The colonial system was meritocratic. It has a lot of bad things, but an absolutely staggering amount of Englishmen and Scotsmen and Welshman got their start and career through their hard work in India. A lot of whom, especially those minorities, would never have had a chance in G.B.
- Heart of Darkness on British imperialism in the Congo
The cost of the socio-economic mobility provided to lower classes in colonizing societies was absolutely staggering. Unimaginable cruelty, suffering and destruction was visited upon the native populations.
