[mcguire]

I think perhaps you should be happy that Europe and North America do not have that particular advantage.

When Europe was operating without a bit of hand-wringing, it seems to have overrun much of the rest of the world, taken charge, planted colonies, and run said rest of the world for its own benefit. Likewise, we here in NA have a certain history of transplanting people who have something we want into camps in the stinking desert. Or into the ground, whichever is more convenient for all involved.

[mc32]

Like many things, there are tradeoffs and unknowns. Would the world have been better off without colonialism at all? Or would colonialism by Russians or Ottomans or Chinese or Egyptians? And had it not happened, where would we be technologically? Would we be more advanced? Would we be behind? Would we still be suffering from infectious diseases? Where would the world pop be today? Where would strife be today? Or totally at peace? Impossible to say. Only that it would not be the same and most of us on the planet would be other people, or no one at all.