(Started mid September 2019)
Given Ireland's proximity to Britain, it is understandable that our news headlines contain every whimper and murmur about Brexit. There is a daily pontification of some kind about how much better Britain will be after it leaves the EU.
Will it?
I have been trying, and failing, to understand why and how the British think Brexit will help them.
Given Ireland's proximity to Britain, it is understandable that our news headlines contain every whimper and murmur about Brexit. There is a daily pontification of some kind about how much better Britain will be after it leaves the EU.
Will it?
I have been trying, and failing, to understand why and how the British think Brexit will help them.
We went to London last weekend, and went for a stroll past Buckingham Palace, and its Australia, Africa, India and Canada gates, and then over to a lovely place that served us high tea at 6pm with unlimited bubbles.
On their menu was this opening page:
Recipes from across the Empire?
Reading that phrase was like instant time travel back to a golden age of conquer, conquest and colonialism.
Is this idea of Empire and a constitutional monarchy - is this it? Is this the best of Britain?
I think it was in that moment that I realised how Brexit came to be. There are parts of British society that truly believe that they are still that huge imperial power, with a vast array of colonies and dominions at their disposal.
We've been to London twice now and being at the heart of an empire is very different to being at the far reaches of it, in New Zealand. London is littered with palaces and gates and monuments; tributes to the grandiose empire that once spanned the world.
Maybe it is just me, but in New Zealand, the legacy of colonialism is reasonably innocuous other than place names, speaking English, playing cricket and rugby and driving on the left hand side of the road. It doesn't, to my knowledge, affect the day to day life of most people.
The only trappings of monarchy left in New Zealand of real significance are that we have a Governor General, the union jack on our flag and the Queen on our money. I have often pondered what the Governor General actually does.
So then I got to wondering how'd British culture get spread to the far corners of the world, and why did it stay? Is this empire the reason that Britain's economy is still one of the largest in the world and that English is so widely spoken? At this juncture let us explore two different components of Britishness - one being British within Britain, one being Britain's international legacy.
So let us begin.
So in my quest for answers to this perplexing question I stumbled upon a rather extensive list of British people who had invented a host of useful and interesting things. These inventions, and the attitude of innovation and enlightenment that enabled these things to come about are probably starting to scratch the surface of what is in fact the best of Britain.
Australia held the unenviable title of penal colony and between 160-178 000 prisoners were sent there between 1788-1868 (many Irish). These are the number that were sent and lived; many died in transit.
I'm not really sure why - I guess it's because in New Zealand there's not any evidence of Britain having a day-to-day interest in our nation or our wellbeing - but it had never really occurred to me that Britain cared about their empire.
But looking around London, there are tributes to the Empire in many places. I thought that the win of having an Empire was economic spoils, good trading relationships so all their rich and fabulous people could have pineapples and prestige. I guess I had forgotten about the bragging rights that come with conquering two-thirds of the Earth's nations.
For some scale of British Empire, check out this clip:
Reading that phrase was like instant time travel back to a golden age of conquer, conquest and colonialism.
Is this idea of Empire and a constitutional monarchy - is this it? Is this the best of Britain?
I think it was in that moment that I realised how Brexit came to be. There are parts of British society that truly believe that they are still that huge imperial power, with a vast array of colonies and dominions at their disposal.
We've been to London twice now and being at the heart of an empire is very different to being at the far reaches of it, in New Zealand. London is littered with palaces and gates and monuments; tributes to the grandiose empire that once spanned the world.
Maybe it is just me, but in New Zealand, the legacy of colonialism is reasonably innocuous other than place names, speaking English, playing cricket and rugby and driving on the left hand side of the road. It doesn't, to my knowledge, affect the day to day life of most people.
The only trappings of monarchy left in New Zealand of real significance are that we have a Governor General, the union jack on our flag and the Queen on our money. I have often pondered what the Governor General actually does.
