Reaching for that historian hat

[nadinbrzezinski]

What happened tonight, you know the rich (not all thank you) but the party of money doing so well, is part of the American spirit.

Not only are Americans angry, but let's forget the myth about the nation of the brave and the free and all that crap. What were the colonies, for real? they were slave societies, no, not just black, White Indent Slaves were the backbone of the economy in the 17th century. Many Americans are descendants of these people. Most of them did not come to these shores truly as free willers. They lost all they had due to incredible changes in the home country, especially when it comes to the Common Lands.

They also came to a society that was based on a MASTER- SERVANT relationship, and where the religious believes ranged into things like if you were wealthy you were saved. Now think about that for a minute... and what that means, and think of FUNDY Right Wing churches that today preach that wealth is good.

This is partly what is going on. Many people are not aware of how much we are a a product of that history. We are not outside history. And I wish knew this. I know that most people really do not know this. It is not taught. But this coming thanksgiving I am raising my glass in remembrance of not just the Native Americans who suffered, but also the hundred thousand (low estimate) of Indent Slaves that never made it outside to gain their freedom... they lived and died slaves. And of course the others, one out every three Americans in 1776 was the descendant of one of these people, or one of them...

We were the land of Egypt, not the land of opportunity, and a lot of the attitudes we see today come straight from that... and people still have a master-servant relationship...

So this is not just about how ignorant people are... but things that are part of who we are as a people. The reality is very different than the fantasy we are told in the American Creed...

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. Let me kick this because it is important

if we are to evolve as a nation, first we need to accept the less palatable parts of our history... and trust me, it is not palatable

[marmar]

2. True.....People have accepted the "idea" of America as the reality.

nt

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. But we need to actually learn the reality

if we are to evolve, that is my view of this.

Why we have that quiet agreement with the rich and the wealthy and that wish to become one, never mind... why people at times do what they do.

[snagglepuss]

4. Very interesting observation. It made me wonder about Australia and why

it doesn't have the same issues as the US however then I realized that Australia (as far as I know) was settled by criminals not Calvinsts.

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. South Wales became the place to send convicts

as of 1782.... the difference is... THEY have embraced that past, we have not.

The denial started ten seconds after Independence.