Everyone has a right to their own axe-grinding, and mine is this: what explains the current British fashion (obviously not universal, but fairly widespread) to denigrate their own imperial past? a (fairly traditional) explanation would be that they feel so superior that they feel they can afford to do so (making this its own form of boasting) but while it is true that ordinary Britons enjoy a standard of living today that is higher than that of their ancestors, they are not exactly a world power any more, and their shocking pre-eminence in cultural and scientific fields is also past its prime. So its hard to believe they really feel THAT superior.
So why then?
A different explanation would be that they are actually conscious of decline and like most cultures whose glory days are behind them, they want to boast about their past imperial greatness. But unlike the relatively uncouth Arabs, Mongolians, Turks and so on, they are doing their boasting a bit subtly (how very British of them). You know, indirectly. They are not really ashamed at all, they actually want to make sure you know that their ancestors were great conquerors. The shame, in short, is just a sham. That sort of thing.
Which of these seems to you to be the correct explanation? (I refuse to believe they are genuinely ashamed...that would be just silly).
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