Opinion Editorial May, 2025: A Whole New World
I didn't only write a travel story last month, I also read a few. As I read two of them, something crossed my mind that I'd never really dwelled on before — almost every country I've visited has been colonized by a foreign power at some time in its history.
The first "travel story" is alarming if only because of the stupidity involved. The indigenous Sentinelese people, who inhabit the Andaman Islands in the Indian Ocean, have made it clear that they want no outside contact. They are legally protected from such contact. That is not only for their safety (they have no immunity to most diseases), it is also for the safety of any would-be visitors.
John Allen Chau found that out the hard way when, seven years ago, they killed him after he tried to make contact. He was motivated by the centuries-old, colonial desire for (their) conversion to Christianity.
Last month, American idiot Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov was imprisoned for pulling a similar stunt. He was motivated by the desire to post a real-life version of the 1980 comedy, The Gods Must Be Crazy, on his YouTube channel. The subsequent investigation has left no doubt that he was aware of the danger, illegality and potential consequences (to the Sentinelese people) of his actions.
Although he was released on bail a few days ago, he still faces up to five years in prison. That would be a lenient sentence. It could be argued that his colonial-mindset disregard for the Sentinelese people amounted to attempted genocide. In any case, he is lucky to be alive. Anyone subscribed to his YouTube channel should unsubscribe.
The second "travel story" is less alarming, but it also reveals a colonial mindset. British adventurer Camilla Hempleman-Adams claimed to be the first female to solo-traverse Canada's Baffin Island. In fact, doing so has been routine for the hunter-gatherer, indigenous Inuit people who live there for thousands of years. Hempleman-Adams has now, rightly, apologized and withdrawn her claim.
While it's well known that indigenous people are the historic victims of colonialism, I found myself wondering how many similar stories from the present day go unreported.
This month's photo was taken in a formerly-colonized country, Burma (Myanmar). When I was last there in 2020, I crossed, informally but not illegally, from western Thailand to the small village of Kong Mung Mong for a few hours. The population there is ethnic Shan. Apart from the arrival of electricity and mobile phones, little has changed in this village since colonial times.
Colonialism is still associated with the misnomer, "new world." Last month, we entered a whole new world of global trade, economics and geopolitics. We also stayed in a whole new world of neocolonialism. Like the subjects of our two "travel stories," some people appear not to have learned the main lesson of colonial history: Colonialism has always ultimately united colonized people against their rulers.
Mark Carney acknowledged that history, tacitly, in his Canadian election victory speech two days ago — albeit against the threat of neocolonialism there. (Most Canadians are well-educated about their county's history.)
A different kind of story got our attention last month. At the first sign of an earthquake at a California zoo, adult elephants reacted immediately and instinctively to protect the calves of the herd.
At the end of March this year, Burma had experienced a much bigger earthquake. Yet throughout last month, the main focus of the Burmese military was to drop bombs on many of the victims of that earthquake.
Perhaps elephants, not world leaders, should guide us on the magic carpet ride we're all about to take. Then we should all heed Aladdin's directive lest we, like Jasmine, become too enchanted and neocolonialism catch us off-guard: "Don't you dare close your eyes."
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