h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Don't worry, you'll beat Ireland again soon. We don't really like cricket anyway, we just did that to see what it's like.

"Have you heard of neocolonialism? You don´t establish new ones, but manage to own the resources of a country, sometimes with the agreement of corrupts goverments." [Maria]

Yes, I've heard of neocolonialism. Neocolonialism is to old-style colonialism as slavery is to sharecropping. Not a great deal for those who've gotten the short end of the stick, but perhaps a step in the direction of something better. The principle I was trying to address was illustrated by Germany's going wild with land grabs in the 1940s, which led to the Soviet Union's paranoid construction of a buffer zone of puppet states along the german-Russian border. 45 years later, with no visible signs of Germany going wild with land grabs again, the Soviet Union relaxed its grip.

I don't care how often we lose to Ireland so long as we keep on beating the Aussies.

"We move to Africa, can anyone explain how a continent with so much resources has so many people in the worst of poverty? " [Maria]

Sorry, I can't explain it, at least not well. Richard Nixon tried to explain it, but I don't want to imply that he was right.

"The surface of colonialism, the political aesthetic ( if that exists) has changed, but the aim remains the same: suck the resources of those countries."

I've seen arguments to the effect that the United States is a colony of Japan and China: It ships wheat, soybeans, beef, etc, to thsoe manfacturing countries which are resource-poor, and then Japan and China ship manufactured goods to the U.S. I'm not saying that those arguments are necessarily right, but they illustrate the dangers inherent in putting forth a reasonable-sounding argument but overlooking the possibility of its looking foolish if carried too far. In any event, I'm happy (for now) that even the surface of colonialism has changed. Colonialism has been pretty dreadful, as many of my ancestors realized, even if they didn't help dump that British tea in Boston Harbor.


now, what was the title of that book, swl, Why the West rules? funny

"Indonesia colonised East Timor for a while. None of their friends told them not to. Morocco Colonised Western Sahara. Kissinger gave Turkey the green light to colonise Northern Cyprus. Possibly there are other examples. West Germany colonised East []

I stand corrected, then. I'm sorry I wasn't able to think of those examples. Thank you for pointing them out. When a longterm arrangement [choose one: The Eastern Roman Empire; the ottoman Empire; colonialism; slavery] falls by the wayside, it all too often takes time for the dust to settle. Who was it that said, "The dust will not settle in our lifetime?" There are some who think the collapse of the Hapsburg and Ottoman Empires is still playing out.

So, I guess some nations are still trying to colonise others. I will think about that the next time I'm in Northern Cypris.

I can recommend a lovely mountain village in the uncolonised half of Cyprus.

I mentioned it to a security guard at work once and he said:

'Aye - I know that place. We burned all the roofs there because they were sheltering terrorists.'

>>The dust will not settle in our lifetime

You have me thinking now. Macmillan? Or am I just thinking of him because we're talking about decolonisation?

End with a song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KcRl1p2waM

Another modern colony - and an obvious one: Palestine.

"Another modern colony - and an obvious one: Palestine" [Edward]

For once, I have a ouTube link to offer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92iEw8gNBPw



This is a land of milk and honey,
[The honey's kind of bitter, and the milk's a little sour]
This is a land of good and plenty
[Did you know that Peril is the state's official flower?]

[continued from post 49]



What about the border, where the Syrians attack?
What about the Arab with a rifle in your back?
What about the water? What there is of it is brine,
But this lovely land is mine?

Somewhere in Palestine, in 1948, an official of the British Empire and a rabbi are talking.

- It´s not just that we have suffered a lot and must be compensated, there´s something more: It´s written in the Bible… “you´ll have a land of milk and honey…”


- What do Jewish dietary laws have to say about honey ¿


- Oh! for Moses sake! Bees are unclean!!


- but they just transport the polen… Not wait, they produce it also, using some enzymes… hmmm… Let´s give another meaning to honey, something metaphorical …


- Or we can also make an exception…


- All right, so now, we can say that the biblical profecy is fullfilled.


::


Today, somewhere in the land of milk and honey, a young Palestinian writes a poem:

Like These Trees by Najwan Darwish

The trees are bent on swaying without falling
because here fallen trees are not taken in by the land
nor by anyone or anything;
yet because they could no longer bear the rotting of their roots
and because they chose to grow in the wind
they must pay the price, and fall forever.
So when you sway and stagger on the sidewalk
I beg you not to fall
because you too will fall forever.
Go ahead and imagine trees swaying with you
and an air that welcomes your fall,
you who lived like these trees, without land, without roots.


::


Epilogue:

Threre´s a cooperative in Cisjordania which , with the help of Oxfam, is producing honey. It´s run by women.

Britain intended to leave from the 19th Century and began creating institutions and educating indigenous anglisized governing classes who would rule self governing countries within the Commonwealth which would act as an economic union.
This plan fell apart in many places because the indigenous people did not want to be governed by British educated Uncle Toms - as happened in Sri Lanka when a Sinhalese Buddhist backlash against the public school Oxbridge University educated Christain Sinhalese elite - who the British had trained to be the countries senior civil servants and political class - alienated the Hindu Tamil minority leading to decades of conflict.
In spite of this the Commonwealth did function as an economic community as intended, until the UK joined the EEC (European Union) - something that many Commonwealth countries still see as a massive betrayal.

Yes - our administrative legacy was horrendous, wasn't it?

Firstly, the institutions created were those needed to serve the economic goals of the British Empire, not to serve the needs of the people. The people, of course, were not consulted about what those institutions should look like.

And when we left - and we left in a *massive* hurry - we gave no effort whatsoever into transition. India had a luxurious seventy days to get up to speed. In the case of many African nations it was thirty. We cut and ran. As you point out, we left behind administrations based around class lines which were not fit for purpose.

Secondly...the popular notion that we brought order to the Empire is backasswards. The East India Company were making a complete hash of running India until they cottoned on to the administrative and tax collection systems that had been left behind by the Mughal Empire. These were copied over elsewhere in the Empire...and into Britain itself. There's a good case to be made that the Indians invented modern civic administration.

China also had a robust administration system. China was destabilised by British opium.

(Oh - and by the soldiers of the British Indian Army).

I can't help thinking that there is a difference to be drawn between invasion - under which I would class East Timor, Western Sahara, South Sudan and probably Palestine too - and colonisation. I'm not absolutely sure what the difference is though; maybe something to do with expansion of the home territory, as opposed to the creation of subservient but distinct 'colonies'. Or maybe this is a question for another thread?

I suspect that the difference is less than you imagine. Britain took and held its colonies by military force.

Didn't we?

Who's this "we"? I was born in 1985. Why the should I be included in the sins of Empire?

Very moving poem Maria. Thanks for posting that...and I liked your whole post 51.

@Mr 603:

I was lumping myself in because I thought it would have been churlish to distance myself when I am still enjoying the fruits of conquest but the conquered are not.

But, no, I personally didn't personally monger any wars either.

but I've been meaning to say this since Isaw the title of this thread.....

"Why did the sun set?"


A, "To get to the other side".


as you were