When she was a Princess, Queen Elizabeth witnessed the British Empire at its height immediately after World War II, ruling a quarter of the globe. At her death it is all vanished except for a few minor dots on the globe. I have too much Irish blood in me, and am too much of an American patriot, to take a sentimental view of the British Empire. However, as Empires go, it probably was the best of a bad lot. More than a few of the successor regimes erected on its corpse have been notable only for crime and savagery. Others have maintained parliamentary institutions and a respect for law and are great nations today in their own right. Overall, not a bad legacy all things considered, at least in this Vale of Tears.
https://twitter.com/historyinmemes/status/1568196112313466882
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So my 14 year-old was “joke arguing” in class with her school friend about a history assignment they had to do together in groups- basically about how they were going to tackle the assignment.
The teacher said to them: “Girls- why don’t you divide and conquer. That way you will get it done.”
My cheeky daughter exclaimed to the history teacher: “What are we,? The British?!” Her history teacher had a good chuckle.
By the way- Tucker Carlson’s summary on the British Empire is pretty spot on. The British Empire was good but not perfect.
When I note the condition of some of the former parts of that empire, I would have to conclude that colonialism was a mixed bag indeed. The lofty ideals obviously did not stick in many instances and pretty much illustrates that it is difficult to impose a particular brand of behavior.
The British Empire was very much a matter of happenstance with very little planning involved. It was not undertaken as a charitable enterprise. On the whole, I think it worked more good than evil, and many polities cannot say the same, especially contemporary Leftist regimes.
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