So then I got to wondering how'd British culture get spread to the far corners of the world, and why did it stay? Is this empire the reason that Britain's economy is still one of the largest in the world and that English is so widely spoken? At this juncture let us explore two different components of Britishness - one being British within Britain, one being Britain's international legacy.
So let us begin.
The Best of Britain: Inventions?
So in my quest for answers to this perplexing question I stumbled upon a rather extensive list of British people who had invented a host of useful and interesting things. These inventions, and the attitude of innovation and enlightenment that enabled these things to come about are probably starting to scratch the surface of what is in fact the best of Britain.
Things we can thank Britain for (in no particular order):
- Cricket
- Stiff upper lip - a general keeping calm and carrying on, despite adversity
- Organisational structures - trade, courts, military, government etc
- Disseminating the English language - whatever you believe on this one, travelling or trading today would be a lot trickier without it, though I suppose there'd just be a different language in its place
- Current trading partners - the colonial powers largely set in motion the wheels for today's current trading system, and a number of countries are still trading the same goods now as they were 200 years ago.
- Westminster democracy (It's not perfect but imagine if we'd inherited America's mess)
- 'The Common Law' Court systems
- Ideas of freedom, democracy, education
- The World Expo, as started by Prince Albert (This is still going and next year's is in Dubai)
- Being part of the Allies and defeating the Nazis - I think that might be beyond spin and might actually be objectively good and important to our collective history. (Some argue that the economic penalties that were imposed on Germany after WWI were actually the start of Nazis, so maybe just fixing the mess that they helped create?)
- Many technological advancements like the steam engine in 1712 by Thomas Newcomen, the locomotive in 1804 by Trevor Trevithick, haymaking machines, the telegraph, electromagnets, and electromagnetic induction, pedal bicycles, the postage stamp, the electric clock, the fax machine, muskets, how to fingerprint, tarmac, emergency telephone number - 999, IVF treatment to conceive babies, the beginnings of the www and the first text message, linoleum, the chocolate bar.
- Adam Smith - father of modern economics - I'm on the fence on whether or not that is a good thing
- Titanic, and other giant steamships - made in Belfast and Glasgow
- The BBC
- Greenwich mean time
- The London Underground - since 1863
- Dyson - and all of the things that suck
- Modern flushing toilet
- A bunch of vaccines and viagra
- Inventing rugby.... although after the RWC, I am not so sure I'm grateful for that
- Stephen Hawking and discovering a bunch of planets
- English muffins and cucumber sandwiches
- The Age of Enlightenment, Intellectualism, with a lot of help from the French and other European countries.
- Isaac Newton and his first telescope
- The Protestant Work Ethic
So once upon a time Britain used to be an Imperial power, an economic powerhouse, and wealth of invention and intellect. Is it still? Apparently Britain is a powerhouse for financial trading and has the best health care system in the world - the NHS - among a plethora of other wonderful things.
Looking at the evidence, I can see how Brits would be wooed into this notion that with all these achievements, that they are somehow superior to a great many others, but surely that neglects the last 70 odd years of history? Their power and influence have dwarfed next to the Frankenstein of their own making that is the US, and while they can still hold their own, I, and others, are starting to wonder what is Britain's comparative advantage?
So how did the British get to be so powerful that they had the means to make such an Empire anyway?
Looking at the evidence, I can see how Brits would be wooed into this notion that with all these achievements, that they are somehow superior to a great many others, but surely that neglects the last 70 odd years of history? Their power and influence have dwarfed next to the Frankenstein of their own making that is the US, and while they can still hold their own, I, and others, are starting to wonder what is Britain's comparative advantage?
So how did the British get to be so powerful that they had the means to make such an Empire anyway?
The Best of Britain: The British Empire?
Rewind with me a little from the present day and take a few steps back.
Britain was in a race (read: pissing contest) with France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain and Portugal to have the world's most powerful empire. Some could reasonably argue that Britain won, having an empire so large that the sun never set on it, however this is not the first country to have such an empire - the Portuguese had this honour first in terms of trading ports.
