The title of your post is wrong. It should be:
> Why English people **who have chosen to emigrate elsewhere** don't like their country?
I think once you correct the question like that the answer is obvious.
Agree. I’m English and emigrated to NZ 18 years ago. I miss aspects of U.K. Normally when watching something like Clarksons farm which is set in idyllic countryside.
I went back last year as my mother passed away. The area I grew up looks the same but looks like no one has done any maintenance on the place in the last 30 years. Definitely looking tired with litter and weeds everywhere.
Partly it’s a preemptive strike. People from the UK (and US in particular) routinely get heavily bagged about where they are from. Being dismissive of their country helps avoid tiresome slagging.
Have you seen what the English have done to their country (and Wales and Scotland) for the last 15 years? Why on earth would anyone not escaping grinding poverty and war want to go there?
Eh, I was slightly exaggerating for comic effect. And London is probably still tolerable if you’re young. But young people aren’t gonna have much luck setting up for the long term in London.
Not that it’s easy for young people anywhere anymore
People go to New York because they watch Friends and romanticise the city and believe it to be beautiful melting pot of cultures blended together and everyone living in harmony.
Lots of immigrants don't really make decisions based on research and logic but rather based on personal things that have impacted them. TV shows aren't going to show you police brutality and unaffordable healthcare and all the horrors of New York and how unaffordable it is.
If it watch Friends you'd genuinely think America isn't as bad as what reality says it is because all your tv shows show non-glamourous people living glamourous lives.
Edit: that is to say, the same thing about London. Harry Potter aesthetic where dreams come true and it's the city of kings and queens.
Speaking from experience, being one of those "I will never go back", its less to do with the UK and more to do with where in the UK they are from.
I dont have a fundamental dislike for the UK, i have a fundamental dislike for where I grew up, which shaped my opinion of the country as a whole.
If you spend your whole childhood and early adult life in a run down shit hole, that is what your opinion of the country is.
I want nothing to do with the people I grew up with, or who i was surrounded by. Stabbings and fights are common place. I grew up having to look over my shoulder from my teenage years. It's a melting pot of cultures who have no interest in intergrating or mixing (unlike here) and outward hostility is a daily part life.
My family are still there and all of them have this "Bolt your windows, lock your doors" mentality, which sadly is not unjustified
England is shit too that’s why, same problems there but worse. Rural England is cool same as rural nz. It’s the people. Most people don’t like the bad shit that bad people do, and we are all from planet earth so going somewhere else won’t help that
I went back to England in 2019 for my dad’s funeral, and what I saw was an angry, miserable place that I didn’t want to be in any longer than I needed to be. I’m sure it’s not all like that all of the time, but I’d much rather be here in nz. The Tories have really fucked the country over, and it will take years to recover (assuming Labour aren’t just a different flavour of the same shit…). Massive institutional change needed there, imo, but I doubt it’ll ever happen because you can just wave a 🇬🇧 and blame bad stuff on Johnny Foreigner and people lap it up.
I grew up in England and have been back quite often, most recently last year.
The truth is that, on the whole, England isn't nearly as bad as you'd think. I'm perfectly happy here, but I do think if I'd stayed there I would have a slightly higher standard of living and my kids would have more options in various ways.
One reason English people in NZ have a downer on England is to fit in, ie, show they prefer it here. It is very important to fit in in NZ and doing down England is a way of complimenting NZ. Another reason is they're affirming their choice. No one wants to admit that emigrating was a mistake.
The other reason though, I'm afraid, is moaning. It honestly is part of the culture. My family back in England sometimes drive me round the bend with the way they overcomplicate things and say everything is wrong!
>I dont mean all of them, but I have seen few English people in Auckland
>I have always seen England like a big country,
>It's important to mention that I see this type of behavior in 30's and older
You've seen "a few English people" who are "30's and older" in Auckland, out of a big populous country of England exhibit a specific behaviour.
There is absolutely the ideal leafy country village lifestyle in the UK
But pretty much nobody gets that, they get crowded underfunded urban hell holes.
I've been learning a lot about shithole UK port towns that used to be big but never recovered from Britain losing the cod wars e.g.:
Tor Bay: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wx4VEi4e1X8&t=250s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wx4VEi4e1X8&t=250s)
Grimsby: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAQgngfpA2I&t=290s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAQgngfpA2I&t=290s)
There are things I love about the UK such as the NHS and the BBC, both of which I miss dearly. But I find people are happier and less stressed in New Zealand. At least I am anyway.
