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The following first appeared in the private email list IVy-subscribers,
which is available to all those who subscribe to the
printed magazine, International Viewpoints. 
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How the US of A, and of course the West, was won
by Phil Spickler
4 Apr 01

       Speaking of how the noble savages, that is to say the Native American
-- some like to refer to the Native American as the "Red Man" or "our
Indians" -- cheerfully, and out of the supreme generosity of their sweet
souls did, without any resistance or bad indicators, turn over all the
mountains and the prairies and the rivers and all the wonderful flora and
fauna of the United States to their kindly and sweet-hearted and generous and
honest white Christian brothers, just for the asking, is quite an interesting
and somewhat less than proud history.

         Although I think the folks that turned the 13 original colonies into
the United States of America may have suffered from some altruistic motives,
since they were in large part of sturdy European stock and without detracting
from their great flair for words and deeds, and in spite of that amazing
mouthpiece and topnotch firebrand of revolution Thomas Paine, they may have
yet been motivated by such things as the joys of slavery, the supremacy of
white landed gentry (how very European!), the recognition that it would be no
problem at all to take everything in terms of land and wealth away from the
Native Americans, who were mistakenly called Indians because Christopher
Columbus thought when he saw land that he had made it all the way to India --
I guess they gave the title of Great Navigator to someone else, of Portuguese
descent.

        Anyhow, our fore- or five-fathers did in large part make their break
with the mother country in order to have it all, and eventually, as I write
this note, it's true -- we got it all, including Alaska and Hawaii.  Well
anyway, and in deference to Ray of Krenik, I think there were some folks that
were motivated by the desire for the free practice of various forms of
Christianity, and after listening to various impassioned speeches believed
that our real argument with England was too many taxes and not enough
representation.

          One of the sad things about history is that, when you read the
version of it written by the winners, it usually leaves out most of Flow 2,
which is the overt-act flow.  And just like when you're first auditing a pc,
perhaps on Grade 2, often they will give you their motivators, or
explanations for why they had to do the unpleasant things that they've done
in their lives; and so goes history.  It even applies to nations and how they
get formed.

         The United States in number of years is pretty young, as countries
go, and we're still in very heavy denial about our early history in what we
did to the indigenous peoples and the slaves in order that we might enjoy the
bounty that, as our television preachers tell us, was given to us, ordained
if you will, by that friendly old character Jehovah and his principal
spokesperson, the one called Jesus.

         Every so often, you might run into a conscious person in this country
that realizes we have not only accepted stolen property but are living on it.
  The degree to which the overts against the existing civilizations of this
part of the world have been lessened approaches the 100% mark most of the
time.  In the Biblical sense, the sins of the fathers (all four or five of
them) have definitely descended upon their heirs, but we're hoping for a cure
through great material excesses, really like the giant sport-utility vehicles
that we're so proud of -- they're topheavy and roll over easily, killing and
seriously injuring those on board.

         I'll never understand why unlessening an overt is so darned
unpopular.  If anybody has an answer to that, please write in at your own
peril.  I'm now going to cry myself to sleep, and promise to be much more the
high-toned American, member of the only world super-power at this time..  I
just hope, as I say my prayers tonight, that it's not true that power
corrupts, because if it does, I wonder what super-power would do..

         Adios,
          Phil