May 7, 2022·edited May 7, 2022Liked by Woke Watch Canada
In my own surveys of British colonial administration, I have found (to my surprise) a degree goodwill towards & respect for British institutions, language & practices in places like Singapore, Malaysia & India.
I have also noticed in places like Zimbabwe, where native administration has not been exactly a bed of roses, a certain whistfulness about the British colonial experience.
That is not to say that this is not mixed with criticism, but the local views of the past seem much more balanced than in the old West.
It seems to me that the currently fashionable racistentialism in the West started by making a virtue out of the loss of empire & then took on a life of its own, that in the end bore (& bears) almost no relation to what actually happened on the ground as an overall experience; you know; the rule of law reasonably honest governance.& good legacy institutions.
My paternal grandfather ended his career as the Chief Transportation manager of the Bengal-Assam railway & when he was retired when the British left, his Indian subordinates sent him off with a magnificent silver plate with all their signatures ( & their degrees) on it...over 80 of them.
The family still has it. And India still has a magnificently run railway system.
In my own surveys of British colonial administration, I have found (to my surprise) a degree goodwill towards & respect for British institutions, language & practices in places like Singapore, Malaysia & India.
I have also noticed in places like Zimbabwe, where native administration has not been exactly a bed of roses, a certain whistfulness about the British colonial experience.
That is not to say that this is not mixed with criticism, but the local views of the past seem much more balanced than in the old West.
It seems to me that the currently fashionable racistentialism in the West started by making a virtue out of the loss of empire & then took on a life of its own, that in the end bore (& bears) almost no relation to what actually happened on the ground as an overall experience; you know; the rule of law reasonably honest governance.& good legacy institutions.
My paternal grandfather ended his career as the Chief Transportation manager of the Bengal-Assam railway & when he was retired when the British left, his Indian subordinates sent him off with a magnificent silver plate with all their signatures ( & their degrees) on it...over 80 of them.
The family still has it. And India still has a magnificently run railway system.