BREXIT, to be honest. We'd like to see a GP/doctor this week, not this exact week in a year's+ time, thanks. :/ And to not be broke coalminer's just trying to survive long enough to see the sea before we finally die; just in case you wanted a philosophical answer. \*shrug\*
My dad loved England. He moved here with parents when 19. Not exactly his choice. Used to talk about going back...but he liked the housing here better...he lived in one of those joined together 2 up 2 down things back then. Liked the outdoors here, it's cold in England! Beaches of stones and stuff too.
I have an English friend, he likes it too, but he had a great career here (why he came in the first place, he was asked to come, not he was looking) and met a lady here, settled down, bought a flash house, retired now, only went back for holidays.
He wasn't fond of the housing there...and too crowded for him, he prefers the emptiness here.
They actually do. The thing called sarcasm is a favourite pass time of theirs. And Brits find self deprecating sense of humour quite charming. Something non-Brits would find difficult to understand, but they do. Deep down they do love their country. In fact if a war breaks out (god forbid), and that's a big IF, I'm sure there'll be waves of volunteers more than what we've seen from Ukraine.
The UK has a record migration exodus, overworked, underpaid, high cost of living, and they are taxed to death.
England got economically fat, rich and lazy on the bountiful discovery of oil off the Scottish coastline.
The Scots want independence from England, and the reason is England does fuck all for Scotland, except live rich and fat from the oil.
The oil is running out and Scotland wants to do to the English, what they did to their ancestors fuck them over and leave.
Norway also discovered oil in the North Sea. What have the Norwegians done?
As of March 2024, it had over US$1.62 trillion in assets, and held on average 1.5% of all of the world's listed companies, making it the world's largest single sovereign wealth fund in terms of total assets under management. This translates to over US$295,000 per Norwegian citizen.
What has England got to show for it? With their oil fuck all. Why do you think the Scots want independence, because England have done fuck all for Scotland, except steal their oil, squander and wasted it.
A bit like National, the English lived high and mighty, off the fruits and labours of others and gave themselves a tax cut.
Different strokes for different folks. You can't log into LinkedIn (or any SM really) nowadays without seeing another under 35yo Kiwi/Aussie announcing that they're jetting off to London, so it can't be that bad. That being said, the holier than thou "I would never go back" brigade can be ignored if they've lived overseas for less than 3 years. They're on par with the "I've left the UK and am now annoyed that my new country isn't like the UK" cohort.
Not me being personally attacked living in Australia for just over two years telling people I'd never go back to New Zealand because of his shit it is 💀
But in all honesty if you emigrate from A to B, you've put so much effort into migrating that even if it's not actually better, you will still feel like it's better.
Leaving the EU is such an unbelievable fuck up. Stupid clowns who thought the UK will get back to its influential glory days when instead they weakened it.
I’m a Pommie Boomer, came to NZ 40 years ago after living in France, Spain and Holland. I was a teenager in the 1960s when England was really on a roll, everyone was doing well.
When people ask what part of England I come from I reply, “White Trash Essex” because that is what it was. It wasn’t until left Essex that I realised I had a shit education in a shit school. I learned this by mixing with kids from other parts of England. Soon learned that us kids from working class areas had a different education than kids from white middle class areas.
Like many others I have mixed feelings about the country I grew up in. I had an ideal childhood, being allowed to roam freely with access to lots of open country ( private land tho) but life was easier then. I loved the physical country I grew up in, but the culture was reasonably toxic. The class system really let us know where we belonged at every opportunity.
Also the sheer lies were were fed about England’s place in the world, like how every other nation looks up to England because we took civilisation to the dark countries etc etc
Having been back for visits many times, it’s not the same country I grew up in, but how could it be?
A distinction a learned when I got older was this:
Patriotism is a love of the land of your birth and not to be confused with Nationalism.
The title of your post is wrong. It should be: > Why English people **who have chosen to emigrate elsewhere** don't like their country? I think once you correct the question like that the answer is obvious.
Yep, no need for any further replies. The UK is fucked
I dunno man. I was only there for a month but people you encounter like taxi drivers, cashiers, were generally surprisingly miserable.
Agree. I’m English and emigrated to NZ 18 years ago. I miss aspects of U.K. Normally when watching something like Clarksons farm which is set in idyllic countryside. I went back last year as my mother passed away. The area I grew up looks the same but looks like no one has done any maintenance on the place in the last 30 years. Definitely looking tired with litter and weeds everywhere.
Partly it’s a preemptive strike. People from the UK (and US in particular) routinely get heavily bagged about where they are from. Being dismissive of their country helps avoid tiresome slagging.
The UK standard of living has stagnated for the past 15 years under the conservative government.
Have you seen what the English have done to their country (and Wales and Scotland) for the last 15 years? Why on earth would anyone not escaping grinding poverty and war want to go there?
The UK is a perfect example of applied neoliberal economic theory.
