From: Mark Steven Heyman (markheyman@infoproconsulting.com)
Date: Sun Nov 14 2004 - 01:52:40 GMT
I said nothing about the nature of the indians because the nature of
the indians is irrelevant to my argument. Your response is a classic
way of evading the argument by "throwing sand in the bull's eyes", as
Phaedrus said.
If you are going to quote me, please do it in context and address the
issue I raise. If you want to raise a different issue, that the
indians were evil and deserved to be slaughtered or something, then
do so. Present your facts and argument, but don't try to pretend
that your argument is a response to mine.
Thank you,
msh
--
InfoPro Consulting - The Professional Information Processors
Custom Software Solutions for Windows, PDAs, and the Web Since 1983
Web Site: http://www.infoproconsulting.com
"Thought is only a flash between two long nights, but this flash is
everything." -- Henri Poincare'
On 13 Nov 2004 at 14:44, Ascmjk@aol.com wrote:
In a message dated 11/13/2004 10:07:09 AM Central Standard Time,
markheyman@infoproconsulting.com writes:
Let's make it simple: Suppose there were only two million Indians in
North America in 1800. Let's say by 1900 there were 250,000, as a
million had chosen to "kill themselves" by assimilating, and 750,000
had been murdered because they chose not to assimilate and the
conquering power really, really wanted their land.
Let's get a fresh perspective. Slaughter of Indians after 1800 is
just so "over done" you know? I mean, it's like people think Indians
lived in a virtual Utopia before the Spaniards arrived. This holier-
than-thou sleight of hand is getting quite OUT of hand.
It's wrong to lump all the "Indians" together as if they were one
undivided race. To do so totally ignores what made each group unique,
and destroys any insight to be garnered from such distinctions.
While some tribes were undoubtedly very peaceful, others were
undoubtedly bloodthirsty killers of men, women, and children. To
characterize (as some many historians do) killer Indians as somehow
"less evil" than killer Europeans, is on par with the vilification of
the Sophists which so horrified Pirsig in the concluding chapters of
ZMM.
And to suggest that Indians didn't wipe out entire cultures is wrong
too. Entire tribes were wiped out--old customs left like bones to
turn to dust and be blown away by the indifferent wind of history--
long, long before the white man began to push inexorably West.
Jon
MOQ.ORG - http://www.moq.org
Mail Archives:
Aug '98 - Oct '02 - http://alt.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/
Nov '02 Onward - http://www.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/summary.html
MD Queries - horse@darkstar.uk.net
To unsubscribe from moq_discuss follow the instructions at:
http://www.moq.org/md/subscribe.html
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Sun Nov 14 2004 - 02:00:22 GMT