Judging History (branch off from election thread)

[rvg]

That's true, Britain is better governed, 100% of the country is covered by professional Police and Fire Service.
There are many things about the US which are laudable but the failure to address the defecit and the current farcical election cycle are symptoms of design flaws. The model is not perfect.

I didn't say it was perfect, I only said it was the best.

See, that's funny, because in India the Middle Class speak English as a first language, they have English habits, fashions and manners. They also play cricket. Then there are the Indian railways...

And despite all that they still chose freedom.

Before you get the Sepoy Rebellion, it was a farce because the cartridges issued to Sepoys were waxed, not greased, the rumour that cow or pig grease was used was spread by malcontents.

I actually wasn't going to bring that up at all.

Don't try to tell me India would have been better off without the Raj - India would not exist without the Raj.

Oh, it most certainly would have been there. Would it have been better off? Now that is a difficult question.

If the UK was not a democracy in 1780 then neither was the US.

Sure we were. At least once the Constitution was adopted, I think that was in 1787.

OK, so now you're really stretching it. The Vikings in Vinland starved to death, they weren't systematically wiped out.

Perhaps "wiped out" is the wrong term. "Booted out" would be more accurate. Vinland was too remote and thus too difficult to protect from ever increasing Indian raids. So the Vikings packed up and left.