"The evils of the British empire"

Well, that's how 'Jezza' and his 'polit-bureau' put it and they are determined, if they form the next government, to ram the nasty details down the throats of all the 'likkle kiddie-winkies' who go to 'skool'!  Gosh, that should keep them busy because there was plenty of evil to go around back in the, er, 'good ol' days!'  However, if accuracy is also important, which in this case I doubt it is, then even greater time will be required to teach all the benefits that accrued from the British empire.

I haven't the time to draw up a balance sheet but it is worth pointing out that if slavery was part of empire rule, it was actually the Brits who eventually put a stop to it.  Of course, it still exists but is mainly confined to countries that have long since been granted their independence!  Also, it is worth remembering the industrial infrastructure that was, in effect, donated to empire countries on independence, such as India's railway system.  Yes, a particularly useless Brit General did order the shooting of several hundred Indians at Amritsar but that was 'a mere bagatelle compared to the number Indians put to the sword by their previous Indian Princes and Rajahs.

Perhaps, in the long-term, the best thing we bequeathed them was the notion of democracy.  True, it hasn't lasted all that well, particularly in Africa, but -hey! - that was the fault of the, er, 'freedom fighters' who took over when the Brits departed.  You may not like it, my old ex-colonial fellows, but you just have to suck it up 'cos it's your fault!

Can you imagine a modern British school (non)teacher even trying to explain that to the little yobs and yobettes before them?  Nah!  Nor can I!               

 

 

Comments

[Bob]

Right. And Jefferson owned slaves, blah, blah, blah. It makes no sense to judge the people of the past by today's standards. Kids should be taught history as accurately as possible, though. Elementary and secondary school American history was largely whitewashed and one-sided back when I studied it. Better to say nothing than lie to kids.

[Whyaxye]

I've only visited India once, back in the 1980s. We met lots of old guys who could remember life before independence. Nearly all of them thought of it as the "good old days", when things worked, and officials didn't take bribes, and life was relatively safe. They expressed surprise as to why civilised English people should want to visit India.

[Glesga]

David, the English only muscled in on the Spanish and Portuguese slave trade. The African rulers were doing slave trade long before all of the aforementioned. The Romans, Vikings and Ottomans did a fair bit.

[Whitewall]

Speaking of slave trade, westerners can't touch this part. Britain helped quell a bit of it:

https://quillette.com/2019/02/06/understanding-modern-african-horrors-by-way-of-the-indian-ocean-slave-trade/

[Alan]

From what I am told schools (and colleges and universities) already go on at great length about the evils of the British empire.
A Guardian reading friend (Masters Degree in French) had to do history as a second subject, and even he remarked on how blatantly unbalanced it was. Apparently this has been going on for quite a while.

[Whitewall]

Alan,
Going on for decades over here and over there. The Left never rests.
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/understanding-the-roots-of-the-war-on-history/

Marxism is a slow rotting disease.

[Alan]

Thanks Whitewall.
Not at all surprised.