I get where you’re coming from but it’s not straightforward

“Even in general, without the bad actors, the internet has exposed anybody born after about 1995 to have a much wider understanding of the rest of the world. When I grew up we relied on what we were told by adults living in the UK, in newspapers, books, by teachers and by watching TV. We all had the same or similar exposure, or lack thereof, to other countries and cultures.”
Fair point, but it’s not true to say we had the same or similar exposure. There were fewer sources, true, but the use that different people could make of them varied widely depending on many reasons, such as education, social class and much more. That’s still very much the case - I took kids on residential trips abroad for over 30 years and the difference in their individual experiences was huge.

“Anybody approaching 30 these days has been able to chat to people, and see how people live all over the world their entire lives. Many would naturally feel more of a citizen of the world than of their small island, and so the culture they associate to tends to be tribal in terms of different grouping than on a national level - whether it be political, sports, hobbies, interests, philosophy, activism, etc.”
And yet, some of those tribal associations can be very parochial and isolated.

“I think ironically this is also why we see a lot more isolation and alienation in our younger generations. They are also exposed constantly to increasingly sophisticated disinformation. They see both utopian and demonic portrayals of other countries, and can struggle to understand what is truth and what is not, and how to relate that to what they are seeing and experiencing in their life in the UK.”
Absolutely, and this led to polarisation in the opinions I heard from kids on a daily basis in schools.

“Imagine how religiosity in the UK has changed over the last 200 years. That's also a massive change. Our great grandparents would likely be appalled at the lack of Christianity.”
I think there’s been quite an increase in religious affiliation in the UK over the last few years, some of it quite fundamental in attitudes.

“The younger generations look at the world differently than the grey population and I think any sense of national identity has to be different as well. And one has to ask, is it even necessary? Strangely enough you touched on probably the one use case for it - fighting for your country.”
They always have, haven’t they? That’s often, but not always, a good thing.

It’s an interesting area, and Louis Theroux’s Manosphere documentary brought it into public consciousness again. In teaching there has been much training on extremism and diversity over the last 20 years or so. So much of it comes down to needing a sense of belonging, especially young people.

Posted By: APB on April 1st 2026 at 18:46:28

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