WHAT EXACTLY HAS THE WORLD EVER DONE FOR BRITAIN?

tom prendergast said:
If it had been the Spanish, there wouldn't have been any indigenous tribes left. You only have to look at what they did to the Incas, Mayans and Aztecs.
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Well, that was in the 1500's, and the main reason the inner North American tribes were spared was the fact that it wasn't profitable to intrude upon them until the 1800's, at which point we killed most of them for their land and then decided we felt guilty about it.
 
tom prendergast said:
Ask yourself this question, how many democracies did the French leave behind in their former colonies in Indo-China, Africa and South America? I can't name one but maybe you know of a country that I missed?
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Isn't the only French colony Guiana? Which is pretty much the only european colony still in existence.
 
King of Guns said:
The first to protest the slave trade? Other than all the slaves? Parliamentary government? Wasn't that the Greeks originally? Postal system? Pretty sure it was the Sareceans there. Steam engine was built by the Greeks first. Jet engine was developed by work of several different nations, including America, Germany, and Italy. Penicillin is French.

Not that you Brits didn't do alright. The Boxer primer is very nice.
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Hero's "steam engine" did nothing but spin. And the discovery was soon lost afterward. The British at least invented the first steam engine that does actual work.
 
Yurt said:
fair enough....but the chinese influence on the world has only recently started. china is a juggernaut, no doubt. but their influence on the world, is recent, because they are a nation that looks inward, until now....maybe. if china ever stretched their power like the england or the US....they would be a formidable foe.
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China was the most powerful nation in the world for a great deal of centuries. They just started declining during the Ming era, and their attempts at modernization were never as successful as the Japaneses. It is a big country that's difficult to rule; it's doubtful that they'd have ever modernized if the communists hadn't have come into power and pursued it ruthlessly.
 
charver said:
The thing is...people tend to hate states/people/teams etc. that are successful.

Everybody hates the Americans at the minute (although to be honest one or two of you are actually quite nice), everybody used to hate the English but we haven't been very successful recently and have been living off past glories for the last half century. Give it another 50 years and people will merely think of us in the same way they think of Belgium or a doddery old maiden aunt, sitting alongside France in a geriatric ward arguing over who gets to use the pisspot first. You can smile America but it will come to you soon enough.

Anyway, here's to the future, where we can all unite to hate the fecking Chinese. Arseholes.
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European power relied mainly on imperialism and technology. With the free market spreading technology and wealth out, and the loss of colonies, a "decline" was inevitable. It's really more of a "other people are getting rich as well", though.

The US has managed to stave this off primarily through high levels of immigration. In 1940, the US population was about twice that of Britian proper (although Britian had colonies like India with hundreds of millions of people as well). Now it's five times Britians. Even with high levels of growth through immigration, though, China will inevitably become the most powerful nation in the world in about 10 years. In 20, they're probably going to be more powerful than the US + the EU, and in 30 or 40, the average Chinese person is probably going to have levels of wealth comparable to the average American.

But I'll almost be dead by then, so who cares.
 
King of Reason said:
Speaking of representation, I was wondering if you could explain the modern Parliament to me a little, as I've not studied it. One thing I know that American colonists disagreed with Parliament was the extent of its representation - a concept known as "virtual representation." The Americans had set up local governments operating under the principle of what they called "actual representation." Does the modern Parliament (at least Commons) represent the whole of England, Wales, Scotland, and N. Ireland fairly well these days, or is there still a bit of a disconnect?
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Pretty sure colonies didn't have representation. Back then, houses in the commons were pretty arbitrarily given out to towns on the whim of the king and, later, parliament. I don't even know when voting was actually introduced. These days, the commons is allocated according to population, just like the house of representation. I'm pretty sure that Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland are actually a little overrepresented, actually. They also have their own subregional parliaments, while England itself is governed by the general parliament.

The Lords has had most hereditary peers kicked out (I'm not sure if there are any still in it), and it consists mostly of people appointed by the prime minister because they have some special merit. Or for political reasons. They have very little power anyway, they can only delay bills, not block them, and can't touch money bills. The Liberal-Conservative coalition has promised to replace them with an equally powerless chamber elected via proportional representation.
 
King of Guns said:
So in other words you don't like being polite. Not that we haven't noticed that in your postings thus far.
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I love being polite but I hate people who are intrusive. Funnily enough I spent the arvo sitting outside the beach cafe with a Brit financier and an Aussie teacher. The beer flowed and we got to laughing about the Palin woman and then conversation moved to the huggy huggy nature of the av yank. There had been a radio prog called 'Word of Mouth' that had discussed the intrusivity of the hug society.
 
tom prendergast said:
You should know that the US dollar's days as a reserve currency are numbered and when that happens the US standard of living could go down by as much as 25%, so I wouldn't gloat too much. This video may be a little alarmist but it is hard to refute it all the same.

http://www.stansberryresearch.com/p...1485&s=324239&u=50379326&l=242875&g=96&r=Milo
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wow more confirmatin of the daddy syndrome. We have 30% more per capita income here, and we are growing faster. Ahh weak ass talking point fail
 
wow other countries have Daddy syndromes too. Thee non Americans obsessing over USA as they get into a drunken state. Here's a hint. Americans get laid by hot american woman when they get drunk. We never waiste time talking about second rate countries like England, Austrailia, aisa etc.
 
Topspin said:
wow other countries have Daddy syndromes too. Thee non Americans obsessing over USA as they get into a drunken state. Here's a hint. Americans get laid by hot american woman when they get drunk. We never waiste time talking about second rate countries like England, Austrailia, aisa etc.
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Where is aisa? Oh and it's 'waste' not 'waiste'.
We do enjoy laughing at you though, the only Americans who aren't funny are your comedians.
 
right, we have the greates companies (you suck at business)
we have the greatest entertainment (NFL vs kickball nuff said)
we have by far the hottest woman, see any of threedees picture rants
 
Lowaicue said:
The annoyance comes when its people you don't know! Don't tell me that no one in a shop has ever said 'Have a good day', or 'have a nice day.'!!
MacDog adopted the habit here for a while. I got to the doorway of one outlet to be faced by SIX young ladies with phony smiles who chorused 'You-are-well-come.' I spun on my heel and went to buy a sarni from another place. (before we had Subway)
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Now I fail to see how somebody wishing me a good day is somehow weird... but hugging strangers is not something I see on any regular basis. Believe me, if I were to meet you my first impulse wouldn't be to put my hands on you. Nobody I know does this, I don't see it happen, and people I don't know don't get to hug me.
 
Lowacie has country envy soo bad it's hillarious, and Tom P (Jah bless him for investment tips) is the same.
 
Topspin said:
right, we have the greates companies (you suck at business)
we have the greatest entertainment (NFL vs kickball nuff said)
we have by far the hottest woman, see any of threedees picture rants
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Um, using my picture collections as part of your argument is a bit self-defeating, seeing as how I have made no secrets about how hot I find British women to be. That said, our women are pretty damn fine. :D
 
I honestly don't think Tom is envious of the USA. He comes accross as a mild-mannered, patriotic Englishman. Low, on the other hand, is clearly envious of both our nations - Britain for the culture he abandoned to spite its history and policies, and the US for its strength and influence.
 
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