Colonialism is a practice of domination, which involves the subjugation of one people to another. One of the difficulties in defining colonialism is that it is hard to distinguish it from imperialism. Frequently the two concepts are treated as synonyms. Like colonialism, imperialism also involves political and economic control over a dependent territory. The etymology of the two terms, however, provides some clues about how they differ. The term colony comes from the Latin word colonus, meaning farmer. This root reminds us that the practice of colonialism usually involved the transfer of population to a new territory, where the arrivals lived as permanent settlers while maintaining political allegiance to their country of origin. Imperialism, on the other hand, comes from the Latin term imperium, meaning to command. Thus, the term imperialism draws attention to the way that one country exercises power over another, whether through settlement, sovereignty, or indirect mechanisms of control.(Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)Recently I've heard from a couple different people that President Obama is an anti-colonialist. In my current events class in October when we were doing pros and cons for President Obama and Governor Romney this was mentioned as a con for the president.
I was puzzled.
In fact, I didn't even write it on the board because I assumed the child has misunderstood. After all, colonialism is something America rejected pretty firmly a couple hundred years ago and I tend to assume that people who favor American-style democracy are also — by definition— anti-colonialist.
However, this point has come up since then... a couple times. Conservative people are discussing anti-colonialism as if it were a bad thing and I am wondering about whether or not they have thought that position through.
Have conservative Americans really decided that the subjugation of one people by another is a good thing?
And if so... why?
Because, let's be clear here, if you oppose those who object to colonialism,
YOU ARE IDEOLOGICALLY SUPPORTING THE SUBJUGATION OF ONE GROUP BY ANOTHER.
When exactly did the Republican party decide that was a conservative American value???
Now, I have been made aware of the origin of this bit of political equivocation but I am not discussing someone ideological bait and switch boloney right now. I am focusing on the fact that we now have people in this country who are discussing anti-colonialism as if it is a pernicious evil instead of a foundational piece of doctrine in the American political view.
I am anti-colonialist. I believe people have the right to be self-governing, whether I agree with them or not. If you believe that then
YOU ARE ANTI-COLONIALIST.
5 comments:
holy crap, i had no idea this was even a current argument much less that there is a completely out of touch extreme of the already extreme right wing. lord have mercy, have they lost their minds???
Oh yah, it's a whole thing, ridiculously enough.
I am, as ever, disappointed in the lack of critical thinking.
sigh
The colonials don't do much for me. I like the victorians much more than the tudors. the modern multi-style dwellings are right out...
There's an interesting documentary called "The World Without Us" that explores the consequences of the US pulling out of every country that it has a military presence. Here's the way I see it: If we wanted the oil for next to nothing--all to ourselves--then we could have got it. But we still pay market price and do not have the monopoly on oil contracts. The US having a monopoly on construction contracts might be a different case, though. I wish it were possible to pull out of places that are volatile, but somebody's got to do the New World Order's dirty work.
Coop~ we mostly do ranch style out here. Any thoughts on those?
Grunty~ As long as we aren't completely selfish we should be able to do whatever we want? As for the New World Order... they aren't even putting out any hits, why should we do their dirty work?
:p
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