Imperialism can be fantastic, but in much the same way a one-party political system can be fantastic. Only if it happens to be run well. There's no safety valve

Imperialism can be fantastic, but in much the same way a one-party political system can be fantastic. Only if it happens to be run well. There's no safety valve in case the powerful group goes off the rails oppressing the weaker one. People seem to prefer living in a bad life as long as they feel their in-group members are responsible for it. For example, India has a democracy and the people keep voting for the corrupt parties that maintain it as a poor country full of suffering. They don't mind because it's themselves causing the problems. In contrast, China doesn't have a democracy but is perhaps treating its people better than India. Yet many Chinese still don't like the authoritarianism. I think it's just a sense of being in control that people want, even if they can't handle it competently.