Full Comment - May 01, 2023


Colonialism isn’t as bad as everyone thinks


Episode Stats

Length

46 minutes

Words per Minute

143.50137

Word Count

6,693

Sentence Count

105

Misogynist Sentences

5

Hate Speech Sentences

25


Summary

Nigel Bigger's new book, Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning, details the story behind the campaign to take down a statue of Cecil Rhodes in Oxford, England, and why he thinks we should look at colonialism in a broader context.


Transcript

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00:01:34.260 Colonialism.
00:01:34.880 It's bad, right?
00:01:36.080 This is something we all agree on,
00:01:37.620 at least in the polite company that makes up our
00:01:39.860 canceled culture society of today.
00:01:42.040 This is why we're renaming streets,
00:01:44.740 tearing down statues,
00:01:45.920 and rewriting history books around the world, isn't it?
00:01:48.740 Well, not quite everyone.
00:01:50.720 And the insistence of our next guest
00:01:52.220 that we look at the totality of things,
00:01:54.520 like colonialism even,
00:01:56.480 both in a historical context and an ethical one,
00:01:59.220 is what makes him such an interesting guest.
00:02:01.580 Hello, I'm Brian Lilly,
00:02:02.820 and this is the Full Comment Podcast.
00:02:04.700 Before I bring on our next guest,
00:02:06.480 just a quick reminder,
00:02:07.780 hit that subscribe button.
00:02:09.000 Doesn't matter where you're listening,
00:02:10.100 be it on Apple, Google, Stitcher, Amazon,
00:02:12.940 doesn't matter where,
00:02:14.020 please hit the subscribe button.
00:02:16.060 Make sure you don't miss an episode,
00:02:17.460 and please consider leaving a review
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00:02:22.700 We've seen the statues come down around the world,
00:02:25.060 and it's not just Confederate generals on horseback
00:02:27.840 celebrating a culture that wanted to preserve slavery.
00:02:31.180 It's the statues of Queen Victoria,
00:02:33.540 Sir John A. MacDonald,
00:02:35.000 Egerton Ryerson, and more.
00:02:36.640 Our next guest,
00:02:37.400 Nigel Bigger's new book,
00:02:38.400 Colonialism, A Moral Reckoning,
00:02:40.440 comes out in the first week of May here in Canada,
00:02:42.460 and it began when he felt the need
00:02:44.480 to defend a push to remove a statue
00:02:46.400 of Cecil Rhodes from Oxford in 2016.
00:02:50.340 Bigger is an ethicist by training,
00:02:52.240 and he felt the totality of Rhodes' life and work
00:02:55.540 told a very different story
00:02:56.940 than what his critics portrayed.
00:02:58.840 That led to a full study,
00:03:00.540 a look back at the issue of colonialism,
00:03:02.720 a form of government that stretches back
00:03:04.860 millennia and across all cultures,
00:03:07.120 but is now portrayed as an evil
00:03:09.180 inflicted upon the world by Western Europe.
00:03:12.480 Nigel, thanks for the time today.
00:03:14.580 Thanks, Brian, for the opportunity to talk.
00:03:17.880 Did I describe it correctly,
00:03:19.460 how this started with you and your decision to say,
00:03:23.320 well, wait a minute,
00:03:24.780 your criticisms of Cecil Rhodes,
00:03:27.720 of which there could be many criticisms,
00:03:29.500 but the criticisms being leveled at him at the time
00:03:31.600 and the demand for his statue to come down
00:03:34.360 just weren't quite right?
00:03:37.060 That's about it, Brian.
00:03:39.320 So we're back in December 2015,
00:03:41.640 and the campaign to make Rhodes fall
00:03:46.100 arrived in Britain from South Africa,
00:03:49.140 and outside what had been my own college,
00:03:51.980 there were protests
00:03:52.720 because the exterior of the college sports,
00:03:56.500 almost out of sight, frankly,
00:03:58.360 a small statue of Cecil Rhodes
00:04:00.580 over the high street here in central Oxford.
00:04:04.060 And the students were clamouring
00:04:08.080 for the statue to be taken down
00:04:10.480 because they said Rhodes was South Africa's Hitler,
00:04:15.160 because they claimed he was guilty of genocide.
00:04:20.040 And I happened to have been reading
00:04:22.040 one of several biographies of Rhodes at the time,
00:04:25.740 and I thought to myself,
00:04:26.900 this is just not true,
00:04:29.360 it's a caricature.
00:04:32.360 But apart from the distorted view of Rhodes
00:04:36.800 that was fuelling this protest,
00:04:39.620 I was much more concerned about
00:04:41.460 the significance of taking down the Rhodes statue
00:04:45.580 in terms of the view about Britain's colonial history,
00:04:51.120 and of course Canada's and Australia's,
00:04:53.180 that would triumph through removing the statue,
00:04:57.140 because it seemed to me that what was happening
00:04:58.440 was that a distorted view of our colonial history
00:05:02.000 was being projected on to Rhodes,
00:05:04.160 and Rhodes was being made the fall guy, so to speak.
00:05:07.280 And I didn't want that distorted view of history to triumph.
00:05:12.000 In your book,
00:05:12.780 you have an interesting statement that I said,
00:05:16.480 aha, that's it.
00:05:18.620 You said this movement is about the present,
00:05:21.100 not the past.
00:05:23.200 What did you mean by that?
00:05:25.060 Well, one thing I noticed way back five, six years ago
00:05:29.140 was that those clamoring for Rhodes' downfall
00:05:35.240 weren't much interested about the truth about the past,
00:05:38.580 because the truth about Rhodes is that he was morally mixed.
00:05:41.900 Let me make clear,
00:05:43.240 he's not a hero of mine.
00:05:44.840 If I was going to raise a poster boy to the British Empire,
00:05:47.420 it wouldn't be Rhodes,
00:05:48.020 because Rhodes was an entrepreneur,
00:05:50.760 he was a buccaneer,
00:05:52.300 he cut corners,
00:05:53.800 his practices were sometimes sharp.
00:05:57.560 So he was no saint.
00:05:59.600 But on the other hand,
00:06:01.040 he was a formidable figure.
00:06:05.120 He was responsible for developing
00:06:08.180 a lot of infrastructure in South Africa.
00:06:10.200 He made a lot of money,
00:06:12.700 but he didn't spend it on himself.
00:06:13.860 He was much more interested in promoting
00:06:15.620 what he regarded as the progressive causes
00:06:18.240 of his time.
00:06:21.240 So the real Rhodes,
00:06:23.660 the true Rhodes is morally mixed.
00:06:25.960 But it became clear to me quite early on
00:06:28.100 that those clamoring for Rhodes' downfall
00:06:29.500 didn't care about the past,
00:06:31.040 about the truth about the past.
00:06:32.500 They were using this as a useful political tool
00:06:37.320 to achieve things in the present.
00:06:40.740 And if you,
00:06:41.780 nowadays,
00:06:44.060 since the Black Lives Matter across the Atlantic
00:06:47.300 after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis
00:06:51.100 a couple of years ago,
00:06:54.100 the phrase in my country,
00:06:57.000 colonialism and slavery,
00:06:58.700 is widely used
00:07:00.120 as if British colonialism and slavery
00:07:03.520 were the same thing,
00:07:04.500 as if British colonial history
00:07:06.300 can be identified simply with slavery.
00:07:10.360 Historically, that's nonsense
00:07:11.380 because for the second part of its existence,
00:07:14.360 the empire was committed to anti-slavery.
00:07:17.300 But again,
00:07:17.700 the slogan is politically useful.
00:07:21.920 This idea that people are complex,
00:07:27.460 I think you used the term morally ambiguous
00:07:29.380 or something to that effect.
00:07:31.580 That can apply to an awful lot of people
00:07:33.860 that these movements are trying to cancel
00:07:36.560 in history, can't it?
00:07:37.560 I mean,
00:07:38.180 very few people are
00:07:39.940 all good or all bad.
00:07:43.300 They're often creatures of their day,
00:07:45.220 of their time.
00:07:46.940 And,
00:07:47.500 you know,
00:07:48.000 if we were
00:07:49.680 applying an objective lens
00:07:51.580 instead of one
00:07:52.600 grounded in presentism,
00:07:54.500 as in,
00:07:55.200 well,
00:07:55.380 I'm going to judge
00:07:56.200 a person from 200 years ago
00:07:58.200 by my standards today,
00:07:59.520 if we judge them objectively,
00:08:01.660 we might say,
00:08:02.240 okay,
00:08:02.480 well,
00:08:03.300 here's the good things he did,
00:08:04.600 here's the bad things he did,
00:08:05.860 and we'll make an assessment
00:08:07.440 based on that.
00:08:08.640 Instead,
00:08:09.160 we say,
00:08:10.000 well,
00:08:10.220 how would we judge this person
00:08:11.680 by today's standards?
00:08:14.080 Yes,
00:08:14.780 Brian,
00:08:16.180 I agree entirely with that.
00:08:17.800 But there are two things.
00:08:18.800 First of all,
00:08:19.440 yes,
00:08:19.680 you're quite right.
00:08:21.300 We are judging the past
00:08:22.960 by present standards.
00:08:24.260 I mean,
00:08:24.360 we in Britain
00:08:25.540 and in Canada
00:08:26.320 live in countries
00:08:27.520 that enjoy
00:08:28.240 unprecedented levels
00:08:30.080 of prosperity
00:08:30.920 and peace
00:08:32.440 and security.
00:08:34.620 In order to understand
00:08:35.640 the past,
00:08:36.120 we need to inhabit a world
00:08:37.540 where life
00:08:38.740 in all sorts of respects
00:08:39.580 is far more insecure,
00:08:41.940 far more threatening.
00:08:44.920 So,
00:08:45.120 yes,
00:08:46.380 we judge the past
00:08:48.700 by the present
00:08:50.280 and we forget
00:08:50.880 how different the past was.
00:08:52.080 But also,
00:08:53.320 we seem to judge
00:08:54.800 the past
00:08:55.980 in an incredibly
00:08:57.320 absolutist
00:08:58.080 and
00:08:58.640 moralistic way.
00:09:01.560 We are very unforgiving.
00:09:03.580 I happen to be a Christian,
00:09:05.480 so the notion
00:09:06.220 that
00:09:06.700 sin exists within me
00:09:08.640 as well as in the outside world
00:09:09.820 and in you
00:09:10.660 is very familiar.
00:09:12.460 And one of the merits
00:09:13.380 of that view
00:09:14.560 of oneself
00:09:15.200 is
00:09:15.700 it tempers
00:09:17.380 the
00:09:17.780 severity
00:09:19.460 of the way
00:09:20.260 in which we judge
00:09:20.940 other people.
00:09:21.420 So there's also
00:09:22.280 a kind of
00:09:22.860 in addition to presentism
00:09:23.980 there's also moralism
00:09:25.020 which I find
00:09:25.680 quite ugly.
00:09:27.160 But to get to your point
00:09:28.120 about
00:09:28.480 everyone being flawed,
00:09:31.380 yes,
00:09:31.760 I mean
00:09:32.060 early on
00:09:33.900 I made the point
00:09:34.660 that if we want
00:09:35.700 to raise
00:09:36.920 statues to anybody
00:09:37.920 we've got to put up
00:09:40.320 with flawed people
00:09:41.580 because
00:09:42.080 yes,
00:09:43.140 Winston Churchill
00:09:44.060 saved the Western world
00:09:46.080 from
00:09:46.620 Nazi
00:09:47.820 rule of the 1940s.
00:09:49.120 yes,
00:09:50.140 his view
00:09:50.860 of
00:09:51.300 Indians
00:09:52.040 was
00:09:52.540 sometimes
00:09:53.380 racist.
00:09:55.280 Yes,
00:09:55.600 Abraham Lincoln
00:09:56.280 was responsible
00:09:57.520 for keeping
00:09:58.920 the US united
00:09:59.780 and proclaiming
00:10:01.300 emancipation.
00:10:02.020 But yes,
