Lurker, just because someone sticks feathers in their hair, puts on a loincloth, and dances around a phalic symbol doesn't mean that they are civilised. Just look at Australia and the USA today and compare them with how they were before colonisation. I cannot see how anyone could think that life use to be better bofore. As for industrialisation, it is the very best thing that happened to the human race. It released us from the drudgery of toiling on the fields, released us from famine, gave us a standard of life that our ancestors could not even dream of. It also liberated us from the landowner. There is a downside: pollution, and ...er, that's it really. It doesn't really pay to romanticise the past. As for Ireland having a standard of living that has improved since it broke away from the UK, look at how long Ireland has been independent. 1922! That was some time ago. The only reason the economy of Ireland is on the up is because the EU pumped money into it. It is not sustainable. It can not last. It is not based in any true economic improvement. Ireland, after 1922, didn't change much. Things carried on as normal. So much for living under British oppression.

Pooka. The St Paddy Day parades are racist, as racist, if you like, as the Orange Parades, but the Irish are more subtle. They claim they want everyone to join with them in their celebration. Why? It is to gain political leverage, to get sympathy for their "cause." I do really have to ask why should everyone want to be Irish? What is so special about them? Apart from a few from the Protestant Ascendency and the Ulster North, they have acheived little. They have slept walked through history mostly while others have strode. Oh yes, and Ireland had it's independence in 1922 even though it didn't declare itself as a republic until much later-how else could they have remained neutral. However, de Valeria left a light on at night to guide the German bombers. Shameful, but true.

As for the UK in WW11, Hitler wanted it to stay out of the war. He admirred the uk for its empire. That is why he allowed our troops to flee at Dunkirk. Despite, and thanks to Churchill, we fought on, and had out cities bombed, our people killed, and our Empire left in ruins, after which barbarisim returned to these unfortunate lands.

As for the Jews going into Palestine, they may have well have thought that God had told them to do it. My ancestors who came over to Ulster from Scotland probably thought the same. It's really no excuse.