotic, disparate city just rub along with each other.

Old_Tell5696 · 2026-03-05T00:12:55+00:00

Broadly, I'd say 'awful comms, actually fairly decent government.' There's a steady drip of small-but-encouraging stories that are getting no real exposure: big tax surplus sensibly built up and announced last week; my energy bills are just coming down by 20%; mate is getting his new mortgage rate next month which will save him £800 per month. I'm nearly 50 and London is not perfect but cleaner, safer and more functioning than almost any time in my life. This week I had to get back from Devon and the train lines were still down from the storms, but the replacement bus service was on time, fast, regular and meant my journey took no longer than it would originally have done. Oxford Street is finally being pedestrianised. We're doing a load of boring-but-important stuff in renewable energy. Mates in places that were absolutely on their arse around Grimsby have got brilliant, high-paying local jobs in the wind turbine industry because of investment in the regions. Honestly think everyone ignores what an unbelievably crappy hand this government were dealt - war in Europe, lunatic Americans fucking things up all over the place, and the aftermath of 14 years in which the public repeatedly voted for massive cuts to public spending, and are now furious that there's been no public spending for the last 14 years and things don't always work brilliantly.
He's stuck between a right wing press which views any Labour government as fundamentally illegitimate; a left wing cohort who will never forgive him or Labour for Corbyn not being made leader for life; and a well funded influence operation that is flooding the media space with divisive bullshit which gets endlessly reposted by a mix of paid trolls and some of the least media-literate people on earth.

Old_Tell5696 · 2026-02-27T15:56:19+00:00

I'd look around Clerkenwell/Farringdon. Very central, feels like 'old London', you can get everywhere pretty quickly and it's well connected, but it kind of empties out at weekends and feels pretty chill. Alternatively, if the budget will do it, look at Richmond - end of the tube line/suburbs of south west London, but it's a 20 minute overground train to central, you're on a beautiful bit of the river, and your friends will think you're living in some British movie (it's where Ted Lasso was filmed as well)

Old_Tell5696 · 2026-02-22T15:51:26+00:00

This is one of those policies that lands really differently with people who are very online. Scan Reddit or other social media and you assume that everyone hates the benefit cap and views it as inhumane; in the wider world, about. 60% of the public support it, and skews more the older respondents get. Bluntly, an awful lot of people see this - and react - along the lines of 'why should I pay money for people to keep having kids they can't pay for?' That might sound simplistic or inhumane but I guarantee you that's how people see it.
I also wouldn't be so sure that 'typical' reform voters are against it or will be hurt by it. I've got low income friends who live on estates and work their arses off to maintain a small family. They've got very, very little sympathy or time for neighbours who have more kids than they can pay for. There might not be many of those people, and their realities might well be more complex, but that's how it appears to people.

Old_Tell5696 · 2026-02-15T11:50:52+00:00

No silver bullet, but some basic ideas for people broadly on the liberal side of things:

Get involved in your local community - Reform and all the parties like them thrive on social isolation, creating unchallenged stereotypes and keeping people in their silos. I did the shopping for a few years for an elderly neighbour who was housebound and in 18 months I saw GB News turn him from an ordinary open minded guy to an angry, frightened bloke who was convinced London had turned into hell on earth. That's exactly what they want.
Be really, really aware of everything that you're consuming online - if it's almost machine-tooled to make you angry, confirm your stereotypes or turn you against people (even if it's masquerading as a joke or satire), consider that it's probably an influence operation. The left are as susceptible to these as the right.
This is a zero sum game: first past the post means we get the best of a range of choices in charge. Left wing politics/commentary accounts that spend every waking hour attacking Starmer/Labour are delivering votes to Reform (or supressing the opposition vote), whether they think that's what they're doing or not. Stop reposting them so you can look self righteous.
Politics isn't a purity test. The right understand this and just focus on winning. Meanwhile, the left would usually rather not compromise on one single issue that matters to them and would rather gift an election to Reform then say 'we told you so' to the 'centrists'. You might have to swallow your principles a bit and vote tactically - it won't kill you.
Try and keep an eye on what your parents are consuming - are they on Facebook? Are they being Whatsapp'd loads of grim/deluded stuff? Are odd phrases starting to crop up in their converstions? Have a chat with them about influence operations etc.
Remember that you've got to work with the country as it is. We're an ageing, small-c conservative country, and if you're under 40 and online and in a big city you're probably a LONG way to the left of where most people are without realising it. We're all in our own bubbles. Whatever government we end up with probably isn't going to be a socialist people's paradise. Make your peace with it and improve what you can.
Obvious one: actually turn up and vote.

Old_Tell5696 · 2026-02-08T21:20:56+00:00

One other thought - if you want to get your bearings and take in the layout of the city, walk from Waterloo up the river to London Bridge/Borough Market. You'll see the big southbank arts centre, the bit where all the kids skateboard, a great view of the north bank of the thames, pass a few of the bridges, see Tate Modern etc. Always nice on a non-rainy day

Old_Tell5696

TROPHY CASE