Bobby Lee considers American colonization of Hawaii to be a sad historical event.

“Oh, colonization. You're right. Colonization, man. Sad. It's so sad.”

Western nations have maintained a 500-year history of imperialist expansion characterized by the violent dispossession of indigenous peoples for the benefit of the ruling class.

“And so for 500 years Europeans have from Magellan on and Captain Cook and the rest of it and whoever crossed, you know, in 1642 and when they discovered the new Fair enough, when the Pilgrim Fathers landed in Maryland or wherever they landed at Plymouth Rock, they said, "This is Zion."”

Tom Peterson views Portuguese rule in Brazil as a textbook example of extractive colonialism focused on exploiting resources.

“And this really is your classic example of what historians of imperialism call kind of extractive colonialism. So, they treat Brazil, the Portuguese, as a massive cash cow. And they are using it for its natural resources of sugar, gold, and coffee.”

The exploitation of indigenous people and the reliance on slave labor were essential logistical elements for survival during the expeditions of the conquistadors.

“Hey Nate, don't [ __ ] laugh. We're talking about a different time period. And they were handy. You can't deny having 2,000 slaves would be handy to get food.”

The United States built an economic empire by using predatory loans to force nations into serving American interests at the expense of their own citizens.

“basically we set these terms that that were very colonialism through the use of debt so we were really creating a an Empire but not through the milit we we we realized after Vietnam that the military wasn't very effective at at winning the hearts and minds of people”

Colonialism and the British Empire provided infrastructure and development that ultimately improved living standards and life expectancy compared to pre-colonial conditions.

“The huge leap forwards in for Africa in terms of life expectancy, in terms of the economy, in terms of science and medicine happened when the Europeans were there.”

The British Empire cannot be reduced to a single motive of greed or the lust to dominate, as it was driven by a complex variety of factors including trade, defense, and humanitarian efforts.

“it seemed to me certainly as far as the British Empire goes to be completely inadequate to describe it as as driven by either the simple lust or dominate uh or or greed”

The Spanish conquest of the Incan Empire is an extraordinary and pivotal moment in world history.

“It's one of the most extraordinary stories in all history. An adventure story, a horror story, a tragedy, but above all, a tale of incredible melodrama. And that is the story that we are telling today on the rest is history.”

British colonial influence in the region was driven primarily by the discovery of oil and the subsequent protectionist treaties established with local leaders.

“But during the war, an oil drilling company that would later become British Petroleum, known these days as BP, found out that there was oil to be found all around this place and beneath the Persian Gulf. And suddenly the British were watching the Sheik's careers with great interest.”

Diego de Landa was responsible for significant destruction of indigenous culture and history, but his compiled writings also provided essential facts that aid modern understanding of the Maya.

“He ruined a lot. Yeah, so so this guy he was a Franciscan friar who he later became the bishop of Yucatan back in the 16th century. And he um You know, he's vilified because he burnt a lot of the Maya books and and smashed their their, you know, what do you call the idols and so forth and uh he caus”