I personally have no problem with colonialism. It has been a method by which many countries have been lifted out of the economic and social Dark Ages (as with the UK influence on India). I can't really think up a defense for the subversion of a relatively established modern democracy as the US did with Chile and Iran.
Ahh. the beneficent Europeans bringing culture to the savages in Africa. What a beautiful story. Two cheers for colonialism! Surely if we give two cheers for colonialism we can muster one cheer for Nazism. They cleared the way for America to become an economic and military superpower, surely the end result makes it all worthwhile, right? Imagine if they had a few more years to operate, how much more could they have done for us? At the very least read "King Leopold's Ghost" before you raise your glass and toast these great men. I love how the author "freely admits" that colonialism was harsh. That's like freely admitting that the Rape of Nanking was an unfortunate turn of events. I don't think that colonialism is the only cause of problems in the third world but don't dare pretend that it was morally defensible. Here's the point of the class- don't accept bad rationalization, even if it comes from a liberal intellectual via a blog on ethics.
After looking some of this up, I see that I am less than informed on the subject of colonialism. Kurt, thanks for the post, could you suggest any other sources as this book is not available?
I hope it didn't come across as if my post was directed towards you, Aaron. The Multnomah county library has King Leopold's Ghost, and another good one is "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad (Apocalypse Now is an adaptation of this book). It is based on a true story, but it is a novel and not an historical account. It has the added benefit of being an excellent read. "Crisis in Rwanda" (published maybe 96 or 97) is good for both the Rwandan genocide as well as showing some of the more subtle, long term effects of European colonialism. I do see this guy's point about good things coming along with the bad, but perhaps there is a better way to get the same result. Personally, I like Germany's version of the game: colonize France. Much more lucrative and a shorter drive.
4 comments:
I personally have no problem with colonialism. It has been a method by which many countries have been lifted out of the economic and social Dark Ages (as with the UK influence on India). I can't really think up a defense for the subversion of a relatively established modern democracy as the US did with Chile and Iran.
Ahh. the beneficent Europeans bringing culture to the savages in Africa. What a beautiful story. Two cheers for colonialism! Surely if we give two cheers for colonialism we can muster one cheer for Nazism. They cleared the way for America to become an economic and military superpower, surely the end result makes it all worthwhile, right? Imagine if they had a few more years to operate, how much more could they have done for us?
At the very least read "King Leopold's Ghost" before you raise your glass and toast these great men. I love how the author "freely admits" that colonialism was harsh. That's like freely admitting that the Rape of Nanking was an unfortunate turn of events. I don't think that colonialism is the only cause of problems in the third world but don't dare pretend that it was morally defensible. Here's the point of the class- don't accept bad rationalization, even if it comes from a liberal intellectual via a blog on ethics.
After looking some of this up, I see that I am less than informed on the subject of colonialism. Kurt, thanks for the post, could you suggest any other sources as this book is not available?
I hope it didn't come across as if my post was directed towards you, Aaron. The Multnomah county library has King Leopold's Ghost, and another good one is "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad (Apocalypse Now is an adaptation of this book). It is based on a true story, but it is a novel and not an historical account. It has the added benefit of being an excellent read. "Crisis in Rwanda" (published maybe 96 or 97) is good for both the Rwandan genocide as well as showing some of the more subtle, long term effects of European colonialism. I do see this guy's point about good things coming along with the bad, but perhaps there is a better way to get the same result. Personally, I like Germany's version of the game: colonize France. Much more lucrative and a shorter drive.
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