Hi Ed, At 11:53 16/07/02 -0400, you wrote: (KH) <<<< History shows that empires collapse when they stop developing their most advanced technologies and allow peripheral countries to do so. (Look at the way the British Empire collapsed last century when America smoothly took up and developed all the main technologies of that era.) >>>> (EW) <<<< Keith, I hate beating you about the head and shoulders, but I'm afraid I must. I don't think the British Empire collapsed for lack of developing its most advanced technologies. In fact, I don't think it really collapsed. What seems to have happened is that empires became unpopular following the Second World War and very difficult and costly to maintain. To graciously withdraw back into your own boundaries was about the only option. As for America taking over, it had already done that some time before the various European empires faded into the sunset. >>>>
You'll have to produce a much stronger argument than this to convince me! For a start, can you name me a single instance in history of an imperial power voluntarily giving up its power? No, we're not so decent and gentlemanly as you might imagine -- particularly our royalty and landed aristocracy. After a great deal of to-ing and fro-ing in the last 50 years, historians are pretty well unanimously agreed now that the Empire had become a great burden on the British economy long before it disbanded. If Britain hadn't largely given up developing its industrial innovations from about 1900 onwards (allowing America, Germany and Japan to do so with alacrity) then it would have remained the predominant economic power in the world and would almost certainly have hung onto its Empire (and bled it) right up until the time that the colonies were militarily able to wrench their lands from it (much as the Algerians had to do in 1962 in achieving independence from France). Besides, America would never have entered WWII on the side of the Allies, nor given England substantial quantities of Lend-Lease in 1941 which rescued us from destitution, unless we had not intimated that we would give up our colonial pretensions (as well as selling our American assets at knock-down prices!). The Americans, who had long suffered at our hands, were adamant about that. Britain was fighting wars against freedom fighters in the British colonies all over the place, particularly in Africa, for many years after WWII. You may also recall that when our demented Prime Minister Eden invaded Egypt in 1956 to *re-establish* colonial rights over the Suez Canal and long strips of Egpyt on either side of it, he had to be brought to his senses by the Americans. There are still colonies, such as St Lucia, which are not allowed their independence. (EW) <<<< I would also suggest that we might be concerned about too many kids going into math and science, rather than too few. We are in danger of turning out techno-robots rather than thinkers. >>>> A non sequitur, I'm afraid. Without a sufficient number of well-trained scientists, our grand-children are going to have a hard time maintaining the economic infrastructure they are going to inherit. Furthermore, mankind is not going to emerge from energy, food and water shortages in the coming two or three decades without the most intensive development of new technologies. Being scientifically trained (a long time ago!) I'm prejudiced, of course, but I'd venture to suggest that the greatest thinkers (and well-rounded ones, too) ever since the Enlightenment have been scientists rather than artists or humanists by a ratio of something like five to one. (But I'll give notice now that if this produces a controversy on FW, I'm not prepared to spend any of my time defending my view -- unless someone can come up with the [impossible] task of producing an objective short-list of the best intellects of the last 250 years.) Keith ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------- Keith Hudson,6 Upper Camden Place, Bath BA1 5HX, England Tel:01225 312622/444881; Fax:01225 447727; E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ________________________________________________________________________
