The Noble Savage is French Toast

The American Thinker ^ | January 30, 2007 | James Lewis

[freedomfiter2]

Thanks. It seems that slavery is the rule rather than the exception.

[JZelle]

Well said!!

[gonzo]

"... Pacifists only talk about being civilized; nations that defend against primitive savages actually do something about it. That makes all the difference.
One of the oddities of the Left is its constant sabotage of defensive warfare, even when the facts are as plain as the assault on the Twin Towers on 9/11. Today Europe is going through yet another revisionist version of its own bloody history, trying to deny the undeniable facts of the 20th century. Big German media like Stern and Der Spiegel loudly equate the American overthrow of Saddam Hussein with the war against Hitler. That version of history involves not just one but two Big Lies -- One, that Saddam was an innocent victim of American aggression; and Two, that Hitler was, too. It's too weird for words..."

Sorta sums-up my thoughts about the 'creatures' in Washington this past weekend. And the words of 'Hanoi-Jane', now 'Jihad-Jane', should be quoted posthumously, if at all. ........... FRegards

[driftless2]

The old canard about strictly Europeans being responsible for murder and pillage is easily dismissed by studying the Mongols and (gasp) the Muslims (Arabs, Turks) who invaded Europe repeatedly as recently as three hundred years ago. In the Americas Indian tribes like the Aztecs were busy slaughtering (and eating) their neighbors by the hundreds of thousands.

The myth about Europeans inventing mass carnage was established by self-loathing European and American professors who romanticized the non-European lives. The non-Euros were pure, wonderful people who were mercilessly conquered and slaughtered by the evil Europeans. The fact that all the peoples of the world have been guilty of conquest and mass murder was ignored by the academia nuts.

[driftless2]

The Choctaws of Mississippi actually had black slaves and allied with the Confederacy to try to keep their slaves.

[x_plus_one]

Politically Correct history is nonsense, as ordinary people have known for a long time.

"Ordinary people" and their common sentiments aren't welcome in academia.

[Basheva]

Our close cousins, the chimps, are also murderous. Goodall documented this. They had a war which last several years.

American Indians were not adverse to keeping slaves - wasn't Sacachawea one?

As I also recall, the stone age tribe that was discovered fairly recently (I think it was near Borneo) made constant war with another stone age tribe across the river.

Perhaps it is part of the plan of natural selection.

As for Michael Savage...I do agree with some of his stands such as illegal immigration, but his statements are all too often simply too inaccurate for me. One instance was during the aftermath of Katrina, he said that Pres. Bush should be impeached for not ordering in the Louisiana, MIssissippi and other states' Nat'l Guard.

Well, first of all the president of the United States is not in charge of the national guard of a state - the governor is. He would have to formally nationalize it as Eisenhower did in Little Rock. From what I remember - the president can only do this in the case of an insurrection. Eisenhower could make that case since the State of Arkansas was not obeying a Supreme Court Order - with the governor himself (Faubus?) blocking the doorway of Little Rock High School.

I also get hearily tired of Savage's constant bragging. Rush does it with humor - Savage does it seriously.

But that's beside the point of this thread. Sorry.

I think it is fair to say that we have made some strides in our abilities to live in large groups in a mostly civil manner. We have institutionalized our response to "evil doers" whether they be local (street corner thugs) or outside the border (from abroad).

What we haven't been able to do is agree on the response.

[Popocatapetl]

War is one thing, cannibalism is another.

I have read one of the better critiques of cannibalism, which made a bold statement: cannibalism is almost never proven, it is always assumed.

For example, anthropologists would find a tribe and ask if they were cannibals. They would say no, we aren't, but the next tribe over are cannibals. So they would go to the next tribe over and get much the same reply: we aren't, but that tribe you were just talking to are.

So they would note down that both tribes are cannibals.

When cannibalism does happen, it is usually under three circumstances, either respectful cannibalism of cremated remains cooked to ash; or isolated instances of a warrior after a pitched battle, tearing out some enemy flesh, like their heart, to eat, and only once. It is a heat of battle thing and individual act, not a cultural tradition.

