Why are the British seen as "cultured"?

[Red Hood]

Because at one time, they would bring you their culture at the point of a gun

 

[5t3n0g0ph3r]

It's like how the Romans viewed the Greeks, then later how the rest of Europe viewed the Romans.
To the Romans, the Greeks were the pinnacle of philosophy, religion, and class.
When the Roman Empire fell, Rome replaced Greece as the pinnacle of civilization in the eyes of Europeans in the Middle Ages (hence the Renaissance's homages to both Rome and Greece).
Americans inherited this sense of patronage to the culture that it came from and was a source of inspiration.
Now, this romanticized version of the British no way reflects current Britain, but Britain of the past.
There's also another factor: American colonists were considered to be bumpkins in comparison to mainland Brits (this attitude became a subliminal factor that led to the American Revolution).
In comparison, it's similar to how the French viewed French Canadians in the late 18th century.
It'd be interesting if there was a psychological study that pointed towards a residual sense in Americans that recognizes the parent culture and the desire to surpass it as the drive to, in turn, be recognized by the parent as on the same plane and not at a lower status (aka "bumpkin").

 

[LetterlandMafia]

It'd be interesting if there was a psychological study that pointed towards a residual sense in Americans that recognizes the parent culture and the desire to surpass it as the drive to, in turn, be recognized by the parent as on the same plane and not at a lower status (aka "bumpkin").

Considering how often people here get really worked up about how cucked Britain is you may well be onto something. Right wing Americans really seem to resent how Britain has succumbed to the PC Police/Gun Control/rapefugees despite not living here or being affected by the above in any way.

 

[Unyielding Stupidity]

Because Americans seem to think that every single British person speaks with received pronunciation, despite the fact that only those who grew up in middle or upper class households speak it. Trust me, if more yanks heard the regional accents of Britain, that view would change really fast. It's like how a lot of people outside of the US seem to think that most Americans speak with Southern accents.

 

[Pissmaster]

It should be noted that their faggy accent is a (relatively) recent contrivance and not actually how the Bongs sounded for over a millennia

I think I read somewhere once about how Appalachian accents are much closer to how English accents used to sound. No clue how true that is, though.

 

[WonderWino]

In some ways they are.

The Western World has long looked back to the Hellenic world as the foundation of our culture, the glory of Rome, the scale of the empire, the depth of their culture....

And yet people, especially within Britain itself, seem to forget that Britain triumphed and superseded Rome on every single front. It wasn't the only European power to do this, but it was undoubtedly the most successful of them even if by chance.

Ehh, technological advance, creating a larger empire and culture are really all different things. Its difficult to say that britain superseded rome on a cultural level because how do you really judge something like that? Romans ate mice and had gladiator fights, the modern brits wouldn't consider that cultured, whereas the modern brits have gender equality under the law and by roman standards a very weak justice system. They wouldn't approve. Not to mention the romans could build roads and aquaducts that have lasted thousands of years.....the brits have a hard time building a modern road that isn't total shit after a single winter

Point being, comparisons of these types are much more difficult to make accurately than it might appear at first. Romans and imperial brits had different cultures, different standards, different senses of right and wrong, different technology, yet both are looked up to and admired by the civilizations that followed them, while they would have their own issues with the very civilizations that do so and with each other

As you said the brits had a major impact on many different countries and cultures, from india to iran to the americas and africa. but many of the very things they passed on to those people, for good or bad were passed on to them by the romans. So is it really the imperial brits making those global cultural changes alone or is rome just as responsible for it?

 

[Freya]

I’ve got my own question: what’s with all the Americans raging at Britain lately? Everywhere I go on the web we seem to be pissing them off. Are they annoyed at us for being full of immigrants or something?

The funny thing is the Americans were the ones who pushed for europe to accept immigrants in the first place

 

[MaleTears]

It's entirely the accent.

 

[Hellbound Hellhound]

You do realize the Silk Road went through India and it already had wealth, after the British Empire and East India Trading Company destroyed the Mughal Empire, they took all that wealth out of the country. They made it poorer to enrich themselves with additional shit like the salt tax. India also already had ports before the British showed up as they were trading with the Portuguese, the Chinese and Arabs.

The Mughal Empire was already in decline by the time the British arrived, and the Silk Road had pretty much collapsed by the beginning of the 18th century. While the East India Company definitely plundered India of much of it's wealth (a fact I have never denied), there is simply no disputing the fact that the infrastructure and political reforms provided to India by the British were unrivalled by those of any other foreign power.

It was the British that provided India with a functional judicial system, it was the British that built India's first universities, it was the British that introduced India to the printing press, and it was the British that provided India with the major infrastructure that made post-independence industrialization possible, such as railways, dams, bridges, and land irrigation.