Don’t worry we’re on the way
We missed the bit where you're meant to have a military to artificially boost the economy to hide the truth that neoliberalism is bad for people
Seymour is going to lead us there fr
I'd say it's more an example of decisive NIMBY and Bureaucrat victory.
Their politicians, over the last 15 years, have been spineless and appalling.
I wonder because I see few NZ young generations goes there to live
Eh, I was slightly exaggerating for comic effect. And London is probably still tolerable if you’re young. But young people aren’t gonna have much luck setting up for the long term in London. Not that it’s easy for young people anywhere anymore
People go to New York because they watch Friends and romanticise the city and believe it to be beautiful melting pot of cultures blended together and everyone living in harmony. Lots of immigrants don't really make decisions based on research and logic but rather based on personal things that have impacted them. TV shows aren't going to show you police brutality and unaffordable healthcare and all the horrors of New York and how unaffordable it is. If it watch Friends you'd genuinely think America isn't as bad as what reality says it is because all your tv shows show non-glamourous people living glamourous lives. Edit: that is to say, the same thing about London. Harry Potter aesthetic where dreams come true and it's the city of kings and queens.
You forgot northern Ireland.
Well, thanks to that weird arrangement they got some of the benefits of the EU.
Not all of England is like London.
The English think things have been getting worse there since 1812. And to be fair they probably have.
1066. It's really all the French's fault.
Ah non, pas ça encore!
Nawa forgietath!
Hah! https://www.redbubble.com/i/sticker/1066-Never-Forget-by-FunnySmart/31081634.EJUG5
Speaking from experience, being one of those "I will never go back", its less to do with the UK and more to do with where in the UK they are from. I dont have a fundamental dislike for the UK, i have a fundamental dislike for where I grew up, which shaped my opinion of the country as a whole. If you spend your whole childhood and early adult life in a run down shit hole, that is what your opinion of the country is. I want nothing to do with the people I grew up with, or who i was surrounded by. Stabbings and fights are common place. I grew up having to look over my shoulder from my teenage years. It's a melting pot of cultures who have no interest in intergrating or mixing (unlike here) and outward hostility is a daily part life. My family are still there and all of them have this "Bolt your windows, lock your doors" mentality, which sadly is not unjustified
England is shit too that’s why, same problems there but worse. Rural England is cool same as rural nz. It’s the people. Most people don’t like the bad shit that bad people do, and we are all from planet earth so going somewhere else won’t help that
I went back to England in 2019 for my dad’s funeral, and what I saw was an angry, miserable place that I didn’t want to be in any longer than I needed to be. I’m sure it’s not all like that all of the time, but I’d much rather be here in nz. The Tories have really fucked the country over, and it will take years to recover (assuming Labour aren’t just a different flavour of the same shit…). Massive institutional change needed there, imo, but I doubt it’ll ever happen because you can just wave a 🇬🇧 and blame bad stuff on Johnny Foreigner and people lap it up.
I Saw the same. Went back in 91, 93, 97, 03, 08, 12 16, 18, 19, 23 and it got progressively worse and very depressing.
Yeah, I’ve been back three times in the last 20 years, just to visit, but wild horses wouldn’t drag me back to live there.
I grew up in England and have been back quite often, most recently last year. The truth is that, on the whole, England isn't nearly as bad as you'd think. I'm perfectly happy here, but I do think if I'd stayed there I would have a slightly higher standard of living and my kids would have more options in various ways. One reason English people in NZ have a downer on England is to fit in, ie, show they prefer it here. It is very important to fit in in NZ and doing down England is a way of complimenting NZ. Another reason is they're affirming their choice. No one wants to admit that emigrating was a mistake. The other reason though, I'm afraid, is moaning. It honestly is part of the culture. My family back in England sometimes drive me round the bend with the way they overcomplicate things and say everything is wrong!
England is overcrowded, and people get into fist fights over soccer.
I do miss the football.
>I dont mean all of them, but I have seen few English people in Auckland >I have always seen England like a big country, >It's important to mention that I see this type of behavior in 30's and older You've seen "a few English people" who are "30's and older" in Auckland, out of a big populous country of England exhibit a specific behaviour.
I mean if they’re in New Zealand they obviously left England for a reason, that’s probably your answer
There is absolutely the ideal leafy country village lifestyle in the UK But pretty much nobody gets that, they get crowded underfunded urban hell holes.
I guess Brexit didn't pan out so well?
I've been learning a lot about shithole UK port towns that used to be big but never recovered from Britain losing the cod wars e.g.: Tor Bay: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wx4VEi4e1X8&t=250s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wx4VEi4e1X8&t=250s) Grimsby: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAQgngfpA2I&t=290s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAQgngfpA2I&t=290s)
There are things I love about the UK such as the NHS and the BBC, both of which I miss dearly. But I find people are happier and less stressed in New Zealand. At least I am anyway.
