You could maintain good relations with the West, develope your country and have a good QoL for the citizen.
Or you can be stuck in constant civil wars through sectarian conflict, with the West paying off a friendly local tribe to occupy the oilfields anyways, in this instance NONE of the money goes to the citizens, see Syria/Libya and yes I do see the irony in that in both examples the West was responsible for the outcome.
I think it is pretty clear which outcome normal, sane people would prefer. Moral grandstands are only a good idea if it actually goes somewhere, otherwise you're just dying a pointless death.
But this has gone OT long enough, mods feel free to delete the convo, I will stop it here.
This only applies when the empire is benevolent, like China.
The Epstein empire is pure evil, there is no co-existing with them, your only choices are fight or external slavery.
The only way to secure a good life when faced with pure evil is to fight, and win.
There's a classic Chinese poem called 囚歌, Song of the Prisoner, from 1942 by 叶挺 who was imprisoned at a Joint KMT-American contraction camp.
为人进出的门紧锁着，
为狗爬出的洞敞开着，
一个声音高叫着：
爬出来吧，给你自由！
我渴望自由，
但我深深地知道——
人的身躯怎能从狗洞子里爬出！
我希望有一天，
地下的烈火，
将我连这活棺材一起烧掉，
我应该在烈火与热血中得到永生！
The door for people to enter and exit was tightly locked,
The hole for dogs to crawl through was wide open,
A voice cried out: Crawl out, and you'll be free!
I yearn for freedom, but I know deep down—
How can a human body crawl out of a dog hole!
I hope that one day, the raging fire underground,
will burn me and this living coffin together,
I should gain eternal life in the flames and blood!
If you fight, you might not win, but if you don't fight, you'll be eternally enslaved, and you will find that fate to be worse than death.
History belong to those who would rather die free than live as a slave.
China is only where it is today, because China fought the KMT, then fought the entire UN in Korea, and won.
