Cp279 wrote:miltiades wrote:
Firstly let me tell you that I never hated the Brutish even a young 12 year old who took part, a tiny one , in support of the struggle against British rule. I remember the kindness of the British
When I was in the iron age in 1953, let me add that I do not recollect receiving such kindness from the locals who mostly considered orphans as a bloody nuisance.
Yes at the age of 12 in 1958 I took a tiny part, with hindsight I should not have supported ENOSIS but Independence.
I spent 56 years in the UK and I'm grateful that I had the chance to live in a Western country. I married an English lady and had two children born in the UK. In some ways I consider my self as British/Cypriot born, and support the UK in every way. Unlike most of " foreigners" such as your self who hates the UK yet makes your living there I love the UK, my adopted m9therland. The WEST offers foreigners a life that their own countries do not. I'm talking about the so called asylum seekers who are in reality economic migrants and who steadfastly expect the UK to adopt their culture instead of being grateful for being in a free Western country. The English are a very tolerant race as well as considerate to others.
Dear Milti,
All empires, be it Roman, Ottoman, French, British, Nazi(German), Russian-Soviet and American have historically been proven to be evil and built on the bloodshed of smaller, poorer countries. It is impossible even to recollect how many hundreds of millions of people died, been starved, tortured under their rule. However, when it comes to East v.s West confrontation there are however, substantial differences -at least in the last century- in favor of Western democracies: 1) People are empowered to change their administrators/rulers 2) People are allowed to make criticisms and a mockery of their elected leaders in media/social media and other outlets 3) There are no ruler's/ administrators ,supreme commanders (!) who are exempt from judiciary pursuit 4) Overwhelming bulk of immigration is directed to towards western countries and not vice-versa. 5) Any wrongdoing, crimes against humanity in the past like Vietnam war, Holocaust, French atrocities in Africa, etc .. may be cast in films, shared with the public. These kind of practices are very unlikely to happen in authoritarian countries like China, Russia, Syria, Turkey, North Korea, many Turkic countries, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and UAE just to name a few. Granted that in Western societies there has always been racism and xenophobia as long as the immigration wave threatens to exceed what is called " a threshold of tolerance". However, we don't have any accurate account of similar practices in what is called "closed societies". Speaking of Ukraine, one can recollect whether those responsible for Chernobyl have paid any price for their neglect and shortsightedness for . But ,hey Ukraine in 1986, was Ukrainian SSR wasn't it ?
Indeed, all empires throughout history had as their prime objective the interests of their empire. All empires exploited the nations under their control for their own interests. Britain was no exemption. But let me say that the most precious of all human liberties is none other than freedom of speech, freedom of faith and equality under the law. Something that does not exist in dictatorial regimes such as Russia, China, Turkey and a few more.
LONG LIVETHE WEST.
LONG LIVE AMERICA.
