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The GP thinks its about "getting even", as if China and India were naive, noble backwaters the devious Europeans pulled the wool over and secretly exploited in 1700s.

When really, they got out competed in trade and on the battlefield by the Europeans.

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By the governments and private corporations (like east India company) supported by the people ... Your comment implies as if bunch of people decided to colonise the entire world outside Europe on their own whims ...

The European governments and private corporations were made up of and supported by private citizens, were they not?

Back then, arguably not. “Who gets to vote” started out as a very small group.

So, it’s fair if a European gets out competed in the labor market today.

Of course it is. But it's not the European companies getting outcompeted, it's the individual laborers.

So it's equally as fair for those laborers (voters) to say "no more importing cheap competition". The UK already has. It's incredibly difficult to bring in foreign employees.

Edit, addendum, ignore the part about companies, though you'd said European firms.

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