I feel bad for being born in Britain. Should I ?

Post Reply New Topic

I am well aware of being born in a country which had the biggest empire in the world and enslaved peoples of other countries but there seems to be a part of me that should feel ''bad'' for the fact that I was born in a country that became rich and powerful from imperialism and colonialism having hearing a lot in the news, in documentaries, social media and so on and calls for reparations for the slave trade but there the seems to be just as many arguments from lots of people including the royal family who time and again don't apologise but continue to explain that yes it was absolutely appalling but the past was the past and that it was the ''norm'' in those days and we shouldn't put today's modern standards on the standards of the past.

I even seem to feel as though in the eyes of other countries, we the West (the UK, the US, France etc) are the real villains whereas the ''bad guys'' in our eyes seem to be Russia, Iran, North Korea etc and it feels we are to blame for a lot of things not just the empires but the Bengal Famine, the creation of the state of Israel and the Palestinians losing their lands, the war in Iraq and so on. I even remember a line of someone in a film I saw called Anthropoid starring Cillian Murphy and Jamie Dornan as Czech agents sent to assassinate the Nazi Reinhard Heydrich during World War Two, who objected at first to their plan to assassinate Heydrich and said ''It was the Allies who gave us to the Germans in the first place.'' I don't want to come across as a self hating British person but its hard not to feel that way when we are perhaps more aware now about the wrong-doings of our past than perhaps we did before and I do think we should read about these things just as much as we learn about the positive things we have done.

I can't tell you how to feel, but no, I don't think anyone should feel bad about where they were born. Nor do I feel bad for being born in America. This idea that a person's mere existence automatically makes them responsible for all of the "bad" things, yet none of the "good" things strikes me as a means of controlling people through guilt.

With things the way they are in the US, I'm sad that I was born here (being born and living my entire life in Texas only amplifies that sadness).

I wish I was born in Sweden.

Yes. Feel nothing but guilt over that thing you had zero control over.

But seriously, you don't need to feel any guilt, just be mindful of how Britain's activities have impacted other peoples and try to show empathy for those who were negatively impacted.

agreed, you should be aware what your people have done and not sweep it under the carpet. But you aren't responsible at all.

People do evil things sometimes

People have zero control of how they're born, their sex, their environment, the wealth of their parents, their country etc. As other posters have stated, it is a good thing to be aware but I can't understand how you feel bad over nothing you had no control over.

Your worth has nothing to do with where you were born. Attaching one's self worth to one's homeland is unhealthy.

You are not responsible for the things your country and ancestors have done, but we can be responsible for trying to make the world a better place going forward, to the extent that we are able. So for instance you can learn about political issues to help you figure out which ones and which candidates to support.

No, as has previously been said this is nothing you had control over. I suppose one can move to another country, but any place you move to is going to have some and probably a lot of bad history. These places will also have good history. While America was diddling the British held off the Nazis all by themselves. The British have and continue to export a lot of culture and entertainment that has brought enlightenment and joy to the rest of the world.

You are only responsible for things you can control. Your birthplace, gender/sex or ethnicity is not one of these things.

The USA has its own nasty history as well. All I can say is, one does not get to decide where they are born.

For being born at a particular time and place, all because of those ancestors, what those ancestors did and how that benefitted their descendants -- no.

But if said descendant is perpetuating the mess of their ancestors did, passing the same BS that generations of humans are ought to outgrow however, that's another matter.


In essence; no, I don't think the sins of those who are historically committed atrocities should feel shame over what they didn't do.


But? If one is a part of a large and systemic problem that rooted from those era?
If that their choice, one is ought to be shameful.
But if that's not their true and conscious choice (usually because of socialization), better that they do learn better than said ancestors.

The tricky part, however, it's a collective thing.
Individually, it's not possible to solve. Individually, it's something one had to take account..

Unless one a great influencer, that's just something that's had to start with themselves.
In some cases, an uphill battle if the norm perpetuates those old systems that relates to all that prejudice, old desires and all that crap into the present.



I came from a country where historical hate isn't passed on, nor has a notorious history to feel 'ashamed' over.
Got a very different take instead, like dealing with colonial mentality.

While the neighboring countries hates the Japanese for what they did in WW2; people here don't.

They don't hate the Spanish, the Americas and, the Japanese for what their ancestors did.

Downside is that history isn't taught well in detail ... The facts itself is not the problem, but the collective interpretation and pressumed dynamics of allies and enemies.

Gained Number Post Count (1).
Lose Time (n).

Lose more time here - Updates at least once a week.