2¢ of this week: imperialism

I figured I should try to jump on the train that is: Nate's response to Nick's summary which commented on Danielle's summary in a sort of response to Elizabeth's original post.

What specifically caught my attention was Danielle's comment about, "all of the empires ready to spread their wings and fairy dust all over the world (Britain, Russia, Germany, France, Spain, the USA, etc...)." Slightly humorous, it definitely mirrored my feelings about imperialism as we've been talking about it all week. What made Britain's way "right"? Or France "better"? Or Germany more "civilized"? This "fairy dust" while perhaps seeming magical to the folks back home, had absolutely horrific effects on the imperialized nations, cultures, and peoples. I cannot even fathom the level of hypocrisy which European countries (PLUS the USA) exhibited during this time period. While marching down to Africa or India or China or wherever proclaiming, "We just want to help the poor [insert non-white "uncivilized" people here]!" they carried machine guns, political agendas, and an unquenchable thirst for diamonds, rubber, gold, and cheap labor.

Unsurprisingly, when one of the two goals (civilizing or self-strengthening) had to go away, it was always the former. Concentration Camps during the Boer War? It's for the good of the natives! Forced labor? We freed them from slavery! Imperialism, for "Westerners", was not about helping others; it was about helping themselves.

I think about Iraq, I think about Vietnam, I think about Israel/Palestine, and I wonder what the US is really doing.