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| A family favorite - purchased in the nick of time |
And what is the gist? The gist is the problem with board games that portray European Colonialism. That's something I've seen on hobby forums now for the last couple of years. Some have responded to calls that any game portraying the West's colonial past must be censored and eradicated. Other have gone farther, saying all games that portray anything West/America should be eliminated because, well, of course. After all, if you're in Germany in the 30s, you say the same about Jewish anything. Youngsters today are being taught to think 'Jew in Germany' whenever they see anything European/American.
Now, that's just hobby forums where the weird can sometimes overshadow the interesting. And in our day of politics-as-god, where everything down to Stamp Collecting.com must inject fealty to The Party into the mix, you can expect this sort of thing to spiral into lunacy.
But now we have The Atlantic. Take it for what it's worth, it's still regarded as a respected - and quotable - source for analyzing the issues of our time. Which I've noted is sort of what the press has figured out. A dozen years ago, many thought the Internet and Social Media were the doom of journalism. Somehow, some way, journalists learned to survive by weaponizing the same, and now have learned they can advance radical agendas in ways that liberal journalists decades ago only dreamed of.
The gist of this particular story, however, is one of several prongs of the attack. I touched on another prong of attack regarding the Cleveland Indians. This whole 'if it was named anything by a European or Euro-American, you can be it's racist' mantra. The point is to engrain in our minds a Pavlovian response to any term or concept from the Western Tradition. It starts with Gypsy Moths or baseball names or pancake mix clearly being offensive and needing to be eliminated, and ends with other words and phrases - like democracy, liberty, life, rights, religious freedom, and on and on.
The Atlantic piece is another of the Triple Joe* inspiration for the Modern Left. In this case, the eradication of the historical record. We either rewrite the history, or we eradicate the history. There is no learning from it. Presentism and all its accompanying contempt, judgment, condemnation, censorship and iconoclasm yes. But learn? The last thing the Left wants is for people to learn. They need drugs, sex and smartphones. Learning will be done by the beautiful people at the best Hollywood and Manhattan parties.
The shocking thing isn't that this is happening. It's that it's happening so in all its flagrant glory, and yet plowing forward almost unopposed. If we ever pondered how the terrible evils of history were allowed to happen, we need only watch the news or look out our windows and watch how we're letting it all happen again today. As my sons have said many times, we're the generation that finally proves an education isn't enough.
*That is, Joe McCarthy, Joe Goebbels, and Joe Stalin.
Two things come to mind when reading this article.
ReplyDelete1. Board Games aren't supposed to reflect real-world morality. The average game of RISK probably kills more characters than Hitler, Mao and Ghengis Khan combined.
2. I'm all for re-evaluating the romantacised picture of Colonialism often seen in popular culture, as long as we don't go to the opposite extreme of romanticizing the native cultures.
I'm totally ok with dissing Christopher Columbus for his crimes, as long as we are aware that if him and his colleagues hadn't enslaved the Tainos, the native Carib tribes would've probably eventually wiped them up.
I'm not against calling out a board game for whitewashing the Atlantic Slave Trade, as long as we acknowledge that it was Black Merchants in West Africa who sold most of the Slaves to the Whites 8n the first place.
Could it be argued that a Colonialism board game is problematic? The case could be made, but the same case could be made against Tamerlane Chess or the Statues of Gengis Khan in Mongolia.
Most war games - at least up until recently - were of a more analytic approach to history: This person or army did thus. No real glorifying or condemning. They were usually just putting the pertinent facts out, sometimes brutally.
DeleteBut there is no desire to do anything other than the opposite of what you're suggesting unfortunately. All my life - since grade school in the 70s - we learned about slavery, racism, the bad of Columbus, the Trail of Tears and on and on. We also learned, at least in the earlier period of schooling, the other countries were just as bad - if not worse. Likewise, we spent much time learning about the unique positive that the West brought the world.
That is antithetical to the modern approach, which seeks to destroy the West by suggesting it and it alone is why there is evil in an otherwise pristine and beautiful world.
