Imperialism, inequality and poverty
For a rational development of humanity, the evils of imperialism, inequality and poverty must go. Humanity is just one family, and it needs to develop rationally with peace and harmony. Imperialism is domination of a state by another, generally for plunder and, in a small number of cases, for strategic or other considerations. It establishes inequality between two states, the dominating and the dominated, and the ruling elites of both the states, create inequality between the people, turning a blind eye to poverty, leaving it callously to what they call, the trickle-down effect, meaning “benefits given to people at the top of a system will eventually be passed on to people lower down the system” (Collins). (Trickle-down effect, Ha Ha Ha, overfeed the rich, then the hungry mouth might get a morsel, or a crumb or two!).
The present state of the world is not only irrational, but also horrifying and pathetic. An Oxfam research shows how miserable the state of affairs of the present world is! Please see: Oxfam Briefing Paper Executive Summary, January 2022:
“The wealth of the world’s 10 richest men has doubled since the pandemic began. The incomes of 99% of humanity are worse off because of COVID-19. Widening economic, gender, and racial inequalities—as well as the inequality that exists between countries—are tearing our world apart. This is not by chance, but choice: “economic violence” is perpetrated when structural policy choices are made for the richest and most powerful people. This causes direct harm to us all, and to the poorest people, women and girls, and racialized groups most. Inequality contributes to the death of at least one person every four seconds. But we can radically redesign our economies to be centered on equality. We can claw back extreme wealth through progressive taxation; invest in powerful, proven inequality-busting public measures; and boldly shift power in the economy and society. If we are courageous, and listen to the movements demanding change, we can create an economy in which nobody lives in poverty, nor with unimaginable billionaire wealth—in which inequality no longer kills.
According to the Oxfam report of 12 April 2022, “Over a quarter of a billion more people could crash into extreme levels of poverty in 2022 because of COVID-19, rising global inequality and the shock of food price rises, supercharged by the war in Ukraine”, reveals a new Oxfam brief today.
“First Crisis, Then Catastrophe”, published ahead of the World Bank and IMF Spring Meetings in Washington DC, shows that 860 million people could be living in extreme poverty — on less than $1.90 a day — by the end of this year. This is mirrored in global hunger: the number of undernourished people could reach 827 million in 2022.
These are figures, which represent facts. It shows what appalling state of affairs humanity is having to go through, while the world is gripped by the evils of imperialism, inequality and poverty. So, the question is very pertinent, will imperialism go, as the Western imperialism declines and eventually goes? Or will it be replaced by any other imperialism/s?
Imperialism is evil and morally reprehensible
Our recorded history (from when humans learnt to write) begins from ancient Mesopotamia (present Iraq and nearby areas) and ancient Egypt. The history of imperialism begins from ancient Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt. Before that, humans had a long period of egalitarian societies of hunters and food gatherers. Gradually humans learnt agriculture about 10,000 years ago, and sedentary agricultural societies developed. In the process, there developed rich and poor, and there gradually developed monarchy and later imperialism. Ancient Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt were slave societies, slavery being a very evil system.
The term “imperialism” has been defined as: “Policy by which one country takes control of another country either directly or through economic or political dominance. A bigger/stronger country takes over a smaller/weaker country” (Imperialism Vocab 2013.pdf). The Encyclopaedia Britannica wrote that imperialism has often been considered morally reprehensible. The word “imperialism” appeared in the British vocabulary in the late 1870s. Many writers did theoretical work on imperialism. Among them were John A. Hobson, who wrote, Imperialism: A Study (1902), V. I. Lenin, who wrote, Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism (1916), and many others. These studies involved, as characteristic of the historic period, discussion on capitalism, monopolies, export of capital in overseas investments, wage differentials between workers of imperialist countries and the dominated countries, etc.
Later historians revealed the barbarous genocides and massacres that were perpetrated by the imperialists, the wiping out of millions of natives in the settler colonies of Americas, Australia, New Zealand, etc., and the reckless plunder of natural resources and wealth of the dominated countries, which brought about starvation, famines and longstanding poverty in the dominated countries. Initial writers on imperialism did not underline these horrifying trampling of humanity under foot. Even Marx and Engels, in The Communist Manifesto (1848), “had considered Western imperialism as a progressive and beneficial force drawing underdeveloped societies into bourgeois civilization.” (The Roots of Karl Marx’s Anti-Colonialism by Thierry Drapeau, Jacobin). Later, Marx and Engels changed their views by their own observations, and association with British Chartist leader and labor poet Ernest Jones.
Imperialism in history
Historians later studied imperialism from ancient Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt, which was long before capitalism developed. Philosopher and historian Oswald Spengler conceived history as consisting of “nine Cultures: Ancient Egyptian, Babylonian, Indian, Chinese, Greco-Roman or ‘Apollonian’, ‘Magian’ or ‘Arabic’ (including early and Byzantine Christianity and Islam), Mexican, Western or ‘Faustian’, and Russian.” (Wikipedia article, Oswald Spengler). According to Spengler, these cultures, like living beings, have “childhood, youth, manhood and old age”, unless prematurely conquered or subdued by other civilizations.
History, since ancient Mesopotamia, can similarly be looked at as led by dominant forces of rises and falls of empires, allowing for simultaneous existence of many empires at a time, in various parts of the world. One such list was prepared in 2005, please see: Empires in World History, by James A. Paul, Global Policy Forum. Similarly, A Timeline of World Empires, by Tim Lambert shows rises and falls of empires with lists of colonization and decolonization.
