Quote:
Originally Posted by Plechazunga
I'm not really talking about a grand weighing-up of rights and wrongs though, Frosty. Even those who think, say, the Empire was broadly a Good Thing for all concerned must admit that some Bad Things were done too. All I'm saying is, if you're going to feel pride about the one, it only makes sense to feel shame about the other.
For instance, most of us feel some shame about Britain's current entanglement in Iraq, but pride at our work in Sierra Leone. Well if that's so for current events, why should it not be so for history?
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Most Brits won't feel ashamed for Iraq though. They will deflect it on Blair's judgement or even argue it was justified. Even though you voted him in again.
Same with British empire or even worse. Actually my theory is that Hitler essentially took off the heat from British for their colonial massacres. Alllies came off a good side after the WWII and all the focus was on Holocaust. By the time it was their turn to get stick, it turned out French did a lot worse and hence again British got put on the back burner. Never truly on world stage ever British got lynched for their empire's misadventures. Hence, there is no need for acknowledgement from Govt or people.