Matthew Hanley on Obianuju Ekeocha's book TARGET AFRICA, the story of Western attempts to impose ideological neocolonialism on Africa

  • Thread starter Thread starter Athanasiy
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
I think that under the guise of “elimination of
poverty” the idea of contraception was introd-
uced to “help” over-population and therefore
hunger, esp. among the children. But as O.
Ekeocha aptly remarked, what is lacking is
EDUCATION for the children, so that they
can break the cycle of poverty.
 
And exploitation of cultures and the people that form them is better then human sacrifice? The acceptance of other humans as mere goods is alright?
(Now, I am also very aware that some of my ancestors were owners of slaves. Do I accept this fact? Yes. Do I condone it? Obviously not.)
 
Have y’all ever read any of the Paul du Chaillu books? He was a French/American explorer and pretty much the first Westerner to explore many parts of West Africa. (Pre-1852, 1855-1859, 1863-1865, etc) He certainly was famous for his books and lectures, which helped make other people more knowledgeable about the area, its people, its flora, and its fauna.

But his books are a good way to get a grasp of what some African tribal civilizations were like in the early/mid 19th c. It’s an interesting read.
 
Because Europeans generally did a better job of maintaining infrastructure, law and order, and the like than the Africans have.
 
So you think positives of colonialism outweigh the legacy of the negatives? I don’t think places like Africa we’re a perfect utopia before European influence, colonialism brought their own share of evil and left a negative imprint on the continent.
 
Last edited:
Jump4Joy said:
So you think positives of colonialism outweigh the legacy of the negatives?
Click to expand...
By far.
I don’t think places like Africa we’re a perfect utopia before European influence, colonialism brought their own share of evil and left a negative imprint on the continent.
Click to expand...
Such as?
 
Last edited:
Loss of culture and language. Loss of original landownership which was forcefully taken by guns. Colonizers exploited the resources and people. Native languages were considered inferior. Natives became second class citizens in their own land. Rape of the indigenous women. Introduced to foreign contagious deadly diseases
 
I see how harmful colonialism is on the example of my country of Ukraine in relation to Russia.
Entire generations are being maimed by slave mentality.
The younger generation is ready to fight for independence, for values and freedoms. The younger generation often puts honor, valor, patriotism, European values higher than the vulgar satisfaction of life.
A lot of volunteers during the revolution of dignity and at the war front are educated young people with values.
But among the Soviet generation, among those who were born under the Soviet Union, a lot of slave mentality, adaptations, indifferent, a lot of cowardice, pessimism and distrust.
I think that the colonial past can cripple the entire generations.
 
The reason why many countries are in bad shape years after independence is due to the negative effects of colonialism. Colonialism hindered development.
 
That’s rather like blaming a doctor because his patients got worse after they stopped treatment.
 
Except the colonists weren’t doctors.
Doctors heal.
The colonists colonized for their own benefit, not to improve the rights and well being of the colonized.
 
For the most part colonialism was a mutually beneficial relationship. The colonizing nations got natural resources that the colonized nations weren’t using anyway, and the colonized nations got infrastructure, education, hospitals, law and order, etc.
 
Arkansan said:
For the most part colonialism was a mutually beneficial relationship. The colonizing nations got natural resources that the colonized nations weren’t using anyway, and the colonized nations got infrastructure, education, hospitals, law and order, etc.
Click to expand...
If someone came into your home without permission, and took care of your lawn and cleaned your house, but at the same time, took whatever possessions they wanted from you and enslaved your children and beat you up, would that be a mutually beneficial relationship?
There were so many crimes, so much evil committed by many colonists. Many of the colonized were forcibly moved, exploited, terrorized and killed. Sometimes genocide was commited. The Germans, for instance, completely annihilated the Herero and Namaqua peoples- 100 000 lives- it is considered the first genocide of the 20th century. In the Belgian Congo, the Congolese were required to provide ivory and rubbers at very high harvest quotas; failure to do so resulted in execution and an estimated 10 million lives were lost.
One would have to ignore a lot of history to say that it was mutually beneficial. I’m not saying that colonialism is the cause of all our world’s problems, or that things were good before the colonists came along. Perhaps some good things came out of colonialism, but you cannot justify the tremendous suffering caused and the great harm done.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top