Profit over Peace: A Guide to Colonialism

              In the beginning of our twelve month expedition, we were fuelled by our want to win; However, I was very sure that I wanted to take the peaceful route and be as kind as possible to the natives. Kylie and I decided that we were going to only push the natives when necessary, but Tristam wasn’t on board with that idea. When we would hit a rough patch, early on, Tristam was very forward with the idea that we should push the natives for resources but Kylie and I fought for peace.There was a lot of conflict between Tristam and I, because we were both very strong in our opinions, and even though I am a lamb  and he is a lion, he gave into my strive for peace. This did not last long because I had to face the reality of the situation, if we wanted to win, we needed to assert our dominance and use our hostility. 

 As the game went on, Kylie and I had to surrender our idea of peace, because we were scrambling to stay alive. We started pushing the natives more for resources so that we could stay alive, which was not the my intentions from the start. We got greedy. We were no longer being hostile to the natives because it was life or death, we were doing it because we wanted to win and have the most profit. By the end we had plentiful resources and we were alive, but there was definitely major hostility with the natives. I am not proud of the way I gave in, because I was sure that we would be able to get through with peace and kindness.

              This card challenge was very eye opening about colonialism. I very much view myself as a kind person, and I didn’t think that I would sacrifice their well being for me to profit, but alas, I did. It shows that the pressure of the situation, not wanting to die, and the pressure of your peers, Tristam, can really alter your motives. I wanted to start of creating a relationship with the natives, rather than adding all of this hostility that wasn’t necessary.

              Often we read books like Things Fall Apart and we are appalled by the actions that settlers take, but this card game has shown me that we would act the exact same way if put into that position. Even people like me and Kylie, who genuinely want to be as peaceful as possible, succumb to the want to win and be plentiful.