Was it the imperialism that made the west rich?

I had a friend who kept talking about how he cares about ideology and how he is willing to sacrifice and all… In the meantime he was in a bad financial state. It could prevent him continuing his education. He changed the topic back to politics and socialism when I asked what he was going to do about his own situation. I had to end the conversation by saying “save yourself first, then you can save the world” finally. I had enough with that.

I remembered that conversation when I was watching the TED talk The 6 killer apps of prosperity by Niall Ferguson. It is not an in depth analysis of course, but underlines some of the obvious facts and also includes some surprises.

This talk also touches how Ottoman Empire lost its power by giving in to bigotry. And the funniest thing is, according to the speaker, İbrahim Müteferrika was the one who realized the advantages of western empires. The very own İbrahim Müteferrika of Ottoman Empire, who brought the printing technology.

Oh, and it ends with a surprise. If you are really observant or you have watched it till the end, you will see that the trend is reversing.