All dogs have four legs; my cat has four legs, therefore...my cat is a dog?

Once again I am late to the table for Oscars-related comment, but I want to repeat something which has exercised Dogtooth and I considerably in the taproom of the Muted Slughorn; namely, the category error of those who equate the successes and failures of 'Britain' with themselves. For example, the newspapers like to suggest that Britain's high rate of obesity is something their readers should be concerned about. Piffle. Be you fat as a pregnant sea-cow or skinnier than half a rake, this has nothing to do with living in the middle of an 'obesity epidemic' (a phrase clearly thought up by someone who either did not know what either obesity or epidemic was) and everything to do with your own diet, habits, genetic legacy and metabolism. Fat people are not your enemy, they are people who have a different shape, either through choice or fortune. As far as I can gather the way people think is 'Britain as a whole is becoming fatter, fatter people die younger, thus I, as a Briton, am going to die younger. I suppose it's easier than just stepping on the scales and taking control of your own lifestyle.

In the same way, when it comes to the Oscars people think that Helen Mirren, an Englishwoman, winning an Oscar in some way reflects well on them. It doesn't, unless you are her parents. It's times like these I feel glad that I live 10,000 feet below the reaches of any nation, territory or state.