I mean, seriouisly, get a grip. Harry Enfield one quite famously had a sketch character that was a German tourist that would constantly apologise for the war. We, at least I, was always laughing at the characters inherent feeling that he had to apologise for something he wasn't involved in. Do I expect the Japanese to apologise today for their conduct in the war? Of course not. Do I expect Putin to apologise to the Russian electorate for Stalin? Should we demand apologies from the Vatican for the Romans, I mean what did the Romans ever do for us? How about we get Sarkozy to say sorry about William the Bastard whilst we at it? We didn't need the Mott and Bailey thank you very much.
God it's all so thoroughly depressing and pathetic isn't it? It's all so easy on the Left to look at somewhere like Africa and say, 'well it was the British that colonised it, it's all their fault' but guess what it isn't my fault at all. Slavery? Major suckage for the people who were slaves, a crap life indeed and an affront to the very principle of liberty. But I'll be buggered if I'm going to say sorry for it because it was nothing to do with me, just the Australian Prime Minister is not responsible for the treatment of the aboriginees decades ago. Frankly I'm surprised he hasn't tried to blame us for colonising the place and askled Brown to apologise too.
Update: Oh look, apparently we should apologise too!
19 comments:
Dizzy
You and me both.
Having spent consideable periods of my life in "parts foreign" any idiot who thinks slavery is ended lives in ¬Cloud Cuckoo land¬
JH
Load of bollocks, isn't it? Not only have I never enslaved anyone, my forefathers never enslaved anyone, since they were all working-class. It's fairly pointless going into detail, suffice to say I despise identity politics and futile hand-wringing. Among many other things, it isn't what Africa needs. Fuck.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/02/13/waus113.xml
If you think that America should apologise for the war in Iraq, how many years should go by before they can say; "it was nothing to do with us"?
The events in Australia ran up to the sixties and those affected are still alive today. Seems reasonable to offer them an apology. Where there's no one left, I agree there is not much point in apologising, but it costs nothing so why not do it anyway?
Pointless hand-wringing is silly enough, but considering the past by our present day PC standards actually produces flawed judgements.
Was colonialism really so wicked and evil? I've been to most, and worked in many, African countries and it's difficult to think of a single country in sub Saharan Africa which ISN'T a basket case.
Where do you draw the line though? There's either a continuity of state through history or their isn't - all sorts of things like territorial claims, museum artefacts etc. become of dubious status if we break that link...
..more here..
Well what can you expect from a bunch of ex-cons. They got sent there for stealing in the first place...
Just wish the bloody Australians would learn that the definition of a holiday means that you go back home after two weeks.
And on the slavery thing, how come the Egyptians haven't apologised to the Israelites, or the Romans to everyone else, or the Arabs who had the monoploy on the East African slave trade for hundreds of years before abnyone else. Perhaps the West African nations should apologise to themselves for selling their own people into slavery.
Apologising is subjective,remembering is also subjective (depending on how you were affected by he event).
Not forgetting how and why that event was brought about is what matters. My earliest memory is standing in the back yard and looking up at all the pretty flashes in the sky. The clout round the ear and being told about the bombs falling as I was dragged into the Anderson shelter fixed it in my mind.
A year later my father was starved to death in a Japanese prisoner of war camp.
National remembrance is important,
trouble is that venal politicians and the "so what" generation don't give a damn.
I want the aborigines to apologise for boomerangs as I got hit by one when I was a kid.
How about an apology from the North Africans?
http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/whtslav.htm
Jurgen the German:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OF4QALVjPf8
Well they could apologise for totally trashing this country over the last 10 years and forcing Gordon Brown on us.
Except they won't, as they would have to really mean it unlike Blair's pathetic pology to slaves long since dead.
it seems like knacker of the yard is busy apologizing on our behalf already:
http://inspectorgadget.wordpress.com/2008/01/26/sorry-my-arse/
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I'm Sorry
Tony Blair's apologised; Ken Livingstone's apologised; the Church of England has apologised. In the circumstances I feel moved to add my voice to the chorus. Yes, I apologise for the slave trade.
Wouldn't it be nice if everyone apologised? I think the world would be a much much better place if everyone apologised. And not just for the slave trade. For, well, for everything, really.
I mean, it all started out so well, didn't it? - those lovely cave paintings and the little figurines. Then there was that ghastly business with the neanderthals, and, well, one hardly knows where to begin. Murder and mayhem everywhere. Absolutely frightful. Anyway I really am most terribly terribly sorry.
(Can't remember where I nicked that from. Sorry.)
As I mentioned today, there is no guarantee [see Andrew Bolt's piece] that there actually was a Stolen Generation.
Thee is no place whichever way for Australia to do that and this is the second time.
The aboriginals are currently abusing their own children but nothing dare be done about it because it might turn into another "stolen generation'.
There was a big 'to do' about it a few months ago but now it has all gone quiet.
Still Aborigines are very big busioness attracting vast sums of money from the government one way or another.
Fuck off the lot of you
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