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by coldtea 1100 days ago
>Do these countries become more powerful, richer, or have more resources than others because they are represented bigger on a common map projection?

No. They become so by colonizing and stealing other's resources. Then the map projections that are convenient for them, are imposed upon the rest of humanity.

This, among other legitimate uses, has the side-benefit for them of presenting said countries as larger than they are, and thus being one more way to subconsciously hammer onto everybody their superiority at that level too...
1 comments
usrbinbash 1099 days ago
> They become so by colonizing and stealing other's resources.

Pretty sure all of the former colonies are independent nations by now, and have been for more than a generation.

> Then the map projections that are convenient for them, are imposed upon the rest of humanity.

Excuse me? Who is imposing what on whom now, and how?

Last time I checked, everyone is free to use whatever map projection they want, centered on whatever point of the globe they want. Or they can use an actual globe.

> has the side-benefit for them of presenting said countries as larger than they are, and thus being one more way to subconsciously hammer onto everybody their superiority at that level too...

Yeah, pretty sure I don't perceive Antarctica as some kind of superior super-nation. Or greenland, although I gotta say, it's a really cool place, especially during summer.

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coldtea 1099 days ago
>Pretty sure all of the former colonies are independent nations by now, and have been for more than a generation.

Yes. And if someone breaks your legs, you should totally be able to run a marathon after, say, 15 years. After all, they haven't broke your legs for a while.

History and national development doesn't work like that. A major handicap can still keep you back for centuries.

It's even more than a handicap relatively too. It's not just that you were held down (and the other side neutral): the handicap for you was at the same time an enrichment off your back for the other side.

Even more more so, since "independent nations" is mostly a facade for the busines as usual, of neocolonialism: the same shit, but somewhat more convert (bribing politicians, setting up banana-republic conditions, if needed bringing in the army, supporting this or that dictator into power, and so on, and using monetary policy and foreign aid to make sure they never stand on their legs).

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usrbinbash 1099 days ago
Yeah, I'm not gonna discuss colonialism here. Multiple generations are a long time to get things in order. Many countries rebuilt from scratch into powerful industrialized nations within decades after major wars.

And it's also not the topic of the discussion tbh. This is about the impact of the Mercator projection, and unless I get to see a peer reviewed study convincing me otherwise, my point stands.

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