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> The American obsession with race is deeply rooted in … [history of slavery] I think that’s part of it. But Europeans invented (or at least widely commerciali
by keepamovin 3y ago
> The American obsession with race is deeply rooted in … [history of slavery]
I think that’s part of it. But Europeans invented (or at least widely commercialized ) this instance of slavery, and they aren’t fretting about it. I think America’s fiery vivisection of its own morality Probably comes more out of Its role as “world saving hero police” in WWII.
The ‘suddenly thrust upon them heroism’ caused them, in the subsequent decades, to then intensively examine all the ways they were, perhaps, not living up to it.
And also, I think there’s a more fundamental thing that by being in a role of “world police” you necessarily have to use violence, but whenever you use violence, there’s always inevitably guilt and shame attached to that somewhere in the psyche, or the collective subconscious.
So… while much of the violence may have been done under the idea of righteousness, I don’t think the American people can easily escape the guilt that comes with that and I think that’s one of the reasons they kind of have such Tumultuous self reflection, about how good they really are or not.
Pretty complex national psyche.
- eapressoandcats 3y agoYes Europeans invented slavery, but the deadliest war as a percentage of the population in American history was the American Civil War. This lead to a period of violent segregation and repression even after the Union won. In many places Black people had effectively fewer rights than naturalized and second generation immigrants and until at least 1964. I agree that there is other complexity for the US psyche but slavery and segregation is huge.
- zaroth 3y agoEuropeans did not in fact invent slavery.
- eapressoandcats 3y agoI was responding to this person’s more precise comment with shorthand. But yes, specifically Europeans invented transporting Africans from Sub-Saharan Africa to plantations in the Americas to do labor intensive harvesting of sugar, tobacco, and cotton. His point was that Americans didn’t uniquely invent that institution, not that there was no slavery outside of Europe.
- keepamovin 3y agoHmmm, war is often fought under a 'banner' that is different from the fundamental motivations. This the the classic "Jihadi's Dilemma": you need to craft an ideology to recruit those willing to die in the name of it. Race has been a reliable 'cause-de-celebre' in the US politik for long eras, seemingly. I think you ought focus less on these superficial causes and more on fundamental ones: economics, resources, capital.