...are you aware of the fact that the reason that the US achieved economic dominion over Great Britain was the existence of public education?
In part, yes. There were other significant factors. The American colonists were sufficiently vigorous to exterminate the previous inhabitants of their conquered territories before expropriating their resource base. The British relied on conquered populations for the exploitation of the resources they stole, leaving themselves vulnerable to being booted out of the conquered territories once the exploited ones realized that the conquerors were not invincible. This had repercussions far beyond the simple ability to maintain control of the territories in question. The Americans, having no subject population left after their genocidal expansion, had to rely on their own citizens to fill and exploit the occupied territories. This in turn created new opportunities for creation of wealth outside of the traditionally dominant elite, resulting in a broader and more stable economic base. British reliance on forcing subject populations to work in the service of their traditional aristocracy greatly contributed to overconcentration of wealth, as inbreeding and hereditary titles ensured that those managing this wealth were often those least qualified to do it.
It is a great pity that the history of colonialism is so poorly studied; it contains some true monuments to human excess, particularly in the dubious art of sanctimony.
Have you ever noticed how little mention there is in Victorian literature of the colonial system that sustained the entire economic edifice? For some reason I think of the Indian nabob in Vanity Fair, and of poor Becky Sharp, who thought that chili was chilly. Not Dickens, of course, but its been years since a Victorian novel crossed my palms, and I must make do with what memory sends me.
And also, if Edwarda is listening, I think of the white hunter in The Return of Jeeves, who stands near or at the top of my list of flawless literary caricatures. I have seldom laughed so hard reading anything.
If I were academically inclined, I could imagine writing on self-perception in colonial powers. In another lifetime, perhaps. Have you ever read Mark Twain's comments on the American occupation of the Philippines? |
