Our world is complex (and changing fast)
A cost-of-living crisis that squeezes the poorest? Anxious debates about migration? Costly human conflicts due to borders drawn arbitrarily in the past? And all of it happening at a global scale, at a pace we cannot seem to control.
It's tempting to see these as brand-new problems, but they are the direct inheritance of our imperial past. The gears of history have always been turning, but they’ve especially accelerated in the last 200 years.
Human stories hold the blueprint
The past doesn’t offer simple solutions, but something rather more powerful: a blueprint. Not just at a societal or governmental level - but a human one. How did people in the past feel about a war or famine far away? Why did a government bail out the most powerful corporation in the world?
We’ve been taught that the story of Empire is about "us" versus "them." We disagree. We believe the factory worker in 1840s London had more in common with the indentured labourer in the Caribbean than with the ruling elite who profited from their work and division. Let’s tell those stories in a human way, with empathy, and see what we can learn from them
A fun, diverse discourse is key
This isn't about finding a comfortable middle ground or pretending our divisions aren't real. It’s about creating a shared, fact-based context for the conversations we desperately need to have.
Whether you're a banker or an activist, worried about immigration or passionate about open borders, our starting point should be a shared understanding of the historical mechanics that created the world we all now inhabit.
And it’s very important that we have fun and learn new things while we’re at it!