Re: Paki gets his turban in a spin

Gareth Jones (gareth@ibis.demon.co.uk)
Wed, 27 Nov 1996 15:51:31 GMT

Paul Allen <paul@rbsltd.demon.co.uk> wrote:

>Every nation on Earth had the same opportunities. Some had the ability
>or advantage to seize an opportunity, others didn't.

So presumably if you were writing in the 4th millennium BC when only
the Sumerians were doing anything more than eating berries and
chipping flints, you would have declared them genetically superior and
all the other races testosterone laiden failures (or is testosterone
just Dunc's hobby horse - what's yours?). Then a thousand years later
you would be telling us that yes, europeans were brainless because
(perhaps) the rain got into their skulls, but the Egyptians and the
Semites in mesopotamia were indeed destined for greatness - after all,
didn't everyone have the same opportunities? Presumably it was their
common ancestry that made them so magnificent and inspired their
buildings, their writing and their great wars of conquest.

Then again maybe this cuts no ice with you because, as your statement
suggests, you know nothing about history. Why is it that europe has
enjoyed a literate culture for over two thousand years, whereas
central africa has not? Is it because of genetics? Didn't we all have
the same opportunities? No - in fact it is simply down to the fact
that the semites who invented alpabetical writing happened to live on
the mediterranean coast...that's all.

Gareth Jones