Britain was a protestant Christian country from the 1600s on (with a couple of exceptions that made for a couple of wars). The reformation was a brutal and bloody time, with much persecution of Catholics along the way to becoming a modern Protestant state.
Conditions for Catholics in Britain became so undesirable that British people fleeing religious persecution escaped to America and formed the start of British colonies there. The first was in Jamestown, Virginia in 1607. (Read more here.)
This questioning of religion fostered the Enlightenment period across Europe, creating a hunger for scientific knowledge, resulting in the Age of Exploration. worshipping rationality, intellect, science and knowledge as much as or more than God, King and Country. This effort and energy towards science led to the Industrial Revolution and the development of things created with steel, mass producing and factories. Technological advancements such as creating muskets kept Britain ahead of the curve and maintained superiority over their colonies and competitors. The discovery of different cultures led to the desire to proselytise to all nations, and convince them of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ spurred more unlikely travellers to the far reaches of the globe.
Conditions for Catholics in Britain became so undesirable that British people fleeing religious persecution escaped to America and formed the start of British colonies there. The first was in Jamestown, Virginia in 1607. (Read more here.)
This questioning of religion fostered the Enlightenment period across Europe, creating a hunger for scientific knowledge, resulting in the Age of Exploration. worshipping rationality, intellect, science and knowledge as much as or more than God, King and Country. This effort and energy towards science led to the Industrial Revolution and the development of things created with steel, mass producing and factories. Technological advancements such as creating muskets kept Britain ahead of the curve and maintained superiority over their colonies and competitors. The discovery of different cultures led to the desire to proselytise to all nations, and convince them of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ spurred more unlikely travellers to the far reaches of the globe.
Empires proved lucrative and useful because there were a lot of natural resources to extract and ship home to enrich the home land, and this was true for all of the colonial powers. Shipping routes now stretched to every corner of the earth and the basis for our modern trade system took shape.
This lop-sided trading of goods and slaves from the colonies with language, religion and civility from the colonial power continued from the 1600s well into the 1800s, with New Zealand being one of the last places colonialised as a settler colony from the 1830s onwards.
Britain as a colonial power would often 'soften up' the natives of a given land by sending missionaries to convert the locals to Christianity. This was termed the 'White Man's Burden', and involved 3 elements - Christianity, civilisation and commerce. They then would come in and establish settler colonies in some places, wiping out many natives with European diseases, through wars and also through forcing them to grow cash crops instead of feeding themselves and creating famines during bad crop years. These cash crops would be sent to Britain, then often be exported back, morphed into a value-added product like mining diamonds and selling diamond rings back to settler colonies or tobacco into cigarettes, or flax into linen.
Ireland battled for 700 years to be free from British rule, with various rebellions and uprisings that were consistently and mercilessly squashed by British troops. The most famous of these was the 1916 uprising which was staged because the IRA believed that there'd be fewer British troops available to fight as they were off in France in the trenches. The British had some troops permanently in Ireland, as risings and rebellions were somewhat commonplace, but by the end of Easter week 1916, there were 16 000 British troops to the 1200 Irish rebels. The force that the rising was crushed with was brutal, with over 3000 arrested, and the instigators meeting the firing squad.
Empires started to go out of fashion after the WWI, and were definitely economically unsustainable after the financial strain of WWII. The British had gathered troops from all over the Empire, with the promise of independence if soldiers fought with the Allies. India was one of the first countries to gain independence from Britain after WWII, and part of that is because Britain couldn't maintain the costs of administering it as a colony any longer. Read here the extensive list of countries that have gained independence in the 20th Century.
