Rhetoric Midterm
Following the Sun Into Darkness: Enlightened Beginnings of Racist Doctrine
The belief in a free and democratic America claims kinship with the exclusive and mythic Aryan race. The Aryans are a people said to originate in the woods of Germany; they are a brave, strong, warrior people, loving freedom and the implementation of democratic rule. Those who claim descendency: Anglo-Saxon, Norman, European, Scandinavian, cling to their heritage as though their very existence depended on it. In actuality, these special people do not exist at all. They are a product of ethnocentrism and nationalism at its very worst. The legacy of these mythic people is not only real but deadly to those not counted among them or deemed inferior.
Eastern Origins of Western Civilization author John Hobson chronicles the concept that western civilization, built on Aryan ideals and principles, is autonomous. Many believe freedom and democracy originate in the Aryan political systems creating the catalyst for the domination of other races. Because of their innate abilities these Aryans were decreed by fate or destiny to spread their way of life regardless of the others they encountered.
Hobson correctly dispels this notion that the West sprang from the mere industry of the Aryan descendents by pointing out the Eastern, specifically Chinese and Muslim contributions that enabled the west to prosper. Some examples are the Chinese technology of shipbuilding and the Muslim doctrine of trade that were required for the growth of Western civilization. The autonomous West is further discredited by Hobson's examination of the building of American interests.
America's success provided some with "proof" of the destined greatness attributed to Western Civilization. However, the ramification of American success no longer supports the special freedom democratic loving model of the Aryan [European] people. The annihilation of the Native Americans and the enslavement of the Africans are an encompassing shadow on the enlightenment creed espoused.
Where Hobson challenges the autonomous nature of Western Civilization, authors Lincoln, Traverso, and Trautman specifically trace the myths of white supremacy in relation to Judaism. If the Aryans were seen as the chosen people, the Jews were cast as the enemy of all good and wholesome. When seem in conjunction with the inhuman disregard for Native Americans and Africans, Nietzsche's Aryan or "Blond Beast" is indeed bestial. The extermination of non Aryans was the product of what began as a doctrine of government.
Europe, and by extension America set about its colonization of the world because of the idea that the special chosen people would spread democracy. It was a special mission given to these chosen people. The proof of this mission was merely its success. According to Hobson, the Muslims actually propagated the idea of a free and independent man, though it is deemed a uniquely western ideal. From the German woods to England to America, supremacy first came in form of political identity but was quickly transformed into national and racial identity.
Reginald Horsman, Race and Manifest Destiny, chronicles the change in the supremacy doctrine. He points out the arguments between the scholars in fields of phrenology, philosophy, and religion, that all give way to racist ideas although they can not be empirically proven. Where discussions of monogenetics once had religious support, studies promoting polygenetics overwhelmed because Europeans would not accept common ancestry with non-Aryans. When the medical field proved no real differences only radicals with unproven theories or rants were popularized because, again, Europeans could not accept they were equal to the non-whites they cruelly subjugated. The supposed good brave democratic Aryan people needed a reason to allow their atrocities to flourish and they found it in their new doctrine of racial superiority.
Lincoln tells us of a path from East to West, the destined path of the Sun that the Aryans follow, a path of lies, oppression, and bigotry. A path that may have begun to spread good but instead caused the deaths of millions of Jews, Africans, and Native Americans in its wake.
The belief in a free and democratic America claims kinship with the exclusive and mythic Aryan race. The Aryans are a people said to originate in the woods of Germany; they are a brave, strong, warrior people, loving freedom and the implementation of democratic rule. Those who claim descendency: Anglo-Saxon, Norman, European, Scandinavian, cling to their heritage as though their very existence depended on it. In actuality, these special people do not exist at all. They are a product of ethnocentrism and nationalism at its very worst. The legacy of these mythic people is not only real but deadly to those not counted among them or deemed inferior.
Eastern Origins of Western Civilization author John Hobson chronicles the concept that western civilization, built on Aryan ideals and principles, is autonomous. Many believe freedom and democracy originate in the Aryan political systems creating the catalyst for the domination of other races. Because of their innate abilities these Aryans were decreed by fate or destiny to spread their way of life regardless of the others they encountered.
Hobson correctly dispels this notion that the West sprang from the mere industry of the Aryan descendents by pointing out the Eastern, specifically Chinese and Muslim contributions that enabled the west to prosper. Some examples are the Chinese technology of shipbuilding and the Muslim doctrine of trade that were required for the growth of Western civilization. The autonomous West is further discredited by Hobson's examination of the building of American interests.
America's success provided some with "proof" of the destined greatness attributed to Western Civilization. However, the ramification of American success no longer supports the special freedom democratic loving model of the Aryan [European] people. The annihilation of the Native Americans and the enslavement of the Africans are an encompassing shadow on the enlightenment creed espoused.
Where Hobson challenges the autonomous nature of Western Civilization, authors Lincoln, Traverso, and Trautman specifically trace the myths of white supremacy in relation to Judaism. If the Aryans were seen as the chosen people, the Jews were cast as the enemy of all good and wholesome. When seem in conjunction with the inhuman disregard for Native Americans and Africans, Nietzsche's Aryan or "Blond Beast" is indeed bestial. The extermination of non Aryans was the product of what began as a doctrine of government.
Europe, and by extension America set about its colonization of the world because of the idea that the special chosen people would spread democracy. It was a special mission given to these chosen people. The proof of this mission was merely its success. According to Hobson, the Muslims actually propagated the idea of a free and independent man, though it is deemed a uniquely western ideal. From the German woods to England to America, supremacy first came in form of political identity but was quickly transformed into national and racial identity.
Reginald Horsman, Race and Manifest Destiny, chronicles the change in the supremacy doctrine. He points out the arguments between the scholars in fields of phrenology, philosophy, and religion, that all give way to racist ideas although they can not be empirically proven. Where discussions of monogenetics once had religious support, studies promoting polygenetics overwhelmed because Europeans would not accept common ancestry with non-Aryans. When the medical field proved no real differences only radicals with unproven theories or rants were popularized because, again, Europeans could not accept they were equal to the non-whites they cruelly subjugated. The supposed good brave democratic Aryan people needed a reason to allow their atrocities to flourish and they found it in their new doctrine of racial superiority.
Lincoln tells us of a path from East to West, the destined path of the Sun that the Aryans follow, a path of lies, oppression, and bigotry. A path that may have begun to spread good but instead caused the deaths of millions of Jews, Africans, and Native Americans in its wake.
posted by Krys @ 7:14 PM
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