At 10:48 AM 2/9/99 -0500, Charles Brown wrote: >Overall, I just wish the Europeans had had more respect for the indigenous societies, because I think our species would be better off with a wider variety of cultures, and preservation of the knowledge and cultural treasuries of the indigenous peoples. I would like to see the whole range of human cultural types, modes of production , from history preserved so that maybe even part of basic education would be for children to live and learn them, reiterating cultural evolution , so to speak. There may have been knowledge of many natural medicines, herbs and "spices", which are now lost. Also, our gungho technological development regime could use some of the Indian philosophy of ecological harmony. It is perhaps wishful thinking now, but I would like to see more of a synthesis of the wisdoms of various phases of human development, rather than obliteration of the socalled primitive ways of life. --snip--- Sounds like a great idea to me as well. I just have one little problem, who would live in those "reservations" of pre-modern life? The reservations as we know them may be tourist attractions, but they are also breeding grounds for poverty and hopelessness. PS. When I was in Mexico City I was surprised at the level of integration of the pre-Columbian and European cultures. For Mexicans, the history of their state does not start with a decree signed by a few white property-owning men but goes back to the Aztec times. Mexicans (at least those whom I met) see their national identity as a mixture of the Aztec and the Spanish culture. I see such integration, even if largely symbolic, a better way of preserving the past, than relegating it to reservations, as practiced in this country. BTW, how many Americans would describe their national identity as a mixture of different European, Asian and Native cultures? Based on what I've seen it is mostly "England, England ueber alles." Regards, Wojtek
