Let's have a much-needed discussion on this subject: what are the main distinctions of imperialism as done by the West (Europe, America, etc.) vs. imperialism as done by the East (China, India, the Gulf Arab states)?
Personally (and I'm channeling Zizek in this), I think the only rational kernel of Western imperialism is the West's Christian legacy: by dominating others, the West sublates indigenous and tribalist peoples into the universal ("there is no Jew or Greek"). Eastern imperialism OTOH seems to reinforce tribalisms as Dharmic cultures have zero interest in spreading their knowledge or way of life outside of their cultures.
I'd also be curious about a discussion on methods the West vs. the East use to dominate other nations.
Western imeprialism…Europe?! Europe is a not country, there's europeans countrie wh never owned colonies in their history. there's european countries who owned colonies but not anymore, there's europeans colonies which were in fact colonies of other euorpean countries. Read a fucking history book
Jace Reed
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Easton Adams
Western imperialism rarely happens in its own backyard, but always far away. Western imperialism is pretty united. Eastern imperialism is more about regional power struggles against neighbouring countries.
Brandon Perez
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Nolan Kelly
fpbp
Nolan Adams
shit thread, Zizek melts your brain
Blake Thompson
No difference.
Ayden Cruz
Is this really true though? The KSA and its other gulf allies went through great pains to spread wahhabism throughout the MENA to further their imperial ambitions, and the US seems to prefer to back theocrats to secular puppets in the middle east. Don't get me fucking started on Israel too, there is nothing "universalist" about their imperialism. They clearly see the goyim in their vicinity(which would be arabs largely in this case) to be exploited ruthlessly or exterminated outright. Certainly not to be subsumed into Israeli culture.
Israel isn't western. 60% of Israel's population is Arab Jews. Judaism is closer to a tribal religion like Hinduism.
Lincoln Nguyen
Zizek is actually wrong on quite a bit, its just that most leftoids would rather get offended and pissy about what he says than put any thought into critiquing it.
Zizek is cool But Profit is cooler and you are still a worhless NEET
Matthew Hall
What does Zizek get wrong?
Xavier Jones
He uses too many big words what hurt the mindlet's thinkers
Landon Carter
But the people who actually run Israel are Jewish diaspora and their descendents. The idea that there is some fundamental difference between western and "oriental" imperialism is ridiculous
Cooper Rogers
This is a misreading of zizek anyway. His prime example of what he means by supporting universalism(which opponents call western imperialism) is the haiti revolution, and that wasn't the west dominating others, it was the west being told to fuck off because they were less universal than the haitians.
Luke Smith
Imperialism is a capitalist phenomena. The idea of "Empire" absolutely is not.
Let's make a list of what Imperialism isn't.
Imperialism != Colonization Imperialism != Large bureaucratic entities extracting wealth from foreign lands while spreading their culture and infrastructure
Imperialism is the colonization and exploitation of foreign regions for the purpose of obtaining the resources of said regions to supply, maintain, and further capitalist production in the home nation. A Chinese Emperor demanding tribute from an African Kingdom is not imperialism, but a Chinese Corporation setting up industry and employing the local workforce to extract helium is. One of the major differences between past Empires and capitalist Imperialism is that the Imperialist nation does not actually improve the infrastructure and quality of life beyond the extent need to facilitate easier extraction. This is opposed to Rome, Mongols, Persians, Arabs, Chinese, ect who viewed occupied lands as producers for the economy that they could scrape for surplus labor, and thus had an incentive to improve the output of said regions. Imperialism, however, only views these lands as a means to secure the resources needed for production in the homeland, and thus has no incentive to "civilize the world".
White Man's Burden and Christianity as reasons for imperialism are spooks.
Christian Garcia
Mind you I am not shitting on the Chinese in particular here. If anything it makes me a bit confident that the party is still Dengist, because they actually do seem to produce independent economies in the nations they "imperialize".
Elijah Powell
"Diaspora" =/= European
There are more Middle Eastern Jews in positions of power in Israel than there have ever been before, and they tend to be politically far-right. The worst Zios I've ever encountered were Israelis of Yemeni or Iraqi heritage.
Christopher Martinez
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Justin Butler
I forgot that these countries are completely imperialist
Alexander Kelly
KSA and the Gulf aren’t Western though.
Thomas Gutierrez
The Jewish Diaspora hate the west, after all it’s the west who nearly killed them. They just play nice to America because America gives them cool plains and tanks.
Parker Moore
Citation needed. What is "the west" even supposed to mean? Why would they hate the US and England for what the Nazis did to them. It's delusional
Cameron Sanders
What makes the West "the west" is Pauline unviersalism, therefore Jews who maintain the belief in the chosen people are not western and can never be. Same thing with unassimilated 3rd world immigrants living in the west.
Ethan Wilson
Most of these countries benefit from NATO/EU imperialism. The former Soviet Bloc countries either suck up to the west or suck up to Russia.
Hudson Parker
I see, now fuck off
Cameron Cooper
Explain why my conclusion is wrong.
Matthew Myers
Your conception of "the west" as being based solely on some religious notion is farcical and un-materialist. Basing it on fucking lactose tolerance would be more reasonable than this bullshit. It has nothing to do with the real world. Your conclusion is built on a flawed premise.
