Morning Star
Date: July 27, 2020
By: Keith Lamb
Tensions are rising between China and the US, with Britain too now trying to rekindle its past imperial prowess. But utter hypocrisy by the so-called defenders of the free world is never far behind
BRITAIN: do we never learn? We always have a righteous cause to defend, a reason for sending our ships to far-flung corners of the Earth.
The slave trade was justified as a benevolent venture to save Africans from their own savagery — and besides, they would be looked after. They would, so it was rationalised, enjoy a better quality of life than the British proletariat stuck in factories and mines.
China, of course, was not spared by the British navy, suffering two opium wars and the seizure of Hong Kong in the name of free trade.
These consequences of empire we still suffer today. but while the history cannot be changed, we can at least learn the lessons from history and so avoid future calamities. [FULL STORY]
