Comment by brokegrammer
3 days ago
The west thrived by leveraging slavery and colonialism at the expense of everyone else. Then democracies were built by moving away from both slavery and colonialism so that the world can grow as a whole.
It's possible that we'll have to move away from AI at some point in order for society to continue growing.
The ottoman empire leveraged slavery and colonialism just as much, and there's no progress to be seen from them, at least not when compared to the west.
It's the renaissance and the scientific and industrial revolutions, that's what gave the west the opportunity to thrive.
Unlike western powers, The Ottoman empire didn't use slavery and colonialism to create capital. Instead, it wanted slaves so that it could grow its military.
The west also made its goal to create a new world order while the Ottoman empire's goal was mostly revenue extraction. The British systematically deindustrialized India’s textile sector to turn it from a competitor into an exporter of raw cotton and an importer of Lancashire cloth. The Ottoman would opt for taxation instead of usurpation of an entire industry.
Scientific revolutions was already happening during the bronze age. The west simply leveraged existing systems while making use of violence and exploitation to rise to the top.
Please tell me you're not so delusional to think that slavery or colonialism is a uniquely "western" trait. Empires, nation-states, and groups all sought to expand; some, for various reasons, did much better than others.