Even taking into account the fact that Britain did more damage to India than anyone else (again, something I have never denied), claiming that the Portuguese, Chinese, or Arabs were as influential to India's current success as Britain is simply ahistorical.

Okay, I'm going to say something as a Native/French (Métis) person. The Natives got along with the French just fine. The relationship even had a name: The Franco-Indian Alliance.

Out of all the early European settlers, it was only the French who treated Natives like human beings. They were doing a pretty good job of slowly introducing European ideas and innovations and vice versa, and trade was prevalent. Intermarriage was common.

When they arrived, they brought Jesuits to convert the Natives, but in a peaceful way. Those who became Catholics were considered natural Frenchmen. Anyway, point is, nobody needed the English settlers to save us from our savage ways.

The French may have treated the Indian people with more toleration than the British did, although I would dispute the idea that the chauvinism Britain displayed towards India was entirely negative or unjustified. There were plenty of things about Indian society prior to Britain's involvement that were incredibly messed up, and a lot of the social reforms the British introduced were undeniably positive: such as the banning of Sati (widow burning), the introduction of courts, and the (more than) doubling of Indian literacy.

This doesn't excuse any of the ways that the British mistreated the Indian people, but it's far more than the French ever did for India.

 

[The Curmudgeon]

Cultured? You mean like this?

 

[Biden's Chosen]

According to myth isn't Merlin supposed to reappear when England is in dire need of help?

So, where is he?

Arthur, not Merlin.

Here he comes.

 

[Misaki Nakahara]

all yous sayin im not culchered must b lukin 2 get battered , com round my gaff n repeat that 2 me hahaha didnt think so u long streak of piss

 

[Ughubughughughughughghlug]

Considering how often people here get really worked up about how cucked Britain is you may well be onto something. Right wing Americans really seem to resent how Britain has succumbed to the PC Police/Gun Control/rapefugees despite not living here or being affected by the above in any way.

I can only speak for myself here, but I hate seeing any country that's not China or an African country fuck itself up. I feel bad for the Japanese setting themselves up for the inevitable debt/production crisis that destroys their economy and potentially consigns them to Third World hell. I hate seeing the French lose their churches in mosque bombings. With Britain it's especially infuriating, for me, not due to cultural connection, but because they were traditionally to Europe what America is to the world, being the tough individualists. And they've thrown that all away and become massive totalitarian pussies.

 

[ZenonPeep7777]

The word cultured lost it's meaning a long time ago, but i'd say as an individual culture, England particularly has contributed greatly to the world. Whether or not England or the UK as a whole is great anymore isn't really something i'd know...

 

[Section230]

It's considered cultured in the US because the prominent universities were in england, or were imported english, like harvard. The rich important educated people sounded a little british. Their professors were british.

 

[FaramirG]

It's the accent, it makes them seem more classy than they are.
Sargon is seen as an intellectual by many but, if he had a Bible Belt American accent, everyboy would think he's a moron.

The type of English accent matters too. If Sargon sounded like Wayne Rooney or Steven Gerrard then nobody would have ever taken him seriously in the first place.

 

[ApatheticViewer]

 

[Jarolleon]

In some ways they are.

The Western World has long looked back to the Hellenic world as the foundation of our culture, the glory of Rome, the scale of the empire, the depth of their culture....

And yet people, especially within Britain itself, seem to forget that Britain triumphed and superseded Rome on every single front. It wasn't the only European power to do this, but it was undoubtedly the most successful of them even if by chance.

The British have a long history; not merely reaching back far in time but also the founding presence of many states and cultures around the globe. America, Hong Kong, Australia, The Middle East...It's hard to find anywhere that hasn't been restructured in some way by British (or more specifically, English) culture. Even in lands they didn't conquer like Japan, their influence is still overpowering; the Meiji restoration didn't restructure the country based on Japanese or American models. It did so on British ones such as their Parliament.

As much as a Frenchman I hate to say anything too complimentary about the roast beef, they are undoubtedly one of the most cultured and advanced civilizations the world has ever known. Even if it is drowning in shit these days.

It's one of the reasons I'm surprised they're so passive and submissive to outside influences these days. It's a far cry to how they behaved less than a century ago.

At least as a baguette you get to gloat about William the Conqueror doing the same "restructuring" to England that it eventually did to the the rest of the world.

It's the accent, it makes them seem more classy than they are.
Sargon is seen as an intellectual by many but, if he had a Bible Belt American accent, everyboy would think he's a moron.

The accent was intentionally crafted in the late 19th century, it's called Received Pronunciation. Though it was probably more about creating a common dialect intelligible by all English speakers rather than putting on an air of cultural superiority.

 

[Johan Schmidt]

Americans are on average more English than most Brits sadly, especially appallachian area. Our island has gone to the dogs.

 

[Cheerlead-in-Chief]

British people are disgusting.