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November 23, 2005
History as Political Tactic
Politicians and leaders of all types have used history as a means of gaining support from various groups to further political agendas for as long as humans have communicated and walked the earth. This is probably a subject for a book instead of a short blog entry but I felt that it was important to discuss as we begin Thanksgiving weekend, a time to be thankful for the things that we have, including family and friends.
Imagine for a moment a time approximately 1400 years into the future. People whose ancestors were at one time American Indians now live in South America. Brazil, Argentina and Chile are the strongest military counties on the planet. North America is rather destitute. The region still has physical wealth but the people are poor and do little with the land or themselves. The American Indians apply every means of political pressure they can on the South American governments. Maps and globes of the Earth now have Antarctica up instead of down. After a particularly violent war the South American governments give a small section of North America back to the North American Indians. The current indigenous people in the North are outraged. They refuse to accept the new political reality. The region, located on the East Coast of North America, prospers. The Indians worship their old gods and reinvigorate their old customs. Many want to re-claim all the old land. The current residents are outraged and refuse to accede to the new reality. The Indians establish a strong economic and military state, one which is stronger than any other country on the continent. They name the state Israel. The surrounding countries on the continent refuse to accept the loss of their lands to the new Indian state.
Let's stop there for a moment and consider a couple of other territories, specifically the real Israel, Taiwan and Tibet. What right do the Chinese have to Tibet and Taiwan? From a historical perspective they have certainly played a significant role in governing or influencing their politics at various times in history. If one reads about their past, a google search will provide you with a great deal of information, you will see that a couple of hundred years of some sort of political influence in regions that have thousands of years of history does not necessarily indicate a right to eternal control and political domination. It seems that we have a situation of "might makes right." Israel isn't about to give all their land back to the Palestinians any more than we are going to give all our land back to the Indians.
Leaders of various sorts, I include religious as well as political, often use history as a means to rally the team. They look at one view of history in one area at one time and turn it into a cause, a strategy to consolidate and focus political action. Think of how many times throughout history leaders scream that "so and so took our land", this book or document, written hundreds or thousands of years ago, says that this region is ours, or we, whoever we is, are the chosen people and have all rights to whatever. People get angry, arrogant and violent as a result.
The past is filled with groups conquering other groups, oftentimes forcing them to move or migrate. They might be North American Indians, South American Indians, Europeans, Asians, Africans or Islanders, it doesn't really matter. The point here is for us to be thankful for the things that we have and also be thankful for where we came from, but not in some way that indicates we have a right to something that does not specifically belong to us. And if it did, there is only so much one can do before we begin to not only hurt others, but hurt ourselves. Life is too short to waste consumed by the past. The past should be a guide to make us better and wiser for the future not the past. Going in reverse is a bad idea. Tear out the rear view mirror, move on. Eat some turkey
Posted by Chip Spear at November 23, 2005 5:46 PM