Of Oppressors and the Oppressed
Published November 29, 2005
In meeting the enemy, perhaps we will find that he is us; in truth, we should remember that the peril lies not always in the pursuit of victory but in the maintenance of it. The seeds of Hitler's rise were found, many historians say, in the harsh dictates of the peace treaty negotiated at the end of World War I. To the victor go the spoils, but the victor best be careful how its winnings are handled. For the oppressed often dream of becoming the oppressor, and those dreams, once reality, often transcend into nightmare.
Author's Note: This article was originally posted at Wallo World.
- Of Oppressors and the Oppressed
- Published: November 29, 2005
- Type: Opinion
- Section: Politics
- Filed Under: Politics: International
- Writer: W.E. Wallo
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Violence and oppression is a necessary evil to ensure the survival of the fittest individuals and societies.
I'm glad the cro-magnon destroyed the neanderthal, the Romans spread their culture in "blood for gold" campaigns, the British had an oppressive empire, and the USA removed and killed the indians. Without those and many other violent oppressive events our modern society could have never arisen. The pacifists would have been slaughtered and we'd still be banging rocks together waiting to die of polio, smallpox, or starvation at the ripe old age of 32.
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It's inherent in the nature of humans - especially males - to be violent and/or cruel, since humans are primates, and primate studies have shown that even the most basic primate species wage 'war', commit 'rape', torment the weak, etc. ad nauseam. Human intellect, unfortunately, is way too shallowly rooted to overrule such genetically inherent tendencies on the part of most people. I'm not sanguine humans will ever be "humane" either to other humans or other creatures in general.