The British empire included countries from Hong Kong to Trinidad and Tobago to New Zealand to Mauritius to Kenya to Yemen, the list is long and extensive. Some of them were claimed just because the British could, some were ports of significance, but mostly it was to ensure wealth, power, international influence and supply of goods like tea, pepper, silk and other luxuries that we now take for granted.This lop-sided trading of goods and slaves from the colonies with language, religion and civility from the colonial power continued from the 1600s well into the 1800s, with New Zealand being one of the last places colonialised as a settler colony from the 1830s onwards.
Britain as a colonial power would often 'soften up' the natives of a given land by sending missionaries to convert the locals to Christianity. This was termed the 'White Man's Burden', and involved 3 elements - Christianity, civilisation and commerce. They then would come in and establish settler colonies in some places, wiping out many natives with European diseases, through wars and also through forcing them to grow cash crops instead of feeding themselves and creating famines during bad crop years. These cash crops would be sent to Britain, then often be exported back, morphed into a value-added product like mining diamonds and selling diamond rings back to settler colonies or tobacco into cigarettes, or flax into linen.
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| The propaganda around colonies was that Britain was bringing the light to the world |
Ireland battled for 700 years to be free from British rule, with various rebellions and uprisings that were consistently and mercilessly squashed by British troops. The most famous of these was the 1916 uprising which was staged because the IRA believed that there'd be fewer British troops available to fight as they were off in France in the trenches. The British had some troops permanently in Ireland, as risings and rebellions were somewhat commonplace, but by the end of Easter week 1916, there were 16 000 British troops to the 1200 Irish rebels. The force that the rising was crushed with was brutal, with over 3000 arrested, and the instigators meeting the firing squad.
Empires started to go out of fashion after the WWI, and were definitely economically unsustainable after the financial strain of WWII. The British had gathered troops from all over the Empire, with the promise of independence if soldiers fought with the Allies. India was one of the first countries to gain independence from Britain after WWII, and part of that is because Britain couldn't maintain the costs of administering it as a colony any longer. Read here the extensive list of countries that have gained independence in the 20th Century.
Australia held the unenviable title of penal colony and between 160-178 000 prisoners were sent there between 1788-1868 (many Irish). These are the number that were sent and lived; many died in transit.
I'm not really sure why - I guess it's because in New Zealand there's not any evidence of Britain having a day-to-day interest in our nation or our wellbeing - but it had never really occurred to me that Britain cared about their empire.
But looking around London, there are tributes to the Empire in many places. I thought that the win of having an Empire was economic spoils, good trading relationships so all their rich and fabulous people could have pineapples and prestige. I guess I had forgotten about the bragging rights that come with conquering two-thirds of the Earth's nations.
For some scale of British Empire, check out this clip:
So now we get hilarity like this:
I think it could safely be argued that there has been more bad than good came from these colonial exploits. Ironic coming from me as I sit here, a citizen of New Zealand, of British decent, living in Ireland, writing in English because of the British Empire.
There is a vast number of our current world problems stem from Britain and other European powers dabbling in foreign countries and their domestic politics. Some of the less favourable outcomes that stem from the colonial interactions are...
The Troubles were a direct result of the legacy of colonialism in Ireland, and largely started by Britain's strategy to quell the outspoken Irish in the North by confiscating land and sending Scots there to start settler colonies 300 years ago.
Colonial history has a lot to answer for in the Kashmir region of the Indian Sub-continent, and the wars between India and Pakistan that have killed thousands and been battling over than territory since their independence in 1947. This article explains that dividing countries when granting independence suited Britain's interests in the Middle East, and that while they were busy fighting amongst themselves, Britain was gaining access to resources like oil.
The current Hong Kong situation is fuelled by their colonial past, and their firm belief that they're more Westernised than the rest of China. (I'm backing the protestors here, just so we're clear) Hong Kong is an interesting scenario because it did not vote for independence, but it got it anyway.
As this article from the Guardian aptly puts it, Britain's justification for Colonialism of helping civilise and develop these countries, and educate the savages in their colonies has actually put most of these countries at a disadvantage coming into the 20th and 21st Centuries because they are now stuck in the trading relationships that they had with the colonial powers. Countries like Thailand and Japan that were never colonised (though an argument could be made that they were colonised by America) have actually done better and have developed more than neighbouring countries that were colonised, boasting developments like rail and healthy economies without the help of Britain or France.
