@Bashabez5 In human affairs, first we develop the capacity to commit some wrong, then we desire to commit it, then we find some reason to explain to ourselves why it was never even wrong.
@Bashabez5 For that matter, if you had asked Columbus whether Spain or China was richer and more advanced, wouldn't he have said China?
Looking at it a different way, a hundred and fifty years ago the English would have said the Irish were a different race, and that the superior English race was obviously mean to rule over their Celtic neighbours.
@Bashabez5 I also get the feeling that the idea (incorrect, to be sure) that one race is superior to another is recent, dating from the time that Western technology made the European nations militarily dominant.
If you had sent King Richard I to the court of Emperor Gebre Mesqel, he would have found things foreign, but would he have the idea that as a white man, he was somehow more advanced?
My background (other than political organizing) is in Art, Art History, and History. The idea that the formation of civilization and the monumental achievements and inventions as "white" is factually incorrect. The cradle of civilization was with the advent of agriculture was in the fertile crescent where ancient mesopotamia/Sumerian people were located is a region in modern day Iraq/Syria/Turkey. Something else that also needs to be pointed out is the concept of the "Dark Ages" in European society. Most of the "Dark Ages" were NOT dark ages for cultures in the middle east/africa/asia where inventions and strides in science/art/mathematics which were introduced into white european society that greatly improved peoples lives when it came to agriculture, medicine, design, etc.
The idea that "Western civilization" is somehow tied to "whiteness" is intentional in removing people of color from our role in history. The concept of race based on skin tones wasn't an idea in roman times. That's why Septimius Serverus wasn't seen by his people as a "black african emperor married to a brown syrian woman" but just naturally seen as a "Roman Emperor". Thinking of greek/roman culture as a white society is just factually incorrect, there were tons of people of color who were just as important and as much of the society as those with light skin. There's also the failure to realize that the Roman Empire would conquer areas and then the people were seen to be just as much part of "roman" society as others, many african and "middle eastern" traditions, arts, music, etc. were combined with those of rome/greek traditions. Looking at this map it's hard to think that all the people in the confines of the roman empire were somehow white?
@cjd Periodically I look for other #conservatives on Mastodon, but it's rather lonely.
I did run across a MAGA instance once; I can't remember what the URL was. Not quite my cup of tea, though like quodverum they did ban threats, Nazis, etc.
@cjd " But our platform is not a launching pad for criminal activity, harassment or the promotion of violence or bigotry in any form, against any one. Let's reintroduce free and civil discourse."
Regular PSA that if you call every bad thing capitalist as code for "I don't like this", it becomes impossible to talk sensibly about capitalism as an economic model, and therefore also harder to actually do anything about that model and the problems with it. Generic good/bad tautology logics and binary views of how complex systems work do not make for functional political change.
@fitheach@vfrmedia Back in university in the 1990s, I had friends from Hong Kong. As I recall, their opinion about the forthcoming handover was that Hong Kong is part of China, so it is only makes sense that it be ruled by Beijing rather than London.
Frankly, I was surprised they did not have more misgivings. But I suppose the people I knew were prepared to move to Canada if things didn't work out.