Empire of Good Intentions Response

I saw this little documentary last semester in my Post Colonial Literature and Theory course with Professor Brewer. I can safely say that even in my second viewing of Empire of Good Intentions, I was still able to sum up the material in a short, 7 step list, within the first few minutes of the documentary.

Britain’s Eight Step List to Screwing over the New World
1. Britain gains more power.
2. Britain enters a new country (mostly through invasion or colonization)
3. Britain instills it’s ways of life and belief systems on the countries inhabitants.
4. Britain makes some new technological advances back home, ergo…
5. Britain abandons the country and completely ignores it.
6. Problems in the foreign country pop up on account of either lack outside assistance from Britain, or problems begun by Britain that are still a major hassle
7. Rebellion and several deaths occur in the country
8. Repeat with a different country

This is (almost) exactly what happened with India and Ireland and the populations of both countries suffered because of British interference or lack there of. Britain itself seemed like a kid with too many toys and it couldn’t decide which one it wanted to play with more. “Empire of Good Intentions”? It takes more than one spoiled rich country to change the world. And Britain sure wasn’t the right applicant for such a job. Let the countries evolve on their own, or don’t be so pushy about advancement without fully committing to it. No matter how many times I have to watch this documentary again and listen to the hosts same excuses, I still won’t be impressed.