Self serving? As far as I'm aware, the vast majority of my ancestors (mostly Italians, Irish and Greeks) never got their shit together well enough to colonize anyone. In fact, if I recall correctly, Ireland was basically a colony of England, which resulted in my ancestors fleeing the country to the US.
Oh, while we are on the topic: Ireland was a colony of England. Some Western Europeans were colonized, mostly by other European countries (e.g., "France" wasn't always a single nation). And while you are cherrypicking Japan as an example of uncolonized Asian countries, keep in mind where Thailand ("Land of the Free") got their name.
(Also, Native Americans were a very special case. Unlike most of the rest of the world, North America and the Amazon had no livestock. This rendered them uniquely vulnerable to communicable disease.)
"As far as I'm aware, the vast majority of my ancestors (mostly Italians, Irish and Greeks) never got their shit together well enough to colonize anyone"
Oh, while we are on the topic: Ireland was a colony of England. Some Western Europeans were colonized, mostly by other European countries (e.g., "France" wasn't always a single nation). And while you are cherrypicking Japan as an example of uncolonized Asian countries, keep in mind where Thailand ("Land of the Free") got their name.
(Also, Native Americans were a very special case. Unlike most of the rest of the world, North America and the Amazon had no livestock. This rendered them uniquely vulnerable to communicable disease.)