02-01-2020, 10:13 AM
** 01-Feb-2020 World View: The way the world works
Unfortunately, that's the way the world works.
Twelve years ago, you were kind enough to educate me about the history
of the Mfecane, the Zulu Empire, and the Great Trek, and you can see
the divisions from that history reflected in South Africa today.
We forget that America has its own history. The American Civil War
was extremely bloody and brutal, as every generational crisis war
always is, and the divisions from that history are reflected in
today's society. A lot of the bitterness and anger between Democrats
and Tea Partiers today is a consequence of the Democrats losing the
Civil War and losing the economic benefits of slavery.
The same is true in pretty much all countries. The "troubles" in
Northern Ireland are not really between Catholics and Protestants, as
you suggest. The divisions are between the indigenous Gaelics and the
descendants of the invading Scots and English, and date back at least
as far as the the Nine Years War (1594-1603) and the Ulster
Plantation, which Gaelics today refer to as "ethnic cleansing,"
because the British drove the Gaelics from their land, took it over as
landlords, and used the Gaelics as servants.
And Brexit is reopening the bloody fault line between English and
Scots that dates back at least as far as the Battle of Bannockburn, on
June 24, 1314. The War of the Spanish Succession may have unified
Britain, but it didn't make the Scots and the English love each other,
and that's becoming increasingly apparent.
So what you say is true. Americans are big hearted, well meaning,
well mannered people, but the current divisiveness is unfortunately
just the way the world works.
richard5za Wrote:> As an outsider one of the things I have noticed about America is
> the division between Republican and Democrat; it seems to define
> you as a person, both in your own attitudes and how others regard
> you. Almost like Catholic and Protestant in Northern Ireland. Most
> Americans I have met are big hearted, well meaning, well mannered
> people, and a division of this nature is a great pity.
Unfortunately, that's the way the world works.
Twelve years ago, you were kind enough to educate me about the history
of the Mfecane, the Zulu Empire, and the Great Trek, and you can see
the divisions from that history reflected in South Africa today.
We forget that America has its own history. The American Civil War
was extremely bloody and brutal, as every generational crisis war
always is, and the divisions from that history are reflected in
today's society. A lot of the bitterness and anger between Democrats
and Tea Partiers today is a consequence of the Democrats losing the
Civil War and losing the economic benefits of slavery.
The same is true in pretty much all countries. The "troubles" in
Northern Ireland are not really between Catholics and Protestants, as
you suggest. The divisions are between the indigenous Gaelics and the
descendants of the invading Scots and English, and date back at least
as far as the the Nine Years War (1594-1603) and the Ulster
Plantation, which Gaelics today refer to as "ethnic cleansing,"
because the British drove the Gaelics from their land, took it over as
landlords, and used the Gaelics as servants.
And Brexit is reopening the bloody fault line between English and
Scots that dates back at least as far as the Battle of Bannockburn, on
June 24, 1314. The War of the Spanish Succession may have unified
Britain, but it didn't make the Scots and the English love each other,
and that's becoming increasingly apparent.
So what you say is true. Americans are big hearted, well meaning,
well mannered people, but the current divisiveness is unfortunately
just the way the world works.
