Reply #18: ... [View All]

[Mass_Liberal]

er... ya, Colonialism was bad. Yes, it has caused many of the problems of today. Yes, Britain was a colonial power. One of many. The British don't need to "answer for their Imperialist, racist past" any more than France, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands or any other European country. Or Japan or China for that matter.

To ask a people to give up their standard of living because their country historically took advantage of others is completely moronic. Using this train of logic, the entire first world, and plenty of nations outside of the first world, would have to give up their standard of living. History isn't pretty. Countries with power don't play nicely with others. This is universal, be it Colonialist Britain, the United States, or the Aztecs.

I don't think Texans on this board would think that their property should be confiscated and given back to Mexico. Descendents of slave owners shouldn't have to give up all their money to the nearest Black family. We can't help who our parents are, or what our history is. All we can do is try to go forward and conduct ourselves in a more admirable way than our ancestors. For the most part modern Britain has done that.