00:10:02.440 Abraham Lincoln
00:10:03.060 was not at all
00:10:04.260 confident
00:10:04.740 that black
00:10:05.980 Africans
00:10:06.780 could be
00:10:08.040 assimilated
00:10:09.260 into American society
00:10:10.540 and preferred
00:10:11.100 the idea
00:10:11.620 of having them
00:10:12.800 shipped off
00:10:13.900 to some
00:10:14.440 new place
00:10:15.540 in South America.
00:10:16.540 Mahatma Gandhi
00:10:20.520 famous for his
00:10:21.820 non-violent
00:10:23.140 resistance
00:10:23.700 to British rule
00:10:24.740 in India
00:10:25.240 had very
00:10:26.560 disparaging views
00:10:27.360 of black Africans
00:10:28.080 and I could go on
00:10:29.880 and if you're
00:10:31.180 in Washington
00:10:31.560 as I was
00:10:33.160 a couple of years ago
00:10:34.380 you walk past
00:10:35.980 the extremely
00:10:36.440 impressive statue
00:10:37.360 to Martin Luther King
00:10:39.120 in central Washington.
00:10:42.280 Now that statue
00:10:42.840 of course
00:10:43.220 is erected
00:10:43.760 to someone
00:10:44.220 who was
00:10:45.520 a martyr
00:10:47.160 to the cause
00:10:47.920 of civil rights
00:10:48.760 in America
00:10:49.980 but Martin Luther King
00:10:51.400 it so turns out
00:10:52.200 was also a serial
00:10:53.240 philanderer.
00:10:53.840 He betrayed his wife
00:10:54.640 but he's not
00:10:56.100 remembered for that.
00:10:57.620 He's remembered
00:10:57.940 because of his
00:10:58.660 civil rights
00:10:59.660 activity.
00:11:01.220 So I agree entirely
00:11:01.960 if we're going to have
00:11:02.700 heroes at all
00:11:03.320 I think we should have heroes
00:11:04.240 we need to be willing
00:11:05.460 to accept ones
00:11:06.320 that are flawed.
00:11:09.220 I don't want to
00:11:10.100 spend too much time
00:11:11.100 on Cecil Rhodes
00:11:11.700 because I don't think
00:11:12.380 most people think
00:11:13.100 about him anymore
00:11:13.780 beyond the Rhodes
00:11:14.800 Scholarship.
00:11:15.520 He's someone
00:11:16.920 that historians
00:11:17.740 will ponder
00:11:20.720 and discuss
00:11:21.520 but for the most part
00:11:22.380 in day-to-day life
00:11:23.560 we don't go around
00:11:24.260 thinking about Rhodes.
00:11:25.920 But you've described
00:11:28.200 him in his legacy
00:11:29.980 in some interesting terms.
00:11:32.280 While he's now
00:11:33.420 viewed as a racist
00:11:34.660 he's someone
00:11:35.360 who sought
00:11:36.700 to give the vote
00:11:37.640 to black South Africans
00:11:38.960 and he's someone
00:11:40.480 who was honoured
00:11:41.340 by black South Africans
00:11:42.860 after his death.
00:11:44.640 Correct?
00:11:45.700 That's right.
00:11:46.600 I mean Rhodes is
00:11:47.740 I mean
00:11:48.360 one thing
00:11:50.580 we all need to do
00:11:51.900 if it's possible
00:11:53.800 is to have an adult
00:11:54.940 conversation
00:11:55.460 about what we mean
00:11:56.280 by racism.
00:11:58.760 My view is
00:11:59.820 that
00:12:00.120 the worst kind
00:12:01.740 of racism
00:12:02.120 is that which regards
00:12:03.300 people of another race
00:12:04.860 as naturally
00:12:06.180 biologically inferior
00:12:07.340 and incapable
00:12:08.540 of growing
00:12:09.340 and developing
00:12:09.860 just like anyone else.
00:12:11.920 So that's what we call
00:12:12.700 kind of scientific racism
00:12:13.920 which came onto the scene
00:12:15.480 in the late 1800s.
00:12:18.040 But it never eclipsed
00:12:19.480 the earlier
00:12:20.540 Christian view
00:12:21.880 that notwithstanding
00:12:23.000 different levels
00:12:24.240 of cultural development
00:12:25.340 members of all races
00:12:27.080 are equally capable
00:12:28.120 of developing
00:12:29.800 and growing
00:12:30.240 equally capable
00:12:31.680 they have equal potential
00:12:33.300 to grow and develop.
00:12:35.320 And Rhodes
00:12:35.860 was not a scientific racist
00:12:38.460 when he landed
00:12:39.860 in South Africa
00:12:40.920 in 1870
00:12:41.920 and encountered
00:12:44.100 Bantu Africans
00:12:45.400 at that time
00:12:46.780 it was manifestly
00:12:48.200 clear to him
00:12:48.900 that he
00:12:50.240 as a representative
00:12:51.320 of
00:12:52.100 British
00:12:53.380 civilization
00:12:54.360 at the height
00:12:55.180 of its power
00:12:55.820 was in so many ways
00:12:58.040 technologically
00:12:58.900 scientifically
00:12:59.480 commercially
00:13:00.800 navally
00:13:01.680 militarily
00:13:02.300 superior
00:13:03.320 to what he found
00:13:04.260 on the ground
00:13:05.440 in South Africa.
00:13:06.920 and I think
00:13:08.540 we need to remember
00:13:09.540 to be a bit
00:13:10.380 forgiving
00:13:10.700 of Britons
00:13:11.900 at that time
00:13:13.980 in history
00:13:14.360 when their own
00:13:15.440 superiority
00:13:15.780 was clear
00:13:17.860 to everybody
00:13:18.420 but
00:13:20.820 Rhodes did not think
00:13:22.260 that Africans
00:13:23.440 were incapable
00:13:24.100 of developing
00:13:24.780 at one point
00:13:25.540 in 1894
00:13:26.720 in the Cape Parliament
00:13:27.920 he said
00:13:28.440 I do not believe
00:13:31.340 that they
00:13:31.800 Africans
00:13:32.280 are different
00:13:32.700 from ourselves
00:13:33.280 basically
00:13:33.780 and you'll find
00:13:34.440 the same thing
00:13:35.000 with John A. Macdonald
00:13:36.300 in your own country
00:13:37.000 Canada
00:13:37.820 so I don't think
00:13:40.520 Rhodes was actually
00:13:41.360 racist
00:13:42.520 but
00:13:45.720 he
00:13:46.780 and also
00:13:48.520 he was
00:13:49.940 he was an imperialist
00:13:51.400 by which I mean
00:13:52.820 he really believed
00:13:53.920 that the British Empire
00:13:54.840 was a force
00:13:56.580 for
00:13:57.040 modernity
00:13:58.640 and that modernity
00:13:59.480 was progress
00:14:00.440 and progress
00:14:01.020 was good
00:14:01.880 in the same way
00:14:02.860 that contemporary
00:14:03.740 progressives
00:14:04.380 are committed
00:14:04.880 to certain causes
00:14:05.800 so was
00:14:06.960 Rhodes
00:14:07.620 and
00:14:08.500 such wealth
00:14:09.520 as he made
00:14:10.020 he didn't spend
00:14:10.680 on himself
00:14:11.160 unlike
00:14:12.000 let's say
00:14:13.160 Jacob Zuma
00:14:13.780 the recent
00:14:15.000 president of
00:14:15.820 South Africa
00:14:16.260 who
00:14:17.060 has used
00:14:18.440 his power
00:14:18.880 to loot
00:14:20.000 the state
00:14:20.400 for private
00:14:20.920 purposes
00:14:21.320 Rhodes
00:14:21.900 devoted himself
00:14:22.720 to developing
00:14:23.380 South Africa
00:14:24.020 when we
00:14:29.140 were talking
00:14:29.680 about this
00:14:30.280 and Nigel
00:14:31.040 you lived
00:14:31.480 in Toronto
00:14:31.920 so you might
00:14:32.440 remember
00:14:32.800 Dundas Street
00:14:33.640 I do
00:14:34.220 in the middle
00:14:36.260 of downtown
00:14:37.140 Toronto
00:14:37.500 we've also
00:14:38.040 got a
00:14:38.360 Dundas County
00:14:39.080 we've got
00:14:39.620 Dundas
00:14:40.140 a town
00:14:41.500 now part
00:14:42.300 of the city
00:14:42.660 of Hamilton
00:14:43.060 we've got
00:14:44.180 plenty of places
00:14:44.940 named for
00:14:45.600 a Scottish
00:14:46.760 politician
00:14:47.220 who never
00:14:47.820 visited Canada
00:14:48.720 but who
00:14:49.740 was friends
00:14:50.660 with
00:14:51.100 the first
00:14:52.180 governor
00:14:52.600 general
00:14:53.020 of Ontario
00:14:53.800 John Simcoe
00:14:54.960 Graves
00:14:55.300 Dundas
00:14:58.720 there is a
00:14:59.760 push by
00:15:00.400 activists
00:15:01.220 to say
00:15:01.620 Dundas
00:15:02.120 was a
00:15:03.080 racist
00:15:03.460 and a
00:15:03.780 supporter
00:15:04.080 of slavery
00:15:04.760 and we've
00:15:06.100 got to
00:15:06.700 take away
00:15:08.920 the street
00:15:09.500 name
00:15:09.800 change the
00:15:11.440 name to
00:15:11.740 something else
00:15:12.360 change all
00:15:13.060 the names
00:15:13.460 honoring him
00:15:14.040 to something
00:15:14.440 else
00:15:14.680 because he
00:15:15.660 delayed
00:15:16.200 the removal
00:15:17.980 of slavery
00:15:18.700 and I'm
00:15:19.880 not sure
00:15:20.160 if you're
00:15:20.460 familiar with
00:15:21.220 this
00:15:21.540 controversy
00:15:22.240 but
00:15:22.720 in this
00:15:23.600 case
00:15:23.820 what he
00:15:24.900 did was
00:15:25.500 helped
00:15:26.100 Wilberforce
00:15:26.740 pass a
00:15:27.280 bill
00:15:27.480 by saying
00:15:28.160 we'll do
00:15:28.900 it in an
00:15:29.340 incremental
00:15:29.700 fashion
00:15:30.200 because
00:15:30.520 the attempt
00:15:31.340 to abolish
00:15:32.140 slavery
00:15:32.480 through the
00:15:32.920 legislature
00:15:33.440 through
00:15:34.180 parliament
00:15:34.600 at Westminster
00:15:35.300 had already
00:15:36.080 failed twice
00:15:36.680 because it
00:15:37.480 wasn't
00:15:38.280 incremental
00:15:38.880 and so he
00:15:39.920 said well
00:15:40.380 if you
00:15:40.820 change the
00:15:42.000 bill to
00:15:42.420 go in
00:15:43.780 this direction
00:15:44.520 it will
00:15:45.320 pass and
00:15:45.840 we will
00:15:46.120 get rid
00:15:46.460 of slavery
00:15:46.900 and he
00:15:48.360 is now
00:15:48.780 being
00:15:49.100 described
00:15:49.680 in the
00:15:50.360 most
00:15:50.540 horrific
00:15:50.860 terms
00:15:51.380 because
00:15:52.040 they
00:15:52.680 say
00:15:52.880 well
00:15:53.080 he
00:15:53.320 extended
00:15:54.040 slavery
00:15:55.180 without
00:15:55.540 that
00:15:55.880 compromise
00:15:56.520 there
00:15:57.140 would
00:15:57.320 have
00:15:57.420 been
00:15:57.680 you know
00:15:58.600 who knows
00:15:59.220 when the
00:15:59.700 British
00:15:59.900 Empire
00:16:00.240 would have
00:16:00.860 gotten
00:16:01.260 rid of
00:16:01.740 slavery
00:16:02.640 is
00:16:04.200 are we
00:16:05.120 judging
00:16:05.700 people
00:16:06.220 in ways
00:16:07.180 that are
00:16:07.480 fundamentally
00:16:08.080 untrue
00:16:08.840 to what
00:16:09.680 happened
00:16:10.120 yes
00:16:11.320 we're also
00:16:11.820 judging
00:16:12.180 them without
00:16:12.540 any reference
00:16:13.280 to context
00:16:14.100 Ryan
00:16:14.940 because
00:16:15.480 before we
00:16:17.400 talk about
00:16:17.820 Dundas
00:16:18.340 let's just
00:16:19.020 remember
00:16:19.400 that slavery
00:16:20.920 was a
00:16:21.580 phenomenon
00:16:21.980 from
00:16:23.160 ancient
00:16:23.920 history
00:16:24.360 in the
00:16:24.860 in
00:16:25.700 Mesopotamia
00:16:26.700 to the
00:16:27.560 modern
00:16:27.760 period
00:16:28.080 I think
00:16:28.560 it was
00:16:28.800 last abolished
00:16:30.000 in the
00:16:30.200 Ottoman Empire
00:16:30.700 in 1920
00:16:31.360 everyone
00:16:33.420 did it
00:16:34.080 long before
00:16:35.700 Europeans
00:16:36.960 started trading
00:16:37.800 slaves across
00:16:38.380 the Atlantic
00:16:38.820 in the
00:16:39.700 1450s
00:16:41.280 or thereabouts
00:16:41.920 Africans
00:16:43.080 had been
00:16:44.080 raiding
00:16:45.080 other Africans
00:16:45.940 enslaving
00:16:46.900 them
00:16:47.200 and trading
00:16:48.060 them to
00:16:48.700 first of all
00:16:49.260 the Romans
00:16:49.680 and then the
00:16:50.680 Arabs
00:16:51.000 in North
00:16:51.780 America
00:16:52.200 in the
00:16:53.040 1700s
00:16:53.940 the
00:16:54.480 Comunches
00:16:54.960 ran what
00:16:56.100 one scholar
