Pros And Cons Of Imperialism

European imperialism began as countries in Europe were competing to become the largest and most powerful. In the heat of competition European powers were forcefully traveling all around the world and conquering lands in order to create more revenue. This forceful expansion created problems and brought danger to the European countries main-lands. J.A. Hobson argues that imperialism only benefits a small group of elites while negatively affecting the vast majority of the population. Thus imperialism could be seen as a dangerous way for a country to expand its borders and create more revenue. Hobson’s main argument in Imperialism is that imperialism is almost an oligarchic topic. He claims that it is a way for the elites of society to make money at the expense of their countries people and welfare. He says that these powerful men are taking their businesses into foreign lands and then calling upon their home country to defend these actions. Thus these men are creating revenue from their business, interrupting the peace of the country they are invading, and

By investing capital into a foreign nation one is taking away from the economic prosperity of his own nation. Jobs that were once being done by common people were now being done outside of the country by slaves or with cheaper labor. Though in this system the wealthy businessmen that could invest in outside capital gained wealth at the expanse of the common person. Hobson then makes the point that the only way to combat the dangers of imperialism would be in a perfect democracy in which all people have equal representation. Since this type of government did not exist, these imperialistic societies ran the risk of political uprising from the common people. Hobson and many other scholars at the time saw imperialism as having a severe negative impact on the social and economic welfare of a