Your Day

Lucem Ferre · 06-20-2020, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anteater

Not really the same thing. Nobody intentionally weaponized smallpox or even understood how bacteria or viruses worked.

Actually...

https://www.history.com/news/colonis...llpox-blankets

Anteater · 06-20-2020, 12:00 PM

Anecdotal at best, debunked at worst. Case in point-

Article - Did the U.S. Army Distribute Smallpox Blankets to Indians? Fabrication and Falsification in Ward Churchill's Genocide Rhetoric

Lucem Ferre · 06-20-2020, 12:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anteater

Anecdotal at best, debunked at worst.

Or completely documented to have happened at least once making your statement just complete and total bull****.

Not only that, but reading the article it's clear that multiple people came up with the idea to intentionally spread smallpox to the natives. And that's just what's documented.

A lot of outbreaks from back then aren't very well documented so it's hard to say how much was actually intentional or not.

Lucem Ferre · 06-20-2020, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anteater

Article - Did the U.S. Army Distribute Smallpox Blankets to Indians? Fabrication and Falsification in Ward Churchill's Genocide Rhetoric

That doesn't debunk anything from the history.com article.

It debunks a claim made about a specific incident in 1837.

History.com brings up evidence from 1763.

Did you read it or are you just trying to ignore the facts?

Lucem Ferre · 06-20-2020, 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elphenor

why all the sudden in the "your day" thread did we have to learn we're all Nazis

Idk, it's just where I decided to unload my thoughts. Wrong thread, probably, but we're already here.

Anteater · 06-20-2020, 12:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lucem Ferre

That doesn't debunk anything from the history.com article.

It debunks a claim made about a specific incident in 1837.

History.com brings up evidence from 1763.

Did you read it or are you just trying to ignore the facts?

I read the article. They clearly didn't understand how smallpox spreads.

**Marie Monday** · 06-20-2020, 12:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anteater

To my earlier point, America is already seen as the "evil" of the world by a large number of countries.

True, but often not for the right reasons, or as evil as it really is.
I have no doubt that the intentions of the American colonists towards native Americans were not less horrible and inhumane than those of the Nazis towards the jews. Whether their approach was also as inhumane and systematic I'm not sure. In any case I still agree with your point Lucem, in general it's shocking how little awareness there is about history and how little the world learns from it

Lucem Ferre · 06-20-2020, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anteater

I read the article. They clearly didn't understand how smallpox spreads.

But they clearly did try to weaponize it.

Anteater · 06-20-2020, 01:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lucem Ferre

But they clearly did try to weaponize it.

I have no doubt that some individuals might have wanted to weaponize it like a Biblical plague, but you still have literally only one documentable instance in all of American history where it apparently even came up. That's a long way from saying that a few blankets wiped out millions of Native Americans through guided, systematic intent. The damage was done long before the late 18th century.

And speaking of which, don't forget that there is a general consensus that syphilis originally came from "the new World" and subsequently spread virulently through Europe after it made it's own rounds when Columbus made his return trip. The reason we don't talk about it as much today is because even a few million deaths that resulted from that isn't as well documented or politicized as smallpox was. That's the Columbian Exchange for ya.

If we ever get "friendly" intersteller visitors to the United States, I'm sure we'll all get our comeuppance from some cyclopean space prion and then the EU can take their rightful place as the next evil empire.

WWWP · 06-20-2020, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarieMarie

True, but often not for the right reasons, or as evil as it really is.
I have no doubt that the intentions of the American colonists towards native Americans were not less horrible and inhumane than those of the Nazis towards the jews. Whether their approach was also as inhumane and systematic I'm not sure. In any case I still agree with your point Lucem, in general it's shocking how little awareness there is about history and how little the world learns from it

It definitely was. Are you familiar with the Trail of Tears? I grew up right on the border of the Wind River reservation, Lucem's right that they are intentionally isolated and stripped of resources. There's no question about it, there was never any intention to share the land. Don't listen to Ant he is literally speaking out of his butthole.