‽istis reclaims imperial units (weekending June
4th 2022)
This week when a consultation begins in the UK, crudely: bring back Imperial units? - ‽istis ponders what might be considered
to be some ‘units’ of information, albeit with some rather randomly (and no
doubt methodologically spuriously) plucked from or hinting at previous, perhaps
gilded ages past:
●
Unit of measurement - life expectancy‽: UK average age of
death: 1950: 68.69 years (coronation); 1974: 72.37yrs (joining the EU); 2020
(leaving the EU): 81.4yrs. And comparisons with other countries across the
Commonwealth might be interesting…
●
Unit of measurement - reparation‽: ‘If there are about
35 million black Americans who would be eligible for reparations, this minimum
(or baseline) estimate would amount to $40,000 to $60,000 per person.’[i]
●
Unit of measurement – wage slave pay‽: 'So long as
British financiers open coalpits in other parts of the Empire and compel miners
to work at 8d. per day, so long will the British miners and their Continental
competitors be driven downwards... so
long as this slave labour exists in the Empire, so long as the economic
position of the British miner will be one of continual danger.'[ii]
●
Unit of measurement - opposition‽: 'Obviously -
perhaps even too obviously to mention - one million people do not indulge in
open revolt against the existing order unless the times are badly out of joint…'[iii]
●
Unit of injustice and (British) values‽: 'British
colonialism, like all colonialisms, has a sad history in its denials of
personal liberties and human rights. During the last twenty years of
national struggles, it has been an almost continuous record of detentions
without trial, imprisonment5s on political charges, deportations, enforced
periods of exile, and of the repression if freedoms of speech, movement,
association and trade unionism.'[iv]
● Unit of measurement –
justice and values‽: “Rebuild your world, rebuild your race, rebuild your
empire. Rebuild it all. But make sure you rebuild your ideals too. Rebuild the
principles that made you a great and honorable galactic power in the first
place. Don't prey on the weak. Don't steal from the helpless. Don't murder the
innocent. Be a force for good, not a force for yourself.”[v]
●
Unit
of measurement – dominance, power and
control (i)‽: The British Empire was
the world's largest territorial realm. The British Empire ruled over 412
million people in 1913, accounting for 23% of the planet's population at the
time.[vi]
●
Unit
of measurement – dominance, power and control (ii)‽: 'I cannot help remembering that this country (Great
Britain) over the last two hundred years has directed the invasion or conquest
of 178 countries - that is most of the members of the UN.'[vii] (*7)
●
Unit
of measurement feudal legacy and Deity appropriation‽: 'O Lord our God arise, Scatter our enemies, And make
them fall! Confound their politics, Frustrate their knavish tricks, On Thee our
hopes we fix, God save us all!’[viii]
●
Unit of measurement – violence, conflict and money
spent to attack or defend‽: Between 1688 and 1968, Britain was arguably
involved in more wars than any other nation or empire on the planet. During
this 280 year period, the British government's investment into its military
strength increased greatly, and this level of investment allowed Britain to
become the most powerful nation in the world for the majority of this period.[ix]
● Unit of measurement – a balanced
argument‽: A revision balance sheet[x]:
o Advantages of the British
Empire:
▪
Infrastructure - Britain gave its colonies better developments to the
country, such as better roads and railways
▪
Language - Through the Empire, the English language spread, allowing
people to communicate using one language
▪
Culture - The trade system allowed people to come to Britain, bringing
their culture with them, making Britain's more diverse
▪
Democracy - Britain brought the idea of democracy to its colonies and
helped them to build their own
▪
Commonwealth - The Commonwealth provided the old colonies with help and
support after the Empire era
▪
Law and Order - The Empire brought their law system with them, improving
the colonies' systems, even up to now
▪
Education - The Empire brought their education system with them,
improving the children's education
o Disadvantages of the British
Empire:
▪
Culture - British culture was forced on to the colonists, while the
original culture was banned, ignored and forgotten
▪
Economies - The colonies' economy was falling because most of the profit
of goods go back to Britain
▪
Soldiers - The colonies had to provide soldiers who fought and died for
Britain. The soldiers wouldn't have had to fight and die without the Empire.
▪
Religion - The missionaries sent with the Empire forced Christianity to
the colonists, stopping the practice of other religions
▪
Disease - The British brought with them new diseases to the faraway
colonies, killing lots and lots of people as they are unused to it
▪
Theft - The Empire just took the land and resources from the colonies,
leading to the near-extinction of many indigenous tribes, such as the
Aborigines
▪
Slavery - African slaves were taken to America to be sold
And so, consultation dependent, perhaps we might
look forward to calculating in 12s, 14s and 16s; possibly look forward to
transactions in guineas (and a new reverse route to greater profit might open
up for any business, or Chancellor: buying in pounds and selling in guineas!);
maybe look forward to all those supposed ‘Brexit benefits’ being wrung out,
with the drips proclaimed by those rolling in Denarii, Solidus and Librae using
Latin phrases[xi]
(how about: ‘capta tergum imperium’[xii] or ‘in diebus illis
errant’, anyone?) delivered in at least a lb/454g of Victoria(n) plum-my
tones‽
Perhaps, possibly, maybe though, we might revisit
the past and decide that it is not just another country (after L.P.Hartley),
but one in which perhaps the majority of us (maybe even more than 52%?) would
not have wanted to live...
Meanwhile, the present may also be similar for many…
And finally, maybe one more ‘unit’:
·
Unit of
measurement – changing hearts and minds‽:
“Our strategy should be not only to confront empire, but to lay siege to it. To
deprive it of oxygen. To shame it. To mock it. With our art, our music, our
literature, our stubbornness, our joy, our brilliance, our sheer relentlessness
– and our ability to tell our own stories. Stories that are different from the
ones we’re being brainwashed to believe. Another world is not only possible,
she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.”[xiii]
So yet - just perhaps, possibly, maybe we could at
least try to imagine a shared better future: ‘ad se secundum opus; ex singulis
secundum’[xiv],
anyone/everyone‽
© Pistis
NB: further reflections and comments
linked to this week’s theme and past blog entries to be found on Twitter:
replies, retweets (which don’t necessarily indicate approval, sometimes the
very opposite!) and ‘likes’: @Pistis_wonders. ‘Follows’ and respectful comment
and dialogue welcome...
[i] https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/how-reparations-american-descendants-slavery-could-narrow-racial-wealth-divide-ncna1019691
[ii] 1926
Cited in 'Insurgent Empire: Anticolonial
Resistance and British Dissent.' Priyamvada Gopal 2019
[iii] Elspeth
Huxley. Cited: ibid. p.430
[iv] 'Movement
for Colonial Freedom', cited in: ibid. p.420
[v] https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/empire. Dan Abnett, Doctor Who: The Silent Stars Go
By.
[vi] https://kidadl.com/fun-facts/facts-about-various-empires-throughout-the-history-for-you
[vii] Prime
Minister Boris Johnson cited in: 'Legacy of Violence: A History of the British
Empire' Caroline Elkins. 2022. p. 7
[viii]
UK National Anthem - composer unknown.
https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/british-national-anthem-lyrics/
[ix] https://www.statista.com/statistics/1049865/british-military-expenditure-historical/
[x] https://getrevising.co.uk/grids/the_british_empire
[xi] https://www.wordhippo.com/ Translation feature:
English to Latin and vice versa
[xii]
Ibid: and interesting that ‘imperium’ is translated as ‘control’‽
[xiii]
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/empire
[xiv] https://www.wordhippo.com/ Translation
feature: English to Latin and vice versa. ‘To each according to their needs.
From each according to their means.’
