Since I had an argument with another user on tankiethedeprogram about looking for moderators, I remembered of the whole thing liberals on Twitter, on Reddit, on Discord, and on the Internet say that “consent imperialism/colonialism is not actual imperialism/colonialism because it was consented”, and then they mention the examples of how much ppl from Eastern Europe and from countries like Ukraine, Taiwan, South Korea, Kosovo and like all NATO member countries, and the like “consented into being US-NATO puppets” and stuff like that. And some even use this argument for liberal elections too, like “if the majority voted for a fascist candidate, then the majority wants a fascist government, so you must wait for the next election for try to take the fascist government out of power” and stuff like that, and or even stuff like “the majority of Israelis consented what is happening on Gaza because they elected Netanyahu” and or “the majority of Ukrainians consented with what is happening in Ukraine because they elected Zelensky” and stuff like that. And some even reduce the “people’s self-determination” and the “sovereignty” into a matter of “consent of the majority” as well.
Consent obtained under duress is not legitimate, so that is an added wrinkle that liberals have to address (and never do). If a country decides to join the NATO bloc because, otherwise, they would suffer from the pressure put on them by the NATO bloc then it’s not really consensual.
Arguments about people “voting for a fascist candidate” is even more fraught, like what is happening in Argentina. When people were asked they didn’t say they were voting for Melei, they said they were voting against the status quo. The same thing happens every time these right-wing so-called “populist” candidates win, from Bolsonaro to Trump. People didn’t vote for Melei so much as they voted against everything else. So when Melei starts doing fucked up shit, that’s not really what people voted for - which is why people are now resisting.
The foundation of colonialism/imperialism is the heavy imbalance of power. The relationship between countries is about as consensual as was Andrew Tate’s with his cam models.
“I didn’t rob him your honour, he willingly gave me his money after I showed him the gun”
Firstly, how the hell can a people - a whole ass people - consent to being imperialised by an outside power? What possible process is there for such a state of being to occur? This doesn’t even work as an abstract argument.
