So all that stuff about the Brits cutting the legs off Kenyans who weren't working hard enough and the U.S. killing three million Indochinese - all that's just in the spirit of epater la bourgeoisie?
[WS:] So the Africans would not cut each other's limbs off is the Brits did not do it? Rwanda is just a figment of my imagination, I suppose, or maybe the work of the man anyway.
The problem with that reasoning that I have is that we can compile the lists of dead and attribute it to our favored scapegoats - communism, Stalin, Castro, Mao, imperialism, anti-Semitism, Zionism, the British, the Americans, the terrorists and so on without saying anything at all. This is basically "my shit list is longer than your shit list" propaganda shouting match - or competing martyrdom industries, to paraphrase Finkelstein.
If anyone is interested in this kind of discourse, that is basically their choice. People say and believe what they find comfortable, and persuading them otherwise is an uphill battle. I understand that the trope of evil imperialism is as embedded in the consciousness of the left as the trope of evil communism is embedded in the consciousness of the right. Renouncing these tropes would be very uncomfortable to many, indeed.
What I hoped for was to introduce some fresh thinking that replaces grievance manufacturing with more analytical approach that separates out different effects. It is difficult, because as Chris and Dwayne correctly pointed out, there are not ready-made counterfactuals for historical events. However it is possible by doing multiple cross-national comparisons - and this kind of comparative history has been a stronghold of the left - Barrington Moore, Theda Skocpol, Dietrch Rueschemeyer, or Robert Brenner who applied that method of analysis to study the origins of capitalist development.
My intent was to apply a similar analytical framework to look at imperialism and colonialism. Of course I realize that this will make many people very uncomfortable, because it will question their fundamental article of faith. And that is fine with me. I do not expect people to renounce any faith - be it religion or ideology and become analytical and empirical instead. So if you are comfortable with mulling grievances and piling the laundry list of atrocities - that is fine with me - many others do it is as well, so I cannot say that the lefties are any different. However, I am not buying this trope - just as I am not buying religion or anti-communism.
PS. Judging from your reactions to Yoshie's postings, I thought you were fed up with this anti-imperialism trope, no?
Wojtek