White Man’s Medicine: A commentary on Western Medicine, Civilization & Colonialism

This Essay is a philosophical commentary on my experience as a person of colour who has been educated and indoctrinated by Western Medicine, and my understanding of how colonization is one of the root causes of Eastern Cultures experiencing 'Western' Diseases. I have written most of it, with additional commentary provided in (*)($)(#) by my partner who kindly criticized this essay for me.

They imposed upon us their ways of life - greed, indulgence, and overconsumption. They forced upon us their poisons. Little pretty, colourful packets of poison that they were used to consuming, but this killed my people much quicker than it did them. When it started making my people sick, they had no option but to seek white mans medicine. These illnesses were new and my people were afraid. But the thing about this medicine is that it does not heal, but makes your illness worse, killing you very slowly, sometimes providing you the illusion of symptomatic relief. So that you need more of it, and more, and more.

Traditional ways of life in indigenous communities have been about connecting to the elements of nature, thriving off the land, living in small sustainable communities, and seeing other beings such as plants and animals as part of their community. Illnesses were common, and life expectancy was low due to high child mortality - but this is what Mother Nature Intended - to prevent one species from dominating an ecological niche. If this happens, then the entire ecosystem goes out of balance.

The Indian diet is not dissimilar from the Western Diet - full of highly processed foods made from refined grains, refined sugar, refined seed oils, preservatives and emulsifiers. The same goes for all urbanised and globalised populations. This means they will suffer from White Man's Diseases such as Diabetes, Obesity, Heart Attacks, Autoimmune Disease and Heart Attacks. These kinds of diseases are not typically found in indigenous or traditional populations, therefore people are forced to go to Western Doctors to 'treat' these illnesses. However, Western Medicine exists within Capitalism - which means that it profits off of sick people. Curing a disease is not profitable.

The Solution for Diseases of Civilization should be a diet and lifestyle that is opposite to Civilization and Capitalism. The palaeolithic diet, for instance is a pre-civilization diet that  has been studied to put autoimmune conditions, diabetes etc into remission. [1] The PKD (paleo-ketogenic diet) alone has been shown to reverse Cancer and Dementia. [2] Coupled with rest, exercise, reducing exposure to toxins, time spent outdoors in the sun, community and healing of trauma (using ancestrally appropriate medicines, psychosomatic techniques, prayer, meditation, and ceremonies) - any disease can be put into remission.

Book by Shashi Tharoor

History of Colonialism suppressing Indigenous Medicine.

In 1835, A Medical act was established in India by the colonizers, so that the white mans hospitals and medical institutions could flourish. They excluded the traditional healers, marginalising and mocking them. Of course this is nothing but ethnocentrism - a prime characteristic of the colonizer. They claimed they were helping us, “rescuing” us from our backward cultural practices, imposing on us their westernised, “advanced” ways of life. Saviour complex - a perfect excuse to further feed the white mans ego and justify his exploitation. 

These colonial establishments known as “prestigious” to this date, and my people spend years of their childhood pursuing a dream degree at these colleges. They cannot be termed as remnants of colonialism - they are the living legacy of neo-colonialism today. 

The Christian missionaries already had so much blood on their hands - forcefully converting  indigenous people into Christianity, and killing those who refused. Traditional European shamanic practices were labelled as “witchcraft”, and anyone who practiced it was burnt alive. Any thing that threatened Christian supremacy was violently dealt with. The wisdom that women had acquired from Mother Nature over thousands of years was a threat to them. Hence they resorted to extreme violence.  To my people, they graced us with their western technological and scientific “advances”, in exchange for propagating their religion. 

Civilization is a war against Nature. Monotheistic Patriarchal religions are a prime example. They are inherently violent and destructive. The Witch Trials in Europe and Americas were an example of Christianity suppressing Indigenous Feminine Wisdom through violence and persecution.

My experience within the system.

