Colonization

 

Imagine, if you will, you are out working in your yard, maybe planting some flowers or cutting the grass and a group of people walk up, stick a big cross in the ground and claim this land now belongs to some king far away.

I don’t know about you but I’d be pissed.

I understand we have migrated due to weather or food or just curiosity, but then we find a good spot and settle down, raise our crops and family, until this happens.

It is called ‘Colonization’. 

Colonization is a process by which a central system of power dominates the surrounding land and its components.

The term is derived from the Latin word colere, which means, “to inhabit”. Also, colonization refers strictly to migration, for example, to settler colonies in America or Australia, trading posts, and plantations, while colonialism to the existing indigenous peoples of styled “new territories”.

Colonization was linked to the spread of tens of millions from Western European states all over the world. In many settled colonies, Western European settlers formed a large majority of the population. Examples include the Americas, Australia and New Zealand. These colonies were occasionally called ‘neo-Europes’. In other places, Western European settlers formed minority groups, who were often dominant in their places of settlement.

When Britain started to settle in Australia, New Zealand and various other smaller islands, they often regarded the landmasses as terra nullius. Terra nullius meaning ‘empty land’ in Latin. Due to the absence of European farming techniques, the land was deemed unaltered by man and therefore treated as uninhabited, despite the presence of indigenous populations. In the 19th century, laws and ideas such as Mexico’s general Colonization Law and the United States’ Manifest destiny encouraged further colonization of the Americas, already started in the 15th century.

So now what do you do with this people standing on your lawn praying to some unknown deity and raising their hands surrounded by a posse of men in body armor carrying weapons of mass destruction.

There are only a few of them, so like any new neighbor you welcome them with some cake and cookies.

Then they start cutting down your trees, diverting your water, pooping without picking it up, and somehow got word back to the old country that there is a party going on. More ships arrive and more folks are homeless and when the women arrive you know you are in trouble. 

 

The purist will say they had to leave the ole country due to persecution of religion or lack of jobs or food or gentrification or politics or sexual practice or just the cut of your jib. We overlook the murder, rape and pillage of the one’s who were already living here.

Though in a minority the new neighbors continue to steal land under immanent domain and push the former inhabitants away. Instead of assimilation, the new neighbors decided to transition the ‘heathens’ to a new way of life converting to an unknown religion.

If this wasn’t good enough, those who were colonizing decided to take some of your family and maybe a few others and chain them up to be sold in servitude to others.

An invasion is a military offensive in which large parts of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory controlled by another such entity, generally with the objective of either conquering; liberating or re-establishing control or authority over a territory; forcing the partition of a country; altering the established government or gaining concessions from said government; or a combination thereof. An invasion can be the cause of a war, be a part of a larger strategy to end a war, or it can constitute an entire war in itself. Due to the large scale of the operations associated with invasions, they are usually strategic in planning and execution.

Archaeological evidence indicates that invasions have been frequent occurrences since prehistory. In antiquity, before radio communications and fast transportation, the only way to ensure adequate reinforcements was to move armies as one massive force. This, by its very nature, led to the strategy of invasion. With invasion came cultural exchanges in government, religion, philosophy, and technology that shaped the development of much of the ancient world.

Once political boundaries and military lines have been breached, pacification of the region is the final, and arguably the most important, goal of the invading force. After the defeat of the regular military, or when one is lacking, continued opposition to an invasion often comes from civilian or paramilitary resistance movements. Complete pacification of an occupied country can be difficult, and usually impossible, but popular support is vital to the success of any invasion.

Media propaganda such as leaflets, books, and radio broadcasts can be used to encourage resistance fighters to surrender and to dissuade others from joining their cause. Pacification, often referred to as “the winning of hearts and minds”, reduces the desire for civilians to take up resistance. This may be accomplished through reeducation, allowing conquered citizens to participate in their government, or, especially in impoverished or besieged areas, simply by providing food, water, and shelter. Sometimes displays of military might are used; invading forces may assemble and parade through the streets of conquered towns, attempting to demonstrate the futility of any further fighting. These displays may also include public executions of enemy soldiers, resistance fighters, and other conspirators. Particularly in antiquity, the death or imprisonment of a popular leader was sometimes enough to bring about a quick surrender. However, this has often had the unintended effect of creating martyrs around which popular resistance can rally.

The outcomes of an invasion may vary according to the objectives of both invaders and defenders, the success of the invasion and the defense, and the presence or absence of an agreed settlement between the warring parties. The most common outcome is the loss of territory, generally accompanied by a change in government and often the loss of direct control of that government by the losing faction. This sometimes results in the transformation of that country into a client state, often accompanied by requirements to pay reparations or tribute to the victor. In other cases the results of a successful invasion may simply be a return to the status quo; this can be seen in wars of attrition, when the destruction of personnel and supplies is the main strategic objective, or where a nation previously subdued and currently occupied by an aggressive third party is restored to control of its own affairs. In some cases, the invasion may be strategically limited to a geographical area, which is carved into a separate state as with the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971.

When a house in my colony is sold, everyone on the block waits to see who will move in. Will he or she or they conform to the accepted reservations of the Home Owner Association and the local municipalities rules and regulations? Will they have children who scream or a dog that barks? Will they park their truck on the front lawn, play loud music, and get lousy drunk every night? Will they put a flagpole in the yard and raise the Stars and Bars? Will they wear some weird clothing? Will they be the same color?

Since I’ve been here, the art of conversation between neighbors has become obsolete. Six-foot privacy walls have been installed with lights and cameras making each plot of land an island unto itself. Some stay a few years and then move on while others transform their houses into mansions. No one is out cutting the grass except the hired help interweaving between plumbers, HAV, and delivery trucks.

When we plant our flag is that an invasion or colonization?