What is the Purpose of Colonialism?
In essence, colonialism is an act of political and economic domination involving the control of a country and its people by settlers from a foreign power. In most cases, the goal of the colonizing countries is to profit by exploiting the human and economic resources of the countries they colonized
Conventional wisdom these days is that autocracy is ascendant, and democracy is on the decline. Right-wing billionaires capture mostly Republican politicians with hundreds of millions of dollars in campaign, and Super PAC donations. And for all their talk about small government and freedom, Republican-run school boards are banning books they don’t like, and Republican legislatures are passing laws that deny women reproductive autonomy. It denies teachers the right to speak about issues that they claim are divisive concepts.
Let’s examine these divisive ideas: homosexuality, systemic racism, and teaching about the wrongs of slavery. And, concerning public safety, they seek to deny public schools the right to combat Covid through medically recommended mask and vaccine mandates.
Somewhere along the way, the right conservatives have transitioned from a high-minded ideology focused on conserving the Constitution and individual rights. They’ve transitioned into a crass, self-serving, quasi-criminal enterprise dedicated solely to conserving the status quo. And because the status quo ranges from bad to terrible for a good majority of Americans, conservatism is now widely perceived to be callous, cruel, and elitist.
And media reports and journalists tell us that these elitists are set to re-take control of politics in our nation in 2022 and 2024. If the majority of Americans are paying attention, this notion is laughable.
In a democracy, external oppression should never come from a government official against its civilians. This causes the populace to perceive that the oath to protect and serve, seems to only extend to the color and/or class of the officer.
This reality explains why the U.S. Supreme Court is so damned unpopular. But this already counter-majoritarian institution really doesn’t seem to care. Instead, for the past twenty-two years, they have done everything they can to reduce the power of the ever-growing center-left majority.
For example, in Bush v. Gore (2000), five conservatives threw the presidential election to Republican George W. Bush even though Florida was in the middle of a recount, a recount that ultimately tilted in Democrat Al Gore’s favor.
In Citizens United v. FEC (2010), five conservatives green-lighted the flow of dark money to Republican politicians, which has worked against the economic, health, and environmental interests of their own constituents.
And in Shelby County v. Holder (2013), the same five conservatives enabled red states around the country to pass the voter-suppression and election-subversion laws referenced above, laws that are designed to lock in Republican control at all three levels—local, state, and federal—for many years to come.
Tyrants do not arise in a vacuum. Those conditions invariably include an expansive growth of oppressive economic policies and social inequality. And, it’s often ignored by the elites who benefit from it.
These past five years, we’ve witnessed a sobering vocalization of fear, moral confusion, and chaos that come from deepening inequality, and a severe breakdown of social norms. But most concerning, is the growing disregard for the humanity of a large portion of the population and its higher values.
The general theme of right-wing politics, outside of extremism and anti-democracy, is a massive transfer of public assets and resources to private insiders. Public school funding goes to the private school donors who are starting scam for-profit schools. In other states, it's the privatization of the energy grid. For instance, in Texas they couldn't even keep the grid going in the wintertime. Small towns have not been getting infrastructure funding, because public dollars have been raided by the state to give out, as tax cuts at the very high end. We’ve heard similar stories like these, play out in a number of different ways. The result, is that there is always of benefit the elite.
These sneaky under-handed politics have always existed in some quiet form. But with conservative nationalism thrown into the mix, it feels like we’re heading towards a political upheaval deeply rooted in the in the nuances of colonialism.
For me at least, it sure feels that way. Why are states forcing poor women to carry fetus’ to term? Could it be that they seeking to boost white national populations?
I wonder also, what’s the ultimate reasoning for banning literature? Are they in reality just attempting to assign their own version of government and religious belief to our population at large? If so, is this not how the origins of colonialism take root? One in which, the collective body of citizens are controlled by the beliefs of one overriding majority? Within the confines of colonialism, everyone thinks the same, believes the same, and when one person rejects these notions, they are arrested, shot, or chastised for their free-thinking thoughts and ideals. I’m sure we all remember what happened at the Antifa protests.
In contrast, let’s be reminded, that our political system was designed to provide the majority with the responsibility to lead while protecting the minority from having their rights infringed, or violated.
But what we have now, is completely different from an ideal democracy. The business of government has twisted to serve the leaders rather than effectuating actual an improvement.
Educational opportunities thrive when school systems are given the right to choose, through school voucher programs, an other innovative ideas. Economic opportunities abound through wage growth, and by creating training opportunities for new work/trade skill sets.
I do not believe the majority of Americans are seeking a return to the politics of 2015. Is the answer then, to move towards a position of open equality? In which, people will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character, where minority and majority won’t be classified by ethnicity because we are all recognized as ethnically human?
I propose that only then, can our society can begin to squash oppression, and its ideals into extinction. We should all be standing up for democratic institutions such as independent courts, free media, robust legislatures, and vibrant civil societies. Especially when, public discourse brings about scrutiny or challenges to executive policies. This diplomatic exchange demands of us, that we put democratic principles that unify us in the face of looming threats, police violence, and an understanding of and for, protesters advocating for racial justice.
Democracy today is beleaguered but not defeated. Its enduring popularity in a more hostile world and its perseverance after the last devastating years are signals of resilience. Resilience that bodes well for the future of freedom.
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