00:16:56.740 calls a
00:16:58.200 vast slave
00:16:59.080 economy in
00:16:59.820 the southwest
00:17:00.280 of what is
00:17:00.680 now the
00:17:00.980 United
00:17:01.200 States
00:17:01.740 and I
00:17:02.680 was in
00:17:03.200 Raleigh
00:17:04.620 North
00:17:04.820 Carolina
00:17:05.260 visiting my
00:17:06.040 wife's
00:17:06.500 family
00:17:06.860 in January
00:17:08.120 I visited
00:17:08.640 the
00:17:09.020 Museum of
00:17:10.000 the History
00:17:10.320 of the
00:17:10.800 State of
00:17:11.040 North
00:17:11.180 Carolina
00:17:11.620 and what
00:17:12.520 did I
00:17:12.740 discover
00:17:13.060 in 1860
00:17:15.140 on the eve
00:17:15.700 of the
00:17:15.940 American
00:17:16.160 Civil War
00:17:16.860 there were
00:17:17.860 30,000
00:17:18.520 freed
00:17:18.900 slaves in
00:17:19.380 North
00:17:19.560 Carolina
00:17:19.980 of which
00:17:21.840 some
00:17:22.600 owned
00:17:23.680 their own
00:17:24.000 slaves
00:17:24.420 freed
00:17:26.140 slaves
00:17:26.560 black
00:17:27.000 Americans
00:17:27.460 owned
00:17:27.960 their own
00:17:28.360 black
00:17:28.720 American
00:17:29.100 slaves
00:17:29.600 so common
00:17:30.620 was
00:17:30.900 slavery
00:17:31.280 so we
00:17:32.340 need to
00:17:32.600 get
00:17:32.860 that may
00:17:33.720 surprise us
00:17:34.840 and appall
00:17:35.280 us
00:17:35.560 it is a
00:17:36.440 fact
00:17:36.700 what was
00:17:38.700 extraordinary
00:17:39.260 about
00:17:39.940 what developed
00:17:41.900 in
00:17:43.300 Northwest
00:17:44.300 Europe
00:17:44.820 in the
00:17:46.380 second half
00:17:47.080 of the
00:17:47.600 1700s
00:17:48.720 and in
00:17:49.380 Britain
00:17:49.640 was the
00:17:50.820 movement
00:17:51.200 that there
00:17:51.920 was the
00:17:52.160 idea
00:17:52.620 that owning
00:17:54.020 other people
00:17:54.980 owning other
00:17:55.700 people as
00:17:56.120 your property
00:17:57.020 when they
00:17:58.540 had no
00:17:58.860 rights
00:17:59.100 whatsoever
00:17:59.540 was
00:18:00.400 immoral
00:18:00.840 that was
00:18:02.420 an entirely
00:18:03.300 novel idea
00:18:04.460 and Denmark
00:18:05.960 was the
00:18:06.580 first country
00:18:07.260 in the history
00:18:07.800 of the
00:18:08.040 world
00:18:08.320 to
00:18:09.640 abolish
00:18:11.040 the slave
00:18:11.380 trade
00:18:11.820 Britain
00:18:12.220 followed
00:18:12.480 three years
00:18:12.920 later
00:18:13.260 and then
00:18:14.520 Britain
00:18:15.420 led the
00:18:15.880 world
00:18:16.220 in
00:18:16.860 suppressing
00:18:17.260 slavery
00:18:17.900 across the
00:18:20.320 Atlantic
00:18:20.640 from Brazil
00:18:21.880 across Africa
00:18:22.860 India
00:18:23.380 Malaysia
00:18:23.960 so let's
00:18:26.120 just get
00:18:26.540 clear
00:18:26.860 the movement
00:18:28.240 to abolish
00:18:28.660 slavery
00:18:29.000 was unprecedented
00:18:30.360 in the
00:18:30.940 world's history
00:18:31.500 and Britain
00:18:32.460 was a
00:18:32.840 leader
00:18:33.060 now
00:18:33.980 as for why
00:18:35.440 it took
00:18:35.700 so long
00:18:36.100 for people
00:18:36.440 to realise
00:18:36.820 it was so
00:18:37.240 bad
00:18:37.560 that's an
00:18:38.080 interesting
00:18:38.340 question
00:18:38.840 but the
00:18:39.600 good news
00:18:40.020 is that
00:18:40.680 people like
00:18:41.280 Wilberforce
00:18:42.100 supported
00:18:42.740 by Dundas
00:18:43.540 were moving
00:18:44.480 to have
00:18:45.220 the slave
00:18:47.480 trade and
00:18:48.080 then slavery
00:18:48.980 itself
00:18:49.420 abolished
00:18:50.320 now some
00:18:51.260 may say
00:18:51.720 it could
00:18:52.060 have happened
00:18:52.480 more quickly
00:18:53.420 but the
00:18:54.140 fact of
00:18:54.440 the matter
00:18:54.680 is politics
00:18:55.320 is like
00:18:55.720 that
00:18:56.040 it takes
00:18:56.980 persuasion
00:18:57.520 it takes
00:18:58.160 time
00:18:58.460 it took
00:18:58.740 50 years
00:18:59.600 from the
00:19:01.340 beginnings
00:19:02.220 of the
00:19:02.820 campaign
00:19:03.280 to abolish
00:19:03.940 the slave
00:19:04.380 trade
00:19:04.820 for slavery
00:19:05.900 itself
00:19:06.300 to be
00:19:07.120 eliminated
00:19:07.700 within the
00:19:08.160 British
00:19:08.420 Empire
00:19:09.100 and after
00:19:11.480 the trade
00:19:12.220 was abolished
00:19:12.760 in 1807
00:19:13.480 most abolitionists
00:19:15.900 including black
00:19:17.380 abolitionists
00:19:18.160 thought
00:19:18.940 that
00:19:19.800 that
00:19:21.800 the institution
00:19:22.720 of slavery
00:19:23.200 in the
00:19:23.520 West Indies
00:19:24.120 would wither
00:19:24.820 by itself
00:19:25.440 if there
00:19:25.740 was no
00:19:26.100 trade
00:19:26.560 to bring
00:19:27.260 fresh
00:19:27.640 slaves
00:19:28.020 to the
00:19:28.820 West Indies
00:19:29.340 it was only
00:19:30.020 when it
00:19:30.380 became clear
00:19:30.840 that wasn't
00:19:31.260 happening
00:19:31.640 that in
00:19:32.480 1820
00:19:33.780 or thereabouts
00:19:34.440 they revived
00:19:35.560 the campaign
00:19:36.140 to have
00:19:36.660 slavery
00:19:37.800 itself
00:19:38.880 abolished
00:19:39.380 but my
00:19:39.940 point is
00:19:40.360 even black
00:19:41.240 abolitionists
00:19:41.980 in the
00:19:42.820 1810s
00:19:44.040 or thereabouts
00:19:44.580 were
00:19:44.860 gradualists
00:19:45.600 I can't
00:19:46.560 remember the
00:19:46.860 details of
00:19:47.640 Dundas's
00:19:48.180 case
00:19:48.440 but the
00:19:48.680 fact that
00:19:49.020 he
00:19:49.240 counseled
00:19:50.680 gradual
00:19:51.140 abolition
00:19:51.580 should not
00:19:53.380 be a
00:19:56.100 cause for
00:19:56.840 criticism
00:19:57.700 It's
00:19:59.820 unfortunately
00:20:01.720 not
00:20:02.220 popular
00:20:05.340 to stand
00:20:06.380 up for
00:20:06.640 these causes
00:20:07.100 whether it's
00:20:07.720 Dundas
00:20:08.220 or
00:20:08.720 Egerton
00:20:09.220 Ryerson
00:20:09.740 they've
00:20:10.660 renamed
00:20:11.020 that school
00:20:11.940 to get rid
00:20:13.080 of the name
00:20:13.520 because they
00:20:13.980 say he was
00:20:14.600 affiliated
00:20:15.680 with the
00:20:16.720 tenuously
00:20:18.880 at best
00:20:19.740 they claim
00:20:20.500 he was
00:20:20.700 affiliated
00:20:21.060 with the
00:20:21.440 residential
00:20:21.780 schools
00:20:22.280 I know
00:20:24.520 you've
00:20:24.760 written
00:20:24.900 about that
00:20:25.460 I know
00:20:25.900 that you
00:20:26.440 are familiar
00:20:27.380 with the
00:20:28.120 residential
00:20:28.440 school system
00:20:29.100 in Canada
00:20:29.520 and some
00:20:29.960 of the
00:20:30.300 Canadian
00:20:31.140 history
00:20:31.520 as it
00:20:31.800 relates
00:20:32.080 to
00:20:32.300 colonialism
00:20:32.780 so
00:20:33.760 let me
00:20:34.720 ask you
00:20:35.020 about
00:20:35.260 that
00:20:35.640 somebody
00:20:35.940 like
00:20:36.240 Macdonald
00:20:37.080 at the
00:20:38.000 Ontario
00:20:38.360 legislature
00:20:38.860 we've
00:20:39.200 had a
00:20:39.780 statue
00:20:40.080 of
00:20:40.300 Macdonald
00:20:40.840 boxed
00:20:42.720 up
00:20:42.900 blocked
00:20:43.520 from
00:20:43.720 public
00:20:44.040 view
00:20:44.340 for
00:20:44.820 more
00:20:45.340 than
00:20:45.500 two
00:20:45.660 years
00:20:45.920 now
00:20:46.180 there
00:20:46.980 have
00:20:47.100 been
00:20:47.320 statues
00:20:47.800 of
00:20:47.980 Macdonald
00:20:48.420 either
00:20:48.680 taken
00:20:49.040 down
00:20:49.420 by
00:20:49.760 politicians
00:20:50.400 or
00:20:51.580 by
00:20:52.320 mobs
00:20:53.060 over
00:20:53.880 the
00:20:54.040 last
00:20:54.220 several
00:20:54.500 years
00:20:54.900 and
00:20:56.080 the
00:20:57.180 view
00:20:57.400 is
00:20:57.640 well
00:20:57.860 he
00:20:58.240 brought
00:20:58.520 in
00:20:58.700 residential
00:20:59.100 schools
00:20:59.660 he's
00:21:00.460 the
00:21:00.580 racist
00:21:01.020 he's
00:21:01.660 got
00:21:01.860 to
00:21:02.040 go
00:21:02.280 I
00:21:04.280 think
00:21:04.500 people
00:21:04.820 forget
00:21:05.340 that
00:21:05.720 well
00:21:06.000 a couple
00:21:06.360 of
00:21:06.480 things
00:21:06.740 like
00:21:08.180 Rhodes
00:21:08.560 who
00:21:08.760 we
00:21:08.900 were
00:21:09.040 discussing
00:21:09.440 earlier
00:21:09.860 Macdonald
00:21:10.740 was
00:21:11.000 was
00:21:11.020 complex
00:21:11.780 he
00:21:12.160 may
00:21:12.500 have
00:21:12.620 said
00:21:12.760 some
00:21:12.940 awful
00:21:13.180 things
00:21:13.460 but
00:21:13.600 he
00:21:13.700 also
00:21:13.900 extended
00:21:14.260 the
00:21:14.460 vote
00:21:14.720 to
00:21:15.700 First
00:21:16.520 Nations
00:21:16.840 and
00:21:17.860 the
00:21:19.280 idea
00:21:19.560 of
00:21:19.720 residential
00:21:20.080 schools
00:21:20.480 was
00:21:20.720 considered
00:21:21.120 the most
00:21:21.440 progressive
00:21:21.920 thing
00:21:22.380 of the
00:21:22.700 day
00:21:23.000 it
00:21:23.300 was
00:21:23.600 how
00:21:24.320 to
00:21:24.520 benefit
00:21:24.880 everybody
00:21:25.420 all
00:21:26.840 all
00:21:26.860 the
00:21:27.020 experts
00:21:27.360 said
00:21:27.660 it
00:21:27.760 was
00:21:27.880 the
00:21:28.000 right
00:21:28.160 thing
00:21:28.460 I
00:21:29.500 don't
00:21:30.000 think
00:21:30.320 it
00:21:30.480 came
00:21:30.860 from
00:21:31.140 a
00:21:31.280 source
00:21:31.600 of
00:21:32.180 racism
00:21:32.580 for
00:21:32.820 most
00:21:33.000 people
00:21:33.220 they
00:21:33.400 thought
00:21:33.760 here
00:21:34.180 is
00:21:34.360 how
00:21:34.500 we
00:21:34.740 help
00:21:35.740 better
00:21:36.580 people
00:21:37.000 the
00:21:37.820 outcome
00:21:38.100 was
00:21:38.380 horrific
00:21:38.720 for
00:21:39.360 many
00:21:39.660 but
00:21:40.600 does
00:21:41.840 that
00:21:42.880 mean
00:21:43.140 that
00:21:43.300 you
00:21:43.460 judge
00:21:44.340 someone
00:21:44.840 by
00:21:45.320 what
00:21:45.560 happened
00:21:46.000 in
00:21:46.460 the
00:21:47.940 1920s
00:21:48.820 or
00:21:48.900 the
00:21:49.000 1950s
00:21:49.880 when
00:21:50.140 they
00:21:50.260 were
00:21:50.400 long
00:21:50.640 dead
00:21:50.920 yes
00:21:52.540 I
00:21:52.760 mean
00:21:52.980 so
00:21:54.460 the
00:21:55.520 residential
00:21:55.820 schools
00:21:56.420 in the
00:21:58.220 late
00:21:58.540 1800s
00:21:59.580 early
00:21:59.760 1900s
00:22:00.620 were
00:22:01.380 deficient
00:22:01.740 in many
00:22:02.020 respects
00:22:02.600 but
00:22:04.240 and what
00:22:05.540 I know
00:22:05.840 about
00:22:06.020 residential
00:22:06.500 schools
00:22:06.840 I've
00:22:07.280 learnt
00:22:07.480 mostly
00:22:07.860 from
00:22:08.160 the
00:22:08.400 standard
00:22:08.860 history
00:22:09.900 of
00:22:10.300 the
00:22:10.440 residential
00:22:10.800 schools
00:22:11.340 written
00:22:11.580 by
00:22:11.840 J.R.
00:22:12.260 Miller
00:22:12.440 called
00:22:13.540 Ching Walk's
00:22:14.460 Vision
00:22:15.460 I think
00:22:15.820 it's
00:22:15.960 called
00:22:16.260 and
00:22:17.980 notwithstanding
00:22:19.660 the
00:22:20.920 deficiencies
00:22:21.700 of the
00:22:22.160 school
00:22:22.440 system
00:22:22.940 Miller
00:22:25.040 says
00:22:25.340 that
00:22:25.500 way
00:22:25.640 back
00:22:25.800 in
00:22:25.880 the
00:22:25.980 1990s
00:22:26.800 when
00:22:28.100 native
00:22:30.820 Canadians
00:22:31.640 members
