One of the problems that
existed with industrialism was the conflict with what “class” people belonged
to. Europeans, who as time went on, thought imperialism was the solution to
gaining control over the countries they were already dealing with for their
imports. If they controlled the countries that had the products their own
factories needed, they figured that was all the better and cheaper for them,
while at the same time getting more worldly power and control. The wanted their
own nation (nationalism) to take control over as much as they could. All the
while this was happening, the one huge underlying factor in everything was
racism. Europeans believing that there
had to be distinction and distance between blacks and whites. The same held
true for different religions. At one point some
Europeans actually came to a point where they married Asian and African
“elites” however then came the point in
time where some racisms changed. Instead of just being about color or
religions, science played a role and in their own “sick” ways people made
determinations/conclusions about someone’s worth and intelligence having to do with
the size of their skulls. Of course the Europeans believed themselves to be far
superior than any other countries, and sarcastically assumed they would have to
civilize the rest of the countries people. Unfortunately because of Europe’s
wealth and military advantage, they built many European empires in Africa and
Asia. Not to anyone today, but shocking back in the day, Europeans were often
fighting against themselves as to which country would gain control of certain
areas. As with all invasions of villages and communities, with new people
taking over, they brought disease along with them and many “native” people died
either from these diseases, or from working so hard as to be able to survive. The
European colonial empires literally did away with many small African villages,
killing people or burning down their huts. Rebellions happened as a result of
natives and their lands being invaded, which made some Europeans try to to
convert the natives to an agreeable co-existence so to speak. It still kept
coming down to the fact that racism on all levels was still prevalent. Whether
it was the color of skin, or wealth or religion, Europeans were never going to
stop thinking of themselves as superior. Some of the natives in Africa and Asia
appear to convert over to Christianity purely for the reason of making their own
lives easier. It may have made some of their lives easier but it did nothing to
help get rid of the prejudices felt by many. These prejudices are still felt
today, with regards to everything; color, gender, and religions are still
today, in what is supposed to be a more educated, caring and compassionate
world, the same as they were thousands of years ago. Even back in the day when
they realized that there needed to be “joined” forces between people, natives
and Europeans, one country and another, in order to be able to produce and
survive, some were only able to do so for a short time before rebellions or wars
broke out. It is even stated that looking back all those years ago, even though
it was not labeled “global warming” back then, that is exactly what was taking
place with some of the things they did agriculturally. Very disheartening to
know how many hundreds of years ago, many of the problems that were started or
ongoing, are still problems we encounter today.
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