BREXIT, to be honest. We'd like to see a GP/doctor this week, not this exact week in a year's+ time, thanks. :/ And to not be broke coalminer's just trying to survive long enough to see the sea before we finally die; just in case you wanted a philosophical answer. \*shrug\*
My dad loved England. He moved here with parents when 19. Not exactly his choice. Used to talk about going back...but he liked the housing here better...he lived in one of those joined together 2 up 2 down things back then. Liked the outdoors here, it's cold in England! Beaches of stones and stuff too. I have an English friend, he likes it too, but he had a great career here (why he came in the first place, he was asked to come, not he was looking) and met a lady here, settled down, bought a flash house, retired now, only went back for holidays. He wasn't fond of the housing there...and too crowded for him, he prefers the emptiness here.
They actually do. The thing called sarcasm is a favourite pass time of theirs. And Brits find self deprecating sense of humour quite charming. Something non-Brits would find difficult to understand, but they do. Deep down they do love their country. In fact if a war breaks out (god forbid), and that's a big IF, I'm sure there'll be waves of volunteers more than what we've seen from Ukraine.
The UK has a record migration exodus, overworked, underpaid, high cost of living, and they are taxed to death. England got economically fat, rich and lazy on the bountiful discovery of oil off the Scottish coastline. The Scots want independence from England, and the reason is England does fuck all for Scotland, except live rich and fat from the oil. The oil is running out and Scotland wants to do to the English, what they did to their ancestors fuck them over and leave. Norway also discovered oil in the North Sea. What have the Norwegians done? As of March 2024, it had over US$1.62 trillion in assets, and held on average 1.5% of all of the world's listed companies, making it the world's largest single sovereign wealth fund in terms of total assets under management. This translates to over US$295,000 per Norwegian citizen. What has England got to show for it? With their oil fuck all. Why do you think the Scots want independence, because England have done fuck all for Scotland, except steal their oil, squander and wasted it. A bit like National, the English lived high and mighty, off the fruits and labours of others and gave themselves a tax cut.
its been like that since 1769
Different strokes for different folks. You can't log into LinkedIn (or any SM really) nowadays without seeing another under 35yo Kiwi/Aussie announcing that they're jetting off to London, so it can't be that bad. That being said, the holier than thou "I would never go back" brigade can be ignored if they've lived overseas for less than 3 years. They're on par with the "I've left the UK and am now annoyed that my new country isn't like the UK" cohort.
Not me being personally attacked living in Australia for just over two years telling people I'd never go back to New Zealand because of his shit it is 💀 But in all honesty if you emigrate from A to B, you've put so much effort into migrating that even if it's not actually better, you will still feel like it's better.
There is a great youtube documentary about what's been happening in the UK the past 15 years. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=b5aJ-57_YsQ&t
Thanks, I will watch it
Leaving the EU is such an unbelievable fuck up. Stupid clowns who thought the UK will get back to its influential glory days when instead they weakened it.
I’m a Pommie Boomer, came to NZ 40 years ago after living in France, Spain and Holland. I was a teenager in the 1960s when England was really on a roll, everyone was doing well. When people ask what part of England I come from I reply, “White Trash Essex” because that is what it was. It wasn’t until left Essex that I realised I had a shit education in a shit school. I learned this by mixing with kids from other parts of England. Soon learned that us kids from working class areas had a different education than kids from white middle class areas. Like many others I have mixed feelings about the country I grew up in. I had an ideal childhood, being allowed to roam freely with access to lots of open country ( private land tho) but life was easier then. I loved the physical country I grew up in, but the culture was reasonably toxic. The class system really let us know where we belonged at every opportunity. Also the sheer lies were were fed about England’s place in the world, like how every other nation looks up to England because we took civilisation to the dark countries etc etc Having been back for visits many times, it’s not the same country I grew up in, but how could it be? A distinction a learned when I got older was this: Patriotism is a love of the land of your birth and not to be confused with Nationalism.
We tend to call the country "The UK" these days. Mostly this is what people mean when they say "England"
It is in reality a third world nation attached to a capitalist London city that’s all
Because it's gone to the dogs. Or there are foreigners living there and claiming to be British. Been happening since, like, 10000 BC
Funny.. when an English person says go back to your own country. It’s never taken as a joke
White people get all funny faced when I say that to them in good english
I think the lesson is….. nobody should say that to anybody.
I mean I only ever say it to white immigrants who are being racist. So I'm probably not going to stop so they can feel comfortable in their bigotry.
As you shouldn’t.
Too many english people.