So, in conclusion, Britain yielded a great deal of wealth and power from its Empire - enough to keep some of its citizens very wealthy and provide ample trading opportunities around the world, but more than that it got to make the rules for trade, for legal systems, for a great many other systems.
Britain's settlement colonies were used as a relief valve to over-crowding within Britain, leaving the wealthy and the poorest of the poor behind, as those with means fled to America, Canada, Australia (some more willingly than others) or New Zealand.
The spread of Christianity, though now on the decline, has been incredibly pervasive, as has the legacy of commerce in the colonies, shaping the way that people are inserted into their country's domestic economy but also how countries are currently inserted into the global economy.
The enigma of the Commonwealth - seemingly a mini-UN for 53 or so member-states, and things like the Commonwealth games, is a strange legacy of a time when Britain took what it wanted and gave little back to many of these countries. The Commonwealth as a league of nations exists, but has little to no political, military or economic might. It seems to be a collections of countries that reminisce about a fun time when Britain brought cricket, netball and a love for tea and biscuits to their country. Their charter is an interesting read, praising the shared history and inheritance of language and culture that the Commonwealth shares.
So that's the international aspect. How do Brits within Britain internalise this history and make it part of their daily lives? The following is mostly mere speculation on my part...
Britain's settlement colonies were used as a relief valve to over-crowding within Britain, leaving the wealthy and the poorest of the poor behind, as those with means fled to America, Canada, Australia (some more willingly than others) or New Zealand.
The spread of Christianity, though now on the decline, has been incredibly pervasive, as has the legacy of commerce in the colonies, shaping the way that people are inserted into their country's domestic economy but also how countries are currently inserted into the global economy.
The enigma of the Commonwealth - seemingly a mini-UN for 53 or so member-states, and things like the Commonwealth games, is a strange legacy of a time when Britain took what it wanted and gave little back to many of these countries. The Commonwealth as a league of nations exists, but has little to no political, military or economic might. It seems to be a collections of countries that reminisce about a fun time when Britain brought cricket, netball and a love for tea and biscuits to their country. Their charter is an interesting read, praising the shared history and inheritance of language and culture that the Commonwealth shares.
So that's the international aspect. How do Brits within Britain internalise this history and make it part of their daily lives? The following is mostly mere speculation on my part...
Best of Britain: Economics?
I wondered how is Britain's currency still so strong?
The answer is it's not.
It hurts converting to Pounds from NZ dollars, and from most previous colonies' currencies, but the Great Britain Pound is not the strongest currency in the world. It trails behind a lot of the Arab countries, but it is still 5th strongest. It has decreased in value since the referendum, as relative to the US Dollar, but it has been trending downward for a long time.
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| The giant spike was after the American Civil War, and has been trending down over the 20th Century due to America's financial prowess, but also because of floating the currency instead of having a fixed agreed rate. |
And it has also been steadily falling against the Euro.
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| 20 years of Pounds vs Euros |
Britain's economy is the 5th largest in the world, but is only about one-seventh the size of the US economy.
Britain's primary exports are financial services, pharmaceuticals and aeronautical equipment.
Britain does have a strong economy, but it is strong because of its trading partners. It is concerning that some of the leaders of Britain do not seem to full understand trade - Example of Tory lies about trade include that Ireland does 90% of its trade with Britain. Simply false. There is also a vulnerability in the amount of trade deficit Britain has, it is not self-sufficient, and trade tariffs could hurt British trading - see this Doco about Britain's trade deficit.
Britain's main competitive advantage is in the services sector, primarily insurance, finance, communications and business services. The UK also does well in pharmaceuticals and aerospace engineering. The UK acts as a landing site for English-speaking investment in the EU and is seen as an easy and safe place for investments.
