It's lazy to say "oh it happened X number of years ago" because if you look at these people and countries today, the lasting effects are very much current.
Bullsh1te. All the oppression and ills that Empire didn’t import are still thriving in these countries today: slavery, squalor, exploitation, corruption, famine, pestilence etc. Inhumanity is still rife in great swathes of regions long after the departure of imperial rule.
Those who pretend the world before the British empire was some wonderful utopia, and that Britain should be eternally flagellating itself for having an empire is nonsense. Granted, the British empire was far from a benevolent entity, and was undeniably motivated almost entirely by self interest and profit, but the state of affairs in the rest of the world was much, much worse, and not just in the European colonial empires.
African, Arabic, Asian and even Native American empires almost universally displayed significantly more brutality, ruthlessness and racist subjugation of those they conquered than the British empire. China alone killed tens of millions during the 18th and 19th centuries in brutally suppressing various rebellions through its empire. India's Muhgal, Sikh and Maratha empires also displayed extreme brutality and abuse of those within their conquered territories, which is likely part of the reason why Britain was able to appear benign in comparison for so long.
Similar stories of horrific bloodshed and abuse can be found from Belgium's Congo, to the Ottoman empire, to the Aztec empire. Yet above all others, Britain's empire, which probably killed far fewer and caused less misery than almost any contemporary empire, is targeted disproportionately for criticism and hatred.
The world in the 18th, 19th, and early to mid 20th centuries was an almost unspeakably horrific place, no matter where you were. Britain's empire however, was somewhat less hellish, which is why some historians argue it was objectively a force for good. I guess individual opinion rests on whether you think a historical empire should be judged by modern standards or by the standards at the time of its existence.
And Britain never came up with empire, slavery, colonialism or barbarity, but somehow it gets full credit for these practices and human traits as if it did. The British were certainly responsible for addressing and seeking to abolish many of these evils in the world, and that’s why now we can all sit around endlessly chastising ourselves for not having done better and apologising, ignoring that the luxury of that indulgence wouldn't be possible without the legacy of western education, benevolence and democracy.
I acknowledge that many cultures probably would have preferred to continue without Western interference and we have examples of untouched cultures in the Amazon and Africa... but I don’t want to live like that, though. Neither do I want to live in the conditions of 18th or 19th century Britain.
It was the wealth of empire that funded the social changes necessary to improve conditions in Britain and propagated the evolution of human rights that we all take for granted today – in the West at least. The exploitation of the colonies is bound up in that, without which the technological and social advancements necessary couldn’t have happened so quickly. The Empire illustrates the worst but also the best of the West taken in view our evolving attitude to human rights.
And in the West we are still actively exporting our 'imperial' notions of human rights, along with practical aid, to the 'less civilised'. Still imposing our 'outdated colonial ambitions' in this ongoing crusade to 'save the rest of the world'. Would you prefer we desist?
History isn’t one snapshot that you can examine critically from the perspective and mores of another time. That's what's lazy.
And bullsh1te.
there was a group pic of the same night and they didn't find this on anyone's phone???
no way
www.google.com
