Shooting An Elephant

Ever read it? It's been a good few years since I last did, although I have it in an anthology, somewhere on the shelves, but if I recall correctly Blair recounts his unwillingness to slaughter a noble, even if troubled, beast simply because the natives, on whose acquiescence the empire depended, demanded it. How ironic it is that the British government, itself slaughtered by the Elephant's firing squad, is reported to have begged the erstwhile natives to accept its pathetic attempt at largesse, preferring the contempt of those it once ruled to the scorn of those it thinks it still rules.

EUReferendum frequently asks: 'the reason we don't rise up and slaughter them is ... ? Gruff answers that perhaps the reason is that as a people we English have yet to be sufficiently degraded by the British. I still believe that day will come.


Gruff thanks to EUReferendum for the link to the tale.