In order to export services, there is a need for an easily accessible market to sell to. Kingshuk Bandyopadhyay explains if the UK loses its ability to export services to the EU, there's not another market of similar calibre that will replace it.
According to this article from Forbes, the UK's main advantage has been being in the EU and being a efficient place to set up business for international companies from the US and Japan.
All economic indicators point towards Britain lagging in its economic development of the country, particularly in the regions, and that Brexit will harm its economic position, not help it.
Other slightly different data
Some could argue that joining the EU in the first place was part of Britain's strategy to further interfere with Europe, as this clip explains.
If the current generation is the result of the previous generation's policy changes, then I think we can look back on the 1980s around the world and say that the current trend towards far-right wing nationalistic sentiments stems from globalisation on a number of levels.
Some could argue that joining the EU in the first place was part of Britain's strategy to further interfere with Europe, as this clip explains.
The Best of Britain: Merely the Belief they are the Best?
Part of me wonders is it the mere British belief of Britain's superiority that has kept Britain superior for so very long?
But what is Britain actually superior in?
Britain leads the world in this list with things such as the NHS, creating pop music, and being the largest financial hub in the world. Britain's universities are the best in the world according to this US News study, and its diplomatic influence in the form of soft power is second-to-none.
Other than that there's not a great deal about Great Britain that can't also be said for other places.
But what is Britain actually superior in?
Britain leads the world in this list with things such as the NHS, creating pop music, and being the largest financial hub in the world. Britain's universities are the best in the world according to this US News study, and its diplomatic influence in the form of soft power is second-to-none.
Other than that there's not a great deal about Great Britain that can't also be said for other places.
- More international collaboration, requiring everyone to get along and compromise a little here and there, with a perception of less autonomy
- More movement of people and immigrants getting up in everyone's grills and stealing their jobs
- Austerity measures that came about in the 1980s due to neoliberal policy changes to open up economies to the free hand of the market and more international trading. This resulted in cuts to government spending as their was less government revenue from things like tariffs. This meant cuts to government spending in schools, in tertiary institutions and in other social policies.
- A bunch of working class and lower middle class people being left behind by government policy, and feeling the pinch, and trying but failing to make it ahead, let alone get by. There is a large cohort of vocal people - mostly men - who feel like they should be able to provide a good life for them and their families, but can't.
This concerningly large chunk of society that thinks that we should go back to closed markets and closed borders, these Trump/Brexit voters are usually older, white, of limited educational attainment, usually reliant on state assistance, low income, and low life satisfaction. The cohort who firmly believes that those immigrants coming in with Masters degrees and highly skilled workers are stealing their jobs. You know the ones; we all know at least one.
This ache to provide a good life for one's family coupled with a pervasive condescending arrogance seems to have become highlighted as a result of white-English speaking-older-usually-male-culture. The entitlement that comes from being at the top of the food chain for far, far too long.
So what's the cure?
Perhaps it is Brexit.
Best of Britain: Brexit?
I am at the stage where I would really like Brexit to just go ahead so I can watch the UK burn, and from the safe distance of the Republic of Ireland, warm my feet on the fire and say I told you so. With the election results in yesterday, it looks like that's exactly what's going to happen.
Unfortunately, what I actually expect to happen is the UK will leave, and the UK will then falter, bringing about the next GFC. Given Ireland's dependence upon the global market in general and the UK in particular, I think the spinning vortex of Brexit will pull Ireland down as well, economically and politically. Given the tinder box that is Northern Ireland, it won't be long before the fractious peace held together by the yet-to-be-fully-implemented Good Friday Agreement, the potential for further civil war may yet be on the horizon.
So what I'm left trying to figure out is who wins?
Who wins if Brexit goes ahead?
Culturally and socially, there's a win by closing the borders, as obviously the problem is immigrants taking jobs and stretching the NHS past breaking point. I find it interesting there's not more articles talking about the positives of immigration, and how immigrants have a really important part in the workforce, because that's not something I've heard discussed.
