Introduction
This post is about the features of being colonized and includes a list of possible ways we’ve been colonized. The list is specific to the United States and its history of colonialism and imperialism, and might also apply to other Westernized cultures. Most U.S. citizens aren’t aware that they’re colonized. It’s not their fault. Colonialism has been imposed on them by wealthy, mostly white male, corporate owners and government officials. Due to colonialism, most U.S. citizens know more about the U.S. than their own ancestors: where they lived, what languages they spoke, and what they did. I encourage you to read the list and identify what does and does not apply to you.
You Might Be Colonized If You-
- Live in an invaded, colonized country that displaced, enslaved, killed, attempted to convert, and separated the families of the indigenous peoples.
- Have imperialistic government officials.
- Participate in an imposed, industrialized resource extraction economy.
- Are governed primarily by white males of European descent.
- Live in a country that subordinates and marginalizes women, children, seniors, the ill and injured, people of color, and foreigners.
- Live in a country where the government can confiscate citizen’s land and property for economic development and force them to relocate.
- Were taught history in public schools or private religious schools.
- Were forced or socially pressured to pledge allegiance to the flag and sing the national anthem.
- Know more about the history of the United States than the history of your ancestors.
- Know more about the fifty states of the U.S. than the homelands of your ancestors.
- Know more names of U.S. presidents and great Americans than the names of your ancestors.
- You were Christianized without choice, especially if your parents gave you a Biblical name.
- Believe your version of Christianity is the one true religion, and unbelievers are likely to burn in Hell.
- Know more names of Biblical characters than names of your ancestors.
- Try to convert others to Christianity.
- Are alienated, cut off from, and made ignorant of your ancestral heritage:
- Your ancestors themselves
- Ancestral lines
- Ancestral names
- Ancestral tribes and clans
- Ancestral lands, geographical roots
- Ancestral languages
- Ancestral values
- Ancestral worldview, ceremonies, and rituals
- Have a dispersed family due to moving to working for corporations in other states.
- Don’t know your neighbors and feel lonely and isolated from others.
- Work for white male business owners of European descent who pay less than a livable wage.
- Are governed by chronological (clock) time more than kairotic (intuitively right) time.
- Are under paid, unable to afford housing, transportation, medical care, and leisure time.
- Pay local, state, and federal income taxes, property taxes, and other taxes that increase over time.
- Pay corporations for industrialized water, electricity, and heating.
- Work for federal or state government entities.
- Serve in military roles that citizens of wealthy families don’t serve in.
- Are racist and judge others by the color of their skin.
- Believe in individualism more than community.
- Believe owning your own stuff is better than sharing resources with others. Everyone buying their own stuff increases the wealth of colonizers.
- Spend more time on electronic devices than connecting in person with other people.
- Consume written, televised, audio, or video media that presents mostly White people.
- Don’t know the purpose of your life or how to realize it.
How Colonized Are You?
Now that you’ve read the list of features of imperialism and being colonized, how colonized are you? Not so much, somewhat, or very much? If you’re not so much colonized, are you among the wealthy?
If you’re somewhat or very much colonized, are you surprised to learn that? And what, if anything, do you want to do about being colonized? Are you content as you are, or do you want to move toward liberating yourself from being colonized?
If you want to move toward liberating yourself, be sure to read my next blog post. It’s about how to liberate yourself from colonialism.
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If you’re interested in working on liberating yourself from being colonized, CLICK HERE and schedule a FREE 30-Minute Online Initial Consult with Me. I’d be happy to meet you and talk about how I can help!