Quote Originally Posted by Jock Scot View Post
Thank you so much for your reply.I have no doubts whatsoever that some took advantage of the crop failures to "feather their own nest".Nothing much changes does it?Its still going on in many places in the world.

Getting back to the clearances and the potato famine. I think that the British government,local officialdom and society in general were not prepared and had no knowledge or facilities available to handle the disaster that landed on them.To put it simply they were out of their depth.Nevertheless I make no excuses for those who took advantage, of hungry peoples plight, whether they were in government or some local landlord who sat back(could they have helped?Some were in the same predicament!),did nothing and just waited for the deadful events to unfold.

Of course the potato famine was an awful episode in the much longer saga of the clearances of the Highlands and Ireland.

I am English, I was always disgusted that the British government didn't stop the people affected by the potato famine from starving. Now we are trying to stop people in Africa from starving and it is very difficult even today.

Having read your very wize words Jock, I wonder why I didn't think of that myself. It seems so obvious when it is put infront of you. thank you Jock.

I think the moral of this is that we should learn about history, be proud of the good bits, but not too proud, regret the bad bits if you like, but learn from them.

Then if we learn from the bad bits, those poor people who suffered will have done more for the world than they could ever imagine.

Great thread, I've learned a lot.

Peter