I’ve always assumed they were one and the same!
So much to take in in one go!
5 Likes
To be fair, cake is a bare necessity.
11 Likes
Are you asking a genuine question or are you taking the piss?
2 Likes
Well, I’m sure you could find a tankie or two if you really tried …
I’m trying to find out whether the Conservative councillor in this story has yet weighed in on the statue’s demontage, given that he seemed to be advocating vandalising it a couple of years ago:
(You’ll be shocked – shocked! – to learn that this proposed second plaque, which in the end was never made, described Colston’s slaving activities, and also his brief career as a Tory MP.)
8 Likes
7 Likes
Piss taking. If there is an emoji for that, I don’t want to see it.
ETA: And deleted, because if you had to ask…
4 Likes
No worries. It’s not your fault it’s sometimes hard to tell these days.
4 Likes
Well said and i was really hoping for your input on this so thanks for that. The voices of reason they’ve been interviewing about this have been historians trying to explain to perplexed journalists what a statue symbolises. In particular i’ve liked David Olusoga’s comments on this in regards to education…
4 Likes
I’m all for scrapping statues of slave traders, and good riddance. They glorify people who should be condemned.
But Fillery-Travis is arguing for the erasing of the names of individuals from history, papering over the gaps with a passive narrative that “bad things were done in the past”.
People, with the usual human motives of racism, greed, etc. did those bad things, and history should record their names.
The impulse to erase history is the same one that led to Nazi book burnings and the destruction of the Buddhas of Bamyan by the Taliban. It rarely works, but if it does important works of art, as well as lessons of history, are lost.
5 Likes
- Re-read The White Man’s Burden.
- Understand that it was written in support of this war:
8 Likes
That’s the tricky line to walk, isn’t it? Remove the glory but leave a mark in history that states in no uncertain terms how bad they actually were.
If leaving that mark is also possible without leaving some horrid mental scar on the people they affected, well, that would truly be the best result.
How and where do you leave a record clear enough that people can see it and learn the lesson without also leaving a place that somebody somewhere will use as a rallying point for their own twisted ideas?
Because they will; we’re seeing it now.
9 Likes
Should we eradicate every copy of Mein Kampf and remove any reference to it from the historical record?
That’s not intended as a “gotcha” question. I’m not absolutely sure of the answer myself, but I lean towards preserving it, with the appropriate context.
3 Likes
We absolutely shouldn’t destroy it, denying people access to it only makes it more appealing for we are but stupid apes underneath the anxiety and need to collect things to make us feel better.
As with most of life, context is everything and some sensible, considered education would go a very long way to explaining that this book has potential for evil, that man was dangerous, this idea should be left behind.
That statue deserved to go in the sea.
13 Likes
These idiots didn’t get the necessary education 
8 Likes
My history teacher always insisted that the big difference between Chamberlain and Churchill was that Churchill had read Mein Kampf and Chamberlain hadn’t.
10 Likes
I had an art tutor that stated Hitler was a demonstration of why you should work hard at art school…
12 Likes
‘Give me a fulcrum and a lever a bit too short, and the world won’t give a shit’
8 Likes
The last time I commented on BBS about gentlemen of this caliber was the moment I discovered certain words are auto-blocked.
Understandable, but that word represents half of my nazi-responding lexicon.
2 Likes
