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Comment by godelzilla | Hacker News Reader

Why not look at decolonization as a step forward instead? Why not collect restitution from the colonial/imperial powers that have been extracting wealth from South Asia for centuries? Why not use natural resources for the local population?

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00472336.2018.15...

https://www.dandc.eu/en/article/contemporary-bangladeshi-law...

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“Decolonization” is, as the article observes, usually an attempt to eliminate the influence of western institutions, culture, and thought. That would be a huge step backward. It would be cutting off your nose to spite your face.

Restitution is a separate issue. I think it would be fair for the British to return wealth they expropriated, but I’m not holding my breath. More to the point: I wouldn’t trust anyone who advocates “decolonization” to do what’s the best thing for the country going forward. I’ll stick with the British colonial legacy rather than invite a new wave of intellectual colonization from western left-wing universities. If the developed world wants to destroy itself with those ideas, let that be their problem.

People I respect use the term decolonisation so I'm trying to keep an open mind about it, but I'm unclear what it means and suspect there may be a motte-and-bailey strategy at play around it.

Could you explain where the dividing line is between decolonisation and cultural segregationism?

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