To live and to not let live

Published by You on 16 July, 2009 - 18:53

When the Europeans went to south America, within a generation the local/native population had plummeted by 90% or so. This was not due to war or genocide or ethnic cleansing, but because the locals, due to not having previous contact, had not developed immunity to European diseases.

To "win", the Europeans just had to turn up.

So, where does that leave the concept of "live and let live"?

Tags: 
Tolerance

Comments

Submitted by You on 16 July, 2009 - 21:53

The red Indians were hunted down and killed. Not sure if disease played a part there too, but it did in south America.

(if I am getting it all wrong, can someone please correct me?)

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"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.

Submitted by Seraphim on 17 July, 2009 - 20:42

Its Native Americans... not Red Indians :roll:

The original settlers thought they had landed on India, which is why they refered to them as that at first.

The correct term is Native American. And the above is probably true, altho the figours seem a lil exaggerated.

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Back in BLACK

Submitted by You on 17 July, 2009 - 21:13

It was actually and the degree to which it happened is disputed.

...After the epidemics had already killed massive numbers of American natives, many European immigrants who arrived assumed that the natives had always been few in number. The scope of the epidemics over the years was enormous, killing millions of people—possibly in excess of 90% of the population in the hardest hit areas—and creating one of "the greatest human catastrophe in history...

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"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.

Submitted by You on 19 July, 2009 - 18:02

It does not really have a purpose, but if you squint it in the right way, it can be linked to the "holier than thou" topic.

It is also linked to a - maybe they ("Casuals United") fear something because the threat is real?

When Islam was preached by the prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wa Sallam (Peace and Blessings be upon him) to the Meccans, many saw it as a threat to their way of life. They were right.

(of course they also benefited greatly from the changes, but that is a different argument.)

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"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.