this post was submitted on 01 Jul 2023
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Apologizing for your forbears actions is strange to me. Colonialism had many bad results and effects, but it also brought about many incredibly positive changes and advancements. It’s not a black and white issue.
@Chipthemonk @BrikoX Is there something that makes you think positive changes & advancements wouldn't have happened without colonialism?
It’s hard to imagine that we would be where we are today, as a technologically advanced and free society in the west, without colonialism.
@Chipthemonk To assist your imagination, consider Japan. It wasn't colonised (in fact it eventually became a coloniser) but found its own path to development.
If they became a colonizer, then they were not “in need” of technological advancement. And when I say technological advancement, I’m referring to things like communication, healthcare, a court of law, and so much more.
The places that got colonized got colonized because they were not as well developed, both in terms of capacity, infrastructure, and technology, to name a few things.
Colonialism allowed places not like Japan to become as advanced as Japan.
@Chipthemonk @boyi Point is, before being colonised, India was at a similar level of tech to Japan; some would say India's textiles were ahead. So if left to themselves, what makes you think they wouldn't have built railways etc. as Japan did? Likewise, Ethiopia already had roads, courts etc. when briefly occupied by Italy. The Italians' advantage was an air force & poison gas.
If they were as advanced, then they wouldn’t have been colonized. The railways were introduced by the British colonizers.
Sure, many places would have eventually caught up, maybe, but it would have taken a long, long time.
The anti colonialism narrative that is big these days could use a lot more nuance.
@Chipthemonk What you say about being advanced is true if defined militarily. So they "needed to be colonised" because they were unable to repel colonisers (as Japan did, and as Ethiopia did until the 1930s)?
Many natives welcomed the colonizers because they could trade with the them and advance their own cultures. It wasn’t purely about oppressors and oppressed. That binary view is simply removed from reality.
Expedite technology transfer, for example. For the GB being able to exploit and plunder the Indian subcontinent, they have to provide good transport system to transfer all the plundered goods back to their country. Just look at Indian's rail system now. It is hard to imagine them having it without this unintentional transfer of tech.
Having said that, I don't condone using this argument to make things right. Ethically their still wrong. At least The Netherlands has the guts to admit it. My country is one of the countries exploited by the British. It is nice, as a good gesture, to hear the British to admit they used to be the bad guy. It's not going to change anything in the past, but it can somehow provide a sense of closure for the future.