Imperialism
There was no ‘era’ of Imperialism. The Imperialist venture of humanity has not had a beginning point of endpoint. Imperialism is a constant venture of human history.
When I say this, I mean to say that the concept of a world of ‘collectives of people,’ either in the form of nations or countries, cannot exist without imperialism. If imperialism is the struggle between groups of people for land and resources resulting in the subjugation of one of the groups and an exchange of cultures, then imperialism has existed since the first Australopithecus walked the earth. Imperialism began with early human hunter-gatherer tribes attacking other tribes for control of hunting grounds and resources in the Pyrenees mountains. One tribe subjugated another and forced the other to provide its previously held resources, yet the too tribes exchanged technologies and stories. This fits the definition of imperialism.
Of course, this story increased in proportions up into the 19th century, with countries such as Great Britain going into E. Africa and taking colonies, yet it was imperialism in the same manner as it was thousands of years before. This trend as bound to continue with the concept of denationalization of the world and the formation of international committees. Instead of having countries like Britain or France running imperialist ventures. Cultures, such as consumerism or radical Islamic Ideology will act as Imperialist forces and begin to hold great agency over the world.
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I like the idea behind this op-ed. I enjoyed your position on Imperialism being part of humanity and not just white European powers. It seems you think dominating a lesser people is part of human nature. Obviously this is just an opinion but your idea seems to be very concrete and it gave me a new outlook on imperialism
ReplyDeletethanks you matt
I really liked how you broke down imperialism and looked at it from a different perspective: something that has naturally happened since the beginning of time and followed suit as the world continued to develop.
ReplyDeleteMatt, I really liked the angle and subject of you blog. A lo of these blgs were about how imperialism wasn't very good and just hurt the smaller states, but I really like how instead you decided to tackle what you thought to be a common misconception and tried to explain why this thought of an Imperialistic era is stupid
ReplyDeleteWell done Calvi. The left in politics today so often tries to change history to reflect the evilness of the white man. Your point that desire for demination is simply a part of the human spirit is well taken and proven mostly through evidence from a wide range of history. Europe in the 19th century simply was in a position to colonize the rest of the world. If say China had been in this position, I think most would agree that they would have taken this opportunity. So therefore imperialism is not just a manifestation of white racism and superiority.
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