Alpha Lee - Britain Does Not Owe Reparations 

Hong Kong was just a hub to trade with, he wouldn't be saying the same if the whole of China was colonized like the Indian sub-continent or Africa was!!

"You can't debate brutality". Okay... What does that even mean? Did this bloke have a suggestion? Flesh for flesh?

no thank you

Shashi Tharoor killed the debate later xD. so many applauds during his speech

What kind of parents name their son "ALPHA"?!

I listened to his speech with as much impartiality as I could muster, but I still cannot agree to his point of view. One of his arguments included that there have been even more oppressive and authoritarian governments than colonial governments were. I am unable to fathom how is that relevant. A good proportion of his speech revolved around this. He also didn't give any satisfactory answer to the question of "Germany providing reparations to Israel".

This guy does not know the pain the people suffered during british rule.

i wanted to remind him how this british empire took china's main economy of tea from china to india and srilanka due to their own interest and killing of china's economy and also silk

So his argument is, "tough shit, what's done is done?"

This is a finest example how the master have trained a house-slave, a smart one, but a slave nonetheless; the sad thing is that the time is today.

so he ends it with a concluding statement that he supports one form of reparation and not the other while making a point that britain does not owe any reparation ?

Going by this lee name .. I am sure he has sold his religion as well to the british

I think he should Stick to chemistry

"OUR forbearers." The colonized mind indeed.

I had seen DR SHASHI THAROOR'S speech I didn't see this video.. Just see the difference in number of views...: Shashi tharoor _ 4.7 M views This video _ 49 k views

4:48...now that's democracy at work.

Alpha Lee's speech in a nutshell: "Uh no tank you" *hand wave* "Uh no tank you" *hand wave* "Uh no tank you" *hand wave* "Uh no tank you" *hand wave* X100

I think the speaker clearly missed the question of the debate by atleast google miles. I don't think we are debating how, when, where, whether quantifiable or not the reparations are ? The effects of reparation could be another debate. We do not expect Mr Lee to neither draft a reparation model nor have a chemistry formula to reset the balance. ' Does Britain owe reparation is the plain question' ? Thank you.

So his point is if you pay for your sins you are forgiven. He’s saying they shouldn’t be forgiven or forgotten

No one celebrates colonialism? Has this guy never met an English person?

0% nudity 0% cussing 100% "no, thank you"

Reparations are terrible after such a long time period has elapsed. If your father or grandfather committed a crime, how is it fair or moral to force the son to bear the sentence? How much should these reparations be? £100 per life killed? £1,00,000? You can never put an actual figure on it. If countries do receive reparations, then should they then also pay reparations to countries/people that they have oppressed? The history of humanity is a patchwork of conflict, of countries and tribes desiring, invading and taking what they want. The countries of the past are not the countries of the present, even if the name remains the same. Patriotism or shared guilt is a moronic concept. "We won the revolutionary war", who did? You? You were not alive. Don't think for one minute that reparations will achieve anything, at best the money will be taken by the government and squandered.

Thought of any other name for British Museums? "CHOR BAZAAR"

You know what I hated? The interruptions from those people. While you may disagree with someone's opinion, you dont interrupt them so damn much during a debate.

Not debating Brutality pretty much means Ignoring brutality. Grow up and face the facts. You did what you did and the least you could do is accept it and be sorry about it.

Lee,Why do your hands seem to be in chains?

An entire family down the street were looted last night. However, when the police couldn't catch the criminals and retrieve the loot, they found a reassuring letter, from the criminals that they would be providing aid to the family. Also, the family that has lost everything was blamed on poor governance and repressive behaviour for their misfortune. Also, the robbers were asked to be hopeful and not feel bad for robbing a poor hardworking family.

Wow. His point about HK is ON POINT!

All of his arguments are based on just assumptions. I didn't see any facts.

So they have got rules(like rule 71 and such), which they enforce when someone interrupts ! That is something. Why does he say "no thank you" multiple times ? Isnt Interrupting so often irritating and confusing ?

He makes a good point that strong, healthy foreign policy probably will be better then a one-off payment for reparations.

This guy has to be a troll.

It's funny how he calls himself "Alpha", and yet acts like such a "Beta".

Say you wrong me in something and the court (a moral authority) decides you should pay. It's not for you to decide to pay under the pretext that the money will be not well spend according to you judgement. Also, if humanitarian reason are the motivations for not paying (which in this case I hardly believe they care about the former colonies), then to bring peace to that already tormented and troubled soul, make the payments in goods (such as airports, schools, hospitals, etc.). And in doing so take the model of the Chinese, not the American that inflate the cost of their buildings in foreign countries. Reparation is not compensation and it's not to clear history, but to show the willingness to do good in front of regrets and repentance. There is no way that history can be repair, but it can be honored for future actions.

Shashi Tharoor is the jewel of this debate. His delivery is beautiful, respectful, and truthful but hard-hitting.

9:09 Dr shashi tharoor quantified it. Burn

Very convincing argument. He is not as eloquent as Dr Shashi Tharoor, but his points are right on target

Lee's argument can be applied this way: Germany will not repay any reparations to Jews, instead will have Germany intervene into Israel -- it's only through such a "sustained foreign policy interventions", which may be difficult, controversial but still the right thing to do :-) Hats off Lee.

