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submitted 1 year ago by mulcahey@lemmy.world to c/196

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[-] uriel238 20 points 1 year ago

Huh. My take from Avatar was that the mighty whitey trope was less about distaste of non-whites, but insecurity of European colonial imperialists.

[-] spacesweedkid27@lemmy.world 16 points 1 year ago

Remember: Imperialism is ok, unless you are European or caucasian.

[-] uriel238 16 points 1 year ago

I don't think that's the case. It's just that Europe was able get the upper hand. The ill behavior that comes with that power is an indictment of the human species. China, Japan and Russia were happy to crush and exploit Korea without a European in sight, leading to the current fractured state. (It's practically the setting of an RTS game.)

But maybe we'll figure out a sociological trick that allows us to maintain an egalitarian society, but that's for the survivors of the next few centuries to figure out. (And they may not be human.)

[-] Sophia7Inches@lemm.ee 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

19th century Russia is literally a European colonial nation through every its aspect

[-] uriel238 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

In the 19th century, when it comes to Korea, Japan was doing the heavy lifting. Queen Min (who couldn't be pinned down by Korea's intensely patriarchal society) developed a spy network in Imperial Nippon to track the modernization of its military as Japanese ambassadors practiced the same gunship diplomacy they learned from Europe.

She became such a problem, Japan sent a literal platoon of ninjas to kill her. Which they did, brutally.

The Joseon dynasty fell to disarray and collapsed in short time, though the assassination of Queen Min wasn't causal so much as Japan was ready to put its war fleet to use, and Korea, with its sweet harbors and strategic significance was a choice target for a test run.