[adrianN]

I don't think your parent claimed that all good things were originally made in Europe. It seems pretty clear to me that Europe was technologically more advanced than the rest of the world during colonial times. Without superior (military) technology they wouldn't have been able to oppress half the world.

[badminton1]

I don't think being invaded by Europeans is a prerequisite for progress.

[jernfrost]

No, but most nations have progressed faster technologically by being invaded or influenced by other more advance nations. Without the roman empire, Britain, France, Spain, Germany etc would have taken far longer to modernize.

I not saying this as a moral statement, merely as an observation of how the world works. We don't need to like something to be true.

Of course we can strive for a better less violent way of doing things, which I think we are doing in the world we live in today. We are spreading ideas and technology through trade primarily rather than war. It is not always fair trade, but it beats colonization.

[adrianN]

I don't think that either, but you're not making a very good argument. To counter that European influence was important for the development of former colonies you say that foreign influence was crucial to the development of Europe. To me that sounds like you support the idea that outside influence can be of critical importance.