US Politics

Stirlingsays said:
Diverse ethnic groups and languages? What Welsh? That's a performative language...unlike say Spanish......When people think of Empire they are principally thinking of power.

The British empire ended shortly after WW2 and the Americans took over.....Now there's a lot that can be said about that and I certainly have commented upon the wisdom of the world wars for Great Britain....but that's what people understand by empire.


So this hegemony over the Irish you speak of.....Is that the same hegemony that saw it supporting Hitler in the second world war?

I literally have no idea what you're talking about. Could you give me examples of the Irish state doing what the British parliament tell it to do?


Well, you got that one right.
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How about the 4 million Muslims who speak Arabic? Or the Indians who speak Punjabi?

Sorry, you meet the actual definition of an Empire.

I think we would agree that GB selfishly risked its power to solve a continental problem twice, and it expedited the global loss of power and influence that you had previously enjoyed. It was going to decrease either way, but the wars super charged it. I would argue that it was one of the most selfless acts a nation has ever done and I would also argue that only nations whose ethics have a direct link to the Magna Carta would think that it was the right thing to do and most of the rest of the world thinks you were dumb for doing it.

Yes, it would include the 130,000 Irish who fought on your team during WWII.

How about the Common Travel Area? Economic investment? Joint funding for regional transport and projects? Defense Agreements where you defend them and take responsibility for watching things like Russian shadow fleet operations in their territorial waters? Your relationship with them is very similar to the US relationship with Canada.
 
Mark B said:
How about the 4 million Muslims who speak Arabic? Or the Indians who speak Punjabi?

Sorry, you meet the actual definition of an Empire.

I think we would agree that GB selfishly risked its power to solve a continental problem twice, and it expedited the global loss of power and influence that you had previously enjoyed. It was going to decrease either way, but the wars super charged it. I would argue that it was one of the most selfless acts a nation has ever done and I would also argue that only nations whose ethics have a direct link to the Magna Carta would think that it was the right thing to do and most of the rest of the world thinks you were dumb for doing it.

Yes, it would include the 130,000 Irish who fought on your team during WWII.

How about the Common Travel Area? Economic investment? Joint funding for regional transport and projects? Defense Agreements where you defend them and take responsibility for watching things like Russian shadow fleet operations in their territorial waters? Your relationship with them is very similar to the US relationship with Canada.
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About half from the Republic and an unknown (but I suspect small) number fought for the other side.

We had already ticked most of the boxes for empire end by the time the 2 wars hastened our demise. Stirling and others aside, I suspect most Brits look back with some pride at what we did, at least as far as WWII is concerned. I think "dumb" is an ill thought out criticism. Most would do it again given the nature of the enemy we would have acquired as, initially, our adjacent neighbour and, ultimately, our master.
 
silvertop said:
About half from the Republic and an unknown (but I suspect small) number fought for the other side.

We had already ticked most of the boxes for empire end by the time the 2 wars hastened our demise. Stirling and others aside, I suspect most Brits look back with some pride at what we did, at least as far as WWII is concerned. I think "dumb" is an ill thought out criticism. Most would do it again given the nature of the enemy we would have acquired as, initially, our adjacent neighbour and, ultimately, our master.
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From my research, the rough estimate that comes up is that about 5,000 Irish would end up fighting for the Germans. They primarily were recruiting from POW camps.

I would love for you to be right about the people of today but the polling doesn't seem to agree with you. A YouGov poll determined that only 6 per cent of people in the UK would volunteer to fight for their country in the event of an imminent invasion. The polling was very generational as the younger generations were adamant about not fighting (or finding excuses not to fight) while the older generations are more supportive. Of demographics may play a huge role in this. Mixed-race and Asian populations represent a much larger share of individuals under 25 than over 60. Over 60% of people with mixed ethnic backgrounds in England and Wales are under the age of 25. These younger generations like what they UK offers them, they just don't want to have to do anything for it.
 
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