This speaker does make some good points - I think it will always be hard to avoid blame games and the danger of endorsing despotic regimes. His point about quantifying has also been overlooked - how do you calculate reparations fairly? Who should pay? Is there not a danger, to paraphrase Ron Paul on aid, of money going from the poor of rich countries (i.e. Britain) to the rich of poor countries (e.g. Zimbabwe)?

Despite the interruptions, I think this bright young man, did an excellent job.

THE CHINESE EXAMPLE IS MISLEADING. Most of the African countries are not in a similar position

The level of disruption is appalling! How are you supposed to have a fair and reasoned debate when one side is constantly being interrupted. It would make more sense if they allowed 5 minutes at the end of their speech to answer any questions.

NO THANK YOU , your speech is invalid.

What about the mongol empire? and the Ottoman Empire? Are they also gonna pay reparations?

Shashi tharoor is taking notes to reply during his speech

Payment to Israel was made because both the people who carried out the atrocities and the people who the atrocities were carried out against...were still alive. Reparations to long gone and dead people is a complete waste of time a serves no purpose.

India wages in 1950 by today's standards = $16,000 per person. Current India average wage =$7000 a year.

Just one question Whats Hong Kong living on? Industries? Technology? Resources? Culture? Hong Kong is nothing more than Philippine if there is no China.Simple like that.

Widely revered former Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh said - "Our judiciary, our legal system, our bureaucracy and our police, are all great institutions derived from British-Indian administration and they have served our country exceedingly well"

Alpha Lee, just imagine that someone captured you family behave badly, harass you and your all family members for around 100 yrs and then tell you that take same kind of money as reparation and forget all the torture and bad behavior and lost of life of your dear ones. in such a case what will be your definition of REPARATION still it will limited to money only. if financial assistance as reparation is concerned it will take more than 200 yrs for Britain to repay what it had done to India in 200 yrs. and i dont think that Britain is in a position to repay. Though you are from Chemistry to know better about history particularly about India I will suggestion a book written by bipin chandra " HISTORY OF MODERN INDIA ". read once

This is his debate, 12:00

Sure he is from Hong Kong, where was combination of a group of islands with population around 5000 when it was colonised in 19 centuries. it had been growing since as the British use it as their international trading point and port until 1997. So he may has a different story to tell. However, he didn’t get the point. “Does Brits Owe Reparations?” Plus the colonial history has never been learned in school here and majority brits still feel they are superior to the people from the pre-colonised countries and regions. They still financially benefit from the looted wealthy......They don’t celebrate Colonism here but “Vitoria Time” , which are actually an evil with a beautiful mask.

Hehehe, a guy called Alpha defending douchbaggery.

Look at his face😆😅😅

Why he showing his Kongfu skills while making his speech.😂

His existence is a refutation of Prof. Louis' point about the richest persons in UK/USA being from former colonies.

Such an impressive speech.

I feel embarrassing just watching this...... Mr. Lee, good job, now dye your skin.

I'm assuming the dislike bar is due to the audience.

This guy Alpha is so subservient to the British as if he is still in the colonial hangover

Ofcourse British are paying for it. Their PM is an Indian. Most of the billionaires are Indians in UK. They have been given equal opportunity. Case closed.

I tried my best to not be biased because i strongly believe in what Mr. Tharoor said, if not reparations in terms of money they do at the least owe us (Indians and other colonies) an apology. Speaking of what Mr. Lee is trying to say, I can't quiet decide to like this or to dislike it because some point are quite valid like the point he makes about people (politicians) trying to get away with their mistakes by blaming it on Britain. I am not sure about other countries but I can definitely see this happen in India. However a good part of this speech is based on his opinion that present day government can be more oppressive that colonial government which I find irrelevant. Lastly I feel he is himself a little biased. He says Germany paying reparations to Israel is fine because Israel needed it. How can he decide which country needs financial support and which country doesnt? I am sure countries in Africa, Jamaica for example needs financial help!

"If we pay reparation, than the guilt we feel will be gone." [Paraphrased] I don't see anything wrong with that. :D

I’m not Oxford student and but I know that what this guy is saying is a stupid argument.

Point of order. No sorry. Point of order no sorry.

SOME liable points, MOST were bullshit.

British do not read the history of its empire. The history of India it read in their schools are wrong to say the least written by their civil servants in India during the Raj.

Beta Lee

I found this speech to be better than the others speaking against the motion.

Re label foreign aid reparations and walk away.

It was a sharp speech which I liked. His speech hangs upon just 2 arguments: post colonial regimes are equally worse at suppressing people; and it is very difficult to meaningfully give back to the people of former colonies. About the first point: he generalized it too far. For example : India. Indian government, though not perfect at all, cannot be compared to the rapacious loot British governance was. His arguments simply donot apply to such cases. About the second point: it is always harder to construct than destruct. But it is possible, in better ways than dangerous foreign policy interventions. Perhaps as simply as opening more schools in those countries, just like the empires used to send missionaries to convert natives once.

