What gives me great peace, these days, is sinking into my Herman Melville story, TYPEE, about his travels in the South Seas—a place where I myself think I’ll end up some day. But a scene Melville recounts, immediately and uncomfortably brings me back to the present, to the real world.
"The patriarch-sovereign of Tior was a man very far advanced in years; but though age had bowed his form and rendered him almost decrepid, his gigantic frame retained all its original magnitude and grandeur of appearance. He advanced slowly and with evident pain, assisting his tottering steps with the heavy war-spear he held in his hand, and attended by a group of grey-bearded chiefs, on one of whom he occasionally leaned for support. The admiral came forward with head uncovered and extended hand, while the old king saluted him by a stately flourish of hie weapon. The next moment they stood side by side, these two extremes of the social scale, —the polished, splendid Frenchman, and the poor tattooed savage. They were both tall and noble-looking men; but in other respects how strikingly contrast! Du Petit Thouars exhibited upon his person all the paraphernalia of his naval rank. He wore a richly decorated admiral’s frock-coat, a laced chapeau bras, and upon his breast were a variety of ribbons and orders; while the simple islander, with the exception of a slight cincture about his loins, appeared in all the nakedness of nature."
Melville reflects perfectly the way we civilized Westerners view the rest of the world. What disturbs me is that we "enlightened" Americans have not progressed beyond Melville’s 19th Century point of view.
Tony,
Yep, advancement of Western Civilization, based on rational thought, is led by greed...thus, exploration. Soon followed by a second knock-out punch by Christian missionaries. And then when they are killed, we have an excuse to come in with our full organized military mite...conquered.
This was not the situation in Viet Nam, and that is why I turned and looked inside for the reason...divide an conquer the Baby Boom population. Was just reading the John Kerry Senate testimony with Senator Fulbright in 1971, and John said something interesting about one of his Native American friends in Viet Nam. His friend grew up like other American kids of the Happy Day's watching western cowboy and Indian television flicks; whereby he even played 'good guy' defending the fort. Then one day he stopped all of a sudden and realized that he was doing to the Viet Namese the same that had been done to his people...and he literally stopped fighting then and there. Enlightenment the hard way.
In the Middle East we were led (or rather renewd 20th century greed to fuel the Industrial Revolution) by oil exploration. As early as the settlement of World War I, the Kurds were divided into four countries on purpose by the Western winning powers. This is because at Kirkuk there was the largest oil field in the world producing 15% of the world's supply of oil. The Kurds were not allowed to control the oil beneath their own land, so the new boundaries of the countries were drawn to divide and conquer them. Poorest people in the world should have been the richest, except for Western Civilization.
Maybe the Kurds should start up a gambling casino, like the Native American Indians, and get some of the money back.
Americans here the word Christian in Iraq and think we have missions there, we don’t.
They are Orthodox Christians which split from the Catholic Church and Western
Civilization long ago. Unlike Israel, when the Orthodox set up a center for their most
holy monasteries they went to an uninhabited part of the world, Mount Athos. You can
not go there Tony, you are not Orthodox Christian, even if you read on their site that they
let 120 visitors a year in. How wonderful of the Greek culture to make use of the Internet
and give us some insight, which only a few Westerners knows exists:
http://www.inathos.gr
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