.... a school for (the sons of) Catholic Gentlemen." How proud we Beaumont boys were of this put-down of our privileged counterparts a little further up the river Thames. Not that we were likely to bump into them, apart perhaps from an occasional foray into Windsor on the occasion of an exeat. Nowadays, of course, Etonians could legitimately retort: "Eton is what Beaumont used to be - a school!" But that, as they say, is another story.
Anyway, I bring up the point as an illustration of our seemingly inextinguishable need to identity with something or somebody, to convince ourselves that the place where we live, the school we went to, the religion or club we belong to and so on, is somehow better than the rest.
I went to a Catholic school, I was educated by the Jesuits, I come from Suffolk, I went to Durham University, I live in Burgundy, my blood group is A negative, I'm left-handed. In a curious way, these are all sources of pride and an unscrupulous dictator could probably get some mileage out of some of them by tapping into them for his own nefarious purposes. After all, isn't that what Hitler did in the 1930s? The fact of the matter is that all of us, even those as anti-social as I am, are at the same time incurably "clubbable". Indeed, life would be unbearable if we could not persuade ourselves that, when all is said and done, we are really rather special!
But while I am immensely proud of the fact that I am English, I am increasingly aware that this pride is purely psychological in origin. At an intellectual or objective level, it is patently absurd to maintain that England is somehow "better" than France, that Beaumont is "better" than Eton or that the Jesuits are "better" than the Benedictines. Surely it's possible to remain true to one's roots without disparaging or caricaturing others?
Interesting comment Barnaby - though whether this observation will ever see the light of day is hard to say as a glitch seems to have censored my previous such observations from your blog recently.
ReplyDeleteThis perception of the need to belong changes with age I think. EG many years ago soon after leaving Beaumont I shunned anything to do with the BU and clubability was anathma to me. Now eons later I have an affection for most old Beamont boys I meet though I eschew clubability, cocktail parties and other formal does more than ever.
I am even less keen on nationalism and eg nation flag waving now than I was as a student.The American treatment of their star spangled banner seems silly and childish to me. Any one I meet and talk to is an individual and nationality is largely irrelevant though if on holiday abroard I'll try to avoid British tourists. The feeling of belonging
certainly affects my affinity to the Catholic Church but is that because it is the church which welcomes sinners rather than because of Beaumont or parents?
As for belonging to sports supporters groups even there it my support for AFC Wimbledon football club is more a question of light hearted jest than one of belonging.
Maybe the older one (or I anyway) gets the more the tendency towards reclusiveness and away from belonging to ephemeral groupings. More and more I feel the overwhelming sense of belonging really only to the human community warts and all.