FINALLY! Ali Velshi destroys a historian complaining when told the truth about Britain's evil past.

[egbertowillies]

Queen Elizabeth’s media coverage has been obscene. Ali Velshi did what most real journalists should have done, use the moment.

https://medium.egbertowillies.com/finally-ali-velshi-destroys-a-historian-complaining-when-told-the-truth-about-britains-evil-past-1647f3bbd20e

[GreenWave]

1. Wow! A British running dog lackey!

Ali, Ali, Ali! He certainly did a rope-a-dope!

[Escurumbele]

2. This is not going to be popular here, but here it goes anyway.

First, I do believe that England needs to preserve its Monarchy, it is the soul of the country, it is what has defined them for ages. In England it works very well because at the end of the day it is the parliament that passes laws and makes final decisions regarding the health of the country. The British need to worry more about who they elect as their prime minister and what party they give the power too, not much different than in the USA. Ask yourselves, after Boris, have the British elected a new good prime minister? or have they elected the feminine representation of Boris Johnson, or even worst a new Margaret Thatcher? From what I have read, the choice has not been the right one.

Now about the Commonwealth countries.
Yes, it is a fact that Queen Elizabeth's predecessors may have exploited and used cruel dominating methods against the colonies, very regrettable and a stain in the history of England, but at the same time the colonies have enjoyed the culture, the organization and other perks that come with the colonization, that without these they would be just like Haiti, which once it lost the control by the USA became an extremely corrupt country, and we can see today that Haiti is not better off without the USA. To use the distant past as a reason for leaving the Commonwealth is wrong, we cannot undo the past, what people thought then we cannot change, but to allow criminals to take over small countries would be a crime by itself.

Some small countries when left unattended will fall into a pseudo-Democracy led by very corrupt people. There are currently 15 Commonwealth realms: Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, The Bahamas, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, and the United Kingdom, most of these countries are doing well today, the influence of England has been good to them. Countries like Australia, Canada, New Zealand and a couple more will continue to do well if they leave the commonwealth, but I can almost guarantee that the rest will become just like Haiti, with corrupt pseudo-Democrats ruling them, robbing everything in their paths while the people become poor and hungry.

Once again, the past is the past, we cannot change it, we can make reparations, but to use the past as a reason to leave the commonwealth will only create chaos when those close to power find a way to it. The saying "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely" has happened over and over in small countries that once were colonies of powerful and well organized countries. When Portugal gave the "freedom" to its colonies in Africa, these countries that once were jewels of the continent became poor, corrupt, and laden with violence, the same can easily happen to many of those in the Commonwealth if they decide to leave.

[jaxexpat]

3. How do I disagree with you? Let me count the ways..........Don't know where to begin, really.

[Escurumbele]

4. But do begin please, I really do not mind to learn from others, but for all of us

to learn you must start somewhere, so far its empty disagreement.

I sincerely look forward to your disagreement.

Also, if you don't know how to begin, just start with paragraph one then move from there.

[Joinfortmill]

6. I happened to see the show. This is what I thought...

History is history and what Ali related was correct. I think a discussion of the Colonial Period, it's repercussions for good and bad, and what is in store in the future is warranted, but not until after Queen Elizabeth's funeral and we enter a new realm with King Charles.

The truth is Queen Elizabeth is not attached to the Colonial Period in an meaningful way to most people. She is most remembered for her bravery as a Princess during WWII, the moment when she bowed to Princess Diana's casket, and her great personal dignity through 70 year of service.

[wnylib]

9. Haiti was a French colony, not British.

The Haitian revolution of 1791 to 1804 overthrew the French and established Haiti as an independent nation.

I don't know of any time when the US controlled Haiti. Cuba, yes, but not Haiti.

"Barbuda" looks like an auto correct mix up that blended Bermuda with Barbados. Barbados is an independent member of the Commonwealth. Bermuda is a British territory.

