Does Colonialism Still Exists?

This paper theorizes the existence of colonialism albeit in a change of form in todays society. Colonialism is the policy or practice of acquiring full or partial political control over another country, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically. Colonialism began in the fifteenth century which was lead by European countries. They sought for new trade posts and for spices. It was only later that colonizers sought for power and gold. Most people believe that colonialism does not exist anymore.They think that it is a concept of the past. However, this is not true for colonialism is as existing as it was before. Neo-colonialism, a term which is defined as the use of economic, political, cultural, or other pressures to control or influence other countries, is the new face of colonialism in todays society. The principle of neo-colonialism is that the State which is subject to it is, in theory, independent and has all the outward trappings of international rule. In actuality, its economic system and its political policy is directed from outside. Neo-colonialisms result is that the foreign capital is exploited rather than used to expand less developed countries. The same situation can be seen in colonialism when the colonizers started to exploit the resources of their colonies for their own use.

Most of the countries which experience this modern day colonialism are Third World countries. It was observed that the enforcement of structural adjustment programs in these places has been characterized as a campaign against the poor which is a process of recolonization. One particular example is Jamaica. The country has been vulnerable to different neocolonial acts including the presence of multinational corporations, structural adjustment programs, and loan organizations. Such things affect its economy and further pull the country down. This modern day colonialism is also experienced in Africa. There are still existing colonies in the continent and these places are still controlled by the State that formerly ruled it. There is a case in Africa wherein hectares of land are used by State industries for its own use. The people of Africa are the workers in the land when they should be the one owning the land. This furthermore proves that colonialism still exists nowadays. Another proof of modern day colonialism can be found in another Third World country, the Philippines. It is a fact that the Philippines has been colonized before. The country behaved in such way that they work to provide what their masters want of them. However, even with the countrys freedom, Philippines is still structured to serve the needs of its former master. Although the Philippines offers limited investment opportunities compared to many of its neighbors, hundreds of multinational corporations operate successfully in the country. Investment is made by locating manufacturing and business processing

outsourcing (BPO) facilities in special economic zones (SEZ) where tax rates are low and there are no limitations on capital repatriation. The loans that the country takes form the World Bank which is substantially controlled by the US Government are charged with interest. As the people of the country suffer to pay these loans thru taxes, their former master profits. However they mask it, colonialism is very much alive until now. Countries are still being subjugated by stronger forces. The colonizers are still taking over weak countries and exploit them for their own good.

Bibliography

Nkrumah, Kwame. Neo-Colonialism: The Last Stage of Imperialism. London: Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1965. Oxford American Dictionaries http://www.chrispforr.net/row2/chrisphil7/neocolonial/neocolonial.htm http://www.focac.org/eng/jlydh/mtsy/t837629.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_European_colonization_wave