As an Anglo-American whose ancestors were among the first to invade these shores (sorry!), I can say that a lot of this has to do with personality.

The "reserved" English personality means we don't talk about feelings, which by extension means we don't talk about mistakes, or, by God, racism. Or admit to them. Because that requires self-evaluation.

We would rather have our fingernails pulled out than self-evaluate.

The dichotomy is that the English built a legal layer that encourages such self-evaluation.

In other words, they created a force destined to force them to, eventually, self-evaluate, even if it was done on a cold, practical level.

One could even say that by creating an empire in the way they did, which required subjugation, slavery, ethnic cleansing, and genocide to maintain, that a day of reckoning was inevitable.

What we see with Britain is the butt end of a ruthless empire after its demise. Its people no longer preside over a land where the sun never sets, as they once so proudly boasted.

The good news is that Britain has a massive influx of immigrants. These folks may rescue it, just as they may rescue the U.S..

The circumstances of America's expansion were not much different - created off the backs of slaves and cheap, poorly cared for labor forces, not to mention forced relocation of the continent's original inhabitants.

But the U.S. also never really attained a society of great prosperity -- well, they did, for a brief time after WW2.

Again, though, the salvation may come through immigrants and a Black awakening.

We are seeing signs of this now. I am more of an optimist than I was in the 80s, when the small gains we made were suddenly turned back by Reagan and his cronies and followers.

The backlash is nasty. I say, ignore it, and carry on, as the Brits said in WW2.