00:22:32.460 of
00:22:32.640 First
00:22:32.840 Nations
00:22:33.240 who
00:22:33.980 had
00:22:34.140 positive
00:22:34.620 experiences
00:22:35.180 of the
00:22:35.680 residential
00:22:36.140 schools
00:22:36.520 when
00:22:36.960 they
00:22:37.100 tried
00:22:37.360 to get
00:22:37.560 the
00:22:37.720 media
00:22:37.940 to
00:22:38.140 take
00:22:38.300 them
00:22:38.460 seriously
00:22:38.900 they
00:22:39.420 found
00:22:39.640 that
00:22:39.940 the
00:22:40.040 media
00:22:40.200 weren't
00:22:40.360 interested
00:22:40.700 way
00:22:41.240 back
00:22:41.380 in
00:22:41.480 the
00:22:41.540 1990s
00:22:42.980 so
00:22:43.800 there
00:22:44.220 is
00:22:44.480 and
00:22:45.220 J.R.
00:22:46.020 Miller
00:22:46.120 himself
00:22:46.480 says
00:22:46.980 that
00:22:47.160 the
00:22:47.320 record
00:22:47.640 of
00:22:47.860 the
00:22:48.120 of
00:22:49.880 the
00:22:50.020 residential
00:22:50.300 schools
00:22:50.780 was
00:22:52.220 mixed
00:22:52.660 but
00:22:53.660 we
00:22:53.780 must
00:22:53.920 speak
00:22:54.080 about
00:22:54.300 it
00:22:54.420 in
00:22:54.560 nuanced
00:22:55.020 and
00:22:55.240 equivocal
00:22:55.660 tones
00:22:56.140 well
00:22:56.520 that
00:22:57.060 ain't
00:22:57.200 the
00:22:57.320 way
00:22:57.440 we're
00:22:57.620 talking
00:22:57.820 about
00:22:58.000 now
00:22:58.420 if
00:22:59.500 we
00:22:59.620 want
00:23:00.120 to
00:23:00.180 be
00:23:00.280 true
00:23:00.420 to
00:23:00.560 history
00:23:00.920 that's
00:23:01.620 what
00:23:01.740 he
00:23:01.860 says
00:23:02.200 but
00:23:04.860 again
00:23:05.200 the
00:23:06.960 current
00:23:07.520 campaign
00:23:09.200 is not
00:23:09.980 based on
00:23:10.440 historical
00:23:10.760 truth
00:23:11.180 it is
00:23:11.960 based
00:23:12.160 on
00:23:12.340 the
00:23:13.620 interests
00:23:14.080 of
00:23:14.280 certain
00:23:14.560 groups
00:23:14.960 exploiting
00:23:16.660 the
00:23:17.640 historical
00:23:18.340 ignorance
00:23:18.920 of a
00:23:20.060 liberal
00:23:20.300 elite
00:23:20.660 and
00:23:21.820 also
00:23:22.040 exploiting
00:23:22.580 their
00:23:22.740 propensity
00:23:23.100 to feel
00:23:23.420 guilty
00:23:23.720 about
00:23:24.100 what
00:23:24.860 they
00:23:24.980 don't
00:23:25.120 know
00:23:25.280 about
00:23:25.600 it's
00:23:27.500 not
00:23:27.660 to do
00:23:27.880 with
00:23:27.980 the
00:23:28.080 truth
00:23:28.220 about
00:23:28.380 the
00:23:28.480 past
00:23:28.800 now
00:23:29.040 in
00:23:29.200 terms
00:23:29.440 of
00:23:29.680 the
00:23:30.520 important
00:23:30.960 thing
00:23:31.140 about
00:23:31.280 residential
00:23:31.600 schools
00:23:31.920 is
00:23:32.160 to
00:23:32.560 recognize
00:23:32.960 that
00:23:33.340 it
00:23:33.880 was
00:23:34.300 members
00:23:35.320 of
00:23:35.540 first
00:23:35.760 nations
00:23:36.240 who
00:23:36.660 lobbied
00:23:37.080 for
00:23:37.240 the
00:23:37.360 schools
00:23:37.700 in
00:23:38.700 I
00:23:39.120 think
00:23:39.260 as
00:23:39.420 early
00:23:39.580 as
00:23:39.720 the
00:23:39.780 1830s
00:23:40.500 why
00:23:41.280 because
00:23:42.240 they
00:23:42.460 recognized
00:23:43.260 that
00:23:44.460 because
00:23:46.320 of the
00:23:46.860 advent
00:23:47.600 of
00:23:48.160 European
00:23:48.620 modernity
00:23:49.200 and
00:23:49.360 because
00:23:49.560 of
00:23:49.700 the
00:23:49.840 dominance
00:23:50.280 of
00:23:50.440 European
00:23:51.000 modernity
00:23:51.560 not least
00:23:52.160 through
00:23:52.420 the
00:23:52.640 inadvertent
00:23:53.160 spread
00:23:53.360 of
00:23:53.480 disease
00:23:53.960 that
00:23:55.320 native
00:23:55.680 peoples
00:23:56.400 in
00:23:56.720 Canada
00:23:57.100 were
00:23:57.680 going to
00:23:57.880 have
00:23:58.000 to
00:23:58.120 adapt
00:23:58.540 learn
00:23:59.440 to
00:23:59.580 speak
00:23:59.760 English
00:24:00.120 learn
00:24:00.640 agriculture
00:24:01.160 and
00:24:02.000 they
00:24:02.160 wanted
00:24:02.660 these
00:24:02.960 schools
00:24:03.440 they
00:24:04.060 lobbied
00:24:04.340 for
00:24:04.480 these
00:24:04.680 schools
00:24:05.020 to be
00:24:05.300 set
00:24:05.460 up
00:24:05.700 so
00:24:06.380 their
00:24:06.600 youngsters
00:24:06.960 could
00:24:07.300 learn
00:24:07.740 a
00:24:08.200 new
00:24:08.340 way
00:24:08.520 of
00:24:08.680 life
00:24:08.940 and
00:24:09.580 having
00:24:10.020 adapted
00:24:10.440 could
00:24:10.740 preserve
00:24:11.140 as much
00:24:11.720 of the
00:24:11.940 old
00:24:12.100 as they
00:24:12.400 could
00:24:12.720 that's
00:24:13.900 why
00:24:14.040 they
00:24:14.140 were
00:24:14.260 set
00:24:14.420 up
00:24:14.680 in
00:24:15.700 response
00:24:16.120 to
00:24:16.540 native
00:24:17.560 demand
00:24:18.580 and
00:24:19.380 you
00:24:21.100 will
00:24:21.260 find
00:24:21.560 that
00:24:21.800 even
00:24:22.220 into
00:24:22.580 the
00:24:22.820 1920s
00:24:24.060 out
00:24:24.760 west
00:24:25.120 in
00:24:25.360 Canada
00:24:25.740 First
00:24:26.960 Nations
00:24:27.340 were
00:24:27.680 lobbying
00:24:28.000 for
00:24:28.220 residential
00:24:28.560 schools
00:24:29.120 now
00:24:29.860 if
00:24:30.240 the
00:24:30.400 record
00:24:30.700 of
00:24:30.840 the
00:24:30.920 schools
00:24:31.200 had
00:24:31.400 been
00:24:31.580 as
00:24:31.980 appalling
00:24:33.520 as
00:24:34.040 universally
00:24:34.500 appalling
00:24:34.960 as it
00:24:35.400 is put
00:24:35.660 about
00:24:35.920 now
00:24:36.280 that
00:24:36.880 would
00:24:37.020 not
00:24:37.180 have
00:24:37.320 happened
00:24:37.620 we
00:24:42.280 have
00:24:42.580 documented
00:24:43.400 evidence
00:24:44.060 of
00:24:44.540 abuse
00:24:45.160 of
00:24:45.700 horrific
00:24:46.180 things
00:24:46.540 happening
00:24:46.940 but
00:24:47.780 you
00:24:47.900 say
00:24:48.140 that
00:24:48.420 the
00:24:49.240 media
00:24:49.460 weren't
00:24:49.780 interested
00:24:50.160 in
00:24:50.380 the
00:24:50.480 1990s
00:24:51.200 I
00:24:51.380 was
00:24:52.080 on
00:24:52.600 Parliament
00:24:52.920 Hill
00:24:53.280 in
00:24:53.600 2009
00:24:55.100 or so
00:24:55.660 when
00:24:56.080 then
00:24:57.040 Prime
00:24:57.300 Minister
00:24:57.540 Stephen
00:24:57.920 Harper
00:24:58.260 gave
00:24:59.020 the
00:24:59.180 formal
00:24:59.440 apology
00:24:59.920 for
00:25:00.180 residential
00:25:00.580 schools
00:25:00.940 and
00:25:01.080 there
00:25:01.160 were
00:25:01.260 a lot
00:25:01.480 of
00:25:02.040 people
00:25:03.120 who
00:25:03.320 had
00:25:03.460 attended
00:25:03.760 the
00:25:03.980 schools
00:25:04.260 there
00:25:04.660 there
00:25:05.440 were
00:25:05.720 chiefs
00:25:06.720 and
00:25:06.820 different
00:25:07.020 elders
00:25:07.420 and
00:25:07.820 people
00:25:08.740 coming
00:25:09.120 for
00:25:09.880 the
00:25:10.080 apology
00:25:10.500 and
00:25:11.060 I
00:25:11.160 spoke
00:25:11.320 to
00:25:11.480 a lot
00:25:11.780 of
00:25:11.980 people
00:25:12.540 who
00:25:12.660 had
00:25:12.720 gone
00:25:12.880 through
00:25:13.060 the
00:25:13.200 schools
00:25:13.560 and
00:25:14.640 I
00:25:15.000 heard
00:25:15.400 the
00:25:15.660 horror
00:25:15.900 stories
00:25:16.340 but
00:25:16.500 I
00:25:16.600 also
00:25:16.780 remember
00:25:17.080 talking
00:25:17.380 to
00:25:17.540 several
00:25:17.780 who
00:25:17.960 said
00:25:18.280 well
00:25:19.060 it's
00:25:19.340 important
00:25:19.720 to
00:25:20.680 acknowledge
00:25:21.160 the
00:25:21.400 horror
00:25:21.620 stories
00:25:22.020 and
00:25:22.380 to
00:25:22.560 know
00:25:22.800 that
00:25:22.980 that's
00:25:23.260 there
00:25:23.400 but
00:25:23.580 that
00:25:23.820 was
00:25:24.000 not
00:25:24.200 my
00:25:24.420 experience
00:25:25.020 my
00:25:25.660 experience
00:25:26.180 was
00:25:26.420 mainly
00:25:26.680 positive
00:25:27.180 those
00:25:28.260 stories
00:25:28.700 aren't
00:25:29.340 told
00:25:29.780 now
00:25:30.040 we
00:25:30.220 we
00:25:30.260 seem
00:25:31.880 to
00:25:32.480 wash
00:25:33.760 history
00:25:34.060 I
00:25:34.180 won't
00:25:34.300 say
00:25:34.440 whitewash
00:25:34.920 history
00:25:35.240 because
00:25:35.500 I'm
00:25:35.720 not
00:25:36.040 sure
00:25:36.200 what
00:25:36.420 we're
00:25:36.580 doing
00:25:36.840 with
00:25:37.080 it
00:25:37.220 but
00:25:37.420 we
00:25:37.660 everything
00:25:40.220 is
00:25:40.700 taken
00:25:41.240 down
00:25:41.580 to
00:25:41.860 something
00:25:45.300 that's
00:25:45.660 easy
00:25:45.980 to
00:25:46.160 understand
00:25:46.700 and
00:25:47.020 easy
00:25:47.340 to
00:25:47.520 vilify
00:25:47.880 I
00:25:48.120 think
00:25:48.360 is
00:25:48.600 what
00:25:49.020 we're
00:25:49.200 doing
00:25:49.500 so
00:25:50.100 that's
00:25:51.560 most
00:25:51.820 easy
00:25:52.100 for
00:25:52.760 the
00:25:52.940 likes
00:25:53.180 of
00:25:53.340 me
00:25:53.480 here
00:25:53.640 in
00:25:53.740 Britain
00:25:53.920 to
00:25:54.120 see
00:25:54.280 in
00:25:54.460 terms
00:25:54.800 of
00:25:55.040 the
00:25:55.300 way
00:25:55.560 in
00:25:55.640 which
00:25:55.740 slavery
00:25:56.020 is
00:25:56.180 talked
00:25:56.380 about
00:25:56.620 so
00:25:56.920 yes
00:25:58.200 for
00:25:59.960 over
00:26:01.080 150
00:26:01.460 years
00:26:02.080 some
00:26:02.840 Britons
00:26:03.440 were
00:26:03.880 involved
00:26:04.440 in
00:26:04.920 trading
00:26:06.160 slaves
00:26:06.760 across
00:26:06.980 the
00:26:07.100 Atlantic
00:26:07.320 some
00:26:07.600 Britons
00:26:07.900 were
00:26:08.040 involved
00:26:08.380 in
00:26:08.520 making
00:26:08.700 many
00:26:08.960 repletations
00:26:09.720 in
00:26:09.960 the
00:26:10.240 West
00:26:10.820 Indies
00:26:11.220 and
00:26:11.380 across
00:26:11.700 along
00:26:12.080 the
00:26:12.420 eastern
00:26:13.060 seaboard
00:26:13.620 of
00:26:13.940 North
00:26:14.640 America
00:26:15.060 and
00:26:16.940 the
00:26:18.960 treatment
00:26:19.200 of
00:26:19.380 slaves
00:26:19.720 did
00:26:19.960 vary
00:26:20.260 but
00:26:20.580 at
00:26:21.060 its
00:26:21.200 worst
00:26:21.460 it
00:26:21.620 was
00:26:21.780 absolutely
00:26:22.260 appalling
00:26:22.680 so
00:26:25.060 no
00:26:27.060 justification
00:26:28.380 of
00:26:29.020 British
00:26:30.100 involvement
00:26:30.460 in
00:26:30.600 slavery
00:26:30.820 during
00:26:31.120 that
00:26:31.340 period
00:26:31.740 however
00:26:33.460 as
00:26:33.940 I've
00:26:34.120 just
00:26:34.260 said
00:26:34.560 after
00:26:35.900 1807
00:26:36.560 the
00:26:36.780 British
00:26:37.100 led
00:26:38.140 the
00:26:38.300 world
00:26:38.600 by
00:26:39.020 using
00:26:39.420 their
00:26:39.640 imperial
00:26:40.020 power
00:26:40.320 to
00:26:40.460 suppress
00:26:40.720 slavery
00:26:41.120 worldwide
00:26:41.780 from
00:26:42.300 1807
00:26:42.860 until
00:26:43.140 the
00:26:43.320 empire
00:26:43.580 dissolved
00:26:43.980 in
00:26:44.120 the
00:26:44.200 1960s
00:26:45.020 so
00:26:45.560 the
00:26:46.860 truth
00:26:47.260 is
00:26:47.600 both
00:26:48.620 happened
00:26:48.980 the
00:26:49.960 bad
00:26:50.180 stuff
00:26:50.500 and
00:26:50.980 the
00:26:51.100 admirable
00:26:51.380 stuff
00:26:51.780 and
00:26:52.680 so
00:26:53.160 with
00:26:53.380 the
00:26:53.480 residential
00:26:53.720 schools
00:26:54.140 there
00:26:54.340 were
00:26:54.500 horror
00:26:54.720 stories
00:26:55.140 also
