General News

[Jules]

As long as they are being taken care of, who gives a fuck.

[Dr_Strangepass]

@JakeyBoy

This also seems to not sit well with your follow up post in which you say we shouldn’t give it back due to human rights in Egypt. Human rights is reason to prevent us giving it back, but wouldn’t prevent us loaning it to them from time to time?

I guess these were two different perspectives. I could see myself being persuaded to loan the object; I could also be persuaded to simply refuse out of hand.

@JakeyBoy

The Egyptian regime’s record on human rights record could be absolutely fine and I’m like 90% sure you’d still be saying we shouldn’t give them the Rosetta Stone back. Is that unfair of me?

Not unfair. If Egypt sent me - hypothetical head of the British Museum - a request for repatriation - I’d probably chuck it in the bin.

@JakeyBoy

If it were Greek or Indian artefacts,

I’d be more inclined to consider it, definitely. But it would be case by case, depending on how each object was acquired.

@JakeyBoy

I also think it’s perhaps odd to draw the line at Egypt cos of human rights when Saudi Arabia remain a key economic ally of our nation and Qatar are being allowed to host an event like the World Cup, and we consider the USA perhaps our biggest ally, despite their passion for foreign military intervention, like blowing up non combatants via drone strikes.

I’m not sure how relevant this all is. It feels a bit like a postmodern text that leaves me incapable of deciding anything, except feeling overwhelmed. Thinking this way, I’d probably decide to bulldoze the museum out of existential guilt. Morally, I might feel a bit better, but Britain would be culturally less rich and I’d wake up a few years from now to find out that half the returned treasures have been either lost, broken or wilfully destroyed or sold off to private owners by regimes who actually never cared at all about the objects.

@JakeyBoy

Do you think you’d accept other nations continuing to possess important historical and cultural arrefacts from our country on any grounds? Or would you think we had an essentially inalienable right to our own history?

I’d probably not like it, if it was a really precious object, like stone henge or something. If we had the political clout we’d get it back; if not, we’d have to suck it up or try and negotiate for it in some way.

@JakeyBoy

So when people make the argument that the British Museum is a good place as it allows so many people to view artefacts and learn from them blah blah blah, it does ignore the fact that 99% of the items in the Museum’s possession are essentially being hoarded, which is very hard to justify imo.

Yeah but most of those objects no one cares about. We’ve also sold loads of unwanted objects, principally to the USA. I’d be fine with redistributing the clutter; I don’t know enough about it to know if there has been any real desire from other museums to acquire it. I’m not against returning objects outright. Just wanted to say that. I mean England only returned the Scone of Scotland to Scotland in 1996, and it was right to do so. Scotland is a friend, they will take care of it and we took that from them in actual straight up conquest.

[Sol]

@Jules

As long as they are being taken care of, who gives a fuck.

I’ll come to your house and rob your laptop or tablet or whatever you use to post on this forum.

I’ll take it back to my house, use screen wipes to make sure it’s free from dust and make sure not to over charge it so the battery lasts.

I guess you wouldn’t give a fuck - what’s your address mate?

[ryaninho]

I’m pretty sure if I find a £10 on the floor it’s mine do what I want with it. Who did any of those artifacts belong to before the English dug it up or won as spoils of war? If my history is correct many nations plundered and looted each other as victors. All this moral brow beating and virtue signaling can’t change that fact. Britain was just better at winning now the loser want they shit back. I say “fuck off should of won that war mate”

[Stroller]

Legions of bored kids would be delighted that backpack Dad couldn’t go the British museum and dragged away from there gaming device because a bit of brickwork has gone overseas.

[shamrockgooner]

There are hundreds, thousands of things in the British Museum more interesting than that stone.

[Sol]

@ryaninho

I’m pretty sure if I find a £10 on the floor it’s mine do what I want with it. Who did any of those artifacts belong to before the English dug it up or won as spoils of war? If my history is correct many nations plundered and looted each other as victors. All this moral brow beating and virtue signaling can’t change that fact. Britain was just better at winning now the loser want they shit back. I say “fuck off should of won that war mate”

Your analogy isn’t applicable.

It would be more accurate if you’d wondered into your neighbour’s back garden and found the tenner there. If you claimed that, there’s this thing called stealing. It’s not cool.

Just because it happened 300 years ago or whatever, doesn’t make it right lol.

If a gang of thieves break into your home with assault rifles and nick all your shit, would you be okay with that? Because they’re stronger, and there’s nothing you can do about so it’s fine? What am I even reading here

[ryaninho]

Again what you are doing is applying modern morality on a era where it is not applicable. Again everyone was doing as was the way of times gone by

[Craigie]

We gave back India despite winning it fair and square by the rules of the game in times gone by. Gave up our slaves too, all that GDP thrown away FFS.

Maybe Egypt should get themselves a better army and march on London. It’s the only fair way to settle these things.

[mhappy]

How about you look at in reverse, do you think of they had some artefacts from our country on anybody else’s doe you think they’d give back….

If they want it back shouldn’t they compensate the families of the archaeologist the spent money digging them up, after all the Egyptians did care enough to spend their own money to dig it up.

This is the double standards of this age; these guys a well aware there is a section of the country that hates it enough to destroy it from within.

@Craigie

Gave up our slaves too, all that GDP thrown away FFS.

The British came to the consensus that it was evil, and forced the rest of the world to comply, should they be allowed to start slavery again?

[KITN]

@ryaninho

I’m pretty sure if I find a £10 on the floor it’s mine do what I want with it.

This is how I know you’re a ten year old.

[Jules]

Well you would have taken it from someone who is long dead, not me.

[Leper]

@ryaninho

Again what you are doing is applying modern morality on a era where it is not applicable. Again everyone was doing as was the way of times gone by

Doesn’t explain why Britain continues to hold onto stolen cultural items in our own day and age.

[shamrockgooner]

@mhappy

If they want it back shouldn’t they compensate the families of the archaeologist the spent money digging them up

[DavidHillier]

Ringo Starr cancels North America tour with Covid

Hmm, the pessimist in me thinks that Ringo is in a worse state of health than reported. COVID has been lingering for quite a while with him.

Wishing him a speedy recovery. Absolute legend

[JakeyBoy]

[Calum]

Weirdos. Hope they got done for it

STV News

[sevchenko]

They can’t even both bothered to get a tin of campbell’s ?

They’ve missed out on some delicious irony there

[Jesseviolin]

I’d say life isn’t worth living without art and also tell the stupid bitch that protecting the planet doesn’t include buying chemicals made in a processing plant to change the colour of your hair. Food banks could have done with the soup too.

[shamrockgooner]

@Calum

Weirdos. Hope they got done for it

Yea they’re weirdos but hopefully throwing soup at a glass screen isn’t a criminal offence.