The UK - Does Britain Agree With Nick?

Doctor Who's wonderful reboot series with Matt Smith in the boots of the eponymous Doctor, was helmed by Stephen Moffat. In an interview he spoke of how he found the inspiration for the scarier aspects of the series:

'Where the crack comes from is above my younger son Louie's bed, there's a crack along the wall. It's not there any more, but there was a roughly crooked smile shaped crack in the wall. Which I didn't point out to him because I thought he might never sleep again, but I thought, "Oh, that's good, cracks in walls, we should do cracks in walls".'
(Moffat, 2010)

The images he invoked also offered me a powerful visual image, representative of an anxiety I have towards an emerging pattern in our identity. A pattern that takes the familiar form of a crack.

These images connected well with the concerns I hold about the nature of British identity. In research on this subject I came across a particular pair of articles from The Guardian and The Observer addressing the question of what it means to be British. I feel that while these pieces sought to address issues of envy for the Americanised notions of a nation, as well as more difficult ideas of disillusionment with the perceived effectiveness of a multi-cultural society, my worries are that they failed to address the heart of that identity itself.

Today 2011, we are almost one year on from the most closely contested and open election beyond the memory of generations. Even households were divided along party lines and the extremism that pervades all political thought these days. As a moderate and permanent resident of 'the fence', extremism causes me all kinds of despair. However the most devastating blow felt was not the expected racist extremism of nationalists, or the party lines of in-group/out-group tensions, but at encountering 'extremist' element to the group occupying the middle ground; hearing divisive & aggressive comments and provocations by people supporting centrist parties.

On the surface this can be dismissed as the natural division of a party trying to straddle the centre, because of an 'unholy' alliance of left and right factions. But this, I feel, is an oversimplification by a public not just used to, but culturally indoctrinated towards a polarised opinion of us & them; where compromise and moderacy are regarded as mere weakness of will. Thanks to the relative weakness of the political voice of the centre and conflict between the right and left, sometimes literal, trying to address the growing social divide is seen often simply as wavering in commitment to the cause. This has allowed the fracture to exist, even be nurtured and to grow, unquestioned.

It is interesting how the human mind seeks to highlight points of fear through evocative connections within the imagination. In this instance Moffat's universe pervading 'Crack in Time' has given my mind's eye a perfect and tangible image for my concerns. When left unhindered to simply roll these troubles around my mind, it also threw up memories of articles I had read.

The most resonant amongst them was Nick Clegg's 'Don't mention the war. Grow up'; from during his time writing a column in The Guardian, which the right-wing press evoked to accuse him, of all things, of Nazi slurs. Clegg's article addresses the incredible cultural immaturity of Britain's national identity towards Europe and with this memory a prickly point of fear sharpened to a dreadful dagger.

You see, there are two key realisations I have made regarding my fears that I will share with you here:

+ First, that these fractures are old. Older than our total collective memory. In reality our memories only reach as far back as we are physically able to reach. This means that our realistic ability to assess our past only stretches as far as our grandparents. For my generation, this means that these fractures must date from at least as long ago as the defining events of the last century, the two world wars. For me this is evidenced in the cultural indoctrination to not, under any circumstance, question our status quo and our subsequent quiet acquiescence to such anti-reformist stances.
  (Halbwachs, 1992) (Assmann, 2005)

+ Secondly, that the events that have most readily defined modern Britain, that birthed and shaped its modern tensions, were those same global conflicts. Much has happened since, but the seeds were planted during those most terrible days of strife. Our subsequent attempts to reinvigorate our society through traditionalism, nationalism & immigration creating ever broader fractures.
  (Marr, 2007) (Smith & Thorpe, 2005) (Temko et al, 2007)

These thoughts chill me to my core. Taken as a connected series of observations, there is arguably a decent basis for the belief that this fracture, this crack in our society isn't just a social divide permeating our culture. That it is the very thing our entire society, culture and collective national identity is based upon.

In order to combat the dangers these fractures present, I think it is best to keep in mind some ideas to help minimise prejudice and promote more positive in-common aspirations:

+ First of all, surely tolerance is the foremost attribute of a democratic system? While we can look all around us and see the proofs of general human intolerance, this no condemnation of tolerance as an aspiration. Tolerance is what allows us to engage in meaningful debate of the issues with opposing view points.

+ Secondly, the grand notions we can aspire to need to keep in mind intense human self-interest. Personal Relationship studies have time and again stressed the role of attitude similarity and proximity in the forming of our groups (eg. Festinger et al, 1950). It seems to me that on an individual level, grand metaphysical concepts are difficult to apply to human life; therefore there is a need to keep broad identities, such as national, to much simpler concepts.

Considering these thoughts, I'm forced to invoke #iagreewithnick, and concepts such as fairness that seem to me to be more 'realistic', because of their focus on method. Fairness invokes the importance of means over ends. It is the presence of scientific methods in our everyday lives. Rather than beliefs in defined goals of equality or tradition to be achieved at any cost, fairness addresses the importance of the forum within which our ideas are contested.

In this recent election the emergence of a coalition government has been the most important outcome for me. I am no supporter of the Tories and voiced my support for a progressive coalition between parties of the left, such as Labour, the Lib Dems and the SNP, who were amongst the prospective candidates at the time. However I feel that coalitions offer the best means of finding cooperation right across the political spectrum and can limit the potential excesses of one polarised any one set of intolerances; and their ability to dominate its opponents.

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References:
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+ Stephen Moffatt, Doctor Who Confidential 'Blinded By The Light', Doctor Who - The Complete Series 5 (2010);
BBC, 2010

+ Nick Clegg's 'Don't mention the war. Grow up';

+ Andrew Marr's 'The Making of Modern Britain: From Queen Victoria to VE Day';
  MacMillan, 2009.

+ David Smith & Vanessa Thorpe's 'What does it mean to be British?';

+ Ned Temko, Jo Revill & Ameilia Hill's 'What does it mean to be British?';

+ L.Festinger, S.Schachter & K.Back's 'The Spatial Ecology of Group Formation';
  in 'Social Pressures in Informal Groups: Study of Human Factors in Housing - Chapter 4';
  Stanford University Press; 1950.