00:26:55.860 good
00:26:56.100 stories
00:26:56.540 and
00:26:57.480 I'm
00:26:58.080 not
00:26:58.280 arguing
00:26:58.660 and no
00:26:58.920 one
00:26:59.040 should
00:26:59.220 argue
00:26:59.600 that
00:27:00.600 we
00:27:00.860 should
00:27:01.140 overlook
00:27:01.680 the
00:27:01.880 bad
00:27:02.080 stuff
00:27:02.400 all
00:27:02.960 I'm
00:27:03.160 arguing
00:27:03.420 for
00:27:03.840 is
00:27:04.880 that
00:27:05.060 we
00:27:05.220 should
00:27:05.460 recognize
00:27:06.020 the
00:27:06.640 truth
00:27:06.800 about
00:27:06.980 the
00:27:07.100 past
00:27:07.360 is
00:27:07.520 it
00:27:07.660 was
00:27:08.180 mixed
00:27:08.760 and
00:27:09.400 we
00:27:09.520 want
00:27:09.640 the
00:27:09.780 whole
00:27:10.020 truth
00:27:10.400 not
00:27:10.940 just
00:27:11.400 the
00:27:11.800 depressing
00:27:12.920 demoralizing
00:27:13.800 denigrative
00:27:14.860 pejorative
00:27:15.640 part
00:27:16.020 Nigel
00:27:17.720 we've
00:27:17.920 got
00:27:18.040 to
00:27:18.140 take
00:27:18.320 a
00:27:18.440 quick
00:27:18.620 break
00:27:18.860 but
00:27:19.140 when
00:27:19.520 we
00:27:19.660 come
00:27:19.840 back
00:27:20.180 there's
00:27:21.380 an
00:27:21.500 interesting
00:27:21.880 comparison
00:27:22.420 you
00:27:22.660 make
00:27:22.900 about
00:27:23.280 what
00:27:23.560 happened
00:27:23.960 in
00:27:24.340 India
00:27:25.740 as
00:27:26.140 part
00:27:26.380 of
00:27:26.660 British
00:27:27.020 colonial
00:27:27.380 history
00:27:27.800 and
00:27:27.920 I
00:27:27.980 want
00:27:28.100 to
00:27:28.180 ask
00:27:28.340 you
00:27:28.440 about
00:27:28.660 that
00:27:28.980 this
00:27:29.640 is
00:27:29.760 the
00:27:29.880 full
00:27:30.020 comment
00:27:30.320 podcast
00:27:30.840 I'm
00:27:31.180 Brian
00:27:31.420 Lily
00:27:31.660 when I
00:27:33.080 found
00:27:33.320 out
00:27:33.500 my
00:27:33.700 friend
00:27:33.980 got
00:27:34.180 a
00:27:34.320 great
00:27:34.640 deal
00:27:34.920 on
00:27:35.140 a
00:27:35.280 wool
00:27:35.440 coat
00:27:35.700 from
00:27:35.920 winners
00:27:36.240 I
00:27:36.820 started
00:27:37.300 wondering
00:27:37.820 is
00:27:38.460 every
00:27:39.020 fabulous
00:27:39.540 item
00:27:39.820 I
00:27:40.000 see
00:27:40.220 from
00:27:40.480 winners
00:27:40.840 like
00:27:41.540 that
00:27:41.820 woman
00:27:42.100 over
00:27:42.320 there
00:27:42.600 with
00:27:42.780 the
00:27:42.920 designer
00:27:43.200 jeans
00:27:43.740 are
00:27:44.180 those
00:27:44.620 from
00:27:44.860 winners
00:27:45.240 ooh
00:27:46.000 are
00:27:46.340 those
00:27:46.520 beautiful
00:27:46.840 gold
00:27:47.140 earrings
00:27:47.680 did
00:27:48.160 she
00:27:48.280 pay
00:27:48.440 full
00:27:48.600 price
00:27:49.080 or
00:27:49.500 that
00:27:49.620 leather
00:27:49.820 tote
00:27:50.200 or
00:27:50.480 that
00:27:50.620 cashmere
00:27:50.980 sweater
00:27:51.300 or
00:27:51.700 those
00:27:51.900 knee-high
00:27:52.220 boots
00:27:52.780 that
00:27:53.200 dress
00:27:53.680 that
00:27:54.000 jacket
00:27:54.400 those
00:27:54.700 shoes
00:27:55.340 is
00:27:55.740 anyone
00:27:56.320 paying
00:27:56.740 full
00:27:56.960 price
00:27:57.280 for
00:27:57.520 anything
00:27:58.040 stop
00:27:58.960 wondering
00:27:59.440 start
00:28:00.000 winning
00:28:00.380 winners
00:28:01.020 find
00:28:01.500 fabulous
00:28:02.060 for
00:28:02.320 less
00:28:02.700 if
00:28:04.320 you
00:28:04.620 want
00:28:04.920 to
00:28:05.220 have
00:28:05.700 a
00:28:05.940 fuller
00:28:06.260 view
00:28:06.520 of
00:28:06.800 history
00:28:07.160 definitely
00:28:08.380 recommend
00:28:09.000 colonialism
00:28:09.560 a moral
00:28:10.080 reckoning
00:28:10.560 it
00:28:11.340 comes
00:28:11.720 out
00:28:12.040 in
00:28:12.580 North
00:28:12.920 America
00:28:13.180 the
00:28:13.380 first
00:28:13.840 week
00:28:14.160 of
00:28:14.600 May
00:28:15.080 and
00:28:17.240 Nigel
00:28:17.820 you
00:28:18.480 make
00:28:18.700 an
00:28:18.840 interesting
00:28:19.260 comparison
00:28:19.780 in
00:28:20.880 your
00:28:21.020 book
00:28:21.200 and
00:28:21.320 you
00:28:21.420 say
00:28:21.660 you
00:28:22.480 know
00:28:22.600 as
00:28:22.740 you're
00:28:22.900 discussing
00:28:23.340 this
00:28:23.560 and
00:28:23.720 you
00:28:24.040 are
00:28:24.260 not
00:28:24.700 a
00:28:24.840 historian
00:28:25.240 you
00:28:25.880 are
00:28:26.040 an
00:28:26.160 ethicist
00:28:26.700 you've
00:28:28.000 studied
00:28:28.240 history
00:28:28.560 I
00:28:28.720 believe
00:28:28.900 but
00:28:29.140 that's
00:28:30.080 not
00:28:30.240 your
00:28:30.540 main
00:28:31.280 academic
00:28:31.840 area
00:28:32.820 but
00:28:33.340 you
00:28:33.460 say
00:28:33.620 from
00:28:33.800 an
00:28:33.940 ethical
00:28:34.220 point
00:28:34.580 of
00:28:34.740 view
00:28:34.900 look
00:28:36.080 at
00:28:36.220 two
00:28:36.360 different
00:28:36.640 things
00:28:37.000 and
00:28:37.140 I'd
00:28:37.580 like
00:28:37.720 you
00:28:37.820 to
00:28:37.920 explain
00:28:38.240 this
00:28:38.460 to
00:28:38.600 me
00:28:38.760 I've
00:28:39.460 long
00:28:40.020 cited
00:28:40.420 Charles
00:28:42.580 James
00:28:42.900 Napier
00:28:43.220 one of
00:28:43.500 the
00:28:43.620 governors
00:28:43.920 in
00:28:44.180 India
00:28:44.640 as
00:28:45.260 an
00:28:45.380 example
00:28:45.820 of
00:28:46.460 colonialism
00:28:48.200 not
00:28:48.780 always
00:28:49.060 being
00:28:49.280 bad
00:28:49.600 and
00:28:49.800 he's
00:28:50.360 the
00:28:50.620 governor
00:28:51.460 who
00:28:51.900 Britain
00:28:53.560 had
00:28:53.820 banned
00:28:54.240 the
00:28:54.540 practice
00:28:54.940 of
00:28:55.220 sati
00:28:55.680 and that
00:28:56.100 was
00:28:56.400 when
00:28:56.880 Hindu
00:28:58.420 women
00:28:59.580 would be
00:29:00.040 burned
00:29:00.380 on the
00:29:00.680 funeral
00:29:00.940 pyres
00:29:01.380 of
00:29:02.420 their
00:29:02.880 husbands
00:29:03.320 if their
00:29:03.720 husbands
00:29:04.000 died
00:29:04.320 first
00:29:04.660 while the
00:29:04.960 wife died
00:29:05.360 on the
00:29:05.620 funeral
00:29:05.860 pyre
00:29:06.260 and
00:29:07.140 the
00:29:07.860 British
00:29:08.100 banned
00:29:08.420 that
00:29:08.720 and the
00:29:08.960 Hindu
00:29:09.140 priest
00:29:09.400 went and
00:29:09.720 complained
00:29:10.060 to him
00:29:10.340 and he
00:29:10.520 said
00:29:10.740 well this
00:29:11.220 burning
00:29:11.600 of
00:29:11.800 widows
00:29:12.060 is your
00:29:12.400 custom
00:29:12.780 prepare
00:29:13.180 the
00:29:13.380 funeral
00:29:13.660 pyre
00:29:14.060 but my
00:29:14.760 nation
00:29:15.020 also has
00:29:15.560 a
00:29:15.700 custom
00:29:15.940 when
00:29:16.260 men
00:29:17.180 burn
00:29:17.580 women
00:29:17.900 alive
00:29:18.340 we hang
00:29:18.840 them
00:29:19.020 and confiscate
00:29:19.800 all their
00:29:20.060 property
00:29:20.480 my
00:29:21.100 carpenter
00:29:21.520 shall
00:29:21.740 therefore
00:29:22.160 erect
00:29:22.460 gibbets
00:29:22.980 on which
00:29:23.320 will hang
00:29:23.760 all
00:29:23.920 concerned
00:29:24.420 when the
00:29:24.820 widow
00:29:24.960 is
00:29:25.160 consumed
00:29:25.560 so let's
00:29:26.400 all act
00:29:27.100 according to
00:29:27.640 our national
00:29:28.060 customs
00:29:28.540 that really
00:29:30.240 helped
00:29:30.820 end the
00:29:31.920 practice of
00:29:32.460 burning
00:29:32.960 women
00:29:33.260 alive
00:29:33.660 which
00:29:33.900 I
00:29:34.480 don't know
00:29:35.600 how you
00:29:35.900 don't look
00:29:36.360 at that
00:29:36.600 as a
00:29:36.780 good
00:29:36.900 thing
00:29:37.160 but
00:29:37.900 you
00:29:39.300 rightly
00:29:39.760 point
00:29:40.140 out
00:29:40.320 okay
00:29:40.500 so
00:29:40.700 that's
00:29:41.540 good
00:29:41.820 but
00:29:42.100 how do
00:29:42.900 we
00:29:43.020 balance
00:29:43.360 that off
00:29:43.800 against
00:29:44.040 other
00:29:44.360 things
00:29:44.640 that
00:29:44.820 happened
00:29:45.080 like
00:29:45.300 Armistar
00:29:45.940 which
00:29:46.760 was
00:29:47.220 a
00:29:47.660 massacre
00:29:48.000 just
00:29:48.900 before I
00:29:49.860 get on
00:29:50.220 to the
00:29:50.440 really
00:29:50.700 crucial
00:29:51.200 question
00:29:51.560 of how
00:29:51.840 you
00:29:52.120 weigh
00:29:53.000 these
00:29:53.200 things
00:29:53.380 up
00:29:53.920 as a
00:29:54.700 whole
00:29:55.020 let me
00:29:55.700 just
00:29:55.860 comment
00:29:56.080 on
00:29:56.440 the
00:29:56.940 abolition
00:29:57.380 of
00:29:57.720 sati
00:29:58.120 this
00:29:58.500 practice
00:29:59.520 of
00:30:00.100 self
00:30:01.000 immolation
00:30:01.460 of
00:30:01.740 widows
00:30:02.620 so yes
00:30:04.640 when the
00:30:04.900 British
00:30:05.060 came across
00:30:05.540 this
00:30:05.800 in the
00:30:06.080 1820s
00:30:06.760 they
00:30:06.980 were
00:30:07.380 appalled
00:30:07.720 by it
00:30:08.060 but there
00:30:08.240 was a
00:30:08.460 discussion
00:30:08.820 about
00:30:09.220 how
00:30:10.800 best
00:30:11.300 to
00:30:11.660 deal
00:30:12.140 with it
00:30:12.540 because
00:30:12.960 the
00:30:13.320 worry
00:30:13.540 was
00:30:13.900 if you
00:30:14.360 try
00:30:15.340 and ban
00:30:15.740 it
00:30:15.880 and of
00:30:16.280 course
00:30:16.400 British
00:30:16.680 power
00:30:16.980 was not
00:30:17.340 omnipotent
00:30:18.780 British
00:30:19.660 power
00:30:19.800 was
00:30:19.920 limited
00:30:20.340 the
00:30:20.840 worry
00:30:21.080 is
00:30:21.340 that
00:30:21.560 you
00:30:21.760 so
00:30:22.200 incense
00:30:23.600 native
00:30:24.960 peoples
00:30:25.440 that
00:30:26.240 they
00:30:28.120 rise up
00:30:28.960 and revolt
00:30:29.340 and then
00:30:29.640 you've
00:30:29.780 got a
00:30:30.040 revolt on
00:30:30.460 your hands
00:30:30.840 so the
00:30:31.080 question is
00:30:31.400 how to
00:30:32.240 deal with
00:30:32.880 this
00:30:33.200 best
00:30:34.380 and
00:30:34.720 some
00:30:35.700 people
00:30:35.960 said
00:30:36.180 we need
00:30:36.480 to do
00:30:36.780 gradually
00:30:37.220 but
00:30:38.500 interestingly
00:30:38.900 it
00:30:39.180 was
00:30:39.340 an
00:30:39.640 Indian
00:30:40.120 social
00:30:40.620 reformer
00:30:41.540 Rammohan
00:30:42.160 Roy
00:30:42.480 who
00:30:43.860 campaigned
00:30:45.000 for
00:30:45.480 the
00:30:46.500 East
00:30:46.720 India
00:30:46.940 company
00:30:47.260 which
00:30:47.720 then
00:30:48.020 ruled
00:30:48.340 India
00:30:48.700 to
00:30:49.200 abolish
00:30:50.060 it
00:30:50.260 and
00:30:51.940 Roy's
00:30:52.620 view
00:30:52.900 prevailed
00:30:53.360 and in
00:30:53.640 fact
00:30:53.800 the
00:30:54.080 governor
00:30:54.660 general
00:30:54.960 did
00:30:55.200 abolish
00:30:55.540 it
00:30:55.660 and
00:30:55.780 there
00:30:55.900 wasn't
00:30:56.360 any
00:30:57.000 widespread
00:30:57.360 popular
00:30:57.760 reaction
00:30:58.160 but
00:30:58.360 again
00:30:58.980 Brian
00:30:59.520 going back
00:30:59.860 to the
00:31:00.240 discussion
00:31:00.940 of how
00:31:01.320 to
00:31:01.460 abolish
00:31:01.760 slavery
00:31:02.180 there
00:31:02.760 was a
00:31:03.060 discussion
00:31:03.440 about
00:31:03.660 do we
00:31:04.080 do it
00:31:04.300 gradually
00:31:04.600 or
00:31:04.880 do we
00:31:05.260 do it
00:31:05.340 immediately
00:31:05.700 because
00:31:06.160 you're