Alpha as fuck.

No Thank You

How can this guy be an Oxford student??.. He is literally reading a tabloid news article. This is just a simplistic and book level view of this debate.

What's he on about

11:03 i sum this clown up really. Hey i've just looted your house but i shouldn't have to pay you back, you should just have hope!

During 100 years of British rule HongKong did not have any democracy. Now why they are complaining about their own race ruling them? Did HK had any freedom during British rule,

Well done Mr. Lee. I am coming to this debate ignorant and this was far more persuasive and articulate than proposition 1, and I might add, under a much more difficult environment.

He don't have guts to answer the questions

Virtue signaling is strong in that room

Alpha actually made some very good points. Colonial guilt has stopped us intervening in Zimbabwe, or Somalia and other locations. Maybe we should intervene in the current gender abuse in India. i agree that bad was done by the empire, but if you judge the empire solely on evil, you will find it. If you review the history of the empire from this negative bias, then you will find whatever you want. Its called cognitive and formative bias. Me, I prefer a balanced approach. I understand the good and the bad of history. I understood Britains/Englands role in history. We've been invaded and we've invaded. It, unfortunately, is evident in all of world history. We should be a force for good pushing tolerance and liberty and democracy. But a Britain tarred by left-wing guilt does not enable Britain to step up and stop abuse around the world. Britain could be a global force for good. We can be and still are. The view on some of these people are biased towards colonial guilt, that's as bad as colonial triumphalism. Neither are balanced. As for Britain in India. There was a power vacuum in India after the Mugal Invasion and loss of empire. technological change was massive, where india was based upon the old world order. During disruptive change, the balance of power changes, economies change. Britain has suffered massively from industrialisation from the east, china and japan. We don't blame them for our demise, we blame ourselves. Its about industrial competition. We suffered massively due to the second world war, loss of technological rights and trade routes etc, plus the war debt. Buts its history. We move on. Now Britain is a global leader in change, as so it should be. We are paying back our moral debt by providing a moral lead. All this talk down of the empire just destroys our ability to morally lead on this important issue.

he remind me of a chinese eunuch serving for british interest 🤣🤣🤣🤣

I am Not an expert -just observing few things -Interesting and nice to hear ,,think world will suffer with more authoritarian rulers if colonial badge is removed-we have seen it in srilanka when northern srilankan were slaughtered -huge genocide //we saw issues when Bangladeshis were created --the very existence and mass and huge migration slaughtering of subcontinent happened because of two sects of people wanted to go independent from colonial rule -so called creation of Gandhi and Jinnah only created huge evil monsters with their own people -look at Nigeria -biafra is unresolved just like northern srilanka --so having independence may well will only unleash More Repressive and authoratiarian rule --or people may be immature to handle their independence,,thanks to the Raj and British ofcourse -people must use the template left by Raj -and absolutely yes --support this team -he mentioned only HongKong -people get carried away by hollow Speech like sashi taroor and his team it is more symbolic of political class sensationalism speech which cater to select local population and situation in 1940s are different -world Was in war and depressions -and we are in 2022-so possibly world can use the Raj to help mediate things between different ethnic religious groups and try to remember all the good things left by Raj-British Raj has contributed enormously to science and technology but these can be viewed as collective togetherness of people and ofcourse people Can learn and learn again and again from History-will always say thanks to British Raj -

He is paid enough by british

He is out of point 😲

Pick and choose countries to build a narrative and feel good about yourself! Good job!

Did this mind number seriously insinuate that former British colonies are worse off now than they were during British rule? I'm sorry but did anyone even listen to what British rule was like as stated by the first speaker? Not only that he said the British mustn't pay reparations because doing so would eliminate the guilt..WTF. WTF. Its like saying, "Oh I'm so sorry for the atrocities I committed and the harm I did to you, but you see I'm afraid I can't make amends for if I do I'll stop feeling guilty and that's detestable I can't do that to you".

OMG!! His accent!! No offence!!

This gentleman is such a poor speaker. My God. This is not the level of orator that should be here. Phew.

sorry but hr is not able to speak in front of proples.

What language is he speaking?

I'll tell You what is better than reparations, a real reformation ik the way the world is structured, questions the "country" militarized union concept, to question "authorities" unalienable power and to make them accountable for the results of their rule in a delimitated area

Why is his name 'Alpha'? He is very Beta.

can an Indian confirm that a member of the Lok Sabbha is called as MP

Who choose this duffus to SPEAK?????????????????

If u ever want to see a sellout ... This clown right here

CheetalInsaaf, looks like your comprehension might be lacking. A thief breaks into my house, claims it to be his own, builds an extra room does not entitle him to that room. He first needs to be put in jail for breaking in into my home and enslaving me.there is no compensation for thieves.. May be possible in your lala land, but not in the real world

I like how we in the future can see this Kid get destroyed by Tharoor. 😂😂😂. So many of his points are merely assumptions and/or just plain wrong.

'sorry' do nothing - in Britain dictionary

He should have stick to chemistry because obviously history is not is forte.