The British Are A Very, Very, Weird People

We will, and do, take the piss out of absolutely anything

Economists say that “institutions” are the thing that, at bottom, define economic success. It’s not the plans at the top, not the amount of money spent on this or that, not the size - within certain limits - of government either way, but “institutions”. Now, exactly what those institutions are creates a certain amount of controversy.

For example, there are those who will swear blind that Catholicism’s banning of cousin marriage was a hugely important part of the development of Europe. As long as you weren’t a Hapsburg you had to marry out of your clan - for some centuries, actually out of your tribe as “cousin” was defined to be within 7 degrees of removal - and this then led to the entire society not being clan - or tribe - based. That you might be able to trust one of them funny fellas from over there because your sister was married to one engendered a trust society. Well, it’s an idea at least.

There are many more such ideas floating around as to what the important institutions are. My own favourite is not having much law. Boris Johnson turned up to vote, having forgotten his ID. He couldn’t vote - because Boris’ government had passed a law saying you can’t vote without ID. Well, obviously, chortle, chortle. But the important part of this:

But the glory? Absolutely no one has said but, but, that’s Boris! Being ex-PM (and who knows, future once again?) doesn’t make any difference. Being, as is pointed out, a current MP (Tom Hunt) makes no difference either. The law says no ID no vote. This applies equally to all, from the very grandest in the country to you, me and the bloke sleeping under the bridge.

That experience of in foreign tells us that this is rare in a society. Sure, argue about what the rules should be but rules are going to be obeyed.

As we’ve noted before the English, then British, deal was always that there weren’t going to be many rules but those there were were going to be important. This brought the societal buy-in which led to near all the population, near all the time, obeying what rules there were. As opposed to many places we’ve been where rules are the thing you swap advice on how to avoid, ignore or undermine. Those places where there are rules about everything, in detail, thus the very concept of rules being important is undermined. It gets worse if there are Zil-lanes.

Yes, of course this is slightly handwavey and even romanticising. Yet there’s still that nub of truth to it.

We have - had, as this is historical - few rules and laws, those we had were important, therefore we are - were - largely a law abiding people. As opposed to those places where there are laws about everything and no one pays a blind bit of notice to any of them.

But there’s another way that the British are different. This from WWI:

….perhaps the most famous cartoon by the most famous cartoonist of the Great War. Bruce Bairnsfather’s ‘Better ‘Ole,’ was published in The Bystander magazine’s Christmas number on 24 November 1915 and was an instant hit with its readers both at home and at the front, summing up, as it did, that most elemental of human conditions - discontent. Under the title, ‘One of our minor wars – "Well, if you knows of a better ‘ole, go to it"’, the scenario of two hapless Tommies, marooned in a shell-hole in No-Man’s Land during a heavy bombardment and bickering over their predicament conjured humour out of the blackest of situations and epitomised both the dry wit of the typical British Tommy with his world-weary wisecracks, not to mention his admirable stoicism.

Well, OK, that was published so it clearly struck an editor as being in line with what everyone wanted to say about the war at that point. The Somme was still to come don’t forget. So we can’t say that it’s wholly and exactly what the troops themselves said or thought - there’s at least a bit of it which is what we at home projected onto them.

But it’s 40 years since the Falklands. And from that we get this:

May 4th 1982: As HMS Sheffield is abandoned and the fire spreads towards the Sea Dart ammunition. The remaining crew gather on the foredeck singing "Always look on the bright side of life".

Now I have heard that story and I’ve always thought it were more than a little bit mythmaking. And yet, and yet. Someone I know (our fathers knew each other, he took a sister out a few times, we worked together for 6 months later on) was actually there. Running the flight control stuff from the next ship over:

Singing led by the FC that we had loaned to them. One of our Sea Kings closed on the fo’c’sle to pick up wounded and saw them all swaying from side to side with their arms outstretched. I learned why when he got back.

I’ll take that as being something that really happened then. Not for publication, not something published for home consumption, but something that actually happened. Young men, on a burning ship, not knowing whether they’d be lifted off before the fire got to the missiles and the kaboom of their little bits all over the South Atlantic. They sing this:

We’re a weird, weird culture here in Britain. We will, and do, take the piss out of absolutely anything, including our own impending death.

Now, whether that’s quite what the economists mean by institutions that aid in economic development is another thing but it is indeed one of those institutions of that British culture.

It’s also wholly glorious but then I’m a Brit so I would say that, wouldn't I?