Monday, January 21, 2008

Empire of Good Intentions Response

Empire of Good Intentions, that’s just it. Britain’s intentions were good but that does not mean that they should have invaded India. As Britain gains more power, they attempt to colonize more places. In this colonization process they believe that if they can make the people of India like the people of Britain, the people of India will be more successful in life. WRONG! India has its own set of values and beliefs and it is not right for the Brits to change them. It seems to me that Britain had a notion that to be successful, one has to be identical in all areas of life. This is like the father that makes all the decision for his child. Examples would be, making your son play baseball even though he does not enjoy the sport, or making your daughter go to college to be a doctor. In the end most of these kids rebel against their controlling parent much like India did.
With the advancement made in technology Britain feels that their control could be felt from a distance. This was belief was made possible thanks to the invention of the telegraph. Now with the majority of the controlling Brits out of India the native people revolt. The people of India do not accept the change and are not willing to change. Again, what Britain attempted to do, in their eyes, was make changes for the better because they felt that their society seemed to work, so why shouldn’t it work for everyone else.

1 comment:

Roger Market said...

Another thing: just because one nation, or even PERSON, thinks that xyz equals success does not mean that India (or its people) will think the same thing. Everyone has his or her own idea of what success is, and it all depends on context (what the person values in life, his/her goals, his/her interests, his/her upbringing, etc.). The same holds true on a broader scale: a country, a continent, or even a city could have different ideas of success. While money seems to equal success in America, something else (e.g., family/marriage) may be more important in *insert place/people here*.