LIVE WITHOUT HARMING!: LET US OPPOSE IMPERIALISM, MILITARISM, AND THE CULT OF VIOLENCE

Some British people believe their empire was different from the others, quite benign, because they are more civilized; however, nothing could be further from the truth, as demonstrated by several examples:

• India: according to some studies, British colonialism caused at least 100 million deaths in about 40 years. According to other research, the number of deaths rose to 165 million between 1880 and 1920. To this must be added a massive plundering of wealth.

Malnourished Indians due to British rule

• Kenya: according to some estimates, up to 150,000 Kikuyu were interned in about 100 concentration camps, where they were mistreated and tortured, including the castration of men (obviously without anesthesia) and the insertion of bottles into women’s vaginas. To this must be added the theft of the best lands to be sold at low prices to European settlers, leaving their African owners without their source of livelihood overnight.

• America: the British transported more than 3 million African slaves to their colonies on this continent, of whom 2.7 million arrived. Conditions on the slave ships were very harsh, as they were in the destination plantations, where they were systematically mistreated through whipping and other means. To this must be added the extermination of Native Americans.

• China: for imperialist interests, they helped Empress Cixi suppress the Taiping Rebellion, resulting in the murder of 50 million innocent people.

Malnourished Boer child

• South Africa: in the Second Boer War, a scorched earth policy was applied, destroying Boer crops and homes (descendants of the Dutch, Germans, and French), killing their livestock, and interning this ethnic group in concentration camps where many died due to appalling conditions.

• Tasmania: they committed genocide against their indigenous people, who were poor hunter-gatherers.

Imperialists often apply a scandalous double standard. When they or their ancestors dominate others, they consider it something glorious, a feat to be proud of that gives them greatness. But when others do the same to their “nation,” or at least try to, then it turns out they are common oppressors.

Read LET US LIVE WITHOUT HARMING! Let us be impartial and not apply double standards

This is what happens to Spanish nationalists with the Napoleonic invasion, to the British with the Spanish Armada or the Nazi Blitz, to the French with the Nazi occupation, to the Chinese with the Japanese invasion, and a long etcetera.

The thirst for expansion has not disappeared; it remains present, especially in countries like Russia or China, or among Muslim jihadists. The instincts for domination, theft, and aggression are still there, as the DNA of the human race does not change in years or decades, but rather in millennia. They are the origin of militarism—that is, the taste (sometimes obsession) for armies, wars, and violence.

All of these are closely related to the gregarious instinct that causes racism, ethnicism, and ultra-nationalism. They are also linked to far-right ideologies and the glorification of scoundrels. They are different leaves of the same weed.

Read LIVING WITHOUT HARMING: Let us not be racist, ethnicist, xenophobic, or ultra-nationalist

Read “HOW TO LIVE WITHOUT HARMING?” Let us reform the harmful part of the far right

Read FOR A WORLD WITHOUT HARM: Let us avoid harmful gregariousness

Read DO NOT HONOR VILLAINS!, but rather those who have fought for a better world.

All those instincts and tendencies were the cause of the First World War (40 million dead, plus millions more victims of various sufferings, and Europe devastated and in poverty) and the Second World War (70-85 million dead, plus even more millions of victims of great suffering, and Europe even more razed and in misery).

It seems impossible that after the harsh experience of the first war, in just two decades, the same generation caused another even worse conflict, but unfortunately, it is true. One must be a deranged, unbalanced, and very toxic species to do such things, as well as foolish to stumble twice over the same stone in such a short time; unfortunately, evil runs through our veins.

Some believe that all this is water under the bridge, something from other times, and that now we are finally safe because we have become civilized. But this is not the case, as those human instincts are always latent. They are often sleeping in a part of our brain while we are busy and entertained with our daily tasks, problems, and pleasures. However, they can wake up at any time—for example, in the event of conflicts or tensions between countries or groups.

In fact, decolonization did not end until a few decades ago, in the 1970s. And since there are still millions of people with expansionist aspirations and history tends to be cyclical like a Ferris wheel, unless there is a profound change of mentality in the majority of people, it is wise not to lower our guard and to apply root solutions:

• Repress those instincts. It is good to be ourselves and live according to our nature, provided it does not cause harm to innocent people. Imperialism/belligerence is one of the ten beads of a necklace that tightens around our neck, from which hangs a pendant with the following inscription:

Decalogue of Evil

But we can free ourselves from it with a very powerful little key called:

The Decalogue of Kindness

• The INTENSE AND PERSISTENT education of children and adolescents, and pedagogy among adults in an ethics of non-harm and respect, in a culture of kindness, justice, and peaceful conflict resolution.

Read LET US NOT HARM ANYONE!

Read THE ART OF LIVING WITHOUT HARMING: Let us respect others

Read THE REVOLUTION OF LIVING WITHOUT HARMING: Let us be good people

One way to raise awareness is to share these types of messages.

Thank you for doing so,