The British ruling class used to maintain that their position in society was God given, now they would have us believe that their wealth and privilege are all down to merit, "hard work", "service", "entrepreneurial spirit" and suchlike. The truth is of course, that the wealth of the few is the direct consequent of theft from the many, both now and in the past. Most of the "old money" in this country is rooted in slavery. Vast fortunes were made, and dynasties of huge wealth founded, on the horrors of plantation life. When slavery was finally abolished in the British Empire the slave owners added to their accumulated wealth with the millions of pounds compensation paid by the government for loss of property. The property in question, the former slaves, received not a penny of course.
I was pleased to hear from Anti-Slavery International that UCL have now set up a website were we can for the first time find out who in the British establishment can trace the family fortune back to slave ownership. A quick search at http://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/ revealed that among the companies and individuals who can trace their fortunes back to the profits of the lash are those loveable toffs Dave and Sam Cameron.
EDIT. The good Doctor has taken me to task for failing to mention modern day slavery in general and Mauritania in particular. Fair point Doc but a quick shufti at the Anti-Slavery International link would have revealed plenty about both the general and the particular. I do my best Doc, honest.
2 comments:
Good to see the Tories are still up to their bad ways. But with greatest respect I wish there was more attention to modern day slavery which is equally barbaric and brutal. Today there are 27 million slaves in the world - more than ever - and I need not remind anyone that the countries holding slaves are among those who are chiding the west for their relatively short involvement in slavery. Mauritania presides over the UN Human Rights Council which is allegedly opposed to slavery.Mauritania, although all-but ignored by mainstream human-rights groups, it is a country that allows 20% of its citizens, about 800,000 people, some as young as 10, to live as slaves. Might be worth checking out the many other countries involved in the business; they were doing it before the west got involved and continue today.
Yes it is worth drawing attention to the Tory past associations with slavery but my how the left and reforming organizations are selective in attributing blame.
Apologies, I was not having a go, just in my clumsy way widening the discussion. I feel a bit stupid now. Your original post hit the target.And I am sure you will agree with me that the British working class played a powerful role in combating slavery, something we should remind the youngsters about
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