The third circumstance is starvation/deprivation. In a society that strongly lacks protein, and also has periodic cycles of starvation, there is some incidence of last resort cannibalism. But only as a last resort.

Ironically, a single Jeffrey Dahmer probably makes up for many years of cannibalism as it existed in primitive societies.

Finally, as far as war goes, "there is war and then there is war." For example, I suspect that a lot of "primitive" war was conducted much like tribal war in old Africa.

The men of two tribes face off against each other, loudly shouting and screaming, and throwing things. Then a few from each side charge the other, have a brief contact, and fall back. Usually there are some injuries, and every now and then a fatality. But nothing too dramatic.

What you *don't* see is like with chimpanzees, where one troop will suddenly become hunter-cannibals, and migrate to find other troops of chimpanzees, that they will as a group, raid, kill and eat on the spot.

[Zionist Conspirator]

The "scientific" enlightenment's exaltation of the "noble savage" (and all his superstitions) while railing against the Bible is a truly fascinating phenomenon.

[CatoRenasci]

It's interesting to note that the Americas had no slavery before the Europeans and Africans came over. Before that, they just killed everyone.

?? It's been a long time since I did work in pre-Columbian North American 'history' but I seem to recall various cultures did have slavery, it not in the more highly organized forms it later developed. Obviously, in a culture of smallish bands, slavery will be relatively informal and possibly inchoate.

[x_plus_one]

The Ohio valley Indian Wars were bloody and merciless. Native American cultures weren't peaceful until pacified by the "white" aka christian civilization.

[ClaireSolt]

H. Bloom, The Lucifer Principle is a fascinating analysis of relevant history and behavioral animal studies. Aggressive warfare is in every species down to tiny bacteria.

[Valin]

Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain: [quoting Hamlet] "What a piece of work is man, in action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a god."

Sergeant 'Buster' Kilrain: Well, man may be an angel. But he damn well must be a killer angel.

[CatoRenasci]

The "scientific" enlightenment's exaltation of the "noble savage" (and all his superstitions) while railing against the Bible is a truly fascinating phenomenon.

That's a canard. The "noble savage" is associated mostly with Rousseau, a writer who grew up in the Enlightenment, but whose work stresses irrationality and coercion (the "General Will") and harks back to a nonexistent golden age of the noble savage. You might more profitably think of Rousseau as the first Romantic.

[Tolik]

Another Left's mistake is giving all the credit to Gandhi, when in reality the lion portion of credit belongs to the British Empire in this case. Hitler or Stalin would have Gandhi and his followers just simply disappear.

[Zionist Conspirator]

That's a canard. The "noble savage" is associated mostly with Rousseau, a writer who grew up in the Enlightenment, but whose work stresses irrationality and coercion (the "General Will") and harks back to a nonexistent golden age of the noble savage. You might more profitably think of Rousseau as the first Romantic.

Today's academia is divided into two departments: science (dogmatically naturalist and opposed to the existence of anything beyond the physical) and the humanities (third world fundamentalists who deny the existence of meaning or rationality of any kind). The two exist in perfect harmony, never coming into any conflict with each other, while they both enjoy bashing the "Bible-thumpers."

If the science departments are so brave, why are our universities totalitarian societies that worship pre-rational societies? I suspect one reason the science faculties ignore their compatriots while hammering the "rednecks" is simple cowardice. It's much easier to caricature people who live in trailer parks than to "speak truth to power."

[Valin]

There was a caller on Sean Hanity's show yesterday, a wounded vet who was counter-protesting that mob and he was (you guessed it) spit on and called a baby killer.

[Red Boots]

It's interesting to note that the Americas had no slavery before the Europeans and Africans came over. Before that, they just killed everyone

I don't know where you heard that tidbit, but I don't think that it's true. Many indian tribes, all over the AMericas practiced slavery.

[LonePalm]

One reason that the Anglo-American countries don't like war so much is because we are so very, very good at it.

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Jamais reculez á tyrannie un pouce!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! Never give an inch to tyranny!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

[Coyoteman]

It's interesting to note that the Americas had no slavery before the Europeans and Africans came over. Before that, they just killed everyone.

There was a thriving slavery industry on the Northwest Coast in prehistoric times.