The World Cup inspires all sorts of things. Yesterday, it inspired a bit of a debate between a few of my friends over Twitter, and I felt like writing down some of my thoughts on the idea of English "patriotism" during the World Cup.
Plenty of English people take issue with the sudden patriotic fervour that grips the country every four years. Flags in windows, on cars, painted on faces, England shirts left, right and centre, the pubs overflowing, the list goes on. Plenty of people think it's "fake" when this happens. We get all excited, realise our team is pretty shocking and then it all dissipates a month or so later. Clearly, one would suppose, that can't be real patriotism if it's only stirred up every four years by 11 modestly competent gentleman bashing a pig's bladder across a pitch.
But I would ask: do you really expect us to be frothing with patriotism throughout the whole year? If we follow the logic of people who make the criticisms I've mentioned, you get the underlying assumption/suggestion that all other countries actually have constant patriotic energy emanating from every orifice, that South Africans spend all year honking their vuvuzelas and that the Dutch wear orange indefinitely. Clearly that isn't the case. Neither we, nor other countries, spend the whole year incessantly celebrating our country. The World Cup is, however, a chance to do so. Just because it's only for a month every four years doesn't make it fake, there's no logic there. It's a time when a group of people from our country are representing us in a high profile fixture in front of the rest of the world. What better excuse is there for patriotism? It's not fake to get behind your country and claim you're "England 'til you die!" during the World Cup. It's logical!
I think we've also got to ask ourselves, when we look around at the rest of life in England, is there much else to be patriotic about? We had 13 years of a Labour government that ended in disgrace. We live in a politically correct, debt ridden, drunken, prematurely pregnant, celebrity obsessed, reality TV deluded, abortive nanny state. The World Cup is a brief respite where we can look upwards and recognise that whilst England is in a state and a half, we are still the English people and we have to club together, behind something, to have some visible, practical idea of our identity. Mark Twain said "patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.” I think there's plenty we can draw from that. Patriotism isn't supporting the Queen. It isn't agreeing with everything the current government says. It isn't even always saying that the England team is worthy of our support or praise (especially after last night). Patriotism is about your relationship with the other people in your country. At the end of the day, they are the country. And the World Cup is often an incredible catalyst for improving our relationship with our fellow countrymen. We get together, we watch, we drink, we cheer, we cry, we transcend club boundaries, we bash out epic punditry that, after a few ciders, sounds about 67 billion times better than anything Edgar Davids has said so far this World Cup. We support each other, even if it's in criticism of a team who are at best lacklustre this time around.
Of course you will always get mugs who cause problems. Fights, riots, racist chanting. But is domestic football any better? No it certainly isn't. In fact I'm pretty sure that, proportionally, there has been more violence and conflict in domestic football throughout the years than with any international tournament. The idiotic actions of the few doesn't negate or compromise the enthusiasm of the many.
There are plenty of other things that give us cause for patriotism. Our armed forces fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan (another example of where patriotism is support for the people in your country, not necessarily the govnerment). Then there are things like the Mercury Music Prize and the Ivor Novello Awards, that remind us of some of the brilliant music our country can produce. I'm aware that these examples apply to the whole of Britain, not just England, but the point still stands.
However, none of those example have the nationwide appeal and participation that we get from the World Cup. Yes our team has played absolutely appallingly this tournament. So what? That shouldn't stop us being able to get together, acknowledge that we are English and revel in the fact, and be united in it. Indeed, when our team let us down and we feel gutted or possibly ashamed, that horrible feeling is patriotism! Your mind and heart are saying "I am English and my being English has been offended by what I've just witnessed. I'm now going to unite together with other English people, even if that is in criticism of our national team".
This whole issue really comes down to what you think patriotism is, and whether you think it's an instrinsically good or bad think that we whip up national support for a few weeks every four years. I've explained what I think patriotism is and I think that, in light of that, it is a brilliant thing to be patriotic during the World Cup.
