Heritage versus nostalgia eh?

My childhood included singing "He who would valiant be" at school assemblies, then donning pads and hitting leather with willow, hazy afternoons on the pavillion blah blah blah.

yes, but a hankering of what was is not a comfort for the now. Unless you retract into your head and pretend it is. And that way leads to other problems...

I was told to be proud to be English, and I was also told to be proud to be British. Either way, becoming an adult and realising how and why our nation is historically rich is a bit of a wake up call.

Proud? No, not really. But that's how it is and you cannot change history.

Other countries have people waving flags and being nationalistic, but up until recently the English way was to be more understated. And that's how it should be. Quietly ruing the shame of our ancestors whilst getting on with life.

Such pathetic propaganda as the original poem in this post does work unfortunately. Look at us all debating it!