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What exactly has Britain done that's so awful?Where to begin? By our analysis, the crimes of Britain fall into four major categories:Genocide. Modern Britain was founded through the systematic erasure of indigenous culture and language. The English rounded up natives, seized their property, and forced them to relinquish their heritage and take on British language and culture as their own. Anyone who dissented faced extermination. This practice began in Scotland, Wales and Ireland and soon spread all over the world, where the British Empire plundered natural resources and enslaved native peoples then left without building the stable infrastructure or governments necessary for self-sufficiency.The Industrial Revolution. Beginning in the 18th century, Britain began making our lives worse through the introduction of machines in the workplace. The health, safety, and wages of workers took a back seat to owners' greed for ever-higher output and profits. The skies above the city—first London, then the world—were filled with black smoke. Waters were poisoned with noxious chemicals. Under the careless watch Britain's elite, the Industrial Revolution got off to a horrible start, the consequences of which have continued to ring down through the centuries. The melting of the polar icecaps, the loss of countless plants and animal species, and the imperiled condition of the human race on a planet made poisonous by misapplied technology are all a consequence of British negligence and hunger to accumulate wealth at any cost.Global Misrule. The terrorist threat has its roots in British mismanagement of the Middle East, particularly Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. Britain's imperialist past has so enraged Muslim extremists. Now America is deploying our sons, daughters, and tax dollars to clean up the mess that Britain made. The deaths caused by all the major wars of the 19th and early 20th century could have been prevented, or at least lessened, if the British hadn't waited until their backs were up against the wall before getting into the action. Most of the worst tyrants in power through the end of the 20th century were put there by the British, or came to power by filling the power vacuum the British Empire left behind.Bad Inventions. Machine guns, slums, prisons, child labor, bad hygiene, the Black Plague, concentration camps, you name it. If it hurts people, the British probably came up with it.Strangely enough, Britain has been very aggressive about making other countries pay for their historical misdeeds. Like a herd of raging soccer hooligans looting their rival's capital after a victory, they've extracted exorbitant reparations payments from Germany, France, and China, among others. Now it's their turn to pay.
... mainly India, where it caused famine ...
When Britian controlled parts of Africa and other areas, it brought trade, technology and (Some would argue) Religion and society.
The Americans, well, just look what they did to the Native Indians! They Forced their culture upon them! Dont try blaming us for Veitnam that was your choice your fault!
Quote from: a-4-year-old on May 25, 2007, 05:12:47 pm... mainly India, where it caused famine ...Oh come on, India has been having periodic mass deaths due to famine or plague outbreaks for pretty much all of its recorded history.
Remember Ghandi?
Quote from: a-4-year-old on May 25, 2007, 08:17:47 pmRemember Ghandi?Gandhi was also British-educated as a lawyer. The British Empire was not decisively 'evil'. While they impoverished and enslaved them, they also helped industrialise them.
An english education did a lot of good when they arrested him and many others.
Quote from: a-4-year-old on May 25, 2007, 08:37:48 pmAn english education did a lot of good when they arrested him and many others.No, but western occupation certainly would've helped India as a whole, which is one of the fastest growing economies, and one of the largest economies in the world.
Quote from: frogboy on May 25, 2007, 09:24:42 pmQuote from: a-4-year-old on May 25, 2007, 08:37:48 pmAn english education did a lot of good when they arrested him and many others.No, but western occupation certainly would've helped India as a whole, which is one of the fastest growing economies, and one of the largest economies in the world. Imperialism didn't help India, the whole point was to exploit them, they made transportation for the Europeans, they made schools for the Europeans, The only reason they ever helped India was to keep them from rioting.
Quote from: a-4-year-old on May 25, 2007, 10:00:07 pmQuote from: frogboy on May 25, 2007, 09:24:42 pmQuote from: a-4-year-old on May 25, 2007, 08:37:48 pmAn english education did a lot of good when they arrested him and many others.No, but western occupation certainly would've helped India as a whole, which is one of the fastest growing economies, and one of the largest economies in the world. Imperialism didn't help India, the whole point was to exploit them, they made transportation for the Europeans, they made schools for the Europeans, The only reason they ever helped India was to keep them from rioting.Then what was the 'East India Company'? It was a group of Indian Merchants who used the Empire and its international connections (Like many others) to access a whole new world of trade. Ghandi's protest was a respectable one, still recognised here as a hero. However he was unable to control the wars between the Hindus and Muslims when we were not there to keep the peace.
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