Later on

We don't hear much about Nelson Mandela's South Africa, now that the days of apartheid are over and the majority black population governs. Apparently the place is a mess. Can you spell "Rhodesia"?

I had yet another politically incorrect thought the other day. Colonizing. We all know that the Europeans pretty well colonized the planet over a period of several centuries. And we are all told it was a bad awful terrible thing.

But what if the Europeans had suddenly transcended their human nature and become post-colonial liberals and never colonized anyplace? What if they had left the rest of the planet alone? Would Africa and the Americas now be great tribal theme parks? Would the Ottoman Empire still rule the Balkans, the Aztecs still lord it over Mexico?

Now there's a fertile matrix for alternative history.

PS Note that the Ottomans got their empire and the Aztecs their by...colonialism and/or outright invasion and conquest. Do Turks feel bad about their history? Do Aztec descendants in Mexico think they got what was coming to them? Hmmm.
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