The Empire

While watching the film "Empire of Good Intentions" links between the colonial mishaps of Britain and the current situation in Iraq came into my mind. Both were the result of an overwhelming hubris to on the one hand eradicate disease, filth, and ignorance, and on the other to spread the light of freedom and democracy to an oppressed people. Both were upset by poor administrative planning and execution, and believed that the natives would bow in shock and awe to the awesome might of their military, political, and "moral" superiors. Both had companies from the Imperial power make huge sums of money. So it seems that maybe not so much has changed in the brief span of time where the capital of commerce moved.

However, India now has one of the fastest growing economies in the world and Ireland one of the strongest in the EU. Is this worth having been formerly oppressed? It probably depends on who you would ask, those who lived through the occupation or those who are just now reaping the benefits. Obviously it would have been better for India if it had achieved such growth without being a colony, but is that the cost of modernization? Is it an acceptable cost or even a neccessary cost to bear? If we are to judge life in starkly materialistic terms then this modernization is improvement, but the ends do not always justify the means.

I believe that the film was useful reminding us of the dangers of expansionist and imperialistic ambitions. Look at the resources Britain consumed in trying to maintain its empire by hard power. The national priorities project website calculates the cost of the Iraq war at half a trillion dollars and counting at the rate of 275 million a day. Keeping in mind the cost of running and Empire and the difficulty of walking the tightrope of human folly and greed should remind us to be wary of future expeditions for the furtherance of freedom and democracy.