Capitalism and Regressive Imperialism

Western undertaking that employs expansionist, mercantilist policies. 1] Lewis Samuel Feuer identifies two major subtypes of imperialism; the first is regressive imperialism identified with pure conquest, unequivocal exploitation, extermination or reductions of undesired peoples, and settlement of desired peoples into those territories, an example being Nazi Germany. 2] The second type identified by Feurer is progressive imperialism that is founded upon a cosmopolitan view of humanity, that promotes the spread of civilization to allegedly backward societies to elevate living standards and culture in conquered territories, and allowance of a conquered people to assimilate into the imperial society, examples being the Roman Empire and British Empire. [2] Imperialism always involves the massive export of capital to foreign countries for the purpose of exploiting and dominating both their labor forces and their markets. Imperialism, the highest stage of capitalism, represents the stage at which a countrys consumers cannot buy all the products that have been produced, and additional markets must be sought after. The dominant feature of imperialism is the repatriation of invested capital. Cecil Rhodes: Cape-Cairo railway project. Founded the De Beers Mining Company and owned the British South Africa Company, which established Rhodesia for itself. He liked to paint the map British red, and declared: all of these stars hese vast worlds that remain out of reach. If I could, I would annex other planets. [3] The term as such primarily has been applied to Western political and economic dominance in the 19th and 20th centuries. Some writers, such as Edward Said, use the term more broadly to describe any system of domination and subordination organized with an imperial center and a periphery. According to the Marxist historian, Walter Rodney, imperialism meant capitalist expansion. It meant that European (and North American and Japanese) capitalists were forced by the internal logic of their competitive system to seek abroad in less developed countries opportunities to control raw material, to find markets, and to find profitable fields of investment. Its generally accepted that modern day colonialism is an expression of imperialism and cannot exist without the latter. The extent to which informal imperialism with no formal colonies is properly described as such remains a controversial topic among historians. [4]