Intervention philosophy
Encyclopedia
Intervention philosophy
is an ideological justification for outsiders or intruders to guide native peoples in specific directions. Intervention philosophy can also be applied to economic development plans. John Bodley (1988) says that the basic belief behind interventions has been the same for over 100 years. Whether by colonists, missionaries, governments, countries, or development planners, intervention schemes follow the same basic outline. The belief is that industrialization, Westernization, individualism, and modernization are universally desirable evolution
ary advances and that the institution of these schemes will produce long-term benefits to a local people. In an extreme form, intervention philosophy is a battle between the superior wisdom of the enlightened colonial or First World power against the conservative, ignorant, and obsolete local people.
Intervention philosophy is also manifested when governments deal with resources
that are found on tribal lands. Driven by deficits, debt
, and greed, the government seeks to acquire as much wealth
as possible while intruding on tribal territories. The result has been the global intrusion on indigenous people and their local ecosystems and resources by construction of highways, mining
, hydroelectric plants, ranching, lumbering, agriculture
, and planned colonization.
Phillip, Conrad. (2005). Window on Humanity. New York: McGraw-Hill
The intervention philosophy used by the British
during the peak of imperialism was "The White Man's Burden," which was also a poem written by Rudyard Kipling
. Kipling wrote the poem in an effort to get the United States to develop the newly acquired Philippines
. The U.S. had won the Philippines from Spain
after the Spanish-American War
.
Here is the poem.
"The White Man's Burden" 1899
Take up the White Man's burden-
Send forth the best ye breed--
Go bind your sons to exile
To serve your captives' need;
To wait in heavy harness,
On fluttered folk and wild--
Your new-caught, sullen peoples,
Half-devil and half-child.
Take up the White Man's burden--
In patience to abide,
To veil the threat of terror
And check the show of pride;
By open speech and simple,
A hundred times made plain
To seek another's profit,
And work another's gain.
Take up the White Man's burden--
The savage wars of peace--
Fill full the mouth of Famine
And bid the sickness cease;
And when your goal is nearest
The end for others sought,
Watch sloth and heathen Folly
Bring all your hopes to nought.
Take up the White Man's burden--
No tawdry rule of kings,
But toil of serf and sweeper--
The tale of common things.
The ports ye shall not enter,
The roads ye shall not tread,
Go mark them with your living,
And mark them with your dead.
Take up the White Man's burden--
And reap his old reward:
The blame of those ye better,
The hate of those ye guard--
The cry of hosts ye humour
(Ah, slowly!) toward the light:--
"Why brought he us from bondage,
Our loved Egyptian night?"
Take up the White Man's burden--
Ye dare not stoop to less--
Nor call too loud on Freedom
To cloke your weariness;
By all ye cry or whisper,
By all ye leave or do,
The silent, sullen peoples
Shall weigh your gods and you.
Take up the White Man's burden--
Have done with childish days--
The lightly proferred laurel,
The easy, ungrudged praise.
Comes now, to search your manhood
Through all the thankless years
Cold, edged with dear-bought wisdom,
The judgment of your peers!
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/Kipling.html
see also White man's burden
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
is an ideological justification for outsiders or intruders to guide native peoples in specific directions. Intervention philosophy can also be applied to economic development plans. John Bodley (1988) says that the basic belief behind interventions has been the same for over 100 years. Whether by colonists, missionaries, governments, countries, or development planners, intervention schemes follow the same basic outline. The belief is that industrialization, Westernization, individualism, and modernization are universally desirable evolution
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
ary advances and that the institution of these schemes will produce long-term benefits to a local people. In an extreme form, intervention philosophy is a battle between the superior wisdom of the enlightened colonial or First World power against the conservative, ignorant, and obsolete local people.
Intervention philosophy is also manifested when governments deal with resources
Natural resource
Natural resources occur naturally within environments that exist relatively undisturbed by mankind, in a natural form. A natural resource is often characterized by amounts of biodiversity and geodiversity existent in various ecosystems....
that are found on tribal lands. Driven by deficits, debt
Debt
A debt is an obligation owed by one party to a second party, the creditor; usually this refers to assets granted by the creditor to the debtor, but the term can also be used metaphorically to cover moral obligations and other interactions not based on economic value.A debt is created when a...
, and greed, the government seeks to acquire as much wealth
Wealth
Wealth is the abundance of valuable resources or material possessions. The word wealth is derived from the old English wela, which is from an Indo-European word stem...
as possible while intruding on tribal territories. The result has been the global intrusion on indigenous people and their local ecosystems and resources by construction of highways, mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
, hydroelectric plants, ranching, lumbering, agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
, and planned colonization.
Phillip, Conrad. (2005). Window on Humanity. New York: McGraw-Hill
The intervention philosophy used by the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
during the peak of imperialism was "The White Man's Burden," which was also a poem written by Rudyard Kipling
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
. Kipling wrote the poem in an effort to get the United States to develop the newly acquired Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. The U.S. had won the Philippines from Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
after the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
.
Here is the poem.
"The White Man's Burden" 1899
Take up the White Man's burden-
Send forth the best ye breed--
Go bind your sons to exile
To serve your captives' need;
To wait in heavy harness,
On fluttered folk and wild--
Your new-caught, sullen peoples,
Half-devil and half-child.
Take up the White Man's burden--
In patience to abide,
To veil the threat of terror
And check the show of pride;
By open speech and simple,
A hundred times made plain
To seek another's profit,
And work another's gain.
Take up the White Man's burden--
The savage wars of peace--
Fill full the mouth of Famine
And bid the sickness cease;
And when your goal is nearest
The end for others sought,
Watch sloth and heathen Folly
Bring all your hopes to nought.
Take up the White Man's burden--
No tawdry rule of kings,
But toil of serf and sweeper--
The tale of common things.
The ports ye shall not enter,
The roads ye shall not tread,
Go mark them with your living,
And mark them with your dead.
Take up the White Man's burden--
And reap his old reward:
The blame of those ye better,
The hate of those ye guard--
The cry of hosts ye humour
(Ah, slowly!) toward the light:--
"Why brought he us from bondage,
Our loved Egyptian night?"
Take up the White Man's burden--
Ye dare not stoop to less--
Nor call too loud on Freedom
To cloke your weariness;
By all ye cry or whisper,
By all ye leave or do,
The silent, sullen peoples
Shall weigh your gods and you.
Take up the White Man's burden--
Have done with childish days--
The lightly proferred laurel,
The easy, ungrudged praise.
Comes now, to search your manhood
Through all the thankless years
Cold, edged with dear-bought wisdom,
The judgment of your peers!
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/Kipling.html
see also White man's burden