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If you want to complain/apologize/ignore the British Empire, consider that the creation of EMPIRE and the expansion of a single dominant "culture" is one of the most significant phenomena in history and, compared to the rest--from Babylon to the Third Reich and beyond (say, Dubya's Texas wet dream) the Empire created by those nasty little people from the small island off the coast of Ireland doesn't fare too badly in comparison to the rest--including the Romans, Ottomans, and 23 different dynasties in Egypt. Compare the "atrocities" in the Empire upon which the sun never set to those of any prior imperial entities, and you sorry little Limies look like whimps and candy-asses in comparison to those before you.
If you can't take pride in the fact that a bunch of short, irritable people from an island nation once ruled much of the globe and set in place the foundation for what is becoming the international language, an international market, and an international concept of human rights, tough. Maybe the problem isn't your forebears, but the fact that you are sitting on your rear end and not emulating them sufficiently in ambition and effort to make a real difference.
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