Weird thought


So there this particular justification for colonisation that recently began to irk me. Before this, I always just thought of colonisation as bad. I never thought of the different things that could be argued to be positive that people felt came about because of colonisation and I think as I became exposed to the wide variety of reasons, I began to think that it was bad, but maybe inevitable. A while back, I was talking to some friends about this book called 'A small place' where the author talks about how colonisation harmed her and her people. And some of my friends felt the book was just very dark (which is understandable considering the subject matter), but also kind of hypocritical since it was this very colonisation that gave her access to the skills and language that she then needed to articulate it. But I don't think so. Some people say that without colonisation, countries would not have gained civilisation. But why did there need to be one definition of civilisation and why did the colonisers get to decide that? Because I think the truth is that if the colonised countries did need to develop in some way, they would have and if they didn't, their potential dissolution would have been natural, if it happened at all. I don't think we should get to say that such a horrible thing was justified because of the results. The ends do not justify the means and I think deep down, we all kind of know that. It can be a thin line to walk, but I think once we stop trying to walk it, we stop fighting for the stuff that really matters.

This whole thought process reminds me of a conversation with a friend (that I may have actually written about before) where I was saying that human leaders would always be flawed and we needed God to lead us. She asked me how this would be happen and it was a valid question. I could not honestly imagine what it would look like for God to rule a country. But not because it could not happen or should not happen, but because it just has not been the reality I have lived in. Similar to colonisation, the fact that we have not experienced the alternative does not mean it could not have happened and in the case with God, it does not mean that it shouldn't happen.

God bless.

Dera

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