I also find it interesting that there's not a discussion about Britain as a country hasn't kept up in a global economy that requires diversification and constant reinvention to stay one step ahead. This article outlines that there will economically be winners and losers (as with anything).
Culturally and socially, there's a win by closing the borders, as obviously the problem is immigrants taking jobs and stretching the NHS past breaking point. I find it interesting there's not more articles talking about the positives of immigration, and how immigrants have a really important part in the workforce, because that's not something I've heard discussed.
I also find it interesting that there's not a discussion about Britain as a country hasn't kept up in a global economy that requires diversification and constant reinvention to stay one step ahead. This article outlines that there will economically be winners and losers (as with anything).
Politically, there are wins to be scored by pleasing a large faction, and for general patriotism. I'm yet to fully figure out who wins economically from Brexit though, but I suspect not British businesses who will need to deal with tariffs and slower customs from a trade bloc that they've left. This article talks about how it could shrink the British economy by 4% over the next year if Brexit goes ahead.
Small businesses stand to gain, as they will not have to comply to the EU standards if their business is only domestic. The regions might gain, as Britain puts a lot into the EU structural and cohesion fund, and there is little to no investment in return for rural Britain.
There is a lot of evidence to support Brexit being a elite strategy for elites with the Independent citing that since the referendum families are now £900 a year worse off than they were in 2016. This is not a fight for the people, as the Tories would have them believe.
Small businesses stand to gain, as they will not have to comply to the EU standards if their business is only domestic. The regions might gain, as Britain puts a lot into the EU structural and cohesion fund, and there is little to no investment in return for rural Britain.
There is a lot of evidence to support Brexit being a elite strategy for elites with the Independent citing that since the referendum families are now £900 a year worse off than they were in 2016. This is not a fight for the people, as the Tories would have them believe.
Beyond Brexit...
I feel like humanity as a whole presently is developing this inability to work with others, or an unwillingness at least. It's indicative of a backwards step. There's been a collective forgetting of the reason that the Bretton Woods institutions were set up - the UN, the World Bank, the IMF, the World Health Organisation. They stem from the fall out of World War II, and a global effort from a bunch of governments to try and circumvent anything like that every happening again.
There's been a malaise that has come over us, a complacency that's forgotten just how bad it got when anti-semitism went a little bit too far, when nationalism was given a bit too much power. As we forget history, we become doomed to repeat it.
If we look at the places where British settlers are prevalent - Britain, the US, Australia, New Zealand, all of these places have a bit of a superiority complex and a fair whack of institutionalised racism, favouring 'white', and often 'male', and always 'rich'. Some ethnocentrism is normal, thinking your own country and culture are superior, but the extent that Britain and its dominions have taken this is exceptional.
Notable examples of British ethnocentrism include declaring Australia 'Terra Nullius' - land belonging to no one, the confiscation of native land to give to clearly superior British settlers in Ireland, Scotland, Australia, America, Canada, and New Zealand to name a few places, and the subsequent treatment of native peoples with regards to culture, language, heritage, rights and citizenship are indicative of historic examples of ethnocentrism, the belief that 'white is right' and a whole host of other colonial hangovers.
This systematic or institutionalised racism isn't limited to Britain. There are positive feedback loops in most societies for being part of that society. Very few places look upon immigrants favourably - particularly ones that come with nothing. This accepting of the poor and the broken is what set the US apart for a long time. Alas, these ideals do not seem to match the reality any longer.
I must say since moving to Ireland, and learning more of the truth about British colonialism, that I have become quite ashamed of my very British heritage. How could my people be so ethnocentric as to think so fully that they are the best race on the planet, and they were doing these 'savage' people a favour, saving them from themselves by overriding their culture, subjugating their people, ignoring their knowledge and nuance, and taking their land for a pittance.
Back to Brexit.
