By the way, the whole world has improved in every measurable aspect, and that alone (education, life expectancy, house hold income, nutrition, etc.) will render

By the way, the whole world has improved in every measurable aspect, and that alone (education, life expectancy, house hold income, nutrition, etc.) will render your colonialist argument moot. What you're calling "better" was a cosmetic superficial metric of success; you had a ruling class that had a life-style comparable to that of the colonial masters, but the great unwashed masses had no such fortune. You, and many others, use Britishness or Europeanness as a metric of progress. Things are good as long as they resemble comparable things in London. I read that bullshit in travel literature; Saigon is great because it has French architecture, and Eritrea is lauded for its Italian "heritage". I swear, I could write a dissertation on every news headline, magazine article, ad, or a forum comment I come across everyday. Propaganda strikes and runs deep, methinks.