[ExI] The Evils of the West (was Re: Muslim Threat to Europe- Don't Buy All the Hype)

Lee Corbin lcorbin at rawbw.com
Mon Apr 13 05:12:56 UTC 2009


Eschatoon Magic wrote:

> Yes, like that. Another illuminating example of the compassionate
> nature of the Western civilization is provided by heroic pioneers
> giving free blankets to protect poor native Americans from the harsh
> winter. The same blankets that had covered smallpox victims...

Anyone who supposed that Western civilization is necessarily
nicer than other civilization doesn't understand that *niceness
is a luxury*, and if some people in some Western nations today
(or the nations themselves) are kind, it is only because they
can afford to be.

Why did the British in World War II begin the unrestricted
bombing of German cities? Mainly because they felt they had
to; they were losing otherwise. Not that this explains the
American non-nuclear attacks on Japanese cities! (You see,
unfortunately the converse doesn't work: groups and nations,
as well as individuals, are often meaner than they need to
be. E.g. the egregiously cruel behavior of the Japanese
in WWII.)

Western nations have been the first to use almost everything,
from Greek Fire to nuclear weapons. Do you want to (please)
tell me about some culture that wouldn't have used these
weapons themselves? Someone nicer, kinder, nobler?

The Indians were the first to use war-Elephants, the Chinese
gunpowder powered rockets, and the Mongolians various superior
tactics (though they practiced total genocide, they didn't
invent it).

Here we have yet another example of the basic drive throughout
Western civilization towards destructive self-criticism,
a self-criticism that goes far beyond the facts.

Lee

> On Fri, Apr 10, 2009 at 12:38 PM, Stefano Vaj <stefano.vaj at gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Fri, Apr 10, 2009 at 11:01 AM, Eschatoon Magic <eschatoon at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Question: do you know which culture started using biological weapons in warfare?
>>>
>>> Yeah, right.
>> As in throwing carcasses and other biological stuff which were
>> infected by plague beyond castle walls and in the wells of the enemy
>> during the crusades for the greater glory of God? :-)
>>
>> --
>> Stefano Vaj
>> _______________________________________________
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>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org
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>>
> 
> 
> 



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