Also, it’s reprehensible. I would probably be willing to accept reprehensible policies, very reluctantly, if they actually did result in productive countries. But when neither means nor ends are good, and the results of past failed attempts still cause massive suffering today, giving even passing credit to colonialist ideas is an enormous red flag. It’s in the same realm as Holocaust denial imo. I don’t think OP was seriously endorsing colonialism, but I’m also not highly confident he wasn’t; neoreactionaries frequent this site, after all.
Just so the intensity of my position is clear, the hopefully-not-an-endorsement of colonialism alone wouldn’t have motivated me to downvote, I’m usually pretty good at avoiding that armchair online-activist failure mode, but I found the main argument pretty weak as well. Had either one of those flaws not been present, I’d have been willing to overlook the other.
Also, it’s reprehensible. I would probably be willing to accept reprehensible policies, very reluctantly, if they actually did result in productive countries. But when neither means nor ends are good, and the results of past failed attempts still cause massive suffering today, giving even passing credit to colonialist ideas is an enormous red flag. It’s in the same realm as Holocaust denial imo. I don’t think OP was seriously endorsing colonialism, but I’m also not highly confident he wasn’t; neoreactionaries frequent this site, after all.
Just so the intensity of my position is clear, the hopefully-not-an-endorsement of colonialism alone wouldn’t have motivated me to downvote, I’m usually pretty good at avoiding that armchair online-activist failure mode, but I found the main argument pretty weak as well. Had either one of those flaws not been present, I’d have been willing to overlook the other.