00:31:06.660 worried
00:31:06.840 about
00:31:07.000 what
00:31:07.180 consequences
00:31:07.660 you're
00:31:07.900 going to
00:31:08.040 have
00:31:08.300 if you
00:31:08.560 do it
00:31:08.920 abruptly
00:31:09.500 one
00:31:10.280 concern
00:31:10.960 about
00:31:11.380 abolishing
00:31:12.220 slavery
00:31:12.520 abruptly
00:31:12.940 is
00:31:13.220 does that
00:31:13.980 mean
00:31:14.180 that
00:31:14.320 the
00:31:14.680 plantations
00:31:15.720 become
00:31:16.400 bankrupt
00:31:17.220 and
00:31:17.500 insolvent
00:31:18.000 how
00:31:19.060 then
00:31:19.420 are
00:31:19.700 the
00:31:19.840 freed
00:31:20.080 slaves
00:31:20.300 going
00:31:20.460 to
00:31:20.520 be
00:31:20.640 employed
00:31:21.020 so
00:31:22.680 that
00:31:23.500 on
00:31:24.780 the
00:31:26.220 abolition
00:31:26.620 of
00:31:27.220 Satie
00:31:27.860 now
00:31:28.160 as I
00:31:29.880 say
00:31:30.060 in my
00:31:30.320 book
00:31:30.600 in the
00:31:31.040 conclusion
00:31:31.420 I
00:31:31.640 say
00:31:31.980 reviewing
00:31:33.420 the
00:31:33.660 history
00:31:33.880 of
00:31:34.020 British
00:31:34.180 empire
00:31:34.520 we
00:31:34.760 can
00:31:34.920 come
00:31:35.080 up
00:31:35.200 with
00:31:35.320 a
00:31:35.460 list
00:31:35.680 of
00:31:35.960 evils
00:31:36.680 and
00:31:36.800 injustices
00:31:37.440 slavery
00:31:38.800 economic
00:31:39.980 disruption
00:31:40.560 the
00:31:41.960 inadvertent
00:31:42.520 spread
00:31:42.760 of
00:31:42.900 disease
00:31:43.380 but on
00:31:44.660 the
00:31:44.740 other
00:31:44.860 hand
00:31:45.060 you've
00:31:45.280 got
00:31:45.540 a
00:31:46.280 list
00:31:46.880 of
00:31:47.320 benefits
00:31:47.940 the
00:31:48.700 abolition
00:31:49.100 of
00:31:49.440 in-germain
00:31:49.880 practices
00:31:50.300 like
00:31:50.760 sooty
00:31:51.360 or
00:31:51.800 child
00:31:52.260 sacrifice
00:31:52.940 or
00:31:53.420 slavery
00:31:54.300 or
00:31:54.780 infanticide
00:31:55.700 and
00:31:57.440 the
00:31:57.800 spread
00:31:58.120 of the
00:31:58.360 rule
00:31:58.480 of
00:31:58.620 law
00:31:58.960 the
00:31:59.220 pacification
00:31:59.840 of
00:32:00.500 otherwise
00:32:01.540 warring
00:32:02.560 peoples
00:32:03.520 you've
00:32:03.900 got
00:32:04.000 these
00:32:04.160 two
00:32:04.520 sets
00:32:05.060 of
00:32:05.280 goods
00:32:05.480 and
00:32:05.620 evils
00:32:05.960 you've
00:32:07.200 got
00:32:07.440 the
00:32:08.480 number
00:32:09.500 of
00:32:09.660 women
00:32:09.860 saved
00:32:10.280 from
00:32:10.440 the
00:32:10.540 funeral
00:32:10.760 pyres
00:32:11.340 versus
00:32:12.460 the
00:32:13.480 several
00:32:13.800 hundred
00:32:13.980 people
00:32:14.360 massacred
00:32:15.480 at
00:32:16.500 Amritsar
00:32:17.100 in
00:32:17.260 1919
00:32:17.940 19
00:32:18.200 which
00:32:18.960 weighs
00:32:19.200 more
00:32:19.400 heavily
00:32:19.700 well
00:32:20.520 I
00:32:20.620 think
00:32:20.800 just
00:32:21.200 to
00:32:21.320 ask
00:32:21.500 the
00:32:21.620 question
00:32:21.980 is
00:32:23.020 to
00:32:23.160 reveal
00:32:23.520 its
00:32:23.660 absurdity
00:32:24.100 you
00:32:24.220 can't
00:32:24.460 answer
00:32:24.740 it
00:32:24.960 in
00:32:25.200 terms
00:32:25.420 of
00:32:25.600 weighing
00:32:25.880 things
00:32:26.160 more
00:32:26.340 heavily
00:32:26.640 you've
00:32:27.940 just
00:32:28.040 got
00:32:28.180 two
00:32:28.420 sets
00:32:28.700 of
00:32:28.840 goods
00:32:29.000 and
00:32:29.140 evils
00:32:29.400 as
00:32:29.660 you
00:32:29.780 do
00:32:29.980 in
00:32:30.220 most
00:32:31.220 if
00:32:32.000 you
00:32:32.080 look
00:32:32.220 at
00:32:32.300 the
00:32:32.380 history
00:32:32.580 of
00:32:32.740 most
00:32:32.960 long
00:32:33.180 standing
00:32:33.400 states
00:32:33.760 you're
00:32:33.920 going
00:32:34.000 to
00:32:34.080 have
00:32:34.400 bunches
00:32:34.780 of
00:32:34.880 goods
00:32:35.040 and
00:32:35.480 evils
00:32:35.780 so
00:32:36.540 what
00:32:36.660 I
00:32:36.780 do
00:32:36.900 is
00:32:37.000 we
00:32:37.480 can't
00:32:37.700 sort
00:32:37.840 it
00:32:37.980 out
00:32:38.060 that
00:32:38.220 way
00:32:38.360 what
00:32:38.500 we
00:32:38.620 can
00:32:38.820 say
00:32:39.100 is
00:32:39.260 well
00:32:39.460 most
00:32:42.940 of us
00:32:43.180 would
00:32:43.300 agree
00:32:43.520 that
00:32:43.680 there
00:32:43.760 was
00:32:43.840 something
00:32:44.100 centrally
00:32:44.800 evil
00:32:45.840 about
00:32:46.240 the
00:32:46.460 Nazi
00:32:46.700 regime
00:32:47.060 in
00:32:47.220 Germany
00:32:47.500 it
00:32:47.940 was
00:32:48.060 essentially
00:32:48.520 racist
00:32:49.100 essentially
00:32:50.080 murderous
00:32:50.760 and
00:32:51.680 massively
00:32:52.420 so
00:32:52.860 so
00:32:53.500 was
00:32:53.780 there
00:32:53.920 something
00:32:54.320 can
00:32:55.200 we
00:32:55.320 say
00:32:55.460 the
00:32:55.600 British
00:32:55.860 Empire
00:32:56.100 that
00:32:56.320 it
00:32:56.400 was
00:32:56.500 similar
00:32:56.740 to
00:32:56.940 that
00:32:57.200 and
00:32:57.520 a
00:32:57.720 lot
00:32:57.860 of
00:32:58.000 the
00:32:58.220 popular
00:33:00.080 anti-colonial
00:33:01.620 activist
00:33:02.200 critics
00:33:02.560 of the
00:33:02.800 British
00:33:02.980 Empire
00:33:03.220 wanted
00:33:03.600 to
00:33:03.780 say
00:33:04.100 that
00:33:04.860 Churchill
00:33:05.200 was
00:33:05.480 like
00:33:05.700 Hitler
00:33:06.040 or
00:33:06.400 that
00:33:06.900 various
00:33:08.040 bits
00:33:08.340 of
00:33:08.460 the
00:33:08.560 British
00:33:08.720 Empire
00:33:09.060 behaved
00:33:09.600 like
00:33:10.060 the
00:33:10.260 Nazis
00:33:10.580 and
00:33:11.680 so
00:33:11.840 I
00:33:11.940 look
00:33:12.100 at
00:33:12.200 that
00:33:12.340 in
00:33:12.460 my
00:33:12.580 book
00:33:12.780 and
00:33:12.900 I
00:33:13.020 say
00:33:13.240 no
00:33:13.840 folks
00:33:14.180 really
00:33:14.500 not
00:33:14.780 there
00:33:14.940 was
00:33:15.060 nothing
00:33:15.480 in
00:33:16.200 the
00:33:16.300 history
00:33:16.440 of the
00:33:16.840 British
00:33:17.020 Empire
00:33:17.280 that
00:33:17.480 was
00:33:17.620 similar
00:33:17.880 to
00:33:18.060 what
00:33:18.180 happened
00:33:18.440 in
00:33:18.620 Nazi
00:33:18.980 Germany
00:33:19.780 so
00:33:21.560 then
00:33:21.780 I
00:33:21.900 say
00:33:22.040 we
00:33:22.220 can't
00:33:22.640 say
00:33:22.800 it
00:33:22.900 was
00:33:22.980 essentially
00:33:23.360 racist
00:33:23.740 or
00:33:23.980 essentially
00:33:24.340 exploitative
00:33:24.920 or
00:33:25.480 essentially
00:33:25.840 given
00:33:26.140 to
00:33:26.300 wanted
00:33:26.480 violence
00:33:27.000 that's
00:33:27.720 the
00:33:27.800 second
00:33:28.020 stage
00:33:28.300 and
00:33:28.400 the
00:33:28.520 third
00:33:28.720 stage
00:33:29.020 is
00:33:29.160 to
00:33:29.280 say
00:33:29.540 what
00:33:30.820 we
00:33:30.960 can
00:33:31.140 say
00:33:31.340 also
00:33:31.660 is
00:33:32.020 that
00:33:32.200 from
00:33:32.840 the
00:33:32.980 early
00:33:33.160 1800s
00:33:34.500 starting
00:33:35.200 with
00:33:35.420 slavery
00:33:35.860 expanding
00:33:36.940 to
00:33:37.380 a
00:33:37.680 wider
00:33:37.880 concern
00:33:38.420 for
00:33:38.720 the
00:33:38.900 plight
00:33:39.220 of
00:33:39.520 native
00:33:40.560 peoples
00:33:40.900 in
00:33:41.180 Australia
00:33:41.620 Africa
00:33:42.220 and
00:33:42.680 Canada
00:33:43.420 there
00:33:44.040 was a
00:33:44.260 growing
00:33:44.540 humanitarian
00:33:45.000 concern
00:33:45.740 allied
00:33:48.100 to
00:33:48.580 a
00:33:49.480 growing
00:33:49.680 liberal
00:33:50.100 movement
00:33:50.720 whereby
00:33:51.520 the
00:33:52.440 different
00:33:52.620 bits
00:33:52.800 of
00:33:52.900 the
00:33:53.020 empire
00:33:53.420 starting
00:33:53.960 with
00:33:54.140 Canada
00:33:54.480 in
00:33:54.740 the
00:33:54.820 1860s
00:33:55.520 then
00:33:56.020 Australia
00:33:56.340 New
00:33:56.580 Zealand
00:33:56.860 South
00:33:57.160 Africa
00:33:57.520 become
00:33:59.060 increasingly
00:33:59.500 independent
00:33:59.960 so
00:34:00.360 there's
00:34:00.520 a
00:34:00.600 recognition
00:34:00.980 that
00:34:01.280 Britain
00:34:01.500 can't
00:34:01.840 retain
00:34:02.180 tight
00:34:02.480 control
00:34:02.880 over
00:34:03.220 the
00:34:04.080 empire
00:34:04.320 has
00:34:04.560 to
00:34:04.680 be
00:34:04.920 a
00:34:05.520 more
00:34:05.680 loosely
00:34:06.020 associated
00:34:07.300 group
00:34:07.660 of
00:34:08.360 sympathetic
00:34:10.240 states
00:34:11.200 and
00:34:11.620 that
00:34:11.760 was
00:34:12.040 extended
00:34:12.680 to
00:34:12.980 India
00:34:13.360 after
00:34:13.700 the
00:34:13.860 first
00:34:14.040 world
00:34:14.260 war
00:34:14.540 so
00:34:14.700 there's
00:34:14.880 a
00:34:14.940 sense
00:34:15.120 in
00:34:15.220 which
00:34:15.340 the
00:34:15.580 empire
00:34:16.000 has
00:34:16.260 to
00:34:16.400 evolve
00:34:16.760 from
00:34:16.980 an
00:34:17.100 empire
00:34:17.520 into
00:34:18.080 what
00:34:18.260 it
00:34:18.360 became
00:34:18.760 a
00:34:19.400 commonwealth
00:34:19.960 of
00:34:20.760 sympathetic
00:34:21.540 nations
00:34:22.640 and
00:34:23.560 then
00:34:23.720 finally
00:34:24.100 I
00:34:24.320 say
00:34:24.560 look
00:34:25.620 at
00:34:25.720 how
00:34:25.820 the
00:34:25.940 empire
00:34:26.140 exhausted
00:34:26.500 itself
00:34:27.000 the
00:34:27.760 empire
00:34:28.000 was
00:34:28.180 at
00:34:28.480 its
00:34:28.620 most
00:34:28.960 violent
00:34:29.380 during
00:34:30.180 the
00:34:30.360 second
00:34:30.520 world
00:34:30.760 war
00:34:31.080 fighting
00:34:31.860 Nazi
00:34:32.940 Germany
00:34:33.340 and
00:34:34.240 manifestly
00:34:36.400 racist
00:34:36.920 Japanese
00:34:38.240 imperialism
00:34:39.220 and
00:34:40.020 and
00:34:40.040 the
00:34:42.160 army
00:34:43.860 that
00:34:44.080 fought
00:34:44.400 the
00:34:46.320 part
00:34:47.400 of
00:34:47.480 the
00:34:47.560 empire
00:34:47.760 that
00:34:47.920 contributed
00:34:48.200 most
00:34:48.520 troops
00:34:48.800 was
00:34:49.220 India
00:34:49.500 and
00:34:50.420 Indian
00:34:50.740 troops
00:34:51.080 volunteered
00:34:51.560 to fight
00:34:52.160 against
00:34:52.440 Japan
00:34:52.820 and
00:34:53.820 they
00:34:53.980 also
00:34:54.200 volunteered
00:34:54.600 to fight
00:34:54.900 in
00:34:55.000 Europe
00:34:55.120 my own
00:34:55.480 father
00:34:55.760 fought
00:34:56.080 alongside
00:34:56.620 Indians
00:34:57.520 and was
00:34:57.780 at one
00:34:57.960 point
00:34:58.180 mistaken
00:34:58.640 for
00:34:58.800 an
00:34:58.900 Indian
00:34:59.120 by
00:34:59.400 some
00:34:59.620 GIs
00:34:59.960 in
00:35:00.100 Italy
00:35:00.380 so
00:35:02.140 the
00:35:03.180 empire
00:35:03.520 expended
00:35:04.000 itself
00:35:04.440 fighting
00:35:05.440 the
00:35:06.200 massively
00:35:06.800 murderous
00:35:07.540 racist
00:35:08.480 state
00:35:08.860 of
00:35:09.060 Nazi
00:35:09.420 Germany
00:35:09.840 and
00:35:10.460 between
00:35:10.940 May
00:35:11.560 1940
00:35:12.080 when
00:35:12.600 France
00:35:12.900 fell
00:35:13.200 and
00:35:13.840 June
00:35:14.040 1941
00:35:14.480 when
00:35:14.880 Russia
00:35:15.100 came
00:35:15.340 into
00:35:15.640 the war
00:35:16.320 against
00:35:16.700 Germany
00:35:17.480 the
00:35:18.100 British
00:35:18.300 empire
