The Merits of Colonialism

For this weeks blog topic we had to write about colonialism. There are many positive and also many negative sides that go for and against colonialism. I really do not know what side I stand on when the topic turns to colonialism, but I do have my opinions both on the pro and con side. First, I will talk about the negative parts of colonialism. Many people say that colonialism is a good thing because it benefits the country that is being colonized. Well in many cases this is not so true. The reason that countries that go into another to colonize it is not to benefit the country. The reason they go to these places is because there in something in that country that the colonizers want. For example, when the Europeans came to the Americas it was to explore the area and find things that benefit them. In this case they took back things such as spices and riches. It was also about expanding the empire. We as humans are greedy and want more and want the most. Therefore colonization is a mean of getting these things to be stronger and wealthier than other countries. Obviously from a western point of view colonization was a good thing, because if not for it we would not be here. But for the countries that have been colonized while there was already an indigenous population there, this has caused turmoil and has been a negative effect of colonialism. The example of Africa comes to mind when I think about some of the negative effects of colonialism. The first thing the colonizers did was exploited the resources in the continent for the better good of the Europeans, not the African populations. They then developed some parts of the continent while leaving the others undeveloped after stealing their resources. Then they gave authority to some of the warrant chiefs which were corrupt towards the other Nigerian citizens. But on the flip side many people say that the Colonialism in Africa brought along many positive effects. Some say that it brought along an education system in Africa, whether it was successful or not. Also it brought many of the western civilization ideas to the country as far as technology and modern ideas. The problem I have with colonialism is that if you go into another country and try to enforce your ideas on a community or culture that does not want your input, then that is immorally wrong. Just because we do not live in huts and have a third world way of life does not mean that the people that have lived for thousands of years need our "help". The reason I think this is because I watched a documentary about a year ago about a handful of kids in different African cultures. Some were wealthy white kids, some were wealthy blacks, some were middle class white and black, and some were poor white and blacks all over the continent. And out of my surprise the ones that seemed the happiest were the ones that live a more primal way of life than the others. These people are happy people that have survived for centuries and their traditions have not changed much at all. So who's to say that if we come into these peoples lands and try to force something on them is right?