The White Man’s World

We live in the world created by the proverbial ‘white man’. No, he didn’t do all of the work in putting it together. It was his mind that brought us here. Whether he used it or abused it in the process is another matter entirely

‘White man’ does not encompass every person of light skin. It’s more of a descriptive category. When I think of a ‘white man’, I think of the people that eventually got us where we are today. These were the nobility, politicians, warriors, sailors, thinkers, artists, merchants, adventurers, clergy and just plain folks whose roots are mostly Anglo-Saxon. OK, not exclusively, so let’s include other Europeans as well. They colonized the world. It’s all their fault. Other empires did their part, but their contributions were not as significant. This is how my uneducated, low IQ mind sees it. But let’s leave the heated arguments for another time.

In the process of construction this man made lots of errors. He occasionally abused the lands and the peoples that he conquered; was intolerant; brought death, disease and even his own religion to others. Building a modern civilization is an awfully hard task. It is never done in a day or even a century. One doesn’t know what the final result should look like (hint – there is none). The people who create empires can’t wear pristine white gloves – it’s a dirty work. The white man had to discover the new riches in the lands far away, bring them lands his home ‘brands’, his law to where no law existed. And his languages. Yea, he conquered the natives and colonized the lands to the best of his ability. He shamelessly used both when he could. No, he wasn’t sorry. No, he wasn’t a seer who could predict how his noble endeavors would come to bite him in the rear centuries later. His scope of action was much narrower. To build forts, towns and roads. To invent new things and to invest money in fledging industries. To find his fortunes – rarely on his own, but mostly built on the shoulders of others. Like in Capitalism 101.

He was young, hungry and fearless, full of ‘piss and vinegar’. He and his buddies died by the thousands in the faraway lands. From malaria, arrows, bullets and lack of clean water. From wounds. His road was long and twisty. He didn’t have a map. He wasn’t always sure what his goal was. A fat collection of books and movies today interpret what it was like then, and the picture isn’t always pretty. But he went anyway.

He is the one who came up with the concepts of freedom and equality. And he fought for them in many wars around the globe. He kept us free and saved millions of people from oppression. Ask if the world remembers that.

The modern civilization he built has made him older and more docile. More respectful of the criminals and their rights. He could no longer speak his mind without mincing words. Some of the fearlessness is gone. He has to be polite first. Forced to listen to everyone, friends and foes alike, before he can come to the conclusion of his own self-worth. Learn to cope with deep existential crises. He found guilt, that ever-present component of the modern existence. Today words took place of the guns doing the talking. He can’t even use the guns at whim, without being condemned by the progressive mankind. “White man’s guilt’ is in; ‘white man’s burden’ is mostly out.

The walk from the Stone Age into the Era of Internet enlightenment was a cinch. Well, perhaps not exactly, but who cares.  We are here. And what have we got? Folks who are happy. Plus folks who are not. Leave the happy folks alone. Let’s look at all the others.

The ‘other’ folks, no matter where they reside on the planet, feel the ‘white man’ owes them. Owes for the centuries of abuse, wars, bad global politics, even carbon emissions. For the riches he took from their lands. For bringing them into the modern world. The list of demands is very long. Oh, also slavery. It is a big subject these days. The “racist” white man is the root of all evils. His descendants must be responsible for the deeds of others, centuries back. But where would you be if it wasn’t for the white European man, who built the home you now live in? Would you still be chasing wildlife with spears? Drinking water from the puddles? Dying from a small cut on your finger? The answers are not forthcoming.

The progressive (and often ignorant) world of today has the simplest needs – give us the power and the money you got. Should we bend to their demands? Don’t you just feel the guilt? These wonderful folks are sooo upset, they march the streets and threaten to burn the house the ‘white man’ built. They call the white man a ‘racist’. That’s because he’s in no hurry to meet their demands then and there.

Our history is a mix of good and evil deeds. I’d say, mostly evil. Yet, the darkness of the night is only a flip side of the brightness of sunlight. Without the night there would be no day. When you begin to judge history, remember – some of best human achievements would not be here if it wasn’t for the worst human deeds. The bloody conquests and enslavement gave way to modern nations and people our civilization can be proud of. ‘White man’s guilt’ should be no guilt at all. No one did more to get us where we are today.

This place isn’t perfect. It wasn’t meant to be perfect. But we comfortably live here. All because of him, the proverbial “whitey”. It was his steps and missteps. His guts, his blood and the blood of others he spilled. The people he took into the modern world from the Bronze Age they lingered in. They pay him back in riots and savagery.

History is akin a printed story book. The tale is already there. The pages cannot be torn out. You cannot scratch out the images you dislike. The authors are gone, but their stories remain. Their descendants can make apologies, but they can undo NOTHING. It is done, etched in stone, non-revisable. Some folks do try to revise history to suite their needs, curse be upon them. If you are smart, you can learn from history. If you are not, you can scream for a censored reprint until you’re blue in the face.

The story of a ‘white man’ is also a story of human civilization. There are many nations and peoples on Earth. Today they demand apologies from him and compensations for his deeds. Apologize for your own heritage and what have you got? Not much. Accept the guilt and pay for it, as they want, will also get you nowhere. They would want more and more. It will never end.

The “white privilege” is a hard-earn right to be the best; to struggle and thrive; to push the wagon of mankind. That is hardly a privilege to be envious of. To always find your way. To never be ashamed of who you are. To “do what is right, and damn the consequences”.  That should forever be the motto of the ‘white man’ and the world we live in.

To never give up or give in.