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    Nec Pluribus Impar Member SwordsMaster's Avatar
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    Default Re: What does the UK, France and the Netherlands have in common?

    Quote Originally Posted by Husar View Post
    That's exactly what I said when I said infrastructure and forts....
    And that you are not referring to the inconvenient parts doesn't improve the reality one bit.

    I meant the laws of the dictators, and the Dutch decided they had enough of those. Tht the ruling class makes the laws is irrelevant, in a democracy the people are the ruling class.
    What inconvenient bits? The fact that these buildings were built with indentured labour does not mean we should tear them down after. That'd be like spitting on the effort of the people who built them. Which is why the case of Germany is completely out of proportion, the net effect of the war was devastation, not edification, and thus they pay reparations.

    And about the people being the ruling class. Well, I don't know who this recession made richer in Germany, but in the countries I've been to it isn't the taxpayer.

    And on Hong Kong - It was a wasteland with mostly fishermen living there after the first war with the portuguese in the XVII century. Most of the opium trade went through Canton, and the british occupation of the island as a defensible position (for a nation with a strong navy) met little opposition from the powers in China at the time who preferred to keep all the foreigners in one little box (which is why Portugal also got to keep Macao, across the bay).

    Going from a small fishing town to a major global metropolis in 150 years while the rest of China remains what is essentially a feudal society with a few urban hotspots is a net positive influence of British rule, I would say.
    Last edited by SwordsMaster; 10-12-2013 at 13:22.
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