It’s fine that you want to vent. Go ahead and raise that fist to the sky and give it hell, kiddo!

If misdirecting that at me makes you feel better, do it. Rock on, and I’m glad I could help. I hope you feel better!

Yes, but OP was asking for more than a single high-level example. And, again, exclusively answering colonialism would be disingenuous if we implied that was THE answer instead of part of it.

Quoting myself here…

Here are some topics but NOT an exhaustive list:

Thought debt could go into some of the other categories. Calling it out individually or under a broader umbrella of economics would be fine, too. It’s just a suggestion list for OP to research.

Many of the issues CAN be and are linked to colonialism, reread what I wrote.

Yes, your points are pertinent and support problems that colonialism is relevant to, I did not claim otherwise.

However, you’re clearly focused on negatives and crimes (in many cases rightfully so) the US has caused. But the question wasn’t exclusive to the US and is not exclusive to the US.

For the OPs question, trying to exclusively link everything to or overstate the colonial influence is an example of what I was saying as well.

It’s comforting to pretend that we just say one word “colonialism” and think that now we’re experts on the subject. But there’s so much more than colonialism, which again is a big factor (the first I listed), and overemphasis of it while disregarding the other real issues and nuances is counterproductive to learning.

Removed by mod

EDIT: Abridged for clarity

Throughout history, plenty of people have sought out and been fine with a life of subsistence and, where possible, peace. It’s actually more telling when someone can NOT conceive of a life that’s completely soaked in foul consumption and exploitation. Not everyone would want to be a king or lord. Lots would NOT.

You’re going to get a LOT of reductive and low effort answers from Lemmy radicals. But this is a super complex question, and there’s not a 5-second ELI5 answer if you really want to understand.

Also, when the radicals scream at you, there’s going to be a core of truth. They’re going to yell about colonization and empires. That’s a major factor, but not an exclusive one. However, for getting radical and rabidly furious its all they’ll bother posting to you.

Things to investigate, because answering this for yourself in a meaningful way is going to take a while and require study. Here are some topics but NOT an exhaustive list:

1. Colonization

2. Resources (natural and otherwise)

3. Schooling, education, etc.

4. Stability, politically and otherwise (note this will have overlap with colonial and non-colonial powers destabilizing things intentionally for geopolitical gain)

5. Infrastructure (transportation, economic, water, medical, etc.)

6. Medicine as regionally practiced, traditional vs based on the the scientific method.

7. Geopolitics (isolationism, etc)

8. Geography (i.e. the US’s greatest asset is its location, it neighbors no enemies and its main enemies are separated by an ocean. One of the key reasons the US focuses on the ability to project force)

9. Religion

10. Corruption (politically and non politically)

11. Crime and non-military/nation based violence (also could get grouped under personal safety and security)

And again, honestly, a lot of these topics will overlap, but that’s what I mean by there isn’t a quick, easy answer.

And the reductive stupid answer is just yelling colonialism.

There’s a reason people get PhDs in this subject. It’s not a quick, easy question.

Fascinating and adding it to my haul of TIL!

Thank you very much!