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British History



Dear Roger,

Just a couple of points which may help clarify your thinking:

At 09:54 AM 10/4/99 +0100, Roger Bunn wrote:

>The British populace, this nation,  is rapidly learning that  the 
>Burmese junta are a bunch of old fashioned drug dealing neo 
>nationalistas who hate the British, (for any old reason at all)...

While the junta constantly brings up the British colonial occupation in order to justify its abusive and xenophobic behavior today, this does not mean that the British were without sin in Burma.  The arrogant British imperialism imposed by force on Asia and elsewhere around the world from the 18th to the early 20th centuries cannot be denied.  This is why the British were thrown out of every country they colonized, from the US to India, except on the few occasions when they had the good grace to leave when asked.  

Furthermore, although I am hardly a fan of the SPDC, I must agree that the British left behind a legacy of tyranny, division, and interracial distrust that not only Burma, but many other countries are still struggling to overcome.  This is not to say that the British did no good (their railways, schools, and administrative systems are still national standards in most countries), nor is it to say that all was peace and harmony between racial and cultural groups before the British arrived.  But to imply that Asia had no cause to be upset with British rule is a serious lapse in the reading of history.  Such lapses are dangerous, as every schoolboy knows.

>... the same style of pacifism being practiced in 
>Rangoon is gradually transfering itself abroad.  And it is not 
>so far away from playing into the already bloodied hands of 
>the Brit racist movements. Those which may have interested the 
>racist nasties of colonialism such as the right winger and author 
>of "Animal Farm", the late George Orwell.  Who once "served" in 
>Burma and who if alive today could look to such places and people 
>as the London junta fan areas, to take out his misbegotten racist 
>spleen...

I think that you are misjudging Orwell here.  He did indeed serve the Imperial British Raj as a police officer in Burma for seven years. He later wrote honestly about his confusion and rage during that time, firstly at being obliged to follow the racist bureaucratic rules (which he abhorred) of an institution (the Raj) whose purpose was to maintain itself at any cost in dominance over an indigenous population (does this sound like the junta?), and secondly (because as a loyal Briton he was truly trying to do his policeman's job and serve his country), at the attitude of the native Burmese, who saw him as an unwanted intruder and who, naturally, took every opportunity to mock and harass him.  Like any government institution based on immoral principles, the Raj caused discomfort to its own people as well as great pain to foreign populations.

Orwell's glory as a writer was his ability to see in himself and in his environment the pain and the beauty of the human condition, and to report it as honestly, clearly, and elegantly as he could.  His success in catching the illusive bird of Truth and putting it into a cage of words is attested to by his continuing worldwide popularity.  

It does us no good to deny our own sins, neither as nations nor as individuals, in order to publicly establish our right to respect and dignity.  Respect and dignity are indeed everyone's birthright, but they must constantly be earned over and over again by honest self-examination and attention to our behavior, words, and even thoughts.  Failure to do this eventually leads to hearing the truth from others, and usually in a less than appealing manner.

Best wishes from your humble servant,

Indiana