Pet hypothesis of the week on colonisation and resultant culture

Not what you think.

Hmm…have always wondered why some countries and cultures in my part of the globe are so mercenary while others are less so, generally speaking. Have come to the hypothesis that countries who have been colonised before come to form the mindset of survival of the fittest and only their family matters. This is my own pet hypothesis that I have not known to be published anywhere else, to the best of my knowledge. This has nothing to do with race but everything to do with power and unequal enjoying of rights that shape society. X

Looking at countries in Asia around me:

South Korea ( A little bit of war history. Not that much compared to some other countries in the region and some parts of the Korean area remain relatively untouched by war in the past such as Busan.) Do find that the products they produce for their own internal consumption are of high quality, which attests to the society's ability to care for people outside of their family.) That’s been the experience while staying there previously.

China (Not intending to step on any toes here hopefully). The Chinese value their own families a lot and prioritise certain things like money and status way too much over fellow human value.) But if you get into their trusted circle, they are quite nice. Essentially, prioritising one’s own family and community one feels they belong to is not particularly unique to the Chinese.

As I have recently learnt more of, the Chinese have indeed had a history of being horribly colonised by the Japanese and sold into opium addiction by the British. This probably shapes their sense of humanity somewhat and reminds me of what someone wise once said- one has to look at events way back. X

Thailand (Never been colonised. Very friendly culture and rather civil based on my experiences there.)

Singapore (Been colonized by two different empires before and developed very rapidly. A culture where people are really concerned about making a good living in order to survive. )

African nations- Loads of colonization. Loads of corruption and internal strife. For one of my classmates in university, her project was on the coloniser in the African nation giving weapons and money to the various tribes in Africa to appease them before they ended the colonisation.

In the end, the various tribes ended up fighting for power with the resources they were given after the coloniser left. Not because they are bad people. I think it is probably due to the power structures and dynamics they are used to. Again- have to have research into this to understand in depth what happened. XO

There’s a lot more to be said on this and more countries to cover but for now, this is it. This is not a post about the concept of race or colonisation history in particular, but a preliminary analysis of how history shapes the characteristics of society.

This is one of my earliest posts. Let me know =)) your thoughts. Thanks. XO

flintstone

Picture generated by Substack tool