Human nature is perhaps the most difficult thing to predict but one of the things that can be predicted accurately for human beings is their desire for power and this desire is not limited to individuals only but it is also applicable to nations and it is from this desire for power of nations the word imperialism came into existence. Imperialism refers to that system in which rich and powerful nations control those nearby nations or regions which are less rich and powerful, while imperialism is not prevalent in current times still one should know about this concept, in order to understand this term better one should look at advantages and disadvantages of imperialism –
Advantages of Imperialism
Technology Advancement and Knowhow
The biggest advantage of imperialism is that nations get to enjoy the technology and know-how of powerful nations which can not only help in economic advancement but also helps in improving the overall living standard of the people of less rich and less powerful nations. Hence for example in case of less powerful nations due to poor living conditions many times epidemic diseases claims many lives but since powerful nations have latest technologies they can help the nations in fighting with epidemic and thus saving many lives.
Efficient Use of Natural Resources
Another benefit of imperialism is that more powerful nations due to their technology and technical know-how can use natural resources of less powerful nations more efficiently thus improving the overall productivity of the nation which in turn will increase employment opportunities as well as help in improving the overall per capita income and living standard of the people.
Better Infrastructure
Imperialism helps poor and less powerful nations immensely when it comes to developing of infrastructure like road network, railway network, airports, highways, hospitals and so on, as powerful and rich countries have resources, determination and money to develop infrastructure which can be of great help in the long term for the less rich and less powerful nation.
Disadvantages of Imperialism
Exploitation of People of Less Powerful Nation
The biggest disadvantage of imperialism is the fact that under this regime there is exploitation of people by the government officials and private companies of powerful nations which may be in form of not giving people equal job opportunities or imposing more taxes on people or giving less money to labor and salaries people and so on.
Outflow of Resources of Powerful Nation
Imperialism does not only cost less powerful nations but powerful nations also have to pay the price because when you control other nations than you need to defend its borders, spend money for infrastructure and other development projects and so on. In simple words if you have own one house and purchase another house then you will have to incur maintenance costs even if you do not live in that house and here we are talking about owning or controlling the whole country, hence if rich and powerful nation does not have proper resources than the nation can be in big trouble both financially and politically.
Discrimination
In case of corporates when the merger happens the employees of the company which is big start behaving like they are superior in everything as compared to the employees of the company which is small and talent takes a backseat. In case of imperialism similar thing happens as citizens of the powerful nation feel they are superior to the citizens of less powerful nations which leads to discrimination of citizens of the less powerful nation.
As one can see from the above pros and cons of imperialism that while it has some potential benefits but at the same, they are offset by many serious limitations and that is the reason why nations across the globe do not prefer to be taken over by other countries through the route of imperialism.