British anchor vs. Shashi Tharoor
Summary
TLDRThe video script discusses the detrimental impact of British colonial rule on India, highlighting economic exploitation, deindustrialization, and the suffering of its people. It emphasizes the British Empire's use of India as a cash cow, contributing to its own industrial revolution while impoverishing India. The script also points out the hypocrisy of celebrating democracy after years of oppression and the significant contributions India made to both World Wars, which were never adequately compensated.
Takeaways
- 🌏 The British Empire's global reach was so vast that it was said 'the sun never set on it', implying a distrust even from God due to the English and their colonial actions.
- 📉 India's share of the world economy drastically declined from 23% when Britain arrived to below 4% by the time they left, due to governance that prioritized Britain's benefit.
- 🏭 Britain's industrial revolution was built on the de-industrialization of India, with British policies destroying local industries like handloom weaving and replacing them with British manufactured goods.
- 💸 Colonial figures like Robert Clive amassed personal wealth at the expense of India, leading to a perception of ownership over the country despite their exploitative actions.
- 📉 The decline in India's global trade share from 27% to less than 2% reflects the economic impact of British colonial policies.
- 🌾 British-induced famines, including the Great Bengal Famine during WWII, resulted in millions of deaths due to policies that prioritized Europeans over Indians.
- 💂♂️ Winston Churchill's policies during WWII, including diverting essential supplies from Bengal to Europe, demonstrate the harsh realities of colonial rule and disregard for colonial subjects.
- 💰 India's contribution to both World Wars was immense, both in terms of human lives and resources, with a significant financial burden placed on the Indian economy.
- 🛤️ Infrastructure like railways and roads were built to serve British interests rather than the needs of the local population, with costs and benefits skewed towards British enterprises.
- 🗳️ Democracy and rule of law were not extended to India willingly; it was a hard-won right after prolonged struggle against British rule.
- 🤝 British aid to India is minimal, at about 0.4% of India's GDP, contrasting with the substantial economic impact Britain had on India during colonial times.
Q & A
Why does the script suggest that countries with a space program should not be given money?
-The script implies that countries with a space program, like Britain during its colonial era, might have been economically prosperous at the expense of other nations, suggesting that financial aid to such countries might not be justifiable.
What was India's share of the world economy before and after British colonization?
-Before Britain's arrival, India's share of the world economy was 23 percent, but it dropped to below four percent by the time the British left, indicating the negative economic impact of British rule.
How did Britain's industrial revolution relate to its colonial activities in India?
-Britain's industrial revolution was premised upon the de-industrialization of India, where British policies led to the destruction of India's textile industry and the exploitation of its raw materials.
What impact did British policies have on Indian handloom weavers?
-British policies, including the imposition of tariffs and duties, and the destruction of looms, led to the destitution of Indian handloom weavers, turning them from world-renowned exporters to beggars.
How did the British exploitation of India's resources contribute to the empire's wealth?
-The British exploited India's resources, turning raw materials into manufactured goods that were then sold globally, which financed Britain's rise and its industrial revolution.
What was the role of Robert Clive in British colonial India?
-Robert Clive was a colonialist who amassed personal wealth through the exploitation of India, and his actions exemplify the broader pattern of British colonial exploitation.
How did British policies contribute to famines in India?
-British policies, including the diversion of essential supplies during World War II by Winston Churchill, contributed to several famines in India, resulting in millions of deaths.
What was the economic cost of World War I to India?
-India contributed significantly to World War I, with a cost equivalent to eight billion pounds in today's money, including supplies, ammunition, and personnel.
What was the contribution of India to World War II in terms of personnel and resources?
-India provided over two and a half million personnel in uniform and substantial resources, contributing to Britain's war efforts but at a great cost to itself.
How did the construction of railways and roads in India serve British interests?
-Railways and roads in India were built to facilitate the extraction and transportation of raw materials for British benefit, rather than to meet the needs of the Indian population.
