Path: csiph.com!fu-berlin.de!uni-berlin.de!individual.net!not-for-mail From: rbowman Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.misc Subject: Re: GNU Date: 2 Apr 2026 04:10:31 GMT Lines: 30 Message-ID: References: <1rsp93i.i0zwza16xvqdfN%nospam@de-ster.demon.nl> <18a11b491becb6ce$558$2491104$802601b3@news.usenetexpress.com> <1rsq78a.9hgxro1eczx2yN%nospam@de-ster.demon.nl> <10qb9df$1inu5$14@dont-email.me> <1rsr591.1ssq8oh1dihjwuN%nospam@de-ster.demon.nl> <10qc4dc$1silm$10@dont-email.me> <0cqjskp5oprp9v1utu6t3q8u0urkpnjbvs@4ax.com> <951q9mxo8p.ln2@Telcontar.valinor> <10qf25l$2tg1l$1@dont-email.me> <1rsta5r.iodu9pkllu2gN%snipeco.2@gmail.com> <10qgiih$3aete$16@dont-email.me> <0jdt9mxh26.ln2@Telcontar.valinor> <10qh2fo$3ie4g$1@dont-email.me> <10qh3m7$3iibq$4@dont-email.me> <10qi5iq$3tjho$1@dont-email.me> <20260401094904.00005cc6@gmail.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Trace: individual.net iz01WeIHC5MB8DmMcBc5HA5c3y3q+Qw1Ph2fYl+jZR3itEq9uB Cancel-Lock: sha1:A4VHO7evP7YCbb9DfI05cwHD364= sha256:XhTe3EW/TxG4zJ0B1aJKn/GZSD0YT/kHK2PrFRaojk0= User-Agent: Pan/0.162 (Pokrosvk) Xref: csiph.com comp.os.linux.misc:85118 On Wed, 1 Apr 2026 09:49:04 -0700, John Ames wrote: > On Tue, 31 Mar 2026 21:05:46 -0700 Bobbie Sellers > wrote: > >> Kipling was good when I was a kid and did not understand the basics >> about colonialism, imperialism and racism. > > Kipling's an interesting one; while I haven't made an in-depth study of > the man himself (and I certainly know some Indian folks who see him as a > cheerleader for the Empire,) there's a strong egalitarian streak in his > poetry, and a few moments in his writing that seem to hint at his being > maybe a little more skeptical of imperialism than a lot of his peers > ("Mark of the Beast" in particular gets *real* close to being an "are we > the baddies...?" moment, which is fairly shocking for 1890.) > > The answer may be, as is often the case, that People Are Complicated... He certainly was complicated. 'Kim' got me interested in Buddhism and he treated Tibetan Buddhism well. For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!" But it's "Saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot; An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please; An' Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool -- you bet that Tommy sees! It must have weighed heavy on him the he was a cheerleader for WWI and pulled strings to get his son in the Irish Guards only to have the boy killed in action.