Is Santa silly?

Paull said:

Then you get a message from some doddery old woman who has reigned over the complete demise of my country and it's once great empire, who has done nothing whatsoever but sit back and watch the british empire crumble and Britain become taken over by non British people...

Now just hold on a minute.

This doesn't look like facts; this looks like an unsupported opinion.

Let's look at the British Empire for a moment, shall we? Which aspect of its greatness shall we consider?

Let's think of the Opium Wars, in which Britain waged war against China in order to expand the sale of addictive drugs.

Let's think of the Indian Mutiny, in which a revolt sparked by the ignorance and cruelty of British capitalists was put down with a brutality which quite compares to any war crime of the 20th century.

Let's think of the entire settlement of Australia, in which entire communities were exterminated to make way for a penal colony.

Let's think of the constant exploitation of indigenous labourers around the Empire to feed Great Britain's hunger for cotton and rubber, as well as many other products from which the vast bulk of the profits went to colonialists.

Let's think of the slave trade, which the Empire enabled, supported, and profited from for many years before its reluctant change of heart. Let's think of the white judges sitting in calm judgement on the question of whether murdered enslaved Africans could be claimed for on insurance. Of entire Caribbean islands stripped of their indigenous people so that displaced and enslaved people could be worked to death to provide people like you and me with sweets.

Closer to home, let's think of the Irish Potato Famine, in which a million starved and a million more were permanently exiled, because of the greed of the British. (The largest aid donation came from a Muslim.)

Let's consider how cultural diversity was crushed across the empire, from the Welsh schoolchildren forced to learn only English to the Indian civil servants barred from ever being promoted because of their skin colour.

The Empire was never great; it was a burden to the overwhelming majority of its subjects. The small lasting benefits are vastly outweighed by generations of suffering, decades of turmoil, and countless acts of brutality.

And let's look now at modern Britain; you claim it is being taken over by 'non-British people'.

According to the 2011 UK national census, 86 per cent of the population is white; 91 per cent of the population identify with at least one UK national category (English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish, and British). So I hardly think the majority is in any danger.

But who are that majority? Well, they're not the unchanged descendants of the people who built Stonehenge, I'll tell you that for nothing. This country is inhabited entirely by the descendants of migrants. We're the children of beaker-people, Celts, Romans, Roman auxiliaries (Dacians, Africans, Germans, and many more), Saxons, Angles, Jutes, Danes, Norse, Franks, Bretons, Roma, Jews, Netherlanders, Iberians, Moors, Huguenots, Irish, Poles, and many more. The 'pure Englishman' is a myth, a chimera.

And who ruled the Empire? Not a typical British person at all. Of Queen Victoria's 16 great-grandparents, for example, every single one of them was a German high-ranking noble, born in Germany. (Yes, even George II of Great Britain was born in his father's German territory of Hanover.) So much for the importance of Britishness.

But finally - and this should go entirely without saying - it's really not your problem where your neighbour has come from - down the road, across the nation, or around the world. Every person is entitled to the same dignity and respect. If you think the changing face of this nation is a problem, I'd urge you to think again; in our history, change has been the only reliable factor. People's moral character has nothing to do with their skin colour, language, or where they or their ancestors grew up.

But thanks to people in comfortable positions in this country, those who come here in search of work or shelter are made to suffer and struggle even more than they have already, to confront attitudes and practices that discriminate against them and to reassert constantly the rights that others taken for granted. If this country has any greatness, let it be shown in its welcome, its openness, its support for all. A country that cannot care for those who call upon it is an embarassment to its citizens.

Alex R (posting very personally)

Paull said:

Then you get a message from some doddery old woman who has reigned over the complete demise of my country and it's once great empire, who has done nothing whatsoever but sit back and watch the british empire crumble and Britain become taken over by non British people...

Now just hold on a minute.

This doesn't look like facts; this looks like an unsupported opinion.

Let's look at the British Empire for a moment, shall we? Which aspect of its greatness shall we consider?

Let's think of the Opium Wars, in which Britain waged war against China in order to expand the sale of addictive drugs.

Let's think of the Indian Mutiny, in which a revolt sparked by the ignorance and cruelty of British capitalists was put down with a brutality which quite compares to any war crime of the 20th century.

Let's think of the entire settlement of Australia, in which entire communities were exterminated to make way for a penal colony.

Let's think of the constant exploitation of indigenous labourers around the Empire to feed Great Britain's hunger for cotton and rubber, as well as many other products from which the vast bulk of the profits went to colonialists.

Let's think of the slave trade, which the Empire enabled, supported, and profited from for many years before its reluctant change of heart. Let's think of the white judges sitting in calm judgement on the question of whether murdered enslaved Africans could be claimed for on insurance. Of entire Caribbean islands stripped of their indigenous people so that displaced and enslaved people could be worked to death to provide people like you and me with sweets.

Closer to home, let's think of the Irish Potato Famine, in which a million starved and a million more were permanently exiled, because of the greed of the British. (The largest aid donation came from a Muslim.)

Let's consider how cultural diversity was crushed across the empire, from the Welsh schoolchildren forced to learn only English to the Indian civil servants barred from ever being promoted because of their skin colour.

The Empire was never great; it was a burden to the overwhelming majority of its subjects. The small lasting benefits are vastly outweighed by generations of suffering, decades of turmoil, and countless acts of brutality.

And let's look now at modern Britain; you claim it is being taken over by 'non-British people'.

According to the 2011 UK national census, 86 per cent of the population is white; 91 per cent of the population identify with at least one UK national category (English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish, and British). So I hardly think the majority is in any danger.

But who are that majority? Well, they're not the unchanged descendants of the people who built Stonehenge, I'll tell you that for nothing. This country is inhabited entirely by the descendants of migrants. We're the children of beaker-people, Celts, Romans, Roman auxiliaries (Dacians, Africans, Germans, and many more), Saxons, Angles, Jutes, Danes, Norse, Franks, Bretons, Roma, Jews, Netherlanders, Iberians, Moors, Huguenots, Irish, Poles, and many more. The 'pure Englishman' is a myth, a chimera.

And who ruled the Empire? Not a typical British person at all. Of Queen Victoria's 16 great-grandparents, for example, every single one of them was a German high-ranking noble, born in Germany. (Yes, even George II of Great Britain was born in his father's German territory of Hanover.) So much for the importance of Britishness.

But finally - and this should go entirely without saying - it's really not your problem where your neighbour has come from - down the road, across the nation, or around the world. Every person is entitled to the same dignity and respect. If you think the changing face of this nation is a problem, I'd urge you to think again; in our history, change has been the only reliable factor. People's moral character has nothing to do with their skin colour, language, or where they or their ancestors grew up.

But thanks to people in comfortable positions in this country, those who come here in search of work or shelter are made to suffer and struggle even more than they have already, to confront attitudes and practices that discriminate against them and to reassert constantly the rights that others taken for granted. If this country has any greatness, let it be shown in its welcome, its openness, its support for all. A country that cannot care for those who call upon it is an embarassment to its citizens.

Alex R (posting very personally)