Post by Belteshazzar on Sept 13, 2021 12:33:36 GMT -6
Was just reading this rather woke article about Hawaii and basically it's all about how the big mean Europeans and Americans are evil colonizers.
There's a lot of talk about how (some? many? it doesn't really say) native Hawaiians see, for example, putting astronomical structures on top of their sacred volcano as desecration of their land.
Erhm...something tells me you guys aren't mostly a bunch of pagans who pray to the volcano god, so can we just stop the pretending already? Because we all know that "desecration of our land" really just means "we don't like white people here." I mean, if I was turning it into a landfill or a toxic waste dump, okay, maybe - but these are astronomical observation facilities. Surely your Polynesian gods will be cool with that? Why don't you ask them? Oh wait you don't actually believe they exist? STFU then. Because if you were an independent nation and still believed in your gods and never touched half of the very limited land available on your islands because it's "sacred" you'd be one of the most poor countries on earth. Something tells me maybe you'd wisen up and be inclined to modernize, and that your volcano gods would suddenly be A-Okay with that, because its YOU and not white people.
I understand colonial history is complicated and I'm not without sympathy for people who feel like their culture has been trampled and violated - but - sorry, but I must be blunt and say that you're just gonna have to accept that your people were conquered by, in most ways that count, a more advanced civilization and that you are in fact, over-all, benefiting from it, but you just don't like it because your ancestors were the losers.
I get it. It hurts the pride. But history is history.
Your best throw for the advancement of your people isn't to try and break away and become some poor, crappy independent nation, but to be in alliance with a nation that is a melting pot of people and cultures that DOES actually appreciate you. Because if it wasn't the US, it would have been Japan. Or someone else. The world has advanced and your location is too strategically important. And you can't defend yourselves. So....what? Pick a side or have it picked for you. Just the reality of the world we live in.
Decolonize.....decolonize my ass.
And the same thing goes for any other smaller, less powerful culture of people. It's just the way of the world. If it wasn't white people, it would have been someone else. Maybe it would have been other Polynesians. Other tribes. As if they didn't do the same things to each other. Or as if the victim cultures in question never did it to others, too. The American Indians being a prime example.
Warfare and conquering is all this world has ever known and pretty much no one is exempt from it. No one is "innocent."
www.afar.com/magazine/learning-to-decolonize-and-travel-responsibly-in-hawaii?utm_source=pocket-newtab
There's a lot of talk about how (some? many? it doesn't really say) native Hawaiians see, for example, putting astronomical structures on top of their sacred volcano as desecration of their land.
Erhm...something tells me you guys aren't mostly a bunch of pagans who pray to the volcano god, so can we just stop the pretending already? Because we all know that "desecration of our land" really just means "we don't like white people here." I mean, if I was turning it into a landfill or a toxic waste dump, okay, maybe - but these are astronomical observation facilities. Surely your Polynesian gods will be cool with that? Why don't you ask them? Oh wait you don't actually believe they exist? STFU then. Because if you were an independent nation and still believed in your gods and never touched half of the very limited land available on your islands because it's "sacred" you'd be one of the most poor countries on earth. Something tells me maybe you'd wisen up and be inclined to modernize, and that your volcano gods would suddenly be A-Okay with that, because its YOU and not white people.
I understand colonial history is complicated and I'm not without sympathy for people who feel like their culture has been trampled and violated - but - sorry, but I must be blunt and say that you're just gonna have to accept that your people were conquered by, in most ways that count, a more advanced civilization and that you are in fact, over-all, benefiting from it, but you just don't like it because your ancestors were the losers.
I get it. It hurts the pride. But history is history.
Your best throw for the advancement of your people isn't to try and break away and become some poor, crappy independent nation, but to be in alliance with a nation that is a melting pot of people and cultures that DOES actually appreciate you. Because if it wasn't the US, it would have been Japan. Or someone else. The world has advanced and your location is too strategically important. And you can't defend yourselves. So....what? Pick a side or have it picked for you. Just the reality of the world we live in.
Decolonize.....decolonize my ass.
And the same thing goes for any other smaller, less powerful culture of people. It's just the way of the world. If it wasn't white people, it would have been someone else. Maybe it would have been other Polynesians. Other tribes. As if they didn't do the same things to each other. Or as if the victim cultures in question never did it to others, too. The American Indians being a prime example.
Warfare and conquering is all this world has ever known and pretty much no one is exempt from it. No one is "innocent."
www.afar.com/magazine/learning-to-decolonize-and-travel-responsibly-in-hawaii?utm_source=pocket-newtab
