History is causal.
Above all, it is existential.
“What would have been if …..?” can never be more than a thought experiment. Wishing away horrific events in the past is not just pointless, it is a form of denial of “what is”. Being proud of past generations or apologising for their actions are both equally inane.
- Without prophets, gods would not exist
- Without the rise of the Roman Empire, we wouldn’t have highways
- Without the fall of the Roman Empire, we wouldn’t have Ferraris today
- Without the European colonisation of the Americas, native Americans would still be primitive hunter gatherers
- Without the European colonisation of the Americas, Asian cuisine (horror of horrors) would not include chillies
- Without the colonisation of Australia, the aborigines would be either extinct or speaking Chinese,
- Without British colonisation, the Indian sub-continent would be a mishmash of little warring kingdoms,
- Without Hitler, Israel would probably not exist today.
Apologising for what previous generations or your ancestors may have done makes no sense.
If you must apologise, apologise for what your children and your descendants may do.
Tags: History
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