The truth about the system makes me sick. (I feel for the hundreds of people who have innocently placed trust in the system - the governments and the hospitals and doctors who are there to “help” them. (*) 

All my mother wanted was for me to be doing something “socially acceptable”. Who created these standards? The white man imposed these standards on my people, and now my people do not know anything else. My mother didn’t know any better - the white man’s schooling system imposed these ideas of success and hard work onto her. 

My people work like dogs, like slaves, just like the white man intended. We escape our homelands that have been made uninhabitable due to the imposition of their way of life - urbanisation. Our ancestral trauma is embedded in our brains, creating a massive sense of disconnect. We must of course ignore the pain, and continue being a worker in the economy because our self worth is described by just that. An economy that grows endlessly through mass desecration of the land. 

The Rat Race enslaves most humans within civilization - which is why they get sick with 'chronic' diseases. These diseases are non existent in those who live an uncivilized life. For example, 'hippies' who work very little, have little money eat organic food that they grow, and spend time in nature and exercise. Surprise - they don't get sick!

White Man’s medicine is principally is rooted in white supremacy, ego and  greed. It was never about healing. In fact the only thing it actually did do is help during the emergency of the world war.

If any person undertook the process of training in this kind of medicine, it was ensured that the ego of the student will be exponentially enhanced. So much so that he would stop being a student after a while. A man, typically with a large ego, who likes to tell people what to do, and they do everything to defend their identity. (#)

 

They have convinced my people to continue their colonial legacy. They have convinced my people that there is no other way, but to work hard until we kill our curiosity, so that we can follow profitable protocols. ($)

 

The 'Scientific' Method of the Pharmaceutical Industry.

The biggest monster that colonialism created is capitalism - unbridled and out of control. Capitalism is neo-colonialism, and western medicine in its current state is an excellent example of that. The “science” is dominated by money from large pharmaceutical corporations, who fund doctors associations and manipulate research in any which way to sell their product. There is nothing that money can’t buy in this modern world. Their dirty money is everywhere. 

They pharmaceutical industry creates “novel” new drugs for illnesses that they have created themselves, in partnership with the food industry and dietary guidelines. The sell their packaged food products to people through intelligent advertisements rooted in psychological manipulation.

The 'Science' produced by the Pharmaceutical Industry is not really science, but an agenda to create profit. [3]

Prestigious doctors and scientists rent out their names as ghost writers so that a company can write an article promoting a certain drug. Of course, only they know how the trials actually went - the raw data is never known to the public. Many people drop out of studies due to side effects that are never documented.

Most medical journals are kept afloat by funding from these corporate giants. Each new disease is an opportunity for them to “fix” with a new drug. The best part is that with each drug comes a 100 side effect which can be treated with more drugs - it’s such an excellent business model. These new drug combinations quickly make it into national guidelines that doctors diligently follow! The result is a population of people that is sicker than ever, needing more and more hospital admissions, and more and more drugs. This time, we all suffer - white, black or brown. 

Imagine if the white man never wanted to manipulate mother nature in the first place.

REFERENCES & ADDENDUMS:

[1] Autoimmune Protocol | AIP Recipes | Diet for Autoimmune Disease | Autoimmune Wellness

[2] Paleolithic ketogenic diet (PKD) as a stand-alone therapy in cancer: Case studies ; How to prevent & reverse demen… - The mindbodygreen Podcast - Apple Podcasts

[3] STATINS - EMPEROR HAS NO CLOTHES - Dr Nadir Ali #Statins #cholesterol #bigpharma

($) No, I am wrong - there is no convincing. The end of a gun is not diplomatic. The butt of a baton is not convincing.
(*) (But this implies that they have a choice to do this - this was forced upon them. There is no other alternative option available. Within capitalism, the government has monopoly over information. Only that which is convenient for the system to flourish is disseminated to the public. 

(#) In order to remove relations we’ve always had, we are told to respect these people… clap for them ! The respect that people have for doctors is not to inflate the doctors ego. But to erase the mental labour that doctors perform but are not remunerated. Taking care of people is something we’ve been doing all our life. Largely, people just medicated themselves. Grandmothers treated babies. Care was not privatized.