No, I don't view it as idyllic. The middle ages was oppressive to most people of that era. But just because, an oppressive society disappears does not mean it will be followed by a better one. The slave trade differed from previous forms of slavery in that it treated human beings as commodities. They became property with a value. Thomas Jefferson the philosophical cornerstone of our nation, refused to free his slaves solely because their return on investment that slaves provided exceeded any other investment opportunities. This approach to slavery separated if from that practiced in the Islamic world. European culture went from oppressing their own citizens to oppressing everyone else, so from the view point of native American culture, the midde ages was idyllic. Can you really argue that their life improved after Columbus came to the Americas?
I don't believe it will go fascist, nobody knows. But when people abandoned belief systems completely, something always takes its place and that something is not always better. Just look at when the US people invaded Iraq and all those goofy pundits like Tom Friedman claimed the US was going to install a liberal democracy in the heart of the middle east. How is that working out for ya?
I think when people look at Europe and the opening up of society, they are actually looking at the collapse of Christianity, and the elimination of its stranglehold on western Europe. Unfortunately, that belief system was replaced with mercantilism which created such human rights horrors as the middle passage. It wreaked havoc on all the non European populations of the world. Then other non-religious belief systems arose such as fascism and communism which also created human misery on a massive scale. So for the people who hope that Islam might go away, be careful what you wish for. The ideology that replaces it might be infinitely worse.
No, I don't view it as idyllic. The middle ages was oppressive to most people of that era. But just because, an oppressive society disappears does not mean it will be followed by a better one. The slave trade differed from previous forms of slavery in that it treated human beings as commodities. They became property with a value. Thomas Jefferson the philosophical cornerstone of our nation, refused to free his slaves solely because their return on investment that slaves provided exceeded any other investment opportunities. This approach to slavery separated if from that practiced in the Islamic world. European culture went from oppressing their own citizens to oppressing everyone else, so from the view point of native American culture, the midde ages was idyllic. Can you really argue that their life improved after Columbus came to the Americas?
I don't believe it will go fascist, nobody knows. But when people abandoned belief systems completely, something always takes its place and that something is not always better. Just look at when the US people invaded Iraq and all those goofy pundits like Tom Friedman claimed the US was going to install a liberal democracy in the heart of the middle east. How is that working out for ya?
I think when people look at Europe and the opening up of society, they are actually looking at the collapse of Christianity, and the elimination of its stranglehold on western Europe. Unfortunately, that belief system was replaced with mercantilism which created such human rights horrors as the middle passage. It wreaked havoc on all the non European populations of the world. Then other non-religious belief systems arose such as fascism and communism which also created human misery on a massive scale. So for the people who hope that Islam might go away, be careful what you wish for. The ideology that replaces it might be infinitely worse.