Re: what exactly do anthropologists do?

Gerold Firl (geroldf@sdd.hp.com)
10 Jul 1995 13:10:27 -0700

In article <swamyraj-0707951806430001@e15076.jsri.msu.edu> swamyraj@student.msu.edu (raja) writes:
>In article <3thfvoINN57@hpsdlmc1.sdd.hp.com>, geroldf@sdd.hp.com (Gerold
>Firl) wrote:

>> Aggression has happened, is happening, and will happen. That's life, that's
>> history. I make no "apology" for it, but I do recognize the existance of
>> aggression and the role it has played in creating the world as it is.

>Recognize, you do, but what have you said of the struggle against it? So
>far very little.

Here's a little story you may find amusing.

I date the origin of modern capitalism to 1566, when the protestant dutch
territories revolted against the spanish usurpation of their traditional
liberties. The habsburgs were attempting to enforce religious orthodoxy,
and sent the duke of alva to smash the rebellion. Spanish infantry was able
to eliminate overt opposition, and the kind of savage repression typically
used by imperial autocrats was superficially successful at quashing
dissent. But someof the rebels escaped to england and germany; known as the
"sea beggars" they preyed on spanish shipping and published revolutionary
pamphlets. When phillip II pressured elizabeth to expell the subversives,
the sea beggars returned to the netherlands, where the frisian maritime
provinces of holland and zealand once more rose in revolt. The spanish
armies were unbeatable in the field, but they could not take the islands of
the rhine delta. After 4 years of siege warfare, phillip had exhausted his
credit, and spain was bankrupt.

Spain would continue to attempt a dutch reconquest for another 70 or 80
years before finally recognizing the impossibility of turning back the
clock; all the while, amsterdam was booming, creating all the modern
mechanisms of capitalism - banks, stock exchanges, and fiscal speculation/
investment vehicles.

Here we see the connection between the struggle for freedom and the
creation of the modern world. The struggle is far from over, though we've
come a long way.

>Indian people will stand up and defeat their oppressors
>just as surely as the American people will stand up and defeat theirs.

and just who are the oppressors of the indian people?

-- 
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=---- Gerold Firl @ ..hplabs!hp-sdd!geroldf