Casey's Response Paper

While the motivation behind King Leopold II’s conquest of the Congo was clearly rooted in economic profit, the motivation behind most imperialist actions cannot be so plainly and neatly defined. Furthermore, it is even more difficult to identify what events, actions, and movements constitute as imperialism. What is clear is that imperialism was no original idea of the 19th century nor has the flame of imperialism been extinguished in today’s world. So why is it that New Imperialism of the late 1880s is so often viewed with a critical and shameful eye? Is it actually any different than today? While we attempt to explain imperialism through self-interested fiscal motivation, there seems to be another common link at play that ties the different eras of imperialism together: the idea of responsibility. From Kipling’s explanation of “The White Man’s Burden” to the moral responsibility of humanitarian aid groups, people have justified imperialism through the socially accepted idea that the “more privileged” have an obligation to fix/help/aid the “less fortunate.” Although there are clearly differences between Leopold II and an international relief group, both are similarly driven by a sense of duty. Imperialism seems to be justified and even inspired by some type of responsibility; whether it is the obligation of a government to bring honor to a nation, a large corporation to increase its profit, or a foundation to make an impact. It is this connecting idea that makes the definition of imperialism unclear, thus complicating the analysis of imperialism. So with that said, how does imperialism stay “in check” and how does the world avoid radicalization? Who decides what responsibility actually is and is it even someone’s place to make that type of decision? The balance between acting in an oppressive and aggressive manner and actually acting in a beneficial behavior has been a struggle of the 20th century and will continue to be a struggle as long as a group can get popular support behind the idea that their actions were a result of a responsibility. What needs to happen in order to prevent a hot bed for war and a race to conquer, as seen in the 19th century, is that the world needs to find better solutions to “acting responsibly” so that instead of forcing change on others, we find a way to inspire self-improvement and internal reform.