After having had Jared Diamond’s Guns, germs and steel in my to read list for over a year, I have eventually got to reading it.
As the title of the post suggest, this is what happened in Nz not so long ago. Diamond writes
[..]before the Moriori could deliver that offer, the Maori attacked end masse. Over the next few days, they killed hundreds of Moriori, cooked and ate many of the bodies, and enslaved all the others, killing most of them too over the next few years as it suited their whim.
A Maori conqueror explained,“we took possession…in accordance with our customs and we caught all the people. Not one escaped. Some ran away from us, these we killed, and others we killed -but what of that? It was in accordance with our custom.”
And that, my friends, is only a glimpse of how history has played out in some places.
Random thoughts 
Humanity & civilization doesn’t run very deep, & we’re still such a murderous lot.
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No, it doesn’t. You should read of what happened at Cajamarca when the Spaniards got there
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I can imagine, but I’ve read too much that has made me sick, so I can’t really handle any more.
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You have chosen well my friend.
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Cruelty seems to be part of the human DNA 😩
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It does seem so
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That’s interesting Mak. When the Brits colonised Aus they managed to eradicate all the aboriginals in Tasmania but they were met with far more resistance by the Maori in NZ, which led to them agreeing to the Treaty of Waitangi. We’ve had some good Maori pals in the past. Nice, generous-spirited people. Good thing I hadn’t read that book.
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The Maori managed to stage a more sustained resistance because they were much better prepared unlike the Moriori whom they had decimated earlier.
The history of conquest is really bloody. And sad
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Maoris = warriors, to me. Plus, NZ plays good rugby.
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I think you are right about the Maoris. But I think if the Spaniards take the trophy
It will take me a while to acquire the taste for rugby or most sports generally.
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Spaniards play football. All Blacks play rugby. In the UK we have rugby league (where I come from) and rugby union (where my partner comes from – South Wales). Although Wales have acquitted themselves well in football recently.
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I meant compared to the Maori warriors, the Spaniards were in class of their own. They were doing it all in the good name of Jesus and King.
Football, rugby and many other sports have rarely managed to grab my attention for longer than 40 minutes
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The Spaniards didn’t do too well with Gibraltar 🙂
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They were lucky
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For a minute there, I thought I was reading excerpts from the Bible. I am reminded of an article, Peace Among Primates , by Dr. Robert Sapolsky, which I have mentioned here in the past.
He states that throughout history, militaries have unconsciously emulated the murderous border patrols of closely related male chimps, forming small, stable units; inculcating them with rituals of pseudokinship; thereby producing efficient, cooperative killing machines.
Furthermore, he states that humans are hard-wired for xenophobia, to get edgy around the “Other”, but our views on who falls into that category are decidedly malleable. This behavior appears to be predominant in highly stratified cultures. Humans simply aren’t that much different than other primate species with rigid hierarchies. Those at the top seize a disproportionate share of the spoils, enforcing this inequity with ferocious aggression.
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Maybe the bible was their model.
I will finish that article later, just skimmed through.
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I think Victoria touched on the pertinent issue here. Like all mammalian species, Homo sapiens exhibit a wide range of behavior. Those individuals who are most aggressive, most cunning, and most emotionally cold-blooded are most likely to seek positions of leadership.
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Nothing to add here
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I confess that I’ve killed thousands (perhaps even tens of thousands) of mosquitoes. But those nasty little bloodsuckers attacked me without provocation, so I feel little remorse for the blood on my hands.
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I used to murder mosquitoes but it seems we have reached a settlement. I stay out of their way, they stay out of mine. This has worked well for a while now.
The dead mosquitoes forgive you
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Consider yourself fortunate to have such an enlightened species of mosquito in your midst. Ours were not as amenable to reason, so they are now being countered with drone strikes.
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I think instead of introducing insecticide treated nets, they should have introduced dragonflies in the countryside and of course jasmine 🙂
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Jasmine my friend. Jasmine every time.
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My present domicile has no mosquitoes but should they pay me a visit, they will find jasmine waiting for them
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Yes, this is part of our history. Yes, that is something that happened and yes, at the time it was literally fight or die. What you didn’t post is that our waka (or canoe) had been sailing the pacific for what could have been years. Can you imagine finding land after years? There were people on it, and what happened to them is unspeakable. But you are seeing it from a modern perspective and not from survival. And as for the British Colonizing NZ, well, they found it near on impossible and continue to find it difficult because we as a race have warrior, navigator, political, strategic blood. Anyway, that’s my take on it.
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Good friend, I think all I have done is to record what I read and add a comment that our history is filled with bloodshed. I have not made a judgement on the reason for the bloodshed.
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