mercalia wrote:A few bigots dont prove a case. Its not a matter of being a person of good will just one of indifference, and I doubt there are many left who were brought up in the colonies now who remember the glory days, rather than the retreat & collapse - They would be in their 80/90's or older now, as the best of times would be the 20/30's before WW2? Rhodesia might be case I suppose was white ruled until 1980. 37 years ago, people would be in their late 50s onwards remembering the troubles there, the numbers would be very small ?
I wasn't trying to prove a case. It was an example, albeit an extreme one. I probably should not have used it, as it distracted from my main point.
There is a disconnect between imperial fantasies and the diverse culture that was a natural outcome of a globe-spanning empire. The British Empire was the leader in globalisation. The EU has effectively become the leader.
Brexit is a rejection of this with nothing to put in its place. It's great to say that we have our sovereignity back, but that's not something we ever lost.
IMO, we need to work more with our neighboring lands, and cooperate better between all nations of the world. The EU, while far from perfect, is a very good experiement in multinational cooperation. We need more of it, not less. And more multinational cooperatives like the EU, as well.
I sitll don't buy that imperial fantasies have given us Brexit. I think that a rejection of globalisation has given us Brexit. But globalisation is not something we are in a position to reject. We need instead to manipulate it, cooperate with other lands to resolve the conflicts it causes; help the victims of it.
And eventually develop another way to run things, because it is clear that the current system is only working well for some.
“In some ways, it is easier to be a dissident, for then one is without responsibility.”
― Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom