Posted by Dinah on November 16, 2011, at 22:45:19
In reply to Re: the political climate you would like » Dinah, posted by sigismund on November 16, 2011, at 22:31:29
No... That's definitely not it. The Angles and Saxons and Danes had run out the people before them, you know. Or scattered them to the corners of the islands. Then there were the Vikings and the Danes.
Not that the Normans were the good guys either. I still shudder when I read what happened around York. I've still got a lot of anger towards William for that.
There's not always the good guys and the bad guys.
I like a quote from Young Indiana Jones. Something along the line of "No matter who is in charge, they take my chickens."
My Saxon ancestors drove out the peoples before them (some of whom were also my ancestors) and were in turn subjugated by the Normans (a very very few of whom were my ancestors). I come from a long line of serfs and defeated peoples. And rapining and pillaging conquerors. And they were not necessarily different ancestors.
But... We're getting better. We really are. We hardly every burn out villages any more, or stack dead serfs like cordwood, or consider other people to be no more human than the dogs or horses we own. Or take the family out to a public hanging and picnic. At least not a literal hanging. I sometimes wonder how much better our figurative lynchings are.
I've been trying to decide whether to buy this book. My nonfiction to read pile is so large now.
"The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined"
poster:Dinah
thread:1001838
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/poli/20110926/msgs/1002841.html