Let’s embrace our grumpiness. We can’t help it – it’s the British way

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/30/embrace-grumpiness-british-way-democracy

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As “studies have shown”, science stories go, Thursday’s report that happiness relates to our genetic heritage may appeal to our desire for explanations. It links happiness with an alleged British predisposition for depression as arising from a particular form of the serotonin gene. The Express goes a stage further and links this to “grumpiness” and “being miserable”.

Leaving aside the science, there is something revealing about the delight taken in declaring this apparent genetic determinism. Unsurprisingly. Seeing ourselves as grumpy, miserable and cynical is a part of our cultural construction that many of us in the UK revel in.

It is, in one sense, the way of our people. Moaning about the world (especially with a faintly nostalgic tone) is a staple of popular non-fiction (for example, Is it Just Me or is Everything Shit?: The Encyclopedia of Modern Life), and has even spawned a set of TV series (Grumpy Old Men/Women/etc).

The Express story brings in the staple of National Happiness indices, and like articles before them, points us to Scandinavian nations as beacons of joy (although they all have much higher suicide rates than the UK). These narratives of general wellbeing (who I imagine as a retired military figure, bossing us about with sage advice) and other alternatives to GDP are compelling for politicians. In 2010 David Cameron described the promotion of wellbeing as his core political goal: “Improving our society’s sense of wellbeing is, I believe, the central political challenge of our times.”

Others agree – groups like Action for Happiness want to create a happier society. But many remain cynical. Britishly so, and I would imagine that Cameron’s claims as to his mission may drive us more into Diogenes’ arms rather than his.

But it isn’t just that we have this aspect to the myth of our national character – it’s the self-consciousness with which we possess it. Back in 2012, Sunder Katwala of the thinktank British Future (talking of the pre-Olympic opening ceremony whinging), said that for those nay-saying: “their cynicism is a performative act of Britishness.” In a country that prefaces a litany of complaints with “mustn’t grumble”, we don’t need gene science to tell us how much we take pleasure in our role.

But I have introduced, as did the Express article on the research, new terms and ideas beyond the report’s data on depression. Whereas they span it as grumpy and miserable – good British traits – I added cynicism to the mix. This is possibly where our sense of Britishness (though that debate is messy, open-ended and prone to hijacking) gets interesting.

Amid all the debates around immigration, inclusion, English-speaking, heritage, Englishness v Britishness and identity: the seemingly trivial trait of cynicism seems to get lost, but might matter more than it seems. Linked with a self-deprecating acknowledgement that our own fallibility and imperfection is likely to be exposed, we at least introduce a modicum of suspicion to our consumption of dominant media and political narratives.

It may start as a celebration of grumpiness, but perhaps we could argue that cynicism is good for democracy, and a feature of national character that we should nurture.