In "Shooting of an Elephant" what did the experience teach Orwell about the "real nature" of imperialism?

This essay is noted for the epiphany that Orwell
experiences as he faces the elephant and, more importantly, for the "sea" of Burmese
faces who have come along expecting a good show and watching Orwell as they would a
magician about to pull a rabbit out of his hat. The pressure from them that Orwell feels
makes him realise that, although he thinks it is completely unnecessary to kill the
elephant, he will have to do it after all. The massive irony of this is not lost on him
as he is the white man, the overlord, the colonial power, holding a gun, who is
nevertheless forced to act in a way contrary to his judgement and experience by the will
of the crowd. The truth he learns about imperialism is that "when the white man turns
tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys." Becoming tyrant transforms the white man
into an "absurd puppet" or a "sort of hollow, posing dummy." By seizing power,
imperialists actually paradoxically strip themselves of power.