A few weeks
ago my group had a debate on colonialism. My group was defending the idea that
colonialism is bad. I thought that this was going to be very easy because when
one is against colonialism, that person can always just point the finger and
say that big mean Western countries simply exploited and crushed smaller
less-developed regions of the World. However, the debate was not as easy as I
thought it would be because the other group had many well-formed ideas and there
were about four of them who seemed to have opinions on every issue. Despite
this, I think my group did a pretty good job.
After
forming my arguments and even after the debate was over, I still have not
decided what my views on colonialism are. The term of colonialism is so loose that it
could simply mean a government’s influence over a certain country. I do not
believe that mistreating humans and exploiting their land could ever be looked
at as a good thing even if in the long run there are good outcomes out of it.
However, there are cases where a country could influence another country in a
positive way, especially in terms of economics. So, I suppose I have mixed
views on the subject.
One argument I made during the debate, I simply have to analyze further. The
argument was made by the Pro-side that colonialism helps societies advance. I
counter-argued that the West should not always be looked upon as this great
model for advancement. There are some things the West does that could be viewed
at as very primitive to others parts of the world, for instance the use of
abortion: the outright murder of babies. As a good Catholic it is my duty to
draw attention to this issue whenever I can and I admit I am very biased. But I
believe it is a valid argument in this situation. The West itself should not be
held as a beacon of light for other countries to follow if we continue to
murder our babies. This is very primitive to me: to kill a baby for your own
selfish desires and your own economic reasons.
If one
looks at a map of which countries allow abortion one can see that the Western
world is primarily the leader in this aspect. Yes China and India also fall
into this category though I would argue that this is the West’s influence on
them. Most of the primarily Catholic countries, the Muslim countries, and
African countries value the dignity of life. I think this is because of their
religions’ effect on them, but also because poor people understand the value in
a human person and a human person cannot simply be disposed of like an unwanted
piece of fruit. For a person in inner Africa to even think about getting rid of
one of their children would be unheard of. They know that life is precious.
Now, of
course one could argue that it is because of lack of abortion that these
countries are poor but I think it is more because of governmental instability
and poor distribution of wealth that poverty occurs.
Another
aspect in which the Western world could be viewed as primitive is in our
treatment of our elderly. In many Western countries when a person gets too old
we simply stick them in a nursing home. In countries in the Middle East and
South America, you take care of your parents for life. This is another way in
which these countries express a respect for life that is far superior and
advanced in my opinion to the Western world.
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