March 9, 2010

• A Historic Summary...........Really

  As I have mentioned numerous times here over the course of the past couple of months, I recently read a book about American history called "Don't Know Much About History" by Kenneth C Davis. Just one last post about the book. I would recommend it to anybody who is a history buff or who just wants to learn more about American history. I did not find it as funny and as amusing as the book jacket would lead you to believe. Its not that I don't have a sense of humor about American history, its just that there was not a lot of humor in the book. It is very informative though and for that, it is well worth the read.

  I guess I always knew this, but one of the things I learned was just how much of a violent past America has. From its founding and even before winning our independence from England, America seems to have gone from one war to the next often times without asking questions. And in a lot of cases, the wars overlap. America is a war loving country, always has been, which is tragic because war is the worst thing in the world. Even after reading the book, I still don't have a clear understanding why we were even some of these wars. My feeling about war is that because of how horrible it is and the toll it takes on, oh, damn near everything and everybody, we should try to avoid it as much as humanly possible. Obviously that is not always the case; I mean there was no avoiding the Civil War or World War II, among a few others. I've never fought in a war and never been in the military, but I think the people who are in charge of making the decisions that send countries to war need to think more about the consequences of war.

  And its not only war that contributed to America's bloody past. We have a history of bloodshed and atrocities the likes of which would make one sad and embarrassed to be an American. Many people know the shameful past America has with not only blacks but also American Indians. But there were also many race riots and for lack of a better term, race wars that have resulted in far too many deaths and towns being destroyed. Unless you are from the area, you probably don't know much about the race wars in Tulsa, OK and Rosewood, FL in the 1920s (the book was the first place I learned about the Tulsa incident, as for Rosewood, there was a very good movie from about 1997 that I saw about Rosewood). Much is made about American political conflict, both verbal and physical, but there are really no excuses for these race wars.

  Its not to say that America has nothing but a horrible past. I do believe America always has been a great country. There are a lot of great things that have come out of America or because of Americans. We have done a lot of great things, like landing on the moon, finding cures for various diseases and many of the other technological breakthroughs we have seen. And there is a reason so many people want to come to our fine country and why pretty much all of us owe a debt of gratitude to our ancestors that did make the brave trek to the U.S. There are far more great things about America than bad things.

  Its just that America is and always has been flawed. I know that's not exactly breaking news; after all, every country in the world is flawed and not perfect. Much like there will never be a perfect person, there will also never be a perfect country. I'd like to think that America has learned lessons from it's past history and past wrongs, but the reality is that America often makes the same mistakes over and over. All that being said, I don't think there would be another place I would choose to live.

  • 10:45 pm
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