00:35:18.680 was the
00:35:19.240 only
00:35:19.740 military
00:35:20.820 force
00:35:21.200 in the
00:35:21.520 field
00:35:21.720 against
00:35:22.000 Nazi
00:35:22.280 Germany
00:35:22.640 with the
00:35:23.260 sole exception
00:35:23.720 of
00:35:23.960 Greece
00:35:24.240 now
00:35:25.300 the
00:35:25.600 empire
00:35:25.820 remained
00:35:26.440 a moral
00:35:27.240 mixture
00:35:27.540 to the
00:35:28.000 end
00:35:28.300 but I
00:35:30.120 think
00:35:30.280 you can
00:35:30.540 argue
00:35:30.820 that there
00:35:31.200 were
00:35:31.420 increasingly
00:35:31.900 strong
00:35:32.380 humanitarian
00:35:32.940 liberal
00:35:33.300 strands
00:35:33.840 that
00:35:34.600 determined
00:35:35.260 the
00:35:35.640 empire's
00:35:36.940 direction
00:35:37.720 it's
00:35:40.140 interesting
00:35:40.520 you mentioned
00:35:41.040 your father
00:35:41.680 fighting
00:35:42.100 in Europe
00:35:42.800 alongside
00:35:43.260 Indian
00:35:44.620 soldiers
00:35:44.980 my
00:35:45.180 grandfather
00:35:45.560 fought
00:35:46.140 in
00:35:47.560 Burma
00:35:47.920 alongside
00:35:48.380 Indian
00:35:48.940 and
00:35:49.540 Gurkha
00:35:50.080 troops
00:35:50.460 to
00:35:50.980 liberate
00:35:52.180 Burma
00:35:52.740 from
00:35:52.980 Japan
00:35:53.380 yes
00:35:54.040 so
00:35:55.160 my
00:35:56.120 family
00:35:56.400 background
00:35:56.780 is
00:35:57.320 Irish
00:35:57.940 and
00:35:58.160 Catholic
00:35:58.480 and
00:35:59.080 that
00:35:59.720 part
00:35:59.980 of
00:36:00.060 the
00:36:00.320 empire
00:36:00.960 not
00:36:01.940 exactly
00:36:02.380 great
00:36:02.800 for
00:36:02.980 my
00:36:03.140 people
00:36:03.440 starting
00:36:04.960 from
00:36:05.220 1100
00:36:05.840 until
00:36:06.220 some
00:36:06.760 would
00:36:06.940 say
00:36:07.120 still
00:36:07.320 going
00:36:07.600 on
00:36:07.780 today
00:36:08.000 there's
00:36:08.340 a
00:36:09.020 colonial
00:36:09.360 aspect
00:36:10.000 to
00:36:10.840 Britain's
00:36:11.280 desires
00:36:11.720 on
00:36:12.800 Ireland
00:36:13.580 and
00:36:13.840 at times
00:36:14.700 it
00:36:14.900 had been
00:36:15.320 fine
00:36:15.720 hundreds
00:36:16.240 of years
00:36:16.620 with no
00:36:16.960 problems
00:36:17.340 at other
00:36:17.840 times
00:36:18.140 the penal
00:36:18.580 code
00:36:19.000 and
00:36:19.280 other
00:36:20.180 horrific
00:36:20.600 measures
00:36:21.540 the
00:36:21.740 famine
00:36:22.020 but
00:36:23.800 colonialism
00:36:25.340 is not
00:36:26.480 something
00:36:26.800 that was
00:36:27.060 just
00:36:27.260 practiced
00:36:27.560 by
00:36:27.800 Britain
00:36:28.040 or
00:36:28.200 even
00:36:28.380 just
00:36:28.580 by
00:36:28.780 Western
00:36:29.160 European
00:36:29.740 countries
00:36:30.200 it's
00:36:30.700 gone
00:36:30.900 on
00:36:31.120 forever
00:36:31.460 and
00:36:32.360 there
00:36:32.480 are
00:36:32.580 times
00:36:32.880 when
00:36:33.180 I
00:36:33.560 look
00:36:33.960 and
00:36:34.600 I
00:36:34.960 say
00:36:35.200 well
00:36:35.560 if you're
00:36:36.800 going to be
00:36:37.060 conquered
00:36:37.320 by somebody
00:36:37.940 it's
00:36:38.400 better
00:36:38.860 that it's
00:36:39.260 Britain
00:36:39.560 than some
00:36:40.520 of these
00:36:40.800 other
00:36:41.040 colonial
00:36:41.380 powers
00:36:41.820 because
00:36:42.260 a lot
00:36:43.140 of them
00:36:43.380 were worse
00:36:43.980 am I
00:36:45.240 looking at
00:36:45.600 things
00:36:45.840 through
00:36:46.040 rose
00:36:46.740 colored
00:36:47.060 glasses
00:36:47.460 no
00:36:48.620 I mean
00:36:48.980 I do
00:36:49.400 point
00:36:49.660 out
00:36:49.880 that
00:36:50.180 it's
00:36:52.920 not a
00:36:53.340 coincidence
00:36:53.660 that the
00:36:54.000 British
00:36:54.200 Empire
00:36:54.620 has
00:36:54.900 given
00:36:55.120 birth
00:36:55.560 to
00:36:56.900 the
00:36:57.140 most
00:36:57.620 prosperous
00:36:59.160 and most
00:36:59.600 liberal
00:36:59.960 societies
00:37:00.720 now on
00:37:01.480 earth
00:37:01.780 and the
00:37:02.580 United
00:37:02.880 States
00:37:03.300 of course
00:37:04.540 is part
00:37:05.160 of that
00:37:05.440 it broke
00:37:06.100 off
00:37:06.240 from the
00:37:06.440 empire
00:37:06.600 early
00:37:06.980 but
00:37:07.460 it's
00:37:08.500 general
00:37:09.880 direction
00:37:10.520 was set
00:37:11.160 by
00:37:11.520 British
00:37:12.380 political
00:37:12.720 ideas
00:37:13.320 and then
00:37:14.160 of course
00:37:14.420 Canada
00:37:14.740 Australia
00:37:15.060 New Zealand
00:37:15.600 and
00:37:17.400 actually
00:37:17.780 Israel
00:37:18.420 it's
00:37:20.640 not a
00:37:20.860 coincidence
00:37:21.180 and
00:37:23.260 also
00:37:26.260 I remember
00:37:27.040 visiting
00:37:27.640 Shanghai
00:37:28.160 some years
00:37:29.520 ago
00:37:29.760 and was
00:37:30.020 met by
00:37:30.480 a young
00:37:30.960 man
00:37:32.300 from
00:37:32.500 Singapore
00:37:32.820 and we
00:37:33.620 introduced
00:37:34.020 our names
00:37:34.500 and his
00:37:34.720 name was
00:37:35.000 Daniel
00:37:35.360 and without
00:37:36.280 pausing for
00:37:36.700 breath
00:37:36.880 he said
00:37:37.280 to me
00:37:37.880 I want
00:37:39.900 to say
00:37:40.440 to you
00:37:40.720 that we
00:37:41.200 in Singapore
00:37:42.120 we are
00:37:42.560 grateful
00:37:42.840 to you
00:37:43.180 British
00:37:43.440 for
00:37:44.000 establishing
00:37:44.940 the rule
00:37:45.280 of law
00:37:45.700 and
00:37:47.640 in the
00:37:50.020 1950s
00:37:51.780 late
00:37:53.160 50s
00:37:53.560 and early
00:37:53.800 60s
00:37:55.180 something
00:37:56.100 like
00:37:56.580 something
00:37:57.200 over a
00:37:57.600 million
00:37:57.780 no one
00:37:58.100 knows
00:37:58.220 quite how
00:37:58.540 many
00:37:58.800 over a
00:37:59.520 million
00:37:59.840 Chinese
00:38:01.440 volunteered
00:38:02.120 to leave
00:38:03.200 mainland
00:38:03.580 China
00:38:03.940 which at
00:38:04.240 that point
00:38:04.620 was in
00:38:04.980 the middle
00:38:05.240 of civil
00:38:05.580 war
00:38:06.000 to enter
00:38:07.260 the
00:38:07.720 non-democratic
00:38:09.540 British
00:38:09.960 colony
00:38:10.340 of Hong
00:38:10.700 Kong
00:38:11.040 and they
00:38:12.380 stayed
00:38:12.660 there
00:38:12.980 because at
00:38:14.560 least
00:38:14.920 the British
00:38:16.220 colony
00:38:16.880 of Hong
00:38:17.200 Kong
00:38:17.420 had the
00:38:18.020 rule
00:38:18.140 of law
00:38:18.520 where they
00:38:18.900 could
00:38:19.220 establish
00:38:21.460 a life
00:38:22.620 and where
00:38:23.840 the legal
00:38:25.180 structures
00:38:25.560 around them
00:38:25.920 were fairly
00:38:26.260 secure
00:38:26.640 and predictable
00:38:27.380 and I
00:38:29.500 remember
00:38:29.700 asking a
00:38:30.460 Chinese
00:38:32.920 Hong
00:38:33.320 Kong
00:38:33.600 academic
00:38:34.500 colleague
00:38:35.020 when he
00:38:35.640 visited
00:38:35.880 Oxford
00:38:36.180 I said
00:38:36.580 what did
00:38:38.280 you make
00:38:38.640 of what do
00:38:39.200 you think
00:38:39.540 about the
00:38:40.040 British
00:38:40.400 colonial
00:38:41.120 legacy
00:38:41.460 in Hong
00:38:41.860 Kong
00:38:42.160 and he
00:38:43.260 said well
00:38:43.720 you know
00:38:44.020 if in the
00:38:44.740 1950s
00:38:45.600 China had
00:38:46.480 been a
00:38:46.680 liberal
00:38:46.840 democracy
00:38:47.360 Hong
00:38:48.080 Kong
00:38:48.220 wouldn't
00:38:48.460 look so
00:38:48.840 good
00:38:49.080 but given
00:38:49.460 what the
00:38:49.720 alternatives
00:38:50.120 were
00:38:50.540 Hong Kong
00:38:52.440 was much
00:38:53.480 preferable
00:38:53.980 and he
00:38:54.240 said my
00:38:54.700 grandmother
00:38:55.520 was one
00:38:56.440 of those
00:38:56.940 who
00:38:57.360 fled
00:38:58.740 mainland
00:38:59.460 China
00:38:59.820 for Hong
00:39:00.440 Kong
00:39:00.640 in the
00:39:00.900 50s
00:39:01.160 and 60s
00:39:01.760 and he
00:39:02.560 said she
00:39:02.760 never learned
00:39:03.100 to speak
00:39:03.360 English
00:39:03.700 but she
00:39:04.880 became a
00:39:05.480 lifelong
00:39:05.860 devotee
00:39:06.320 of Princess
00:39:06.700 Di
00:39:07.100 so I
00:39:11.760 guess
00:39:12.040 all I
00:39:12.660 want to
00:39:12.840 say is
00:39:13.120 that you
00:39:13.820 know
00:39:14.040 when you
00:39:16.020 think about
00:39:16.440 colonial
00:39:17.000 rule
00:39:17.500 you need
00:39:17.800 to think
00:39:17.920 what were
00:39:18.460 the
00:39:18.580 alternatives
00:39:19.040 what were
00:39:19.580 the
00:39:20.040 and I
00:39:20.800 think
00:39:20.960 sometimes
00:39:21.520 British
00:39:22.200 colonial
00:39:22.400 rule
00:39:22.700 looks
00:39:23.040 the
00:39:24.240 best
00:39:24.540 as we
00:39:26.940 said
00:39:27.180 earlier
00:39:27.500 when I
00:39:28.220 look at
00:39:28.580 it
00:39:28.720 through
00:39:29.060 the
00:39:29.820 lens
00:39:30.100 of
00:39:30.340 what
00:39:30.740 happened
00:39:31.040 in
00:39:31.200 Ireland
00:39:31.460 it
00:39:31.700 was
00:39:32.040 at
00:39:33.140 times
00:39:34.020 it
00:39:34.260 brought
00:39:34.780 good
00:39:35.000 things
00:39:35.300 and at
00:39:35.580 times
00:39:35.840 it was
00:39:36.100 absolutely
00:39:36.660 horrific
00:39:37.120 and I
00:39:37.500 think
00:39:37.740 any
00:39:39.300 good
00:39:40.360 assessment
00:39:40.760 has to
00:39:41.300 look at
00:39:41.620 both
00:39:42.480 and
00:39:43.240 unfortunately
00:39:44.180 now
00:39:44.560 we've
00:39:45.540 gone
00:39:45.780 from
00:39:46.200 employing
00:39:48.040 a
00:39:48.140 hagiography
00:39:48.720 of these
00:39:49.160 things
00:39:49.460 where
00:39:50.000 they were
00:39:50.320 always
00:39:50.600 good
00:39:50.900 to
00:39:51.180 going
00:39:51.440 in
00:39:51.600 the
00:39:51.720 opposite
00:39:51.980 direction
00:39:52.380 where
00:39:52.720 it's
00:39:53.300 always
00:39:53.540 bad
00:39:53.860 and
00:39:53.980 it's
00:39:54.100 always
00:39:54.320 evil
00:39:54.600 and
00:39:54.800 how
00:39:55.280 could
00:39:55.460 we
00:39:55.580 not
00:39:55.760 know
00:39:55.980 that
00:39:56.260 the
00:39:57.140 truth
00:39:57.400 is
00:39:57.540 somewhere
00:39:57.800 in
00:39:58.020 the
00:39:58.140 middle
00:39:58.320 I
00:39:59.100 think
00:39:59.320 you're
00:39:59.700 right
00:40:00.060 British
00:40:02.620 involvement
00:40:04.220 in
00:40:04.780 Ireland
00:40:05.340 was
00:40:06.040 sometimes
00:40:07.080 rapacious
00:40:07.760 the famine
00:40:09.840 it's
00:40:10.920 clear to me
00:40:11.280 was not
00:40:11.740 caused
00:40:12.780 by the
00:40:13.100 British
00:40:13.380 the
00:40:14.060 question
00:40:14.300 is
00:40:14.440 whether
00:40:14.600 the
00:40:14.860 British
00:40:15.220 government
00:40:15.460 could
00:40:15.660 have
00:40:15.820 more
00:40:16.000 than
00:40:16.140 it
00:40:16.280 did
00:40:16.520 to
00:40:16.740 relieve
00:40:17.020 it
00:40:17.240 and
00:40:17.740 that's
00:40:17.940 controversial
00:40:18.460 but I
00:40:21.740 think it's
00:40:22.000 important to
00:40:22.460 note that
00:40:23.020 there were
00:40:24.280 bona fide
00:40:24.920 attempts
00:40:25.460 throughout the
00:40:26.600 1800s
00:40:27.440 and especially
00:40:27.880 toward the
00:40:28.340 end of the
00:40:28.660 1800s to
00:40:29.220 reform
00:40:29.820 British
00:40:31.320 Ireland
00:40:31.720 particularly in
00:40:33.060 terms of
