So the Europeans thought, Gee, lets go to other places where the Natives don't have our idea of land ownership and the concept of a State and property laws, and we will take their land and impose our notion of State and property laws on them, at which point land ownership will now be legal and enforced, and we will own most of the place. Damn, what a smart idea.
de Tocqueville has a quote somewhere, to the effect that "Never were men destroyed with such attention to legality."
But seriously, apart from declaring the entire continent a nature preserve to be left to the Indians, I don't see what else could have happened, once the groups came into contact. Civilized men have many advantages, and the guns are only a small part. The capacity for implementing systems of self-organization - ie. property rights & law - is much more.
BTW, I do agree that given enough calm thinking, the Arabs should have understood that the creation of a Jewish state with well thought out policies might be a benefit for the region. But I've never seen any group of people cede much of their homeland to intruders with a happy smile anywhere else. If you expect the Arabs to do that, you should expect the Rednecks of America to welcome Mexicans
That's true. But the place was hardly a great center. We are talking brownfield redevelopment here. If they had leaders who could have entertained the notion of any negotiations instead of opting for 'slaughter the Jews' on principle, something could have been worked out that would have been to everybody's benefit. |
