tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27946614.post171644968059407306..comments2024-03-07T14:43:21.888-08:00Comments on Whatever I want to write about: The F*ing British EmpireSriram Khéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907731254833435446noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27946614.post-54073132024524395272016-10-08T17:13:21.859-07:002016-10-08T17:13:21.859-07:00"Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln ..." appl..."Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln ..." applies to the White Supremacist Raj too ;)<br /><br />I don't refer to all the British then as white supremacists. But, the Raj was very much built on that notion. One of the "positives" that even people in India refer to as an example is the railway network. But that was not built out of any goodness of the heart--it was merely to make the extraction/plunder easier. On the other hand, the rail network that the Travancore Kingdom (where my grandmothers were raised) built was to help the movement of people and goods for the benefit of the people in the kingdom. Sriram Khéhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06724218458246880137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27946614.post-13393787984509276232016-10-08T14:22:56.735-07:002016-10-08T14:22:56.735-07:00As will not surprise you, when I was in school, I ...As will not surprise you, when I was in school, I learned nothing of this sort of history. World history was highly Europe-centric except for a few chapters on certain civilizations that excelled on other continents. In college it was, and probably still is, simple never to take a history class that touches on India in any way. I would imagine most Americans would read this and say, "huh?" because all we know of India is Ghandi, curry/naan, and what we saw in the movie. Not to say that British misdeeds are ignored, but barely anything about the Raj, including that term, is common knowledge.<br /><br />I agree with one point of Ramesh's. You seem to discount everything the British did as horrible, discriminatory, racist and evil. There has to be something positive from that time, and the positives should not be ignored completely, no matter how awful the negatives. The positives don't compensate for the negatives necessarily, but they deserve recognition as well.<br />Anne in Salemnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27946614.post-39705436913043721432016-10-07T23:17:54.928-07:002016-10-07T23:17:54.928-07:00Do not put the history away so fast, my friend. P...Do not put the history away so fast, my friend. Pause enough to acknowledge it. Denounce clearly the colonization. Shine the light enough on the white supremacy that messed up the lives of millions forever ... <br /><br />"Forget your election" is not something that we--you included--can afford to. The xenophobic, misogynistic, maniacal Trump's odds of winning are not good. Yes. But:<br />1. One can't be lax until it is all really over.<br />2. The nasty underbelly that Trump has exposed will not go away after his defeat. I am convinced that the nasty white supremacy will be more openly vitriolic.<br /><br />I think it is time for Merkel to gracefully step away from the stage. If she does not, I suspect that it will be like how Thatcher was finally booted out by her own people. Maybe that is an advantage with the two-term limit for our Presidents. Even if it an aaaaaaawesome President, two terms and out is a great idea.<br /><br />Yes, the Chinese politics under Xi worry me. I feel like once again I am not able to understand what the game is that the Party is playing now. Sriram Khéhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06724218458246880137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27946614.post-21254414938331337752016-10-07T06:41:43.661-07:002016-10-07T06:41:43.661-07:00Sure, the British did a lot of horrible things dur...Sure, the British did a lot of horrible things during the Raj. They did a little good too. The best they that can be said about them is that they were better than the Spanish, Belgians, French ..... But that's not much to write home about.<br /><br />Forget your election. Its not as relevant as you lot think it is. You are just going to have more years of gridlock whoever "wins". Far more fascinating to read the tea leaves on what's happening in China. Or whether Merkel will win next year - now that's an election to follow.<br /><br /><br /><br />Rameshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11782192840421019943noreply@blogger.com