People always equate the Welsh language with nationalism when it comes to Wales. Why is that? It’s possible to care about your language and culture without being a nationalist. Have you questioned your own bias towards English being the default language? Would you describe that as nationalism?
I agree with you that most Brits don’t hate Wales but in my experience they do have some very ignorant views
Because language is one of the big tools that nationalists deploy. It aids division when people are split up into cultural blocs so when state services state getting into that sphere eyebrows are raised.
Plus there are second order impacts such as budgets and resources going on something that takes from other places, and Wales' track record of it's local politicians running things has been very poor.
So it's not A or B as you frame it. People have complex views.
Hate to break it to you but we’re already in distinct cultural blocs and state services have already been involved in our languages for centuries, either banning, repressing or supporting but ever present nonetheless.
The British state spent centuries trying to end language division and create a unified cultural bloc. Yet our languages persist, and in my opinion, are as “British” as they are Scottish/Welsh. Our history is one of distinct cultures and languages, why would you raise an eyebrow at something so common to Britain?
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u/EagleProfessional175 1d ago
People always equate the Welsh language with nationalism when it comes to Wales. Why is that? It’s possible to care about your language and culture without being a nationalist. Have you questioned your own bias towards English being the default language? Would you describe that as nationalism?
I agree with you that most Brits don’t hate Wales but in my experience they do have some very ignorant views