The Scars of Colonialism Humanities 351 has taught me a lot about the world I live in today. As a student and citizen of this complex world, I never realized how much colonialism has affected our world and even our country as a whole. Colonialism seemed like such a distant concept to me before this course, but it is quite clear that the scars colonialism has left are still affecting the world today. Colonialism and the colonial impulse are technically “dead”, but it has greatly affected the world in the past, and it’s concepts clearly permeated through time and have caused a rift in the world today that we haven’t been able to shake. I will explore this thesis further by examining and creating parallels between the past and present world.
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Before the arrival of European colonists Natives of both Central and North America were built on community and a sense that “we’re in this together” (Hill Pg.3). These traditions have been just a small piece that allowed the colonists to separate themselves from the Natives. Colonialism is all about exploitation and opportunity which usually go hand in hand in the impulse of the colonists. Many Europeans believed that they were the chosen ones that God had sided with. This idea of being special created a sense of separateness between them and the societies they enslaved. It became a war between themselves and “the other”. Christopher Columbus praised the Natives as natural “Christians” and made a disturbing remark that encapsulates the thoughts of invading colonists: “With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want” (Hill pg.4). This idea of enslaving “the other” people into doing their bidding helps explain the European idea of superiority and inferiority. This thought process along with “The Doctrine of Discovery” allowed the colonists to exploit and rationalize their superiority of their people. The colonial impulse devastated the land and the people it had taken control …show more content…
The film we see how the filmmakers are not much different than the water company that is privatizing the water supply in Bolivia. Both Costa (the producer) and Sebastian (the director) choose Bolivia as their location because it will provide cheap labor. Costa states at one point: “You give them two dollars a day and they feel like God 's” speaking to the exploitation of the people they are clearly taking advantage of. Of course the characters realize the error of their ways and in an attempt to do the right thing Costa risks his life to save the life of a little girl by driving through an army of men killing protestors of the privatization of their water. We learn later that the water is being sent to California and Europe and in response to asking why the government is doing this the mayor sees the Natives as lesser beings who don’t deserve and don’t need any power. It is clear that colonialism is still a major part of our world and with this we can further examine its lasting
Before the arrival of European colonists Natives of both Central and North America were built on community and a sense that “we’re in this together” (Hill Pg.3). These traditions have been just a small piece that allowed the colonists to separate themselves from the Natives. Colonialism is all about exploitation and opportunity which usually go hand in hand in the impulse of the colonists. Many Europeans believed that they were the chosen ones that God had sided with. This idea of being special created a sense of separateness between them and the societies they enslaved. It became a war between themselves and “the other”. Christopher Columbus praised the Natives as natural “Christians” and made a disturbing remark that encapsulates the thoughts of invading colonists: “With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want” (Hill pg.4). This idea of enslaving “the other” people into doing their bidding helps explain the European idea of superiority and inferiority. This thought process along with “The Doctrine of Discovery” allowed the colonists to exploit and rationalize their superiority of their people. The colonial impulse devastated the land and the people it had taken control …show more content…
The film we see how the filmmakers are not much different than the water company that is privatizing the water supply in Bolivia. Both Costa (the producer) and Sebastian (the director) choose Bolivia as their location because it will provide cheap labor. Costa states at one point: “You give them two dollars a day and they feel like God 's” speaking to the exploitation of the people they are clearly taking advantage of. Of course the characters realize the error of their ways and in an attempt to do the right thing Costa risks his life to save the life of a little girl by driving through an army of men killing protestors of the privatization of their water. We learn later that the water is being sent to California and Europe and in response to asking why the government is doing this the mayor sees the Natives as lesser beings who don’t deserve and don’t need any power. It is clear that colonialism is still a major part of our world and with this we can further examine its lasting