History can thus be viewed as, in the main, dominated by the history of empires, where the present history can be viewed, largely, as European colonialism until the end of WW2 in 1945, and neo-colonialism or imperialism of the US and the West since the end of colonialism. European colonialism began in 1402, and it lasted until a couple of decades after WW2. The two wars, WW1 and WW2, smashed colonialism to smithereens, and it virtually disappeared within a couple of decades after the WW2. And we entered the phase of neo-colonialism or imperialism, led by the US from the end of WW2.
Decline of the US and the West
The world order has started to change again. Many writers predicted the decline of the West. Among them are: German philosopher and historian Oswald Spengler, who wrote, The Decline of the West, Vol 1 (1918) and Vol 2 (1922), British historian Arnold Toynbee, who wrote, A Study of History, 12 volumes from 1922 to 1961, and American writer James Burnham, who wrote, Suicide of the West, 1964. (Please see the article, Spengler, Toynbee, Burnham, and the Decline of the West, Jan 23, 2022, by Francis P. Sempa).
There are writers also, who don’t think that America is declining. For example, Robert Kagan, who wrote the essay, “Not Fade Away: The Myth of American Decline,” in 2012, and others.
But recently, many thinkers have written books and articles about the decline of America and the West. Among them are Dambisa Moyo, Niall Ferguson, Ian Bremmer, Richard McGregor, Carmen Reinhart, Kenneth Rogoff, Evgeny Morozov, Philip Shetler-Jones, David Wineberg, and Arthur Herman.
There is a good account of the US decline in the Wikipedia article, American decline. The US has been declining economically and geopolitically, amongst other sectors of decline. Its industry has declined as has its influence in the world. The article in the Global Times, The decline of the US and the rise of the East, by Daniel Kovalik, July 9, 2022, reflects the view of China, “We are now witnessing a great realignment and transformation. The so-called “American Century” has given way to a new century in which other countries are asserting themselves and taking the lead in the world.” The article is pointing at the decline of the US, resurgence of Russia and the rise of China.
The golden age of America: 1950-70
Civilizations rise and fall. The present period of history, as mentioned before, can be looked at as (1) European colonialism and its end after WW2, (2) Rise of the US as a superpower after WW2, and (3) Decline of the US.
The European colonialism started from 1402 and ended within a couple of decades after WW2. America became a world power from 1898 with the ceasefire on conflict, agreed between the US and Spain, over Cuba and the Philippines. From the end of WW2, the US became the unrivalled superpower. The period from 1950 to 1970 is often referred to as the Golden Age of American capitalism. After that the US started declining.
From the Afghan and Iraq wars it started declining rapidly. Even in 2011, Noam Chomsky in his article, American Decline: Causes and Consequences, al-Akhbar, August 24, 2011, wrote, “In the 2011 summer issue of the journal of the American Academy of Political Science, we read that it is “a common theme” that the United States, which “only a few years ago was hailed to stride the world as a colossus with unparalleled power and unmatched appeal — is in decline, ominously facing the prospect of its final decay.”
The above is true, the US is “facing the prospect of its final decay”, so much so that there are people who have been apprehending, in view of the US decline, “autocratic rule”, “military rule” or even “civil war” in future in the US. There could also be catastrophes such as WW3 breaking out, or a nuclear war could annihilate humanity! Barring those, the West is facing its final decay.
Imperialism may end
The decline and the final decay of the US and the West will inevitably herald the welcome decline and decay of the present US and Western imperialism. The big question is: will imperialism decay and die, or will there be other nations, which will start new imperialism? On the horizon, at present, there are two countries with that potential, the resurgent Russia and the rising China.
Russia has been an imperialist country, beside European colonial imperialism. Even the Soviet Union had internal colonialism because of uneven development on a regional basis. There are influential thinkers like Aleksandr Dugin in Russia today who is said to be propagating the idea of a Russian empire. But will the present circumstances allow it?
China is the world’s largest trading country now, with its export in 2019 worth $2.6 trillion. Its military power is also comparable to that of the US and Russia. Many have been describing China as an imperialist country already, which is debatable. Even if China has imperialist ambitions, will the present circumstances allow it?
It is difficult to see that Russia or China, or any other country, will be able to revive imperialism after the end of the US and Western imperialism. For after the end of imperialism, the US and the West will not be that weak, and many countries of the world are strong enough to resist a new developing empire, unless it is small enough to be not very significant. Thus, chances are that with the decline and end of the imperialism of the US and the West, imperialism itself will decline and end, and the history of imperialism since ancient Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt, i.e., the history of empires for the last 4,000 years, may come to an end. If this happens, it would be most welcome, as there will then be chances to alleviate inequality and poverty, and grounds will be prepared for peace and harmony in the world.
*The writer is a London-based political analyst, commentator and a former activist and columnist constantly campaigning for Freedom and Democracy, Justice, Human Rights and Harmonious Development in Bangladesh. He appeared many times on Bengali TV talk shows in London speaking on the political affairs of Bangladesh. A retired computer consultant with a Master’s degree in Mathematics, he left his PhD studies in the UK to travel to Kolkata, India, in 1971 to join the Independence War of Bangladesh. He is a recipient of Independence Award.
September 1, 2022
The viewpoints expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect the opinions, viewpoints and editorial policies of Aequitas Review.
