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molotovzav t1_isqi2s8 wrote

Reply to comment by DankVectorz in TIL about some US Marine named Charles Brown who received the Medal of Honor in 1872, but deserted in Shanghai before he could receive it. by dragoniteftw33

We were trying to establish ourselves in Asia and jockeying for trade routes and influence in the area, we had just emerged form the civil war, where Europe was already established in some parts of Asia. Sometimes shit like this happened too, but it wasn't a larger conflict, just us trying to exert influence and people fighting us from time to time.

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[deleted] t1_isrnq1p wrote

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Cheongshim t1_issajv6 wrote

Yes, but the motivations for imperialism were different from country to country and the nuances are important. Slapping the broad label of “imperialism” on everything and then moving on is the reason we still haven’t learned our lesson.

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[deleted] t1_ist0l2q wrote

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Cheongshim t1_ist47cl wrote

The first nuance is that people rarely exploited “natives” simply because they felt their race or culture was superior. Those are the excuses people made to justify, greed, corruption, and inadequate economic systems that were strained by war, famine, and policy.

Your points are reductionist and incredibly simplistic and I fear your version of a history book would only be about 3 pages long.

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