by richardk
Sun Jan 21st, 2007 at 04:04:45 AM EST
Familiarity breeds contempt, or so the saying goes. And my familiarity with anglo countries has certainly bred my contempt of them. Or has it?
Countries ranked by my familiarity with them:
Canada
USA
France
England
Australia
Sweden
Japan
..
Countries ranked by my hatred of them:
USA
England
all of Africa
most of central Asia
..
nearly all of latin America
..
Canada
..
Australia
..
France
Sweden
---
So what do you know, familiarity doesn't breed contempt. It's just a coincidence that the USA and England both top the list.
So here's my question to you all. Has the United Kingdom or England done a single unalloyed good thing that you know of?
Something that was done for the benefit of its people or some other people or the world in general? Something not done out of a desire for destruction, greed, domination or atavistic self-aggrandizement? Something wholly non-evil?
And please don't mention necessities for bare survival like resisting Hitler or building public libraries.
Examples:
democracy in Australia
revolution, frequent general strikes, nuclear power, Paris' anti-skyscrapers, trains a grande vitesse and eurotunnel in France
AlpTransit in Switzerland
Shinkansen in Japan
European Union by France and Germany
childrearing revolution in Germany
social and political advances too numerous to mention in Nordic countries