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November 11, 2009
Another Progressive Myth Debunked (Meaning, Proven to be Bunk)
Posted by Gregory of Yardale at November 11, 2009 5:26 AM
Part of the mythology of the Environmentalist Left is that prior to the arrival of evil white Christian capitalists (EWCC), the Western Hemisphere was a pristine, unspoiled Eden. The Native Americans, according to progressive mythology, lived in peace and harmony with their environment, which was untouched until EWCC ruined it with agriculture and urban development.
Conservatives have long expected this was a big load of poopie. And environmental scientists have confirmed that, yeah, it was pretty much a big load of poopie. The Indians were raping the environment for thousands of years before the EWCC arrived.
Indians were here far longer than previously thought, these researchers believe, and in much greater numbers. And they were so successful at imposing their will on the landscape that in 1492 Columbus set foot in a hemisphere thoroughly dominated by humankind.[...]
The Beni is a case in point. ... To keep the habitat clear of unwanted trees and undergrowth, they regularly set huge areas on fire. Over the centuries the burning created an intricate ecosystem of fire-adapted plant species dependent on native pyrophilia. [...]
IOW, the Indians expressed their harmony with the environment by setting massive forest fires.
Oh, and you know that rainforest thingy? The Indians probably made that, too.
Amazonia has become the emblem of vanishing wilderness—an admonitory image of untouched Nature. Yet recently a growing number of researchers have come to believe that Indian societies had an enormous environmental impact on the jungle. Indeed, some anthropologists have called the Amazon forest itself a cultural artifact—that is, an artificial object. [...]
So, basically, everything the environmental left has claimed about pre-Columbian America is a falsehood. What are the odds they are telling the truth about Global Warming?
Comments
Indians cultivated the rainforest? Nice job...
Posted by: Judith M. at November 11, 2009 6:46 AM
Well, the Indians knew that fire can be your friend. Modern foresters use clearburning all the time, it's quite effective. Granted, it's temporarily ugly, but mother nature comes back in force quickly.
Posted by: Karin at November 11, 2009 7:05 AM
The Indian's low technolgy hunter-gatherer culture cetainly did not have the kind of impact our higher technology agricultural culture did, but it was more a matter of ability than morals. They would have bulldozed the rainforest if they could have. Even without bulldozers, Indians did in fact have a huge impact on the environment of the Americas. As soon as they got here, they proceeded to kill off all the large species they could eat, mammoths, mastadons, ground sloths, etc. and with them most of the things that could eat them - lions, saber tooth tigers etc. Long before Europeans got here, all mammal species over 2,000 lbs. had been made extinct. Indian culture was restrained from further environmental impact only by their capacity to do so, not by an ethos of "respect for nature". Given time, they would have gotten around to developing the tools needed to chop down the rainforest, whether Europeans ever got here or not.
Posted by: Beef at November 11, 2009 7:51 AM
Back when they were calling the rainforests the LUNGS OF THE EARTH(only if you subcribe to this gaia nonsense)or how they were dissapearing at a alarming rate and it was all a bunch of bunk and now becuase of the tree hugger idiots our forests are in a mess
Posted by: SPURWING PLOVER at November 11, 2009 8:47 AM
Back in the 1990s when hollyweird was making all those dumb enviromental movies like FERNGULLY,MEDICINE MAN,FOREST WARRIOR etc and bombing big time
Posted by: Flu-Bird at November 11, 2009 8:50 AM
Another thing: American Indians perpetuated a major source of terror for settlers and travelers. Indians simply did to white America what they had been doing to each other for thousands of years.
It would have been senseless not to try and stop it because the country was growing.
Just bc the Indian never invented anything or even discovered the wheel, does not automatically render them bashful, barefoot boys in the meadow.
The Indian wars were in large part, a reaction to Indian atrocities, and now seem draconian from our modern PC perspective but in fact, not much back then wasn't draconian.
Posted by: Fiberal at November 11, 2009 11:09 AM
And BTW, Indians never gave two hoots about any damn treaty until they lost.
Posted by: Fiberal at November 11, 2009 11:10 AM
RE: Posted by: Fiberal at November 11, 2009 11:09 AM
Add to it this, Fiberal: Liberal mythology holds that it was the "White Man" that brought racism and slavery and genocide to these shores.
It was already here. The "indigenous peoples", aka the "Native Americans" were practicing it against each other for centuries.
Wanna see something really interesting? Mention "Native American" spiritualism in a room full of liberals, and they'll all nod and murmer knowingly about the spiritual, mystical forces we can't see- and how. "there's really something to that stuff", and we should be "respectful of others beliefs".
Then mention Christianity....
Posted by: TonyD95B at November 11, 2009 4:51 PM
TonyD95B at November 11, 2009 4:51 PM
Didn't think I would get any like-mindedness on this one; what with the sacred status of Indians in this country.
Just a personal note: I spent time with Indians with the intent to learn about spirituality and nature's way.
What I figured out was that Indians are funny, jealous, petty, mean, kind, happy, superstitious, enlightened, greedy, hard working, generous, cynical, philosophical and forward-thinking, reticent, ingenious, modest, argumentative, easy-going, arrogant, depressed, naive, smart and lazy.
Like any other group of humans.
Posted by: Fiberal at November 11, 2009 6:07 PM
Hey eco-freaks to make those totempoles and everything they needed the indians had to chop down trees
Posted by: REPLENDENT QUETZAL at November 11, 2009 9:36 PM
