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roachboy · 08-10-2006, 11:50 AM

the united states was founded on genocide, expanded via genocide and has perfected the fine art of denying that this is the case: in america, genocide has become an action only undertaken by countries that loose wars--if you win, anything goes and maybe a movie industry or two can even get started after the fact dedicated to the proposition that all men are not created equal, that genocide can be rationalized as a struggle of "good" vs "evil" or "civilization" vs. "barbarism"---that the american style of "ethnic cleansing" in the name of "manifest destiny" was a model for subsequent state-sponsored genocides is really not relevant--what is relevant is the whitewashed version of the past the only function of which is enabling folk now to feel good about themselves as they wave little flags about and utter empty platitudes about the moral "high ground" they occupy. it's great stuff, the history of genocide and the way in which that history has become so entangled with hollywood versions of the past that folk cannot even distinguish between the french and indian war/7 years war and the mechanized insanity of the post civil war period, during which many of the worse atrocities were committed. things like the attempt to systematically exterminate the bison population in order to starve out the plains groups. and of course wounded knee.

people probably believe that most conflicts involved lone heroic white cowpokes and nameless hoardes of injuns who would sweep down from a canyon wall just outside of los angeles primarily to die in great numbers.
clearly it had nothing to do with state treaties that were ignored by settlers over and over, kind of like the stuff you see happening in the west bank.

it almost follows that ustwo would argue that contemporary "terrorism" should be dealt with in the same way as the americans dealt with native americans in the end--do a wounded knee--surround some major arab cities and pulverize them with artillery and automatic weapons, making sure to kill women and children---and then round em up and send em to a reversation where they can rot for the next 100 years.
presumably a couple of generations of filmmakers can then create a mythological version of the story and the cycle can repeat.
all in all, that would be a very american final solution.

08-10-2006, 11:50 AM	#32 (permalink)
roachboy Super Moderator Location: essex ma	the united states was founded on genocide, expanded via genocide and has perfected the fine art of denying that this is the case: in america, genocide has become an action only undertaken by countries that loose wars--if you win, anything goes and maybe a movie industry or two can even get started after the fact dedicated to the proposition that all men are not created equal, that genocide can be rationalized as a struggle of "good" vs "evil" or "civilization" vs. "barbarism"---that the american style of "ethnic cleansing" in the name of "manifest destiny" was a model for subsequent state-sponsored genocides is really not relevant--what is relevant is the whitewashed version of the past the only function of which is enabling folk now to feel good about themselves as they wave little flags about and utter empty platitudes about the moral "high ground" they occupy. it's great stuff, the history of genocide and the way in which that history has become so entangled with hollywood versions of the past that folk cannot even distinguish between the french and indian war/7 years war and the mechanized insanity of the post civil war period, during which many of the worse atrocities were committed. things like the attempt to systematically exterminate the bison population in order to starve out the plains groups. and of course wounded knee. people probably believe that most conflicts involved lone heroic white cowpokes and nameless hoardes of injuns who would sweep down from a canyon wall just outside of los angeles primarily to die in great numbers. clearly it had nothing to do with state treaties that were ignored by settlers over and over, kind of like the stuff you see happening in the west bank. it almost follows that ustwo would argue that contemporary "terrorism" should be dealt with in the same way as the americans dealt with native americans in the end--do a wounded knee--surround some major arab cities and pulverize them with artillery and automatic weapons, making sure to kill women and children---and then round em up and send em to a reversation where they can rot for the next 100 years. presumably a couple of generations of filmmakers can then create a mythological version of the story and the cycle can repeat. all in all, that would be a very american final solution. __________________ a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear it make you sick. -kamau brathwaite Last edited by roachboy; 08-10-2006 at 11:52 AM..