I think what annoys me about modern day leaders is their inability to encourage the broccoli eating in the dinner of politics. There are some basic policies that should be implemented for the good of everyone and they're not being implemented because they're expensive and there's not the political will, or political backbone to sell them to the people. This would be things like anything to do with climate change, system overhaul, and the actual reasons about why there are a whole bunch of people who are sliding backwards in terms of disposable income, social standing and quality of life.
There's this idea that politicians need to kowtow to voters to get votes, which I can see why they believe that. This kowtowing largely includes to lobbiests of big business where it is most effective, and although unions are slowly coming back in vogue, Joe Public hasn't featured in policies for a long time.
The part that baffles me about this is the voters seem to either like this or not understand this, and continue to vote for these right-wing type policies and politicians. But if they don't vote, the wrong lizard might win. (Douglas Adams, HHGTTG)
The part that baffles me about this is the voters seem to either like this or not understand this, and continue to vote for these right-wing type policies and politicians. But if they don't vote, the wrong lizard might win. (Douglas Adams, HHGTTG)
People (and I include myself in this) don't seem to realise how recent 'one person, one vote' is, and thus take these rights for granted. 100 years ago only a small subset of people could vote, and did vote. They would be men, usually men that owned land. Now that this right for universal suffrage has been fought for and won, people are less informed about politics that they ever have been before, and large swathes of the population opt out of voting, claiming that all politicians are as bad as each other.
All of this palava is aptly summed up by a random reddit commenter who encapsulated the problem thus after it was leaked that Germany was more willing to let the UK leave with no deal rather than abandon the Irish backstop:
"And so an Empire breathes its lasts gasps. Felled not but by a new young rival, war, natural disasters, or disease. No, felled by its own apathy, hubris and small mindedness. Its carcass left for its former colonies or former vassals like the US and China to pick clean.
It was not a Spanish Armada, a German Blitz, a Soviet Nuke or climate change that felled the beast. No, it was a pig head fucker, old racist ignorant xenophobes, some internet trolls, a younger generation who couldn't be bothered to vote, and finally a power hungry court jester with wannabe Trump hair. It is, in the end, oddly fitting the Bojo the Court Jester presides over the last rites of the end the farcical tragic comedy."
So, to answer the question of what actually is so great about Great Britain? In all honesty I'm still not sure. There are things that in isolation are quite brilliant such as their universities, financial hub, the West End, and general get on with it-ness, but overall, they are not the bastion of economic and political power they claim to be.
"And so an Empire breathes its lasts gasps. Felled not but by a new young rival, war, natural disasters, or disease. No, felled by its own apathy, hubris and small mindedness. Its carcass left for its former colonies or former vassals like the US and China to pick clean.
It was not a Spanish Armada, a German Blitz, a Soviet Nuke or climate change that felled the beast. No, it was a pig head fucker, old racist ignorant xenophobes, some internet trolls, a younger generation who couldn't be bothered to vote, and finally a power hungry court jester with wannabe Trump hair. It is, in the end, oddly fitting the Bojo the Court Jester presides over the last rites of the end the farcical tragic comedy."
So, to answer the question of what actually is so great about Great Britain? In all honesty I'm still not sure. There are things that in isolation are quite brilliant such as their universities, financial hub, the West End, and general get on with it-ness, but overall, they are not the bastion of economic and political power they claim to be.
It seems to me like the mid-life crises of empire, holding onto the dream of what once was and implementing a grass-is-greener philosophy to try and reinvent themselves rather than actually addressing any of the domestic problems on their merits.
In their pursuit of economic and cultural rebirth, they may well take only themselves out, or all of Europe could be sucked into the swirling vortex of Bojo's vitriol and go down in history as the last nail in the coffin that was once the best of Britain.
In their pursuit of economic and cultural rebirth, they may well take only themselves out, or all of Europe could be sucked into the swirling vortex of Bojo's vitriol and go down in history as the last nail in the coffin that was once the best of Britain.
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