There probably are some current benefits for countries that remain in the Commonwealth. But they did suffer greatly as colonies, losing natural resources and people's lives (especially in India's fight for independence). OTOH, for what it's worth, other countries who formerly had colonies, like the Belgians in Congo, might arguably be called worse than the Brits toward the people of their colonies.

[BumRushDaShow]

11. Barbuda is an island that actually exists among the Virgin Islands near Antigua

and it pretty much got wiped off the map from Hurricane Irma -

(as a weather hobbyist, a bunch of us were monitoring that)

[wnylib]

14. Oops. Thanks. I had never heard of Barbuda.

[BumRushDaShow]

15. Hell... very few if any of us knew either until we saw mention of them getting hit

Irma was a CAT 5 that just devastated that area and then started heading towards FL -

Link to tweet

ABC News
@ABC
·
Follow
Video taken from helicopter flying over the British Virgin Islands shows sheer devastation caused by Hurricane #Irma http://abcn.ws/2f8qnCj
5:12 PM · Sep 8, 2017

Bryan Bennett
@weatherbryan
·
Follow
Not a single airplane over the entire state of Florida. #Irma
Image
2:09 PM · Sep 10, 2017

Once it cleared Cuba and started its final run towards the west coast of FL, the air space over the state was literally cleared out!

Link to tweet

[wnylib]

16. I remember Irma very well from

one of its projected paths in Florida. It was moving toward the Tampa area and there was concern that its more powerful side would hit Tampa Bay. My brother lived there at the time and I was on a state of high anxiety until it was over.

He was in a mandatory evacuation area. It was hard to keep track of him by phone to know how he was doing. I finally reached his granddaughter and learned that she and her mother and sister were in Georgia with her uncle. Her father had stayed behind with their house. She said that my brother and his wife were ok in the shelter and his home and hers had no damage, just a lot of downed trees and branches which, fortunately, missed both homes when they went down.

[BumRushDaShow]

17. Yup

as the storm approached Tampa Bay, it sucked almost all the water out to the point where people could stand on the areas that are normally submerged. And then it surged back in again.

However Tampa really dodged a bullet.

[WestMichRad]

10. Thank you for the informative post...

… and perspective. While we could quibble about some details, I think what you’ve described in contrasting the Commonwealth countries vs the often ugly pseudo-democratic republics is for the most part pretty accurate.

[gagarux]

12. Explaining colonialism is not that simple

I think the reason jaxexpat could not start to rebut is that colonialism is a complex subject and your "thesis" demonstrates so much naivete regarding the social, political, economic and racial implications of colonialism and post-colonialism. Let me also point out that there are a few factual inaccuracies in your post. For example there are many more Commonwealth countries than the ones you list, and there is no specific political or economic stability being derived by countries that are members of the Commonwealth. Another example is that Haiti did not devolve due to loss of US control. Haiti was colonized by France which then exacted tribute as a condition for it to recognize Dessalines' proclamation of Haiti's independence. This tribute impoverished Haiti so much that in a sense the country's politico-economic fate was already sealed by the time of the US occupation many years later.

I may be misreading the situation but the supercilious tone of your post and follow-up leads one to conclude that it might be difficult to persuade you to a different point of view than the one you currently hold. If you really are interested in learning more, may I suggest 2 books to start your education journey? These are:
How Europe Underdeveloped Africa by Walter Rodney
Wretched of the Earth by Franz Fanon

See, I managed to start the ball rolling with 2 paragraphs

[MagaSmash]

5. It's 2022. Time to Dissolve the Monarchy and these ancient traditions of Kings.

[Escurumbele]

7. Just because it is 2022 doesn't mean Monarchy should be dissolved, it is important to understand

what Monarchy means to a country like England, to the people of England, this is really not a decision that other countries will make on behalf of England, I can assure you that.

Yes, there are some British citizens who may not support the Monarchy, but I believe most of the country does and would not want to see it go away. Time will tell.

[IrishAfricanAmerican]

8. Indeed!