1. I've been nursing a grudge against this Adam Gopnik New Yorker essay on John Stuart Mill for about 8 years: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/10/06/right-again …
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Replying to @HeerJeet
2. It's splendidly written (of course) & JS Mill was in many ways admirable figure who deserves to be celebrated. But it's also a whitewash
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Replying to @HeerJeet
3. According to Gopnik, Mill was "a servant of British imperialism, but a benevolent kind."
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Replying to @HeerJeet
4. We can appreciate the exact nature of Mill's "benevolent" imperialism by reading him on the Irish potato famine: http://crookedtimber.org/2016/01/28/millian-liberalism-and-the-irish-famine/ …
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Replying to @HeerJeet
5. As
@henryfarrell notes, Mill's response to famine was "to contemn in the harshest terms efforts to help" people starving to death1 reply 6 retweets 17 likes -
Replying to @HeerJeet
6. The key fact to remember is that famine was man-made and relief (feeding the starving) was very feasible if government wanted to do it.
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Replying to @HeerJeet
7. C. O’Grada: Although potato crop failed, [Ireland] was still producing and exporting more than enough grain crops to feed the population.
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Replying to @HeerJeet
8. Fact that Mill had a more cogent & enlightened critique than most of causes of famine (in landlord system) makes his stance even worse.
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Replying to @HeerJeet
9. Mill understood famine was systematic failure not caused by Irish peasants but still wanted them to suffer (for the greater good)
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Replying to @HeerJeet
10. Everything I've said about Mill & Ireland applies even more to India, overwhich he was a key policy maker for many years.
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11. Aside from the famine stuff, Mill was actually less democratically inclined on India than others (including his father) had been.
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Replying to @HeerJeet
12. On India, Mills *unlike his dad) preferred working with local hereditary elites rather than setting up democratic institutions.
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Replying to @HeerJeet
13. Anyways,
@adamgopnik's whitewashing of Mills & imperialism regrettable because problem of liberalism & empire is still with us.3 replies 3 retweets 16 likes - Show replies
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