The Event that Caused the Most Damage to Humanity?

[GePap]

The desturction of the Amerindian pops. due to disease.

[St Leo]

I am going to go with the invasion of the Fertile Crescent by the Amorite Arabs who begat the Hebrews who begat Judaism who begat Christianity who begat Islam. Christianity destroyed much of the knowledge and the works of the Roman Empire; Islam did the same to the Persian Empire.

The Creation of the first government/rulership.

Uh, governments are the inevitable result of agriculture. Are you down on that too?

I'd rather be a lemur than a pre-21st century ape.

[General Ludd]

Originally posted by St Leo
Uh, governments are the inevitable result of agriculture. Are you down on that too?

Yes, we should of stayed in our caves.



But it's not neccisarily the inevitable result.... atleast, not the same way as we know them.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by Boris Godunov
Such people aren't born, they are made. I don't think Hitler was destined to become such a man, nor were any of the others.

Isn't there a play being performed in Vienna right now about a young Adolph Hitler? It supposed to show a young man and how he was pushed and pulled by his times so that dormant evil in his personality became the dominant trait.

[MrFun]

Originally posted by St Leo
I am going to go with the invasion of the Fertile Crescent by the Amorite Arabs who begat the Hebrews who begat Judaism who begat Christianity who begat Islam. Christianity destroyed much of the knowledge and the works of the Roman Empire; Islam did the same to the Persian Empire.

Um -- Catholic monasteries, especially Irish monks, were partly responsible for the preservation of future generational knowledge of the ancient world.

And the Catholic religion, while exploitative in the feudal system, did provide some base of stability in the early Middle Ages until better systems would emerge centuries later.

Isn't it the case that if it weren't for Catholic monks, we would probably have far less knowledge of the ancient world that we have, today?

[DuncanK]

"In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue."

I've always like the idea of living in a traditional society. The Native Americans in California only worked 30 hours a day and they didn't have war as it exists in other societies. They might have armed conflicts but the matter would be resolved before someone got killed usually. That's way cool

[KrazyHorse]

The Native Americans in California only worked 30 hours a day

Lucky them.

[Az]

[JohnT]

Originally posted by MrFun

As for me, I cannot settle with just one choice, so here it goes:

1) invention of nuclear weaponry

2) Inquisition (reinforced the use of religion in name of hatred)

3) American imperialism of the late 19th and early 20th centuries

4) the creation of a nation out of a huge asylum -- France

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, WHOA!... wait a minute here! You go on and on and on in thread after thread about evil white male Southerners and their bastardization of the tenth amendment, in essence making "states rights"="codeword for oppression", and you don't even bring that up? Are you feeling ok, Mr. Fun?

I'm going to say the invention of slavery, by some unknown bastard in the deep recesses of history.

[Demerzel]

I still believe that that first monkey who came down from the tree has a lot to answer for. Swinging through the trees all day, eating bananas and getting to sleep lots sounds damn good to me.

I'd also people who inflicted their "civilised" cultures on "barbarian" cultures have caused a heck of a lot of misery and suffering so they can be chucked on the bonfire too.


btw if I remember rightly, didn't the African tribal leaders deliberately go out to capture prisoners from opposing tribes in order to sell them to European slavers? Naughty boys, propagating the slavery trade - the slavers themselves seemed to die pretty quickly & often on the journey from disease though which was nature's way of settling the score.

[JohnT]

[Propaganda]

Originally posted by Provost Harrison
In all seriousness, the rise of Stalin.

Don't piss me off.

[Dr Strangelove]

I nominate whatever it was that drove the Huns to undertake a several generation trek westweard from Mongolia to the plains of the Danube.

[Dr Strangelove]

Originally posted by JohnT

I'm going to say the invention of slavery, by some unknown bastard in the deep recesses of history.

I think that goes back beyond history, since many pre-literate tribes have been known to take slaves.

[JohnT]

Edit: Oh, never mind. I got your point.