As someone who was mercilessly bullied in highschool, I HATE bullying culture. I hate the "weak should fear the strong" mentality, I hate all of that because I associate myself with the weak. Reading about colonialism makes me sick because it's EXACTLY like bullying, a superior power is sadistically nasty to a weaker people for no reason other than that they can be.
There's a handful of examples of "benevolent" colonialism, largely from the British Empire. Their conquest of Fiji is generally regarded as good for the people there, as most were slaves of adversary tribes and were given relative liberation under the British. The British control of Hong Kong was also arguably benevolent because the people were given a very high amount of personal and economic freedom. They were free to speak their minds, own property, paid very little tax, enter into whatever sort of contract they wanted, do whatever type of drug they desired, prostitution was legal, etc... the only thing they could do to was parse from the British. Other than the lack of autonomy, they had total freedom over their destiny and lived good lives.
Most colonialism is not like that. When the Belgian empire conquered the Congo, they would slash off the hands of African males for fun, leaving them deformed for life. They would take sharp objects to the face of kids, intentionally fucking up their faces, blinding them, pulling out teeth, and leaving them as heapless disfigured abominations.
In Peru, the Spanish would conquer a wide geographical area and label it a "M'ita". Within a M'ita, every citizen would become part of the Conquistador's "Encomienda", making them total slaves. They would be forced to mine gold for 14 hour days while barely fed. They were given impossible quotas and if they could not meet them (they were never meant to), the Spanish would sexually torture them. Often slashing their penis and balls off, sticking sharp objects through their balls, shoving knives up their dick, or hammering their ballsacks. This was the life of people under colonial Spain. It was truly one of the most horrific events in history.
This is why I get pissed off when I see people glorifying colonialism. It wasn't a good thing, it wasn't the white man's burden, it was nasty, evil bullying.
There's a handful of examples of "benevolent" colonialism, largely from the British Empire. Their conquest of Fiji is generally regarded as good for the people there, as most were slaves of adversary tribes and were given relative liberation under the British. The British control of Hong Kong was also arguably benevolent because the people were given a very high amount of personal and economic freedom. They were free to speak their minds, own property, paid very little tax, enter into whatever sort of contract they wanted, do whatever type of drug they desired, prostitution was legal, etc... the only thing they could do to was parse from the British. Other than the lack of autonomy, they had total freedom over their destiny and lived good lives.
Most colonialism is not like that. When the Belgian empire conquered the Congo, they would slash off the hands of African males for fun, leaving them deformed for life. They would take sharp objects to the face of kids, intentionally fucking up their faces, blinding them, pulling out teeth, and leaving them as heapless disfigured abominations.
In Peru, the Spanish would conquer a wide geographical area and label it a "M'ita". Within a M'ita, every citizen would become part of the Conquistador's "Encomienda", making them total slaves. They would be forced to mine gold for 14 hour days while barely fed. They were given impossible quotas and if they could not meet them (they were never meant to), the Spanish would sexually torture them. Often slashing their penis and balls off, sticking sharp objects through their balls, shoving knives up their dick, or hammering their ballsacks. This was the life of people under colonial Spain. It was truly one of the most horrific events in history.
This is why I get pissed off when I see people glorifying colonialism. It wasn't a good thing, it wasn't the white man's burden, it was nasty, evil bullying.
