Letter To The ICBR: Re: I have a question
Ok, so you guys think that Britain is the evil of all evils, which is extremely naive of you. First off, when Britain went out to conquer the times were different. Of course it doesn't justify many of the bad things that Britain did, but it tells you something, it's not the fault of the British of today! You cannot ask a man who did nothing to you to say sorry for something that his ancestors did because he didn't do it to you. Second, without the British Empire the world would be nothing like it is today, it would be disconnected and one who lived in America might not ever think that people lived across the ocean sea (realise that racism happens when one race fear or know nothing about another race, the Empire helped that situation over time something that would not have been achieved without it), the same could be said about an Australian. Another thing about that, if the British didn't conquer 1/4th of the world someone else would have, perhaps you'd like the Russians or the Japanese or maybe even the French, whom I might add have had a much more questionable colonial experience than the British. Thirdly, the British Empire did much more good than bad, Pax Britannica brought a time of peace to the world (something preceding centuries never had and when there really was no British Empire, but there was very much a French one). The British Empire is the reason why Hong Kong is one of the wealthiest nations is the world by per capita and mainland China is not (not because of British exploitation but because of an unwillingness to modernise and then an affinity for the communist school of economics which destroyed the Soviet Union. The British did not try to extinguish native culture; they tried to bring them alive in a structural fair government. The British introduced Christianity because the missionaries believed they were preaching god's will (much like the Muslims, French, Portuguese, Spanish, and others who went to "take over the world", at least the British didn't convert by force). Most nations in Europe and West Asia were apart of the African slave trade (many African nations were apart of it too), but it was Britain who went out of her way to try and stop it (the Arabs still do it but the Brits don't). British colonists (who mostly left Britain because they wanted to find work) brought their culture with them, which is too be expected, much like the Mexicans in the Southwest of America or the Arabs who immigrate to Europe. The state of Africa is not the fault of the British, in many Sub-Saharan nations (such as Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe) there is a dictator who ruins the nation, and Britain has nothing to do with that (Robert Mugabe was not born in Britain). When Britain took over the Cape Colony in 1814, she instituted laws that created MORE equality under the law for all people under the Queen's rule (ordinances by the government in 1828, 1830, and the emancipation of slaves in the empire in 1834 allowed this); unlike the Boers who opposed this and left because of it (it was an Afrikaner party that instituted Apartheid). Britain is not the most evil nation in the world; she did not set out to do bad things unlike Hitler, Stalin, Mugabe, and others who purposely killed millions of their people (British philosophy was about "helping fellow man" and "brining civilisation to those uncivilised peoples" although controversial, these are not genocidal philosophies or people). The British Empire gave the world order, authority, and unity; her former subjects all over the world benefit from the use of the English language (for economic purposes), support of the Commonwealth, and a knowledge of cultures that are not their own (many imperial age writers, whose ideas would seem racist to western contemporaries, are popular in India) . It is said in Neil Ferguson's book Empire that many African nations' economies grew after the British left, showing that it was not Britain who caused Africa to fall, they did it to themselves. I am a Black Irish-American, nearly the opposite of what Britain is, I am proud to be who I am and I admire the British very much and find it damned offensive when people like you make the British people feel embarrassed to be who they are. If you can be who you are and be proud, then they can too because if you don't want to believe that the Empire was good and that the British are good then at least you need to realise that it was not THESE British who hurt you.
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"The Frenchman fights for France, the American fights not for land but for Freedom for all men."
"It's really worrying that these days one can't say anything that could possibly be interpreted as even vaguely patriotic, like "I'm not actually embarrassed about being British" for fear of being labeled a racist/fascist. This is just Political correctness going one step too far. Who says we can't accept, and dare I say it, be proud of all our heritage, since it has led to the way the country is and is perceived today?" - Alex Campbell, a great Briton.
YES, I WOULD LIKE TO SIGN THE PETITION AND GET PAID!
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