Why aren't the Indians more grateful?

[abaris]

I do wonder whom exactly you think was 'forced' into the opium trade?

Without comment.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opium_Wars

[Atheist Rambo]

The same person who made this thread actually made a thread called "what's up with the jews", so I mean.........

[abaris]

The same person who made this thread actually made a thread called "what's up with the jews",  so I mean.........

Yes, troll. I know. But this actually evolved into a half decent discussion.

[Atheist Rambo]

The same person who made this thread actually made a thread called "what's up with the jews",  so I mean.........

Yes, troll. I know. But this actually evolved into a half decent discussion.

I know, however if someone were to side with the argument that Natives should be more grateful they have no credibility whatsoever.

[The Valkyrie]

The same person who made this thread actually made a thread called "what's up with the jews",  so I mean.........

Yes, troll. I know. But this actually evolved into a half decent discussion.

Yes.

And the trolling is being discussed...

[Mr Greene]

I do wonder whom exactly you think was 'forced' into the opium trade?

Without comment.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opium_Wars

Indeed, though the point remains that the buyers were agents of the Imperial Chinese government.
The 1st Opium War started When Captain Smith (HMS Volage) opened fire on Imperial war junks escorting an Indiaman into Canton. The RN in the far east seem to have been rather prone to blunders, Chuenpi isn't the only face-palm moment.
The clock started ticking in 1806 when Admiral Troubridge attempted and failed to occupy Macao which revealed the extent of European trading to Peking.
I would always be careful when discussing the Opium Wars as a lot of Chinese propaganda seems to have been incorporated into the narrative without fact checking.

---

Yes, troll. I know. But this actually evolved into a half decent discussion.

I know, however if someone were to side with the argument that Natives should be more grateful they have no credibility whatsoever.

The OP is certainly ignorant, and likely deliberately provocative. Ultimately his fate is a matter for the Mods, I doubt anyone would be daft enough to support his position.

[Mr Greene]

Going back to Rome, the 'Bread-basket' was the former Carthaginian Empire in modern Libya and Tunisia.
The crops were grown using a sophisticated irrigation system, but depletion of the aquifer doomed the farms and led to the expansion of the desert.
The same process is happening in the US where the Mid-West Ogallala aquifer could be depleted in as little as 50 years leaving the great plains as parched as Arizona.
Aquifer Depletion
To quote Sitting Bull;

Only when the last blade of grass is eaten and the last drop of water is drunk, will the white man learn; you can not eat gold

Remarkably prescient, especially with the current drive towards cashless societies.
Money: a commodity of infinite exchange with no intrinsic value.
People have enough difficulty managing their finances when it has a physical format, I expect the transition to a fully electronic format to be accompanied by a massive rise in debt.