00:40:33.500 tenure of
00:40:33.960 land
00:40:34.360 and admitting
00:40:35.320 Catholics
00:40:35.760 to the
00:40:38.380 police and
00:40:38.860 the judiciary
00:40:39.340 and the
00:40:40.220 legal profession
00:40:40.880 and government
00:40:41.660 and around
00:40:42.820 early 1900s
00:40:44.820 a lot of
00:40:45.920 the reforms
00:40:46.380 had been
00:40:47.280 effective
00:40:47.660 so let's
00:40:50.160 take for
00:40:50.440 granted that
00:40:50.920 all political
00:40:51.440 systems are
00:40:52.300 flawed
00:40:52.740 one important
00:40:55.200 sign of
00:40:56.840 their health
00:40:57.440 is whether
00:40:58.640 they're capable
00:40:59.100 of reforming
00:41:00.200 themselves
00:41:00.440 and I think
00:41:01.140 partly because
00:41:02.180 of Irish
00:41:02.700 representation
00:41:03.680 in the
00:41:04.200 British
00:41:04.400 Parliament
00:41:04.780 in the
00:41:05.160 19th
00:41:05.680 century
00:41:06.100 the question
00:41:07.780 of Ireland
00:41:08.160 was kept
00:41:08.560 right at
00:41:08.820 the top
00:41:09.040 of the
00:41:09.240 British
00:41:09.400 agenda
00:41:09.780 and it
00:41:10.440 did produce
00:41:10.880 change
00:41:11.380 that's
00:41:12.000 my piece
00:41:12.640 on Ireland
00:41:12.980 and quite
00:41:13.840 a bit
00:41:14.080 of it
00:41:14.280 from the
00:41:14.600 Anglo-Irish
00:41:15.160 themselves
00:41:15.580 so like
00:41:17.240 I said
00:41:17.560 the good
00:41:18.160 and the
00:41:18.480 bad
00:41:18.660 absolutely
00:41:19.140 this sense
00:41:22.160 that it's
00:41:24.760 only been
00:41:25.120 the British
00:41:25.520 that were
00:41:26.200 colonial
00:41:26.660 or bad
00:41:27.720 colonials
00:41:28.220 or it was
00:41:29.300 just Western
00:41:29.860 Europeans
00:41:30.380 just walk
00:41:33.680 us through
00:41:34.040 that notion
00:41:35.000 I mean
00:41:35.420 my view
00:41:36.120 of history
00:41:36.500 I think
00:41:37.500 of whether
00:41:38.360 it's Persian
00:41:39.280 empires
00:41:39.840 Mongol
00:41:40.340 empires
00:41:40.980 African
00:41:41.500 empires
00:41:41.780 there have
00:41:42.660 been empires
00:41:43.180 everywhere
00:41:43.580 there has
00:41:43.900 been colonialism
00:41:44.520 everywhere
00:41:45.060 and for most
00:41:45.920 of human
00:41:46.300 history
00:41:46.680 it has
00:41:47.680 not been
00:41:48.260 a matter
00:41:49.900 of
00:41:50.600 self-determination
00:41:53.300 by various
00:41:54.420 ethnic groups
00:41:55.440 it's been
00:41:56.160 quite the
00:41:56.680 opposite
00:41:57.020 that's
00:41:59.100 right
00:41:59.460 we need to
00:42:03.660 think about
00:42:03.960 what an
00:42:04.380 empire is
00:42:05.060 and often
00:42:05.520 what an
00:42:06.780 empire is
00:42:07.460 is simply
00:42:07.820 people expanding
00:42:08.720 so in
00:42:10.460 Anglo-Saxon
00:42:11.320 England
00:42:11.520 you have
00:42:12.140 lots of
00:42:12.600 little
00:42:13.160 kingdoms
00:42:13.600 all of
00:42:14.340 which
00:42:14.600 are vying
00:42:15.620 with one
00:42:15.920 another
00:42:16.220 and their
00:42:18.020 borders are
00:42:18.560 insecure
00:42:18.920 and one
00:42:20.640 way to
00:42:20.840 make yourself
00:42:21.180 secure is
00:42:23.420 to take
00:42:24.400 control of
00:42:24.960 a joining
00:42:25.260 territory
00:42:25.740 and where
00:42:27.000 you have
00:42:27.340 an unstable
00:42:28.320 situation like
00:42:29.680 that you do
00:42:30.240 find particular
00:42:30.960 peoples expanding
00:42:31.760 and controlling
00:42:33.020 other peoples
00:42:33.560 and exactly
00:42:34.200 the same
00:42:34.660 happened
00:42:35.060 in what
00:42:36.960 became
00:42:37.300 Canada
00:42:37.700 among
00:42:38.200 First Nations
00:42:39.140 First Nations
00:42:39.680 were not
00:42:40.040 sitting there
00:42:40.680 with well
00:42:41.540 defined
00:42:41.840 boundaries
00:42:42.340 forever
00:42:42.800 in the
00:42:44.440 16th
00:42:44.900 1700s
00:42:46.240 various
00:42:47.020 of the
00:42:48.540 First Nations
00:42:49.060 were vying
00:42:50.140 with each
00:42:50.480 other and
00:42:50.840 pushing each
00:42:51.300 other off
00:42:51.720 land and
00:42:52.140 taking control
00:42:52.640 of it and
00:42:53.020 expanding
00:42:53.460 I'm thinking
00:42:54.040 I think I'm
00:42:54.960 thinking of
00:42:55.340 the Iroquois
00:42:56.040 in particular
00:42:56.580 so this
00:42:58.060 notion of
00:42:58.880 imperial expansion
00:42:59.660 is not
00:43:00.080 European
00:43:00.560 the Zulu
00:43:02.000 in South
00:43:02.300 Africa
00:43:02.680 emerged
00:43:04.980 on the
00:43:05.240 scene
00:43:05.380 in the
00:43:05.540 1920s
00:43:06.040 and
00:43:06.200 expanded
00:43:06.680 and
00:43:07.260 pushed
00:43:07.660 other
00:43:08.240 African
00:43:08.520 peoples
00:43:08.860 to
00:43:09.680 three
00:43:09.940 of the
00:43:10.180 four
00:43:10.380 winds
00:43:10.840 so
00:43:12.260 an
00:43:12.980 empire
00:43:13.320 you're
00:43:13.660 right
00:43:13.860 it's
00:43:14.440 been a
00:43:14.800 phenomenon
00:43:15.120 since
00:43:16.580 ancient
00:43:17.100 period
00:43:17.480 as I
00:43:17.920 say
00:43:18.040 until
00:43:18.420 in the
00:43:19.240 Ottoman
00:43:19.860 case
00:43:20.140 of the
00:43:20.300 1920s
00:43:21.160 I've
00:43:21.940 been
00:43:22.060 running
00:43:22.420 a
00:43:23.040 project
00:43:23.520 for the
00:43:24.660 last
00:43:24.880 six
00:43:25.240 years
00:43:25.580 called
00:43:25.860 Ethics
00:43:26.160 and
00:43:26.280 Empire
00:43:26.720 designed
00:43:27.640 to look
00:43:28.080 at how
00:43:28.680 peoples
00:43:29.740 in the
00:43:30.040 past
00:43:30.400 ancient
00:43:30.880 China
00:43:31.320 the
00:43:32.160 medieval
00:43:32.480 Muslim
00:43:32.800 world
00:43:33.160 how
00:43:33.540 did
00:43:33.720 they
00:43:33.880 see
00:43:34.140 empire
00:43:34.720 ethically
00:43:35.660 in their
00:43:37.000 own
00:43:37.200 terms
00:43:37.480 at their
00:43:37.820 own
00:43:38.020 time
00:43:38.420 one
00:43:39.540 really
00:43:41.120 striking
00:43:42.180 result
00:43:43.720 of
00:43:44.280 our
00:43:44.780 five
00:43:45.800 six
00:43:46.060 year
00:43:46.360 research
00:43:46.900 is that
00:43:47.380 if you
00:43:48.540 look for
00:43:49.180 ancient
00:43:50.500 Chinese
00:43:50.980 or medieval
00:43:51.720 Muslim
00:43:52.340 critiques
00:43:53.760 of empire
00:43:54.720 as such
00:43:55.280 you won't
00:43:55.840 find them
00:43:56.240 you will
00:43:57.380 find discussions
00:43:58.060 of what
00:43:58.560 makes for
00:43:59.740 a virtuous
00:44:00.340 or vicious
00:44:01.440 emperor
00:44:01.860 you'll
00:44:04.060 find
00:44:04.600 treatises
00:44:05.020 and what
00:44:05.340 makes for
00:44:05.800 good and
00:44:06.140 bad
00:44:06.320 government
00:44:06.760 but empire
00:44:07.780 as a
00:44:08.020 political
00:44:08.240 form was
00:44:08.620 completely
00:44:09.100 unremarkable
00:44:09.720 because it
00:44:10.300 was so
00:44:10.600 common
00:44:10.920 it was
00:44:11.640 just there
00:44:12.200 it was
00:44:13.100 one of
00:44:13.500 the options
00:44:14.060 just there
00:44:15.540 and for
00:44:17.440 some people
00:44:18.200 the virtues
00:44:22.280 of empire
00:44:22.760 were clear
00:44:23.800 that's to
00:44:24.200 say if you
00:44:24.860 have an
00:44:25.160 overarching
00:44:25.540 authority
00:44:26.140 one thing
00:44:27.120 the authority
00:44:27.560 can do
00:44:27.980 is to
00:44:28.360 moderate
00:44:28.760 conflicts
00:44:29.480 between
00:44:29.920 different
00:44:30.560 peoples
00:44:31.040 and
00:44:33.200 so what
00:44:34.380 happens
00:44:35.360 when
00:44:35.680 empires
00:44:36.100 collapses
00:44:36.680 that
00:44:37.560 conflicts
00:44:37.960 that were
00:44:38.320 contained
00:44:38.900 blow up
00:44:40.160 and you
00:44:41.020 found that
00:44:41.600 to some
00:44:42.360 extent
00:44:42.820 when the
00:44:44.480 federation
00:44:45.060 of Yugoslavia
00:44:45.640 collapsed
00:44:46.140 in the
00:44:46.960 1990s
00:44:48.260 long
00:44:48.820 contained
00:44:50.040 conflicts
00:44:50.860 blew up
00:44:51.700 and there
00:44:52.000 was horrific
00:44:53.480 bloodshed
00:44:54.100 depending on
00:44:57.480 who you
00:44:57.800 speak to
00:44:58.360 Yugoslavia
00:44:59.400 was a
00:45:00.880 model of
00:45:01.540 good
00:45:01.880 governance
00:45:02.280 or
00:45:02.920 oppression
00:45:03.840 so we're
00:45:08.600 back to
00:45:09.040 looking at
00:45:09.960 all of
00:45:12.040 this as
00:45:13.360 being much
00:45:14.580 more complex
00:45:15.360 than I think
00:45:15.820 we often
00:45:16.200 give credit
00:45:16.680 for
00:45:16.980 history
00:45:17.640 is a
00:45:18.560 messy
00:45:18.780 business
00:45:19.300 it's a
00:45:19.860 really
00:45:19.960 fascinating
00:45:20.320 business
00:45:20.660 Nigel
00:45:24.440 I want to
00:45:25.560 thank you
00:45:25.820 for your
00:45:26.040 time
00:45:26.240 I want to
00:45:26.580 thank you
00:45:26.880 for your
00:45:27.780 book
00:45:28.020 I'm going
00:45:28.300 to encourage
00:45:28.700 everyone to
00:45:29.260 read it
00:45:29.940 if you're
00:45:30.220 a historian
00:45:30.800 not like
00:45:31.700 I am
00:45:32.140 and it's
00:45:32.920 a different
00:45:33.240 view of
00:45:33.900 history
00:45:34.160 taken from
00:45:34.720 an ethical
00:45:35.700 lens
00:45:36.020 and it
00:45:36.240 comes out
00:45:36.720 just as
00:45:37.380 the
00:45:38.400 coronation
00:45:39.060 comes out
00:45:39.680 here anyway
00:45:40.280 it's been a
00:45:40.960 bestseller
00:45:41.360 in Britain
00:45:42.140 for a while
00:45:42.720 but it
00:45:43.580 comes out
00:45:43.960 in Canada
00:45:44.640 just as
00:45:45.160 we're
00:45:45.380 dealing
00:45:45.720 with the
00:45:46.040 coronation
00:45:46.500 of
00:45:47.000 King
00:45:47.640 Charles
00:45:47.980 III
00:45:48.580 there's
00:45:50.100 a
00:45:50.660 colonial
00:45:51.580 legacy
00:45:52.020 and a
00:45:52.500 recent
00:45:52.820 poll
00:45:53.080 showing
00:45:53.460 an awful
00:45:54.080 lot of
00:45:54.400 Canadians
00:45:54.760 just want
00:45:55.320 to say
00:45:55.700 forget about
00:45:56.600 the monarchy
00:45:57.040 we're done
00:45:57.560 but we'll
00:45:58.880 see where that
00:45:59.380 conversation
00:45:59.900 goes in the
00:46:00.440 future
00:46:00.680 thanks for
00:46:01.540 the time
00:46:01.800 Nigel
00:46:02.120 thanks Brian
00:46:02.800 very much
00:46:03.100 for the
00:46:03.420 conversation
00:46:04.100 a full
00:46:05.060 comment
00:46:05.460 is a
00:46:05.900 post
00:46:06.180 media
00:46:06.440 podcast
00:46:07.000 my name
00:46:07.360 is
00:46:07.460 Brian
00:46:07.740 Lilly
00:46:08.000 your
00:46:08.200 host
00:46:08.580 this
00:46:08.860 episode
00:46:09.240 was
00:46:09.500 produced
00:46:09.800 by
00:46:10.060 Andre
00:46:10.440 Pru
00:46:10.740 with theme
00:46:11.580 music by
00:46:12.180 Bryce Hall
00:46:12.940 Kevin Libin
00:46:13.620 is the
00:46:14.160 executive
00:46:14.620 producer
00:46:15.020 as I said
00:46:15.660 earlier
00:46:15.940 remember you
00:46:16.560 can subscribe
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00:46:34.160 and Whitby
00:46:34.680 tell your
00:46:35.440 friends
00:46:35.740 thanks for
00:46:36.500 listening
00:46:36.760 until next
00:46:37.380 time
00:46:37.620 I'm
00:46:37.980 Brian Lilly