In order to understand a country and its specifics, one should live there for a while or be a native. In the first case, one would have an opportunity to compare home country with the new environment and make a comparison. On the other hand, local people know there country better than anyone else, but they might be less objective. In my case, I will do my best to describe the United Kingdom as objective and critical as it is possible. The central thesis of the essay is that the main feature of British reality is unity through diversity.
In 2001, the majority of population in the UK was White British estimating 85.67%, followed by 5.27% of other White1. Other ethnic groups were Indians (1.8%), Pakistani (1.6%), White Irish (1.2%), Mixed Races (1.2%), Black Africans, Caribbean, Bangladeshi, Chinese and other Asian people were below 1% each. Due to the net migration increase which corresponded to 62% of population growth in 2001-2008, British society became ethnically more diverse and tolerable for different ethnicities living and working together2. The main distinctive feature between people in UK is not their visual looks of racial belonging, but their accents of English language, characteristic to each ethnic group3.
Concerning the class system in British society, there is a triple division. There is an upper class of former noble elite or “old money” based on inheritance and family name preservation. There is also poor, lower class of society, consisting of people that live on social benefits due to unemployment or disability. There is also a strong working class which carries the main burden of jobs performance4. Particular feature of British society is that although social mobility between classes is practically possible, it is not a regular process. The famous British snobbery refers to the case when the rich upper class is reluctant to accept former members of working class due to the lack of substantial noble history of money accumulation. In this case, the conflict between “old” and “new” money is taking place. 5
Another example of how unity is achieved through diversity is the status of religion in the UK. Although traditional religion is Christianity, it is represented by numerous branches and religious denominations. There are also two established Churches –the Anglican Church of England and the Presbyterian Church of Scotland6. The institutionalization of church has little to do with its importance or spreading. The social tendency is decline of general religious belief, which is proved by 15.5% of people who claimed they had no religion and 7.3% who did not state any in 2001 census7. British society as any other western society is going through the process of religious doubt and elimination of religion to a mere following traditional pattern of behavior rather than acting according to religious beliefs.
Concerning immigrants, except for the mentioned above ethnic groups, there is also a historical immigrant group of Polish people (600,000) who are descendants of Polish immigrants or soldiers remaining here after the WWII8. In the recent years, Polish migration increased also due to the entrance of Poland to the EU and subsequently to the Schengen zone. Another way to judge British society is the status of women in it. Because of a long history of female emancipation, women favor equal rights with men and show high efficiency in goal achievement and career building9.
Concerning the government, it can be called both inclusive and traditional at the same time. In order to become the Prime Minister, the candidate should be a member of the House of Commons, in order to provide efficient legislative functionality. On the other hand, ministers are usually appointed from the House of Lords, membership in which used to be a hereditary privilege12. This is achieved through elections on the basis of First Past the Post approach, according to which the party that has majority in the Parliaments wins the right to form a government. This is the ideal approach for the two-party system. The main difference between Labor and Conservative party is that the first one aims at more public spending on social protection, while the second one aims at spending cuts and strengthening of the economy through real value investments13.
Concerning an economic perspective, the UK is well-developed in all meanings of the word. It has strong economy based on national currency which is not euro-zone driven. Its financial capital in London’s City is one of the main finical centers in the world. According to the global perception of poverty, British population is wealthy, since Gini coefficient is 0.36 and no citizen have less than £4 per day15. Although in British society a disparity between income distributions exists, it is relatively balanced through taxations and subsequent benefits. According to OECD, the earnings of the five top and bottom households before the taxation were around £73, 769 and £5,00016. On the other hand, a relative balancing was achieved through the taxes and following beneficiary payments. Therefore, the figures shifted to £53, 876 and £13, 600 subsequently17. Irrespective of the fact that France has most of millionaires in the Europe (estimated in 2.6 millions of millionaires) and the UK is on the second place (having around 1.6 million), generally, the wealthier population is in the UK, due to the high taxations and strong social protection system18.
Overall, it can be concluded that there is both economic and social equality in the United Kingdom at least the way it might exist at all. It does not mean that all people have the same things at the same time, but it means that government is like a watchdog that guards human social equality and just distribution of income through taxations and benefits. I think that under current circumstances no one can expect more from any democratic government.
Bibliography
Julios, Christina. Contemporary British identity: English language, migrants and public
discourse. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing, 2008.
Leach, Robert, Coxall, Bill and Robins, Lynton. British Politics. London: Palgrave
Macmillan, 2011.
Office For National Statistics. 2001 Census. Accessed January 21, 2011.
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/census/census-2001/index.html.
Organization for Economic Integration and Development (OECD). OECD Economic
Surveys: United Kingdom 2011. London: OECD Publishing. 2011.
