It is - but it does us no harm to read these views

Oh would some power the giftie gie'us, to see ourselves as others see us, and all that.

The way we were taught history in school was incredibly biased, looking back. The appalling acts of Empire were never really explained. The fact that we went to one of the richest places on Earth (India) and basically took what we wanted from it, and then used that money to fund our Industrial Revolution, was not really explained. Famous sea captains were painted as "a bit of a lad" when in fact they were thieves and murderers - sailing up to other nations' ships, taking them over and stealing the gold, or going in to other cultures and taking whatever they wanted at the point of a musket.

Not everyone loves us and I think it's important to understand why. Those of us born since the time of Empire bear no personal responsibility, just as no German born today bears personal responsibility for the 1930s. But it's held important for young Germans to understand their awful past and I wish we taught our own history from a more balanced viewpoint.

Posted By: Old Man, Mar 16, 10:26:42