Americans, DMB, 3WD, and all moffers...
------------------------------------------------
Dear Americans,
this is a simple European fellow who's talking.
I admire your way to believe you are the paladins of freedom. I admire the
way you believe you are the good sheriffs defending the whole world from
every bad guys. I admire the way you decide who is good and who is bad.
Ok, I admit that in Europe we had perhaps the worst shames of human history
(fascism, nazism, communism). I know you came 50 years ago to destroy Herr
Hitler and his gang and that you always fought Soviet Union. West Europe,
this Europe we are trying to mould as a mirror of USA, can only thank USA.
BUT.....
I can't accept two concepts.
The first one is when you try to say that you are the inventors of freedom,
democracy and equality.
The second one is when you try to say you are the guardians of freedom,
democracy and equality.
Inventors?
Must I tell you again about Mr. Jesus Christ? Must I tell you about ancient
Athens?
The idea that we are all equal, or that all people must have the same rights
was not born only in America. I live near the free state of San Marino, a
very small republic, the ancient democracy still alive. It has almost 1000
years; it has always been a democracy; slavery has never been admitted; the
power has always been in the hands of the people; when you pass through the
frontier there's a sign with this words "Welcome to the land of freedom".
Guardians?
Do you really think you fought Fascism, Communism and Nazism as a mission in
the name of freedom? Or was it just in the name of that subset of freedom
also known as FREE TRADE? Must I tell you that while you were fighting for
our freedom (AND I THANK YOU AGAIN) you had the shame of slavery in your
houses? IS THIS EQUALITY? Must I tell you that Indians were constricted to
reservations? IS THIS FREEDOM? Must I tell you about Mr. Allende and Mr.
Pinochet? IS THIS DEMOCRACY?
He that is without sin among us, let him cast the first stone....
-----------------------
I already tried to explain my humble opinion about the birth of freedom in
our modern democracies, in my post of last 13 March.
<<A great point of Lila is that the idea of freedom has been imported in
Europe by Indians... I think it's true only in part. 2000 years ago a guy
called Jesus (really a mystic guy, even without Peyote, I guess) tried to
say we are all brothers and equals
[...]
After 1700 years Indians gave us the example that IT WAS POSSIBLE!
[...]
Indian freedom was a sort of "Freedom BEFORE social level". Our modern idea
of freedom is "Freedom AFTER social level>>
(White) Americans are the descendants of that people who escaped from
Europe, SEARCHING FOR FREEDOM. They found the Indians, the savages (on the
East Coast) and saw they had a sort of federation of tribes. That federation
was IMHO a very simple social pattern, not very developed. We also had in
Europe similar patterns, like the collaboration between Etruscan cities 2500
years ago in Tuscany. Then came the Empires and the Kingdoms. Then social
level developed from Romans to Victorians.
That's why I think that Indian idea of freedom was a freedom "before" the
development of social level. Our idea of freedom is a freedom "after" the
social level, an intellectual freedom. This is a very strange kind of
freedom. It's intellectual, so it's built on social foundations. It must
deal with social conventions and is not able to stand without social values.
That's why our democracies close their eyes sometimes in the name of free
trade and money. That's why we are not and never will be really free:
"What happens to someone who sits in a locked room and doesn't answer the
phone, and refuses to come out when someone is knocking at the front door,
even when the kids are home and have turned up the TV?"
(Lila , Chapter one).
Maybe a Plain Indian was more free to spend some time alone in his teepee
than me today.
3W DLT in his "tangent" post points out that both European changed Indians
and Indians changed Europeans.
After 1492 Indian culture was corrupted by European culture and vice versa.
The strange blending of Europeans, Indians, free space, opportunities
preconditioned the crystal seed of modern idea of freedom.
This is my pet theory.
---------------------------------------------
Pet theories...
> It seems its too difficult to put aside one's pet theories, too difficult
to
> empty a cup for the sake of conversation, not even for a moment. What kind
> of blindness is this?
But, David, are you meaning that we must "objectively" read Lila? Do you
really think it's possible put aside our pet theories? Do you want take part
on a philosophological, philological, objective, useless discussion?
-----------------------------------------------
Ciao.
Marco.
p.s.
I trust in Diana. Let's begin from chapter 4.
MOQ.org - http://www.moq.org
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