On 10/10/07, <b class="gmail_sendername">Mathieu Bouchard</b> <<a href="mailto:matju@artengine.ca">matju@artengine.ca</a>> wrote:<div><span class="gmail_quote"></span><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
On Wed, 10 Oct 2007, Chris McCormick wrote:<br>> whilst there is no similar widespread cliche for western invaders in our<br>> culture is testament to this fact.<br><br>I believe that "colonialism" and "imperialism" are widespread words,
<br>concepts and clichés, that are loaded by several centuries of history.</blockquote><div><br>Absolutely. I'm not sure which culture is "our" culture, but in mine I have read and heard more bad about the white invaders than any others, especially Mongolians. The fact that Europeans were ever enslaved by Africans is almost completely gone from history books or general knowledge. The notion that Europeans savagely trampled a world full of peaceful, altruistic people throughout history seems to be pretty widespread.
<br>It also seems to me that hacker culture uses lots of terms tongue-in-cheek, and that a reference to Mongolian hordes may even be, in some folks' minds, a jab at the Westerners who coined the term. Americans today make ironic references to the "Axis of Evil" and the "war on terror" and "homeland security" all the time. It doesn't mean they buy it, even if the media makes it seem that way.
<br><br>-Chuckk<br></div></div><br>-- <br><a href="http://www.badmuthahubbard.com">http://www.badmuthahubbard.com</a><br><br>