• realitista
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    9 months ago

    Do you consider things which happened hundreds of years ago to be of the same weight as things that are happening as we speak?

    • Cowbee [he/him]@lemmy.ml
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      9 months ago

      Do you consider things which happened merely decades ago, even up to hundreds of years ago, have lasting impact on generations that follow?

      If you successfully do Imperialism, such that the colonized can no longer resist, does that erase the sin?

            • Cowbee [he/him]@lemmy.ml
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              9 months ago

              Is that the only expression of Imperialism you personally accept? Literal annexation? Hawaii. Vassal states? Cuba. The notion that Imperialism is just Conquest is laughable.

              Edit: crickets…

              • realitista
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                9 months ago

                Definition of imperialism: The extension of a nation’s authority by territorial acquisition or by the establishment of economic and political dominance over other nations.

                Definition of hegemony: The dominance or leadership of one social group or nation over others.

                I would be a little more nuanced with my definitions personally. I think Russia is textbook imperialist. I think China is borderline imperialist, and I think the USA is more hegemonic.

                I think all 3 play all the same games except that the USA doesn’t play in territorial expansion, which for me is a big improvement over those that do.

                • Cowbee [he/him]@lemmy.ml
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                  9 months ago

                  The US is built on territorial expansion, lmao. Indigenous Americans who had their land stolen from them have been generationally impacted! The consequences of slavery have set Black Americans back centuries economically! Hawaii was forcibly annexed very recently in a historical frame of viewing!

                  The US is perhaps one of the most Imperialist countries on the planet, just because it now fights proxy wars rather than direct Conquest doesn’t make it any less evil. Here’s a hint: the US stopped using Conquest for land acquisition because it already succeeded, not because it’s a morally superior Imperialist power.