What is the script's view on the legacy of British colonial rule in India?
-The script criticizes the British colonial rule for its oppressive and exploitative nature, challenging the notion that it brought democracy and progress to India.
Outlines
🌍 Colonial Exploitation and Economic Impact on India
This paragraph discusses the negative impact of British colonial rule on India's economy and society. It highlights how Britain's industrial revolution was funded by exploiting India's resources and people, leading to a drastic reduction in India's share of the world economy. The paragraph also describes the destruction of Indian industries, such as handloom weaving, and the imposition of tariffs and duties that turned India from a global exporter to an importer. It further touches on the British officials' personal enrichment at the expense of India, the severe famines induced by British policies, and the exploitation of India during both World Wars, where India provided significant resources and suffered heavy casualties.
🛤️ Infrastructure for Colonial Gain and Unpaid Debts
The second paragraph focuses on the infrastructure built during British colonial rule in India, emphasizing that it was designed to serve British interests rather than the local population. It points out that railways and roads were built to transport raw materials to ports for export to Britain, disregarding the needs of the Indian public. The paragraph also addresses the high costs of these projects, funded by Indian taxes with excessive returns for British investors. It criticizes the celebration of British democracy and rule of law in the face of oppressive colonial practices and mentions the unpaid war debts owed to India. The paragraph concludes with a critique of the minimal British aid to India, which is a small fraction of India's GDP, contrasting it with the significant financial burden India bore under colonial rule.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Space Program
💡British Empire
💡Depredations
💡Industrial Revolution
💡De-industrialization
💡Loot
💡Famines
💡Colonialism
💡World War I and II
💡Infrastructure
💡Democracy
💡British Aid
Highlights
The British Empire's colonial exploitation of India, leading to a significant decrease in India's share of the world economy from 23% to below 4%.
Britain's industrial revolution was financed by the depredations in India, including the de-industrialization of its handloom weavers.
British policies led to the impoverishment of Indian weavers, transforming them from world-renowned exporters to beggars.
Colonial figures like Robert Clive amassed personal wealth at the expense of India, contributing to the myth of British colonial benevolence.
India's economic decline was exacerbated by British-induced famines, resulting in millions of deaths.
Winston Churchill's policies during World War II contributed to the Bengal famine, causing the death of four million people.
Indian contributions to World War I were significant, with substantial resources and finances provided by India.
India's financial burden during World War I amounted to eight billion pounds in today's money.
India's role in World War II was even more substantial, with 2.5 million Indians in uniform and a significant financial debt owed to India.
Infrastructure like railways and roads were built to serve British interests rather than the local population's needs.
The British profited immensely from the Indian railway system, which was built at a high cost to the Indian public.
Democracy in India was not a gift from the British but a hard-won right after 150 years of struggle.
British aid to India is minimal, constituting only 0.4 percent of India's GDP, with India spending more on fertilizer subsidies.
The narrative of British colonial benevolence is challenged by the historical facts of exploitation and violence.
The transcript emphasizes the dark side of the British Empire, questioning the trustworthiness of the English even by God.
