Archive.org fails to bypass firewall, ghostarchive fails altogether, archive.today is not happy with my work IP today. Would appreciate anyone posting an archive link of sorts for everyone as I’ve found the write up very interesting.

  • Illecors@lemmy.cafeOPM
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    1 year ago

    I think you’re sticking to my OKish a bit too much. I’m not denying anything. I’ve seen the collapse of the soviet union - I’d argue that also went doen OKish. My home country could’ve easily been eradicated, moved enmasse to Siberia, but it wasn’t.

    Some tanks rolled over people, some buildings exploded, gangs went rampant, some military joined them. Idenity crisis is all too familiar. These things are all horrible, but there’s never a clean exit from an empire.

    All I’m saying is that little death is OKish compared to total annihilation. Life does, historically, seem to be the price of freedom, unfortunately.

    • snipvoid
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      1 year ago

      The term ‘OKish’ is wholly inappropriate when recounting the tumultuous end of the British Empire.

      Equating decolonisation with the hypothetical extreme of ‘total annihilation’ sets a disturbingly low standard for historical evaluation. The ‘little death’ you mention is far from minor to those whose existences were ravaged by the imperial withdrawal.

      The cost of liberty should never be tallied in lives lost to the reluctance of oppressive powers to cede control. To imply as much is to tacitly condone the very pillars of colonial subjugation that deprived innumerable individuals of their right to self-determination without violent conflict.

      Our historical narrative must fully recognise the gravity of the past, and afford accuracy to the memories of those who suffered, who resisted, and who perished under the Empire’s shadow