Posted by Petra on October 29, 1997 at 15:43:52:
In Reply to: Re: Thanks posted by Marcia on October 29, 1997 at 07:36:08:
: Petra wrote:
: But I guess I don't believe in the part "something greater than had ever been created before". Instead, I thought that at that time, the Native tribes still had the chance to defend their land, had they only not allied themselves with either European side, then maybe the extension of colonialism could still have been stopped and the U.S. in its ultimate form could have been prevented.
: Hi, Petra. Interesting point, but my own feeling has always been that, given the technological superiority of the Europeans as a whole, an outside power of some kind was bound to take over the continent. I don't believe (unfortunately, perhaps) the Native Americans ever had a chance to defend what's now America. When I said "something better than had ever been created before," I had in mind a country that really held true to the tenets of Democracy, a country that valued & cared for the land in a responsible manner, and most of all, a country that lived in peace and harmony with all American Indians, rather than subjugating them to assimilation in the European traditions/religions, driving them from their lands, and even pushing for (and often accomplishing) the complete annihilation of various tribes and cultures. It seems to me we would be a much richer people today if we had been able to accomplish some of that.
: Marcia
Hi, Marcia - guess I misunderstood (thought you meant the U.S. being that better-than-ever thing). Well, I think such an ideal democracy and nation was not one of the many possibilities at that time - or at any other time. Peace and harmony was totally out of the question at the time (not that the world has changed much in that regard), everyone was up against everyone and the contempt of the Europeans for the "savages" was borderless, a few exceptional people excluded. At the time, European scholars still discussed the issue whether or not other races were to be regarded as human. So, I really don't believe there was ever the slightest chance of the Native Americans being treated as equals by whites unless they had forced them to do so. In the same way, value and care for the land in the Native way wasn't part of European thinking where it wasn't profitable, so only if the Native way had prevailed over the European way had there been a chance for a different development. Yes, I think if that had happened, the world would be a little better today. I often wonder how the world would look today if the Native tribes had fought off the immigrants right away. That might have given them the time to develop their own federations long enough so to be able to withstand European takeover in the long run, and large-scale immigration might have never taken place. I think I'd like that idea, sort of like an "alternative timeline" (yes, I'm a star trek fan also, even though they always show colonists in apositive light there, too).
Also, just immagine all those people discontent with their situation in Europe with no other place to go. Europe would have been like a pot of boiling water without a valve, the lid tightly closed. Many would have died, I'm sure, but the pot would have exploded within some generations. I think, aristocracy rule would have ended earlier, maybe there would have been no Hitler, no world-wars, who knows.
Well, I got carried away - sorry. Sometimes my immagination runs wild with me.
Petra