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Narrative Busted: Colonialism and Slavery Did Not Make British Empire Wealthy, Report Finds
Breitbart ^ | 05/03/2024 | KURT ZINDULKA

Posted on 05/03/2024 6:07:35 AM PDT by ChicagoConservative27

The British Empire and other major European powers did not significantly enrich themselves through slavery and colonialism but rather may have taken a net loss as a result, a report has asserted.

Contrary to narratives pushed by ‘anti-colonialism’ academics and promoted by leftist talking heads, Western capitalism was not built off the backs of colonialism and slavery, fresh research from Kristian Niemietz of the Institute of Economic Affairs claims.

The head of Political Economy at the IEA argues that while some select elite families within Britain and other colonial powers profited immensely during the time, such gains were not felt by the public at large, who rather than benefitting were instead steeply taxed to pay the exorbitant costs in extra military and administrative spending needed to maintain and protect far-away colonial outposts, a bill that citizens of non-colonial Western nations did not need to foot.

(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: ageofsail; ancientnavigation; belgium; breitbart; britain; british; britishempire; colonialism; empire; england; france; godsgravesglyphs; kristianniemietz; kurtzindulka; navigation; netherlands; portugal; potosi; privateers; slavery; spain; thenetherlands; treasureships
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People don't study history. They make up crap to fit their narrative.
1 posted on 05/03/2024 6:07:35 AM PDT by ChicagoConservative27
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To: ChicagoConservative27

Obviously it was their fine cuisine...................


2 posted on 05/03/2024 6:14:19 AM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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To: ChicagoConservative27

Agreed. To paraphrase the well known quote about the left is that at the heart of their outlook and behaviour is their need to emote as opposed to thinking and understanding.


3 posted on 05/03/2024 6:15:07 AM PDT by OttawaFreeper ("The Gardens was founded by men-sportsmen-who fought for their country" Conn Smythe, 1966 )
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To: ChicagoConservative27
The British Empire and other major European powers did not significantly enrich themselves through slavery and colonialism but rather may have taken a net loss as a result, a report has asserted.

It costs a lot of money to run an empire.

Many of the beneficiaries of the empire are the common people.

They benefit through trade, suppression of tribal wars, enforcement of laws against murder, theft, etc.

Essentially, enforcement of the rule of law benefits the large mass of people.

4 posted on 05/03/2024 6:17:45 AM PDT by marktwain (The Republic is at risk. Resistance to the Democratic Party is Resistance to Tyranny. )
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To: ChicagoConservative27

After feudalism waned in Europe, the obsession with owning land didn’t. Land is power. Today, money is the prime symbology for status and power, but you have to think how things used to be. I think “colonialism” was a manifestation of the powerful elite land owning classes wanting to expand their wealth.


5 posted on 05/03/2024 6:18:01 AM PDT by z3n (Kakistocracy)
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To: ChicagoConservative27

Britain became wealthy because of the Jewel in the Crown, the East India Company, and then India as a Crown Colony. Slavery to sustain the colonies with ports needed to protect the SLOCs to India were part of that. It was a whole system. At the same time a lot of the people subsumed into the colonies were a whole lot better off because justice was administered using British Common law which was far superior to anything else in the world and geve the subjects, forced or unforced, much more personal security than the arbitrary and capricious arrangements elsewhere. It is noteworthy that one of the features of the modern US administrative state is the effort to uttelry undermine and discplace the common law to make government about the adminstrative state vs the people with the administrative state superior as opposed to just the King’s Justice in settling disputes between subjects equitably. Decriminalization of felonies against persons is antoher aspect of that abandonment of justice for the people.


6 posted on 05/03/2024 6:18:50 AM PDT by AndyJackson
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To: marktwain

British colonies in Africa have kept the British system of education for a reason.


7 posted on 05/03/2024 6:19:16 AM PDT by Jonty30 (He hunted a mammoth for me, just because I said I was hungry. He is such a good friend. )
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To: Red Badger

India prospered under British rule.


8 posted on 05/03/2024 6:20:59 AM PDT by marktwain (The Republic is at risk. Resistance to the Democratic Party is Resistance to Tyranny. )
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To: marktwain

They curried favor.........................


9 posted on 05/03/2024 6:22:11 AM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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To: marktwain

They curried favor.........................


10 posted on 05/03/2024 6:22:11 AM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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To: Red Badger

By currying foods with flavour.


11 posted on 05/03/2024 6:24:38 AM PDT by Jonty30 (He hunted a mammoth for me, just because I said I was hungry. He is such a good friend. )
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To: Jonty30

If it weren’t for the Indians and their delicious foods, Brits would have all left for France..............


12 posted on 05/03/2024 6:26:03 AM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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To: AndyJackson

Don’t forget The Hudson’s Bay Company.


13 posted on 05/03/2024 6:27:35 AM PDT by Hillarys Gate Cult (“History doesn’t repeat itself but it often rhymes” - Possibly Mark Twain.)
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To: ChicagoConservative27

Not sure about this one. Calculating the gains of trade can be difficult.


14 posted on 05/03/2024 6:30:00 AM PDT by babble-on
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To: Red Badger

1900. Britain was at the top of the world when Jack London wrote People of the Abyss. Families of 13 lived in one room-East London. I think it’s fair to say Andrew Young was right when he said England invented racism.

Franz Fanon died at age 36 under CIA supervision.

You can argue the positive effects of colonialism. Example-are blacks better off coming here as slaves? ‘Only’ 400k of them came here. I don’t think a brutal truth such as that has a place in the discussion.


15 posted on 05/03/2024 6:30:29 AM PDT by DIRTYSECRET
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To: ChicagoConservative27

Kristian Niemietz is 100% correct. Good research that should be publicized widely.


16 posted on 05/03/2024 6:31:24 AM PDT by nwrep
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To: AndyJackson

“Britain became wealthy because of the Jewel in the Crown, the East India Company”

For a time:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_India_Company


17 posted on 05/03/2024 6:33:18 AM PDT by Wuli ( )
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To: marktwain

The British spent lots on infrastructure and education for India. Probably more than they spent in their own country over that period.


18 posted on 05/03/2024 6:33:26 AM PDT by nwrep
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To: DIRTYSECRET

Is commerce racist? Captain Cook said Hawaiians would have been better off ‘if we never came’. Commodore Perry threatened to blow Japan up if they didn’t open up. Coal powered shipping needed fuel. Weather it’s ivory tusks or oil in the Middle East commerce will never allow people to be left alone to sit on their resources.

Think Santa Barbara after the 1969 oil spill. It’s back to normal but the existing drilling has not been expanded. Still the oil is out there. Will it be harvested? We’ll see.


19 posted on 05/03/2024 6:36:05 AM PDT by DIRTYSECRET
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To: ChicagoConservative27

Western prosperity was due to free enterprise capitalism, education, and science, not slavery. Marxist historians want blacks to believe that, without slavery and colonialism, Europeans would be living like Africans lived before slavery and colonialism.


20 posted on 05/03/2024 6:36:09 AM PDT by Socon-Econ (adi)
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