Or... we actually did something about it, and as a result enjoy some of the highest standards of living on the planet. But sure, we should strive to live more like the Chinese do.

[–] nohaybanda@hexbear.net 28 points 2 years ago (9 children)

Right, that’s why you have this standard of living, not centuries of colonial exploitation of the Global South

[–] N1cknamed 1 points 2 years ago (4 children)

We were prosperous long before that and are prosperous long after that.

[–] polskilumalo@lemmygrad.ml 21 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Oh wow, "Museum of mercantalist past"?

Wonder what exhibits they have...

Huh, so that's how they got prosperous.

Theft.

[–] N1cknamed 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Tell me, how'd we get the funds to sail and conquer these countries in the first place?

And without our colonies, how are we still rich today after many economic collapses and resets?

If Europe is nothing without colonies, why are we still here.

[–] polskilumalo@lemmygrad.ml 1 points 2 years ago

Because colonialism ended only in name dumbass. Most of your exocitc fruit and foods are from the global south, most of your electronics are made with minerals and workforce from the global south, most of your clothes are manufactured by overworked women in the global south. I could go on.

And also are you seriously just memory holing the African Franc? The most blatant and easiest to point to example of modern day colonialism? Not mentioning Canadian mining firms or Norwegian oil drilling operations or... I digress.

Tell me, how’d we get the funds to sail and conquer these countries in the first place?

The gist of it is, we were poor as shit and needed to find more lucrative sources of natural resources because we were essentially forced to by our envirnoment and material conditions and because we already drained what we had. Britian has no forests for a reason, the steam engine needed fuel and wool farming was lucrative. They ran out of forests very soon and newly born capitalism needed to expand, and quick.

Also; wars. We "civilized" europeans loved killing each other brutally, often and at massive scale. We needed supplies for the meat grinder to continue on grinding.

So two "demons" you could say led to not only deaths of millions, but the enrichment of the few. And even for the breadcrumps we've got, and which are nothing considering what our capitalist have. It's mountainloads more to what the people of the global south have.

[–] Redbolshevik2@hexbear.net 18 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Laughable. Europe outside of Constantinople was a backwards shithole that needed to purchase all its manufactured goods from the superior civilizations of India and China. Absolutely nothing before colonialism.

[–] polskilumalo@lemmygrad.ml 10 points 2 years ago

Ekhem.

Istanbul.

You don't want to be called a :LIB: by me, the one true leftist, now do you? :smuglord:

[–] duderium@hexbear.net 15 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

Europe was a backward hellhole before the 1500s and wasn’t really “modern” by any standard until the 19th century, which very curiously coincided with the Scramble for Africa. Hmm, interesting.

Edit: so you’re Dutch. Isn’t the Netherlands’s wealth built on slavery? Why didn’t you guys give all that stolen money back?

[–] redtea@lemmygrad.ml 8 points 2 years ago

Didn't you hear? They spent it and everything they have since the 1960s is due to hard work and intelligence (just don't ask whose).

[–] Judge_Jury@hexbear.net 14 points 2 years ago

After? It's ongoing

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