Mainly to Kit and why I'm not really moved by The Crucible, but the real reason why I hate history to this day.
Forget all the nonsensical wars that the US shouldn't have been in. Forget the fact that European settlers pretty much came in and stole the land from it's rightful heirs and residents. Forget the fact that the govenrment of the past on to the present sucks dead goats nuts. You hae to forget, or I'll wind up writing a very large book about what is wrong with the world and this country.
But I stopped carrying a long time ago, because when I was in grade school, I had to read how people who looked like me, had the same skin tones, features, and hair types like me, were only considered 3/5 a person... they weren't thought to be a whole human being, even though they looked as I do now.
And the reason they were given that much consideration was just so the southern states would have a louder 'voice' to vote with, even though none of those 3/5 people had a say in what happened.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying this tragedy is any more or less than any other commited by Europe/US. I'm saying this is why I hate history, and this is where I started down my ill-fated road of apathy. Sure, I'm 'politically' considered a whole human being now, but apparently the people I came from weren't. Why should I bother caring when presented with such information?
(I have to say Europe, because if you really look at the majority of history, most of the problems of the world came about because they felt a need to go out to other lands and declare that theirs was the 'right' way, and everyone else was an animal/beast/barbarian if they did not agree. And whether or not anyone over in Europe wants to admit it, most of the people in the US government can pretty much trace their roots back to European bloodlines. I've not a thing against Europe, but I call a spade a spade.)
There's really no reason to cry. The fact that the world is fucked up is old news. Just have to move through it best you can. All we can do is try not to make the same mistakes that the rest of the populous seem to be making. Will it make a difference? Don't know. Probably not, if I'm honest. But since you're one of the rare individuals who actually think about such things, it will let you live better with yourself.
For those who don't think, don't want to learn, and basically just don't give a damn, there's nothing to be done. Offer a smile and be on your way.
Comments: 1 sigh
I don't even think about it anymore, but I had a similar experience with the 3/5 thing. My fifth grade teacher thought that it'd be interesting to have "the only colored person in the class" debate in favor of the compromise. I won the debate. Shut my opponent--my best friend--down. He was giving me strange looks. I felt strangely set apart after that. Which is why I know I should feel like crap when Kit shows me articles about what the government's doing now and all I can muster up is a shrug. Like you said, it's old news.
( 5:18 p.m. )