I was homeschooled, so I guess my perspective is skewed to an extent. I was raised with a very simplistic pro-America view. The bad was mentioned at times, but everything was very simplified. Everything was about good guys vs. bad guys. I wasn't taught the bad side of Columbus.
DeleteI was raised with the vaguely explained idea that America was founded on "Christian," ideas, but other than the Puritans of the 1600s, no mention was made of how common it used to be to find anti-Catholic prejudice.
DeleteOn the other hand, my parents also weren't aware until fairly recently that Black Merchants were heavily involved in the Atlantic Slave Trade. Until I did my bbn own research, I was lead to believe that White People actually went into the Jungle and grabbed innocent Black villagers at random.
I was raised with the vaguely explained idea that America was founded on "Christian," ideas, but other than the Puritans of the 1600s, no mention was made of how common it used to be to find anti-Catholic prejudice.
DeleteStrange as it may seem to you, reformed protestants were antagonistic to the Church.
It doesn't seem strange to me. My point is that I was rarely told about it
Delete"Luke Winkie" is his name? Tough break.
ReplyDeleteI'm all for re-evaluating the romantacised picture of Colonialism often seen in popular culture,
ReplyDeleteI'm pushing 60 and I've yet to see it. What you talking about? A Passage to India, Out of Africa, Mr. Johnson?
I was referring to how the "First Thanksgiving," was turned into a cute children's story without mention that it was actually part of a political-millitary alliance. Or how I was raised with the idea that Christopher Columbus was a hero, when he enslaved Taino Islanders and governed the colony so badly his own Spanish colleagues arrested him and sent him to the Spanish King in chains. Maybe romanticizing wasn't the right word to use
DeleteI was referring to how the "First Thanksgiving," was turned into a cute children's story without mention that it was actually part of a political-millitary alliance.
DeleteYes, I'm sure treatises on national security are the echt was to discuss historical events with children.
Or how I was raised with the idea that Christopher Columbus was a hero, when he enslaved Taino Islanders and governed the colony so badly his own Spanish colleagues arrested him and sent him to the Spanish King in chains.
Evidently you were never raised with the idea that people's accomplishments are seldom unsullied and it never occurred to you at any other time.
You are making my point.
DeleteObviously kids aren't generally given treatises on national security. My point is that maybe they should be. If we give them the complicated stuff from the beginning, maybe they won't go on to fall for the leftwing revisionist BS later in life.
My point is that maybe they should be.
DeleteThat's an inane idea.
Why? Kids should learn from a young age that the world is complicated. The shock that comes from learning that history wasn't cute and innocent is what leads many kids to embrace Left-Wing revisionist ideas. I've seen it happen. It almost happened to me.
DeleteUnknown, I wonder though. Again, in public school, we never learned a cute and innocent version of history, certainly not American history. From what I can tell, American history even generations ago didn't do so, though it obviously saw America in a better light than I experienced, and certainly those today experience. Given how many my age did learn the ugly and who have entirely embraced the 'death to the West' attitude, I wonder how effective any one particular way happens to be.
DeleteI guess you being public schooled and me being homeschooled is what's causing us to have different perspectives.
DeletePossibly. That may have changed now. My boys are homeschooled through a Catholic School that provides homeschool options. I would say it's approach is hardly banners and bunting for the old USA. It does have its fair share of positive, a bit like I had in school growing up. I don't know if that's the case across the board. Probably not. But I know the bicentennial, when we sang songs about Washington and America and our greatness, we still took time to mention the slavery, the Indians, the immigrants, and the recently passed Civil Rights legislation.
DeleteMy education was mostly Protestant textbooks, which is weird considering my parents are Catholic.
DeleteSaw this a few weeks back and almost sent it to you. Wish I had more to add but it's just exhausting by now. (though if you ever want to test my game, we've got a demo ready[ish])
ReplyDeleteIt does get tiresome, and worrisome. But yeah, let us know and I think the boys and all would enjoy that chance)
Delete