Message from @Thereth
Discord ID: 623483442436243456
some natives got upset they where colonised
*were
some other natives whished they never got free
honestly there are so many mixed messages
The greatest anger about colonialism seems to come from two types of people. Demagogues in the country formally colonised, and the guilt-ridden citizens of the former colonising country conditioned to believe they inherited the crimes of their ancestors.
My argument over here is that they should be grateful it was the English that ended up colonising, if it was the Dutch or heaven forbid the Spanish there wouldnt be any of them left to whinge
Better for someone to beat you half to death and change their mind, as opposed to finishing the job and shrugging it off
My argument is that the criticism of colonialism is coming from a modern time absent the need to expand or die. International law was scant. Fair treatment not to be expected.
The peoples colonised were no less violent or conquering, just less able. The European powers won the game, but they didn't make the rules.
But that victory produced the comforts and luxuries that allow the narrow minded to condemn it. Historical suicide. They would see eradicated the historical means that enable their own entitlement.
I concur, I love the insanity of complaining about being colonised, on the media and technology available to you from your colonisers XD
Exactly. To put it another way though, can you imagine going back in time to *any* nation, not just the victorious European powers, and trying to explain why they shouldn't act the way we know they did? They had a mandate to either be the conquered or be the conquerors, so to try and tell them to not be the conquerors because it seems mean to us is to tell them to be the conquered.
Empires aren't built on being polite. But there are always empires.
As the saying goes, 'if not us, someone else - so why not us?'
I did see a fascinating infographic today showing how the East India Trading company was worth the equivalent (in todays terms) to the top 20 companies on the planet.
We are concerned about unprecedented power on a truely global scale right now, imagine that power and influence in a comparatively 'smaller' world. It is almost unimaginable. There was no stopping them from expanding in their times, native or not, if you got in their way or could be useful, you were used and thrown away
The East India Trading Company had one of the largest military forces in the world at its height.
I think the key difference between then and now is that companies in the past tended to have some kind of national allegiance. Modern multinationals virtually by definition do not, and those companies are not accountable to virtually anyone save their board or shareholders.
I gues pics are a no-no?
Apparently not in here. You could snapshot it with Gyazo and then post the link.
Not sure if that's prohibited however.
try that?
Impressive.
I thought you were talking about the British one not the Dutch though. It was the British one I believe had more soldiers in its employ than the British Army did.
very, imagine the restraint of having that power, and not completly rofl-stomping everything you see..... sounds silly considering their expansion, but with that much power equivalency they could have literally ruled the world
Those were the days when concepts like honour and loyalty mattered a lot more it seems. Even the financially self-interested appeared to have some kind of respect for their nation of birth.
i know I would probably be dead already at my age, but God I sometimes wish for those kinds of days
maybe not the TB and scurvy, but the self respect and honour aspect
imagine having pride in your country and nation? imagine being able to show it without being ostracised and removed from society?
Pepperidge Farm remembers.....
Hahaha. There was certainly an investment in the symbolic and abstract with regards to life and nationhood. Beyond mere individualistic materialism.
ar·bi·trar·y
/ˈärbəˌtrerē/
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adjective
based on random choice or personal whim, rather than any reason or system.
"his mealtimes were entirely arbitrary"
synonyms: capricious, whimsical, random, chance, erratic, unpredictable, inconsistent, wild, hit-or-miss, haphazard, casual; More
(of power or a ruling body) unrestrained and autocratic in the use of authority.
"arbitrary rule by King and bishops has been made impossible"
synonyms: despotic, tyrannical, tyrannous, peremptory, summary, autocratic, dictatorial, authoritarian, draconian, autarchic, antidemocratic; More
MATHEMATICS
(of a constant or other quantity) of unspecified value.
ummmm, ok
Little need to fear death back then either. Lower life expectancy was absolute but a great deal of the reduction is due to higher infant mortality. Survive your first ten years and you could easily clear another fifty or sixty.
Outside external circumstances.
I suppose the higher religious fanatacism meant you would be more accepting of mortality as well
That's true. When death was more probable, people seemed far more ready to deal with the concept.
There's a nursery rhyme about dying to the plague.
Outside of blasphemy I doubt the people of the past really had a concept of offensive humour.
Death was something to make songs about for children to sing.
Can you imagine trying to write and make popular a children's song about dying of cancer today?
the normative value of the system saying 1/8th is "ok" the sure that can be morally ambiguous but saying its arbitrary is just a cop-out