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Re: Republicanism still an ...

TradeSurplus
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SubjectRe: Republicanism still an offence in England? (wasRe: Queen mother (of
FromTradeSurplus
Date2002-04-17 19:34 (2002-04-17 19:34)
Message-ID<dmiv8.13056$L04.3826609209@newssvr10.news.prodigy.com>
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Newsgroupsalt.fan.tolkien
FollowsRuss
Russ wrote ...

Russ
"TradeSurplus" <tradesurplus@hotmail.com>writes:

TradeSurplus
Russ wrote ...

Is there any particular reason conquest followed by occupation is any

better

than conquest followed by occupation and colonization?

Yes there is. Conquest followed by occupation allows the possibility of liberation and a return to freedom for the conquered people and in any

case,

allows that people's continued existence. Conquest followed by occupation and colonization results in the destruction of the conquered people (over

a

couple or three generations maybe, unless you're unfortunate like the

native

americans). This is a bad thing. I won't explain in this post why the destruction of an entire people is a bad thing because I hope that you

know

why already. If not, let me know and I'll explain further.

Russ
That's a worst-case scenario. Colonization often results in a good fusing

of

cultures. Do you consider the spread of Greek and later Roman culture a

bad

thing? How about the Roman-Celtic-German Gallic culture?

The Roman colonization of France (for example. The same applies to Greek colonies and other Roman colonies) resulted in the destruction of the celtic culture that preceded it. You may argue that the emergent Romano-Gallic culture was nicer, or more civilized, or better by whatever criteria you want to judge such things than the pre-Roman celtic culture but it does not excuse the destruction of that celtic culture by force. If the Celts wanted to adopt Roman ways (which they observed through contact with the city of Rome) because they thought they were superior that's fair enough. But they had Roman ways imposed on them, against their choice, and their civilization was destroyed, along with all their religions, traditions and way of life. The use of force to destroy a people can never be justified, even if the resulting new civilization is "better" by our standards of judgement.

Trade.