There's a mention of wiping out a village of settlers and the characters opposing it based on there being civilians. The youtuber says all of them are complicit. I take issue with this as an immigrant, because it asserts agency to those people. People who have to move don't have agency over it. There absolutely are upper class people who are traveling and colonizing, but there's plenty of people who have no choice, and I assume colonies were built on their backs. I am not saying colonialism isn't bad, I am taking issue with the lie that the people who are the bottom of the barrel choose their situation. The video pretends all people have full agency, while the reality is people who are displaced are the most likely not to have any choice. Normal people don't want to abandon their lives.
I am a triggered piss-poor immigrant who is going homeless and jobless soon and my only agency is affording a ticket to where it will be. Fuck shit like this. I can imagine a fucked over person being promised to emigrate for a better life taking it without a thought because their only "choice" is dying from hunger. Pretending exploited lower class magically doesn't exist under colonialism is such a stupid take.
There's a mention of wiping out a village of settlers and the characters opposing it based on there being civilians. The youtuber says all of them are complicit. I take issue with this as an immigrant, because it asserts agency to those people. People who have to move don't have agency over it. There absolutely are upper class people who are traveling and colonizing, but there's plenty of people who have no choice, and I assume colonies were built on their backs. I am not saying colonialism isn't bad, I am taking issue with the lie that the people who are the bottom of the barrel choose their situation. The video pretends all people have full agency, while the reality is people who are displaced are the most likely not to have any choice. Normal people don't want to abandon their lives.
I am a triggered piss-poor immigrant who is going homeless and jobless soon and my only agency is affording a ticket to where it will be. Fuck shit like this. I can imagine a fucked over person being promised to emigrate for a better life taking it without a thought because their only "choice" is dying from hunger. Pretending exploited lower class magically doesn't exist under colonialism is such a stupid take.
I agree with you, immigrants are different from colonizers, immigrants do it out of necessity, just like my grandparents.