Imperialism

My world history students are finishing their study of "new imperialism." This is the period of global conquest following the development of industry in western Europe and North America.

Searching for insight into 19th century imperialism's lasting effects on modern peoples, I contacted my good friend Zaheer who grew up in India. His response:

Oh boy, that's some question...

Imperialism. On a personal level it's a hard subject to talk about in moderate terms because it's so close to me.

Perhaps the only way to describe it, in a way that people who have not been affected by its effects, as part of its receiving end, would be to say that it is equivalent to the Holocaust or the extermination of the Native Americans from their lands, but in a more prolonged and mind-numbing way than either of those two horrific events in history.

The theft of identity, of culture, of dignity, of self-awareness, of wealth, of the pursuit of independence, of destiny and of life itself (in the millions), is the best way I could describe the effects of Imperialism on my home country, and on any other land that was overrun by imperialism. And of course I am here talking about historical Imperialism (the European powers), that I absorbed in school books, and grandmother's stories, and from growing up in a society like I did...

I do not even refer to modern Imperialism (the US), that afflicts large parts of this planet, including the South Pole and the North (with the environmental genocide that's on-going), the Himalayas, in Tibet, in Iraq and Afghanistan and Haiti and Cuba and the Marshall Islands.

For me Imperialism equates to Genocide, to hate, to racism, to destruction, to everything that is, has ever been and will ever be wrong with the world we live in. The state-induced famines of The Bengal, in India, caused by the British two hundred years ago to begin with, and ending sixty years ago, are still fresh in my mind. I am older than I look.

Below is an interesting negative/ positive story about Imperialism in Africa (pulled off the net), although I suppose the term Africa could be replaced by any other society that has been conquered and occupied. Only the occupied understand the feeling. What can't be explained in words is the feeling of Poverty and betrayal. Like Jesus felt. And Judas also.

But that feeling, for those of us who survived, is also a feeling of liberation, and we have seen something greater than ourselves, and it is accomplished. Or maybe it is not accomplished, but at least we know which direction's north and which is south, and which is east and which is west.

And know what is right and what is wrong.

But perhaps I am speaking only for myself, and not even for myself, and we are all completely damned, or blessed. Either way the force of history is finally upon us.

Gaza. Kashmir. Northern Ireland.

India. The Indian Ocean. Africa. Asia. America.

What happened to us? Why so many highways? Why so few forests? Why do you have to show your ID to buy a beer, even though you are obviously not 21...

Why is it ok for children to die from disease and war, even today, in 2009.

For me, it boils down to one word - Imperialism.

It's a big, bad word, in a big, good world.

Cheers, Zed

Taken from the Internet, provided by Zed:

Q: What were the negative and positive effects of imperialism in Africa on the colonised?

A: The effects would be too numerous to list, of course, and they're widely debated. Here are some that have been listed, grouped in the two categories.

Negative Effects on the Colonized:

• Much of the land was taken by other countries; There was little land that belonged to any native Africans
• Land was expropriated (confiscated) and inhabitants were forced to work to pay tax to the colonialists
• Splitting up ethnic groups into separate countries, combining enemy ethnic groups into the same country
• More powerful weapons introduced to existing warring factions
• Deaths from foreign diseases
• Social division and racial strife
• Countries were left underdeveloped
• Imperial powers created unequal trade; by colonialists using raw materials and cheap labor in Africa then producing the goods back home and selling them back to the Africans created a trade deficit. This also led to European countries accumulating great riches and expanding their industry, while Africa remained economically stagnant, mainly getting by on agriculture and mining
• Destruction of traditional culture
• The slave trade and slavery; slave raiding kingdoms traded fellow Africans as slaves in return for European luxuries
• When countries eventually regained their independence, they had no skills to adequately maintain the infrastructure or participate in the global economy in which they were already disadvantageously positioned
• The destruction and economically weak position resulting from colonialism can never be righted, not that the countries that vastly benefited from their domination have offered to right the wrongs of the past
• The ideological conditioning of the Western world as naturally superior and 'civilized'
• The forcing of indigenous people to adhere to Christianity
• The ignorance towards the human rights of African people

Positive Effects on the Colonized:

• Development of infrastructure
• Advances in agriculture and mining
• Introduction of modern medicine