Is Patriotism the last refuge of a scoundrel?

Recently I have posted  (and argued most strongly elsewhere) that the British national characteristic of pretend self-deprecation has developed to the point that a trickle has become a torrent of criticism out of all proportion to reality and has started to pervade thinking at a dangerously deep and subliminal level, especially where the economy and investment markets are concerned. Above all, this habit is developing in the face of comment from countries where optimism and hope are not regarded as somehow unsophisticated. Having said this, I remember lines from The Mikado (written in 1885) to be found in the "I've got a little list" song that bemoans the same thing. Perhaps it is wrong to stir this particular pot, but nevertheless it raises a few points that I think are interesting.

Having lived and worked in a number of countries, I am astonished by how much it is taken for granted that self-interest on a national level is part of the commercial mix. In Frankfurt there was an earnest adherence to the German stereotype where business was concerned, in Paris it was less earnest (and possibly less honest), in Brussels it was more about ripping off the Fleming/Walloon (delete as appropriate) and in Tokyo the assumption of racial superiority was frighteningly a product of being taught it in schools. The Brits? - we quote Dr. Johnson that Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.

Living as I do for some of the year in Provence , I do have to say that the expat community is one I generally try to avoid. One of the commonest syndromes is to bang on about how awful the UK is and how it is finished. I can only speak for myself when I say that I can wake to a Cerulean sky, walk my clinically insane Springer in primeval woodland and eat/drink far better on a daily level than in the UK. This is, however, the hinterland of Jean-Marie LePen, where it is cheaper to hire a Moroccan/Algerian lad (a donkey in local speak) than to hire a digger; where one can encounter corruption in local government on even the smallest levels. (Want a new building? Just discuss with the mayor over a michelin-starred dinner!!!).

I have friends in the EBRD, the OECD and all over the Brussels beaurocracy who have for many years told me the same story - that figures and reports are quite deliberately weighted against the UK for political and/or commercial advantage.

I would assume Mr Expatriate's evident sense of superiority is the result of his education in the UK, his ability to enjoy it as a result of his treatment in the UK health system and his knowledge of things financial as a result of experience gained in the single most intensive and knowledgeable financial system in the world. (Why else do the pretenders to the throne keep knocking it?). Having seen three children through the UK school system, one stepson through an international hybrid and two through abitur, I know a little more than most about the pros and cons I feel.

When I return to the UK - normally colder, wetter and greyer than Provence (who am I kidding? - always!!) my sense of coming home is almost tangible.

I suppose this post is not really an investment topic - or is it? Our(?) country invests in us collectively, we take its benefits and work to improve it and to give something back, in tax, in education and possibly by charitable works. We also invest time in spreading knowledge in fora such as this.


I intend to work and die (hopefully in good health at a ripe old age and, if all my wishes were to be granted, with a beatific smile on my face in a scenario involving identical 18 year-old red-headed twins) in the UK. Am I thus one of Dr. Johnson's scoundrels?

More in sorrow than in criticism.

Dum Spiro Spero