Transcripts
we should not be giving money to
countries with a space program no wonder
that the Sun never set on the British
Empire because even God couldn't trust
the English and the dark
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
India share of the world economy when
Britain arrived on its Shores was 23
percent by the time the British left it
was down to below four percent why
simply because India had been governed
for the benefit of Britain in Britain's
rise for 200 years was financed by its
depredations in India in fact Britain's
industrial revolution was actually
premised upon the de-industrialization
of India the handloom Weavers for
example famed across the world whose
products were exported around the world
Britain came right in there were
actually these Weavers making 5 Muslim
lightest woven air it was said and
Britain came right and smashed their
thumbs broke their looms imposed tariffs
and duties on their clothing products
and started of course taking the raw
materials from India and shipping back
manufactured cloth flooding the world's
markets with what became the products of
the dark and satanic Mills of Victorian
England that meant that the Weavers in
India became Beggars and India went from
being a world famous exporter of
finished cloth into an importer went
from having 27 percent of World Trade to
to less than two percent meanwhile
colonialists like Robert Clive
in England and the proceeds of their
loot in India while taking the Hindi
word loot into their dictionaries as
well as their habits
and the British had the goal to call him
Clive of India as if he belonged to the
country when all he really did was to
ensure that much of the country belonged
to him
by the end of the 19th century the fact
is that India was already Britain's
biggest Cash Cow the world's biggest
purchaser of British goods and exports
and the source of highly paid employment
for British civil servants we literally
paid for our own oppression between 50
1829 million Indians died of starvation
in British induced famines the most
famous example of course was the great
Bengal famine during the second world
war when four million people died
because Winston Churchill deliberately
as a matter of written militant policy
proceeded to divert essential supplies
from civilians in Bengal to sturdy
tummies and Europeans as Reserve
stockpiles he said that the starvation
of any way underfoot underfed bengalis
mattered much less than that of sturdy
Greeks this is Churchill's actual quote
and when conscious stricken British
officials wrote to him pointing out that
people were dying because of the of this
decision he peevishly wrote in the
margins of the file why hasn't Gandhi
died yet so all Notions that the British
were trying to do their colonial
Enterprise out of enlightened despotism
to try and bring the benefit
of colonial
Colonial civilization to the Ben
knighted Heathen I'm sorry
Churchill's conduct in 43 simply one
example of many that gave a lie to this
myth as others have said on the
proposition violence and racism were the
reality of the colonial experience and
no wonder that the Sun never sat set on
the British Empire because even God
couldn't trust the English and the dark
well let me quantify World War one for
you one-sixth of all the British forces
that fought on the war were Indian 54
000 Indians actually lost their lives in
that war 65 000 were wounded another
four thousand remained missing or in
prison
Indian taxpayers had to cough up a
hundred million pounds in that time's
money
India supplied 70 million rounds of
ammunition 600
000 rifles and machine guns 42 million
garments were stitched and sent out of
India and 1.3 million Indian Personnel
served in this war but not just that
India had to supply 173 73 000 animals
370 million tons of supplies and in the
end the total value of everything that
was taken out of India India and India
by the way suffering from recession at
that time and poverty and hunger was in
today's money eight billion pounds you
won quantification it's available second
world war it was even worse two and a
half million Indians in uniform I won't
belabor the point but of Britain's Total
War debt of 3 billion pounds in 1945
money 1.25 billion was owed to India and
never actually paid Railways and roads
were really built to serve British
interests and not those of the local
people but I might add that many
countries have built Railways and roads
without having had to be colonized in
order to do so I mean
they were designed to carry raw
materials from the hinterland into the
ports to be shipped to Britain and the
fact is that the Indian or Jamaican or
other Colonial public their needs were
incidental Transportation there was no
attempt made to match Supply to demand
for mass transport none whatsoever
instead in fact the Indian railways were
built with massive incentives offered by
Britain to British investors
guaranteed out of Indian taxes paid by
Indians with the result that you
actually had one mile of Indian Railway
costing twice what it cost to build the
same Mile in Canada or Australia because
there was so much money being paid in
extravagant returns Britain made all the
profits control the technology supplied
all the equipment and absolutely all
these benefits came as private
Enterprise
British private Enterprise at public
risk Indian public risk that was the the
railways as an accomplishment there was
reference to democr mercy and rule of
law let me say with the greatest
possible respect you can it's a bit Rich
to oppress enslave kill torture maim
people for 200 years and then celebrate
the fact that they're Democratic at the
end of it we were denied democracy so we
had to snatch it seize it from you with
the greatest reluctance it was conceded
in India's case after 150 years of
British rule and that too with limited
franchise the British Aid to India is
about 0.4 percent of India's GDP the
government of India actually spends more
on fertilizer subsidies which might be
an appropriate metaphor for that
argument
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