Europe is the continent that took over the world. This is well known but never quite said outloud. Every nation nowadays either lives as a Western nation or suffers greatly. There is almost no in-between left, for world-conquerors don't neglect in-between.
From the Native American perspective, this is even clearer. It was not that different nations in Spain, France and England came to devastate their land. It was one nation -- Europe -- with different tribes. For what difference did it make which tribe committed which atrocity? They all brought their guns, germs and steel. They all had no humane standards while coming in the name of their god (a god whose people they also slaughtered).
Europe was the great bringer of Empire. Not since the Agricultural Revolution did a single way of life come to either conquer or assimilate the rest of the world. I would like this fact acknowledged. The world has been conquered twice. The first time brought on civilization as we define it. The second was the finalization of the first. One civilization rose and expanded virally, as if someone were playing Risk, turned in bonus cards and took over the world.
The cultural conquering was just as overwhelming as the physical one. For here we have a continent that attained what so many have coveted: world-domination. And it's not even mentioned. Perhaps it is due to White supremacy mythology. Not the KKK kind, but the who-else-could-have-ruled-the-world kind. It is one thing to be conquered. It is quite another not to find that state of the world objectionable.
From the Native American perspective, this is even clearer. It was not that different nations in Spain, France and England came to devastate their land. It was one nation -- Europe -- with different tribes. For what difference did it make which tribe committed which atrocity? They all brought their guns, germs and steel. They all had no humane standards while coming in the name of their god (a god whose people they also slaughtered).
Europe was the great bringer of Empire. Not since the Agricultural Revolution did a single way of life come to either conquer or assimilate the rest of the world. I would like this fact acknowledged. The world has been conquered twice. The first time brought on civilization as we define it. The second was the finalization of the first. One civilization rose and expanded virally, as if someone were playing Risk, turned in bonus cards and took over the world.
The cultural conquering was just as overwhelming as the physical one. For here we have a continent that attained what so many have coveted: world-domination. And it's not even mentioned. Perhaps it is due to White supremacy mythology. Not the KKK kind, but the who-else-could-have-ruled-the-world kind. It is one thing to be conquered. It is quite another not to find that state of the world objectionable.
