&gt;consider the hypothesis that your supposed inferiors were actually doing fine until colonial powers that share your values decided to forcefully exploit them.<p>The problem here is that part of &#x27;doing well&#x27; is being able to exploit those weaker than you and to not be exploited by those stronger than you.  (We may consider exploitation wrong in our own moral frameworks built from our own desire to not be exploited, but we should remember mother nature knows no such concept.)