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THE FUTURE OF THE PAST (Mark Steyn)
Macleans ^ | 12 March 2009 | Mark Steyn

Posted on 03/12/2009 2:50:57 PM PDT by JLS

THE FUTURE OF THE PAST Thursday, 12 March 2009 from Maclean's

When the metaphorical dust has settled on the Plains of Abraham – metaphorical dust being the only kind you’re allowed to kick up on the sacred sod a quarter-millennium on – the larger question remains:

What’s the future of the past?

That’s to say, the lesson of the last few weeks is that the latter depends on the former. In 1759, General Wolfe won a decisive victory that led to the end of French rule on this continent: that is what we used quaintly to call a “fact”. To take another unfashionable word, the “reality” of North American life today derives explicitly from that fact.

(Excerpt) Read more at steynonline.com ...


TOPICS: Canada; Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: culuture; frenchandindianwar; marksteyn; steyn
Steyn discusses history and culture.
1 posted on 03/12/2009 2:50:57 PM PDT by JLS
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To: knews_hound

You might want to ping the Steyn list with this article.


2 posted on 03/12/2009 2:51:43 PM PDT by JLS
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To: JLS

Now that’s a great title without saying anything else!


3 posted on 03/12/2009 2:56:09 PM PDT by ex-snook ("But above all things, truth beareth away the victory.")
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To: JLS

Bump


4 posted on 03/12/2009 3:19:11 PM PDT by Fiddlstix (Warning! This Is A Subliminal Tagline! Read it at your own risk!(Presented by TagLines R US))
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To: JLS

Brilliant! And I must confess, Steyn did make me think of Michael Moore’s movie “Canadian Bacon” and that scene with Dan Ackroyd as the motorcycle cop and the slogans on the truck.


5 posted on 03/12/2009 3:46:36 PM PDT by NonValueAdded (May God save America from its government; this is no time for Obamateurs. Emmanuel = Haldeman?)
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To: JLS

—bflr—


6 posted on 03/12/2009 3:58:30 PM PDT by rellimpank (--don't believe anything the MSM tells you about firearms or explosives--NRA Benefactor)
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To: JLS; Rummyfan; kellynla; Howlin; riley1992; Miss Marple; Dane; sinkspur; steve; kattracks; ...
Pinging the Mark Steyn Ping List.

Welcome to the newest members of this ever expanding  list.

For you California residents, and those who are interested, also see Steyns wonderful deconstruction of the Governator  here -

The Girlyman Governor

I apologize for the delayed ping, Mrs. knewshound was hit by a drunk driver and I have been quite busy and have not had a chance to be on FR much.  She is on the mend and I am back in action.




Thanks to those who ping me to these articles, I would miss many of them without them.

On or off, please FReepmail me.

Cheers,

knewshound

knewshounds blog

7 posted on 03/12/2009 4:32:57 PM PDT by knews_hound (I for one welcome our new Insect overlords!)
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To: JLS

used to call a fact? lol


8 posted on 03/12/2009 4:54:34 PM PDT by GeronL (....and I won't let it happen again!)
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To: JLS

“Inventing the future, at the speed of time!”


9 posted on 03/12/2009 5:50:17 PM PDT by Attention Surplus Disorder (Mr. Bernanke, have you started working on your book about the second GREATER depression?")
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To: JLS
The Quebecois should forget the resentment they have over the French losing North America in 1763. On the whole, the British were chivalrous conquerors. They permitted the defeated French colonists to remain and allowed them to keep their language, culture and Catholic faith. They even permitted them the first elected legislative assembly in North America. And how has my native province been injured by becoming a part of then British Empire? Hardly! In fact, Canada's first francophone Prime Minister, Wilfried Laurier, admired British government and culture and thought it brought equality and dignity to both of Canada's founding peoples. In retrospect, that defeat on the Plains Of Abraham now looks very much like a blessing in disguise for Quebec. Technically, I am still a British Subject and will die as one. History marches on.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

10 posted on 03/12/2009 6:26:47 PM PDT by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever)
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To: JLS

Those interested in this period of history should find the works of Francis Parkman in their local library.

Parkman brings to life the dynamic between British, French, and Native Americans in that epochal time.

I stumbled upon a 16 volume set in a used book store back in the ‘80s - one of my best finds ever!


11 posted on 03/12/2009 7:12:58 PM PDT by headsonpikes (Genocide is the highest sacrament of socialism.)
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To: JLS

Just think, “The French and Indian War” started here in the Pittsburgh area. Our local PBS station, WQED, did a 4 part series about it and it was very interesting to learn about the early trials of George Washington. In a way, The French and Indian War, aka “Seven Years War,” was actually the first global war, you even had battles as far away as India.


12 posted on 03/12/2009 8:42:55 PM PDT by Nowhere Man (Is Barak HUSSEIN Obama an Anti-Christ? - B.O. Stinks! (Robert Riddle))
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To: JLS
Not so long ago, there were millions of people in every corner of the world who attended schools that taught them that the Britannic inheritance was on balance a good thing as opposed to the root cause of all the planet’s woes. Good for individual liberty, standard of living, constitutional democracy ...

Say something like that out loud in an American public school now, and you may be lynched. At the very least, people will call you all kinds of bigoted, sexist, racist, homophobic etc. etc.

It's not an improvement.

13 posted on 03/12/2009 9:09:26 PM PDT by irv
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To: knews_hound

Thanks. I love reading Mark Steyn.


14 posted on 03/12/2009 9:30:15 PM PDT by Victoria Delsoul
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To: knews_hound

I hope Mrs knews_hound has a full and speedy recovery. Prayers for her and you.


15 posted on 03/13/2009 12:11:54 AM PDT by Rummyfan (Iraq: it's not about Iraq anymore, it's about the USA!)
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To: Nowhere Man

I’ve seen that, it is a worthwhile series.


16 posted on 03/13/2009 3:07:05 AM PDT by FreedomPoster (Obama: Carter's only chance to avoid going down in history as the worst U.S. president ever.)
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To: goldstategop; JLS
Yeah, the Quebecois were permitted to keep "their Catholic culture" so they'd have the degenerate pleasure of "tranquilly" and contemptuously dumping it in a garbage can during the Révolution tranquille of 1960-66.

That sets me musing. Six years. Chilling: a heritage of a millennium-plus can go pfft in six years. How did it happen in formerly "Catholic Quebec"? Why did it happen?

More musing. After Obama's term, what will be left of what we quaintly call "America"??

17 posted on 03/13/2009 7:00:31 AM PDT by Mrs. Don-o (The past sure ain't what tt used to be.)
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To: JLS
I strongly suspect what is happening in Canada will soon be happening here. The same forces are at work.
18 posted on 03/13/2009 8:06:40 AM PDT by Gritty (Our elite media and university community are toxic to traditional values in America - Rick Santorum)
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