I was quite taken with Mil's conclusion that modern Britain is wacky. 

Of course, I thought, that's why I'm studying it! 

But where Mil laments Britain's wackiness - the politicking, the internal colonialism - I'm interested in celebrating quite a different wacky Britain. 

In my years as a young player in the study of people, the only solid conclusion I've ever reached is that people are bonkers.

And when I say people, I mean us.  Me.  You.  Bonkers, the glorious lot of us. 

There've been efforts afoot since the Enlightenment to bring people into regimental, predictable line.  What a load of tosh.  I mean, we've been chucking it for hundreds of thousands of years and we still can't work out what to do with our own rubbish; and let's not even start on sexuality.  We're rubbish recruits for any paradise of rationality. 

To some (and probably to some of those still suffering twisted knickers over the AAA's updated statement of purpose) this is A Bad Thing.  They measure and theorise and come up with all manner of grand plans. 

Well, it keeps them off the streets.

It's the innate bonkersness (a technical term; use it in your essays, students) of people that keeps me, as an anthropologist, captured and delighted.  It's what makes me celebrate our diversity, be fascinated by our cultural richness, and want to discover more about us and what we get up to. 

So keep on with your wacky selves, Britain.