Evil Empire: 101 Ways England Ruined the World: 101 Ways Britain Ruined the World (Hardcover)

Evil Empire: 101 Ways England Ruined the World: 101 Ways Britain Ruined the World (Hardcover)

I was given this book by one of my students who wanted my response to it, so here goes.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect, although all the blurb I had read on it, and the fact that it is introduced by Penny Rimbaud, seemed to indicate that it was not to be taken too seriously; that it would be a good, full-blooded send-up of the British establishment in the true tradition of satire, from a citizen of a country (US) with much the same socio-political background as Britain's. I'm afraid my illusions were dispelled quite quickly. With the best will in the world, it is difficult to interpret this text as anything other than a bile-fuelled tirade from a man who seems desperate to convince himself that his own nation occupies some kind of moral high ground; he's on rocky ground there. Let me just make clear that there is no argument with most of the main charges against British colonial misrule which are made in the book; these are established and accepted fact now, and no one except the most blinkered conservative would argue otherwise. Many of the current world problems either have their roots in, or at least were exacerbated by, amoral or corrupt British administration. Apart from the politics, much of the book seems concerned with perceived general weaknesses in the British character, and this only serves to trivialise the more serious accusations. If it is meant to be humorous, it doesn't come across as very funny; there is no 'twinkle in the narrative eye'. To be honest, Grasse is not a good writer; the narrative is clumsily structured, and maybe his intentions are misinterpreted, but I think I am giving him too much benefit of the doubt here. No, I am forced to the conclusion that this text says more about the author and his country than it does about Britain.

We have to appreciate two fundamental points here: firstly, that there is a firmly entrenched complex in the white, middle-class American psyche when it comes to their former colonial masters. Even though their own country is now far more powerful than Britain, it is well understood that many ordinary Americans simply cannot shake off deeply ingrained impressions of cultural inferiority. When you add to that the fact that upper-middle class Brits are the masters of arrogance, you can begin to appreciate that this is a recipe for antagonism from the American perspective. But secondly, and more importantly in a global sense, we have to understand that Americans have had to undergo a big reality check in the past few years; namely, the realisation that large parts of the rest of the world really don't like them very much. In Britain, we've been used to being disliked for a long time, but the illusion of national popularity in the world was maintained in the US almost right up until the end of the C20th. This was a result of a number of factors: a very inward looking educational system; a highly selective media; limited travel to and comminication with other cultures, and a general national naivety. This situation could not last, and recent events such as 9/11, and a much more global and accessible media network, have brought the truth home to America: the rest of the world does not see America, as the majority of Americans see it, as the guardian of freedom amd democracy, but very much the opposite: a cynical, manipulative and highly hypocritical imperial power bent on suppressing and controlling the rest of the world. This has been a bitter and unexpected pill for most ordinary Americans to swallow. So, I suppose, when a significant proportion of the population of a country often cited as being your country's oldest ally (Britain), and whose government is otherwise slavish to your country's every whim, adds its voice to the general criticism, the level of insecurity is only going to be heightened, leading to bitterness and feelings of rejection and isolation.

I'm afraid it is these ignoble facts that have inspired Grasse to write this text, and no other (how he ever got this published is another matter). I would suggest that his time would be better served by examining why it is that his own country is so hated (surely the aim of any remotely intellectual person), and that he vent his spleen on his own country's corrupt and cynical institutions and false philosophy. Yes, Britain has been responsible for many crimes and midemeanours. But someone from a country which was founded on the suppression and extermination of its indigenous population and the brutal occupation of large parts of its neighbour (Mexico); a country whose current wealth and position owes a lot to the immoral and wicked enslavement and horrific abuse of people forcefully imported from foreign lands - a system not abolished until as recently as 1865; a country which has systematically sponsored and actively supported coups and attempted coups of popular and often democratically elected governments in other countries in order to install puppet regimes (Iran, Nicaragua, Guatamala - the list goes on and on); a country which has been behind political assassinations and all manner of immoral interference in other countries' affairs; a country which has been resposible for some of the most repugnant atrocities and war crimes the world has ever witnessed (Abu Ghraib, Iraq; My Lai, Vietnam - again, it's a very long list); but most of all a country which has turned a blind eye to all this and has hypocritically and arrogantly professed to be setting a positive moral example to the rest of the world, and rejected all criticism as 'jealousy'; I would say that a person from a country which has been responsible for all this (and much, much more) should be very careful before casting aspersions on other nations and claiming the moral high ground. I have been lucky enough to travel quite extensively in other countries and cultures, and yes, I would have to say that as a representative of Britain I hear a lot of negative criticism of my country (although I'm very happy to say that hardly anyone I've met has been unable to distinguish me, an individual, from my country of nationality - a quality that Grasse seems to lack), and I would say that Britain is probably the second most hated nation in the world behind the U.S.A. But I can tell you this, and this is something that Grasse and his ilk should consider very carefully before blaming other people for their own nation's faults, the reason Britain is so disliked now, and the most common cause of criticism, has nothing to do with past imperial crimes (it's amazing how quickly most people seem to forgive and forget - look at Germany!), but with the fact that the British governement always complies with the U.S.A's every wish; it's not for nothing that we have been dubbed the 'attack dog' or 'spear carrier' of the American military machine. In other words, our popularity would go up several notches if we took a more balanced world view and didn't side with America every time. A sobering point, and something which Mr. Grasse and a large section of the British (and American) public should think very seriously about.

(I didn't think much of the book, and I do like a lot of Americans on an individual basis!)