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Originally Posted by Lux
I don't get your point Mary. You said that the native Australians had resources and yet didn't build an empire. I have no idea what your point is but firstly, Australia does not have many resources, that's why they initially sailed their ships on by. Secondly, the native Australians believe the earth is sacred, the dirt, trees, everything are the remains of their ancestors and the one thing they would never have done is rape, even so much as touch what 'resources' were there. And Australia is so huge that until the white man came along with his gun, the Aboriginal peoples lived in relative harmony due to the fact that their was ample to share around. The Brits invaded their land, trod all over their ancestors, raped them of everything they had and then killed many of them. That is how Australia made the transition from Aboriginal land to a wealthy nation of the commonwealth. This is exactly what we're talking about only on a more specific level. What you're saying is the equivalent of saying Australia does not owe the original inhabitants anything, that anything we give them is charity. That is utter bull****. We are who we are because we put these people in these imporverished circumstances and we owe them. Same goes for any other peoples we have done this to. We owe the East Timorese and what we give them is not through generosity, it's through our obligation to give to them. This is the same scenario we're talking about but on a global scale.
It certainly was hard work when they stole and proceeded to destoy the land I'm living on. Tough times, but they pulled through and thanks to their hard work, I live in a wealthy nation. It's also tough times ripping the oil out of East Timor. It's really hard when they show us pictures of the kiddies over there (the ones we didn't aid in slaughtering atleast) who have no education and little resources, but I have my oil to pull me through it.
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my points are:
a) I was responding to Amber's point which said that America owed its prominence to resources alone. So, I pointed out the obvious: the Natives here had those same resources, in fact they had MORE. And yet, they didnt go out and conquer the world.
b) I KNOW the aboriginals of both continents have a different attitude toward Nature, that wasnt the point. The point was the fact that the resources in and of themselves do not a global empire make.
c) England, because it is an Island Nation by definition has limited resources.
That fact didnt stop it.
d) I DEFY you to find ANY PLACE where I said England's treatment of the Aboriginals was acceptable. In fact Lux, I think you must STILL be high because you apparently have me mixed up with the voices in your head. I NEVER said ANYTHING about colonialism being good. I never said we shouldnt aid countries in need. What I said WAS: I disagree with the position that America automatically must ante up each and every time a disaster hits some part of the globe. If you'll refer to the facts and figures I posted some pages back, I dont think America needs to hang its head at ALL. We DO help. Just because its not as much as YOU wish it were........is just something you'll have to live with.
e) you'd probably be a lot more credible if you actually did something else besides spread venom on the net and got up and did something constructive about your convictions. If you feel so strongly about these issues, become involved in your country's politics, dont just be an armchair cyber critic.