Oh come on. It's okay to have some nostalgia for your nation's glory days.
My grandfather (who actually did serve in WWII) used to blare the History Channel's WWII specials all afternoon, with the lights off and the curtains drawn. I remember those summers on the farm. Good times. I even read his war journal. Some of it, anyway.
There were things about that time that sucked, of course - and things about that time that were admirable.
Britain's empire had some nasty turns, no doubt - but it also bequeathed an Anglosphere and (a bit more narrowly) Commonwealth. We're communicating in English, after all. A beautiful language!
Hindsight being 20/20, perhaps Hong Kong should have never been handed over to China. Not that defending it from a full-on Chinese military assault (the possible alternative) would have exactly been feasible, either.
Anyway. None of that is problematic, compared to the distressing trend among alt-righties these days of siding with today's Russian war against Ukraine: a vibrant nation of 44 million in the heart of Europe, with its own language and culture and traditions.
I certainly support the idea of finding a less-toxic outlet for imperial nostalgia than indulging Putin's revenge-fantasies.
