The adage “looks can be deceiving” is easily revised to read “books can be deceiving.” We tend to assume that the author of a book has a mastery of the topic under discussion.
This review exposes the serious limitations of the increasing fixation on “race” as the be-all, end-all explanation of domination, especially as it relates to Native peoples.
Propaganda scholar Marc Crispin Miller has said that Martin Luther King (as well as JFK and I believe Fred Hampton) entered perilous waters when he succeeded in uniting his black following with working class people generally - in other words, when his message contained a serious threat to the domination system.
Excellent insights and clarifications. Of Roman times i learned what i might now call "selective democracy" b/c of so-called democracy "at the cruel expense of the millions living under Roman domination." The distinction between race and religiosity shows how, by sleight of word, masses of people can be deceived. Nowadays many people rail against politics and such like yet religion often goes unscathed i suppose b/c of being revered as a sacred cow (no offense to my East Indian friends with good senses of humor!). Also now I wonder now when racism kicked in... b/c of recent i read about the shooting of Raymond Mattia, a Tohono O'odham man, who was shot by police 38 times while doing nothing threatening, yet was reportedly referred to as a "motherfucker", which reminded of Mumia Abu-Jamal who before his long imprisonment, iirc a judge reportedly said something about "fry that nigger". So while in those cases the justice and the court system are also slanted with domination, racism shapes the attitudes. And the sad irony with Mattia is that Natives traditionally know how to care for Mother Earth, so he was anything but the expletive used against him.
This powerful and succinct essay is much more than a book review—it is a window onto the meanings “democracy” has been associated with and the difficulties of finding the moral and intellectual resources within “democracy” necessary to overcome the Paradigm of Domination and establish, or reestablish, a more genuine form of self-government; one that sees all living beings as kith and kin, that respects the community formed by all our relations, and that seeks inner and social peace with and within that community.
*Apocalipto* alludes to, or plays on, western notions of 'savages' (or 'progress'). There is no real colour spectrum; no clear left versus right... Given the iconic superficiality of the evangelical pay-load, it does offer a view - vision, if you will - on what it means to be human (rather than Christian in a strict sense.)
Your review of Robert P. Jones’s *The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy* casts light on my unease after watching *Eucalypto* [2006, directed by Mel Gibson - two years prior to your *Pagans in the Promised Land*], a fictional movie which frames the - literal - view at the ship and the small boats emerging from those ships, carrrying clerics with (allegedly) happy tidings. ~Those beatific faces, the
solemnity of those crosses! Misery will soon be over~
The message in front of this epic tells us civilizations crumble under some rot from within; meaning the contagious fear with which one "tribe" may infect another overnight; a nearby city/temple state (a cinematic rendering of Tenochttitlan, say, minus canals & vegetable gardens, plus human sacrifice - quite 'epic', as they say), paying homage to Christian binaries about 'noble savages' - versus decadent 'Babylonians oversea'. Both varieties of 'heathendom' come across as unbearably cruel; life and its immutable hierarchy conspire to keep the lives of both hunter-gatherers and city dwellers nasty, short, and brutish - so much so that the advent of Christian colonizers seems a blessing.
As a cinematographic feat, unburdened by accuracy (not the same as literalness...), *Apocalipto* had a visual and visceral impact on me: the lie was for the most part hidden, with the result that I ("inspired" by christendom, at least on an unconscious level), could for one moment accept the agitprop as a 'figure of script', by way of speeding up closure. I wish had read *Pagans...* first, it would have spared me much confusion; though I am unable to foretell what my response would have been then.
"A system of domination" (as a term) enhances a more profound understanding of the ways white supremacy has (at certain times, or under specific policies) exerted a sway over people in & beyond Turtle Island/the Americas.
The legalistic framework of the Papal Bulls harks back to the Roman Empire (formally) and to the core tenets of Christendom (ideologically/religiously). And the other thing to note is that at least one papal decree (Dum Diversas, in 1452, issued by Pope Nicholas V) mandates King Alphonso V of Portugal to subdue 'infidels' and 'Saracens' into perpetual slavery, which has little to do with the discovery of continents (Africa was largely known); or 'white supremacy' as we know it. Unless we assume racism was what sprang from the aftermath of the Great Flood in Genesis (which suggests a later, perhaps Protestant [?] addition).
As for the (near) future: whatever things the proponents of The Great Reset wish to do away with, 'a system of domination' won't be in that mix. On the contrary, their 'religion' relies on (the presumption of... the endeavour to establish...) global domination.
Thank you Pim. Exactly right, because it is a Great Reset of the System of Domination that the WEF crew and their allies are working on. If we could see their Map of the Future, we can be certain that we aren't on it, in the same way that the Quaker's map of the future, which is depicted on mural in Friendship Park in Philadelphia does not have one depiction of our Lenape ancestors or any other Original Native People. The WEF and others of their ilk claim that the planet has too many people but they they never place themselves in that category because, I assume, they regard themselves as "essential humans," whereas the common folk are regarded as "the expendables." Thanks for your comment. I appreciate it.
Thanks for taking that analysis one step further, Steven. Yes indeed, it's the system of dominatition itself they are "resetting" [=weaponizing]. Offering my two cents is the least I can do, after having read and reread "Pagans in the Promised Land." Tessa Lena was right when she praised your scholarship. Growing up in a former Dutch colony (Curacao, near Venezuela), I was taught some snippets of our bloody colonial history in elementary school, but the horrendous slaughter as witnessed by young Willem Kieft [told in the documentary "The Doctrine of Discovery. Unmasking the Domination Code"] was not in the curriculum, as you won't be surprised to learn.
I appreciate your perspective, Pim. Wanishi (thank you).
This review exposes the serious limitations of the increasing fixation on “race” as the be-all, end-all explanation of domination, especially as it relates to Native peoples.
Propaganda scholar Marc Crispin Miller has said that Martin Luther King (as well as JFK and I believe Fred Hampton) entered perilous waters when he succeeded in uniting his black following with working class people generally - in other words, when his message contained a serious threat to the domination system.
yes! ...
Forgot to mention Malcolm X a month ago.
Excellent insights and clarifications. Of Roman times i learned what i might now call "selective democracy" b/c of so-called democracy "at the cruel expense of the millions living under Roman domination." The distinction between race and religiosity shows how, by sleight of word, masses of people can be deceived. Nowadays many people rail against politics and such like yet religion often goes unscathed i suppose b/c of being revered as a sacred cow (no offense to my East Indian friends with good senses of humor!). Also now I wonder now when racism kicked in... b/c of recent i read about the shooting of Raymond Mattia, a Tohono O'odham man, who was shot by police 38 times while doing nothing threatening, yet was reportedly referred to as a "motherfucker", which reminded of Mumia Abu-Jamal who before his long imprisonment, iirc a judge reportedly said something about "fry that nigger". So while in those cases the justice and the court system are also slanted with domination, racism shapes the attitudes. And the sad irony with Mattia is that Natives traditionally know how to care for Mother Earth, so he was anything but the expletive used against him.
The work I have found most helpful on the subject of race is: Toward a Global Idea of Race (Volume 27) (Barrows Lectures) https://a.co/d/iUZlAjS
This powerful and succinct essay is much more than a book review—it is a window onto the meanings “democracy” has been associated with and the difficulties of finding the moral and intellectual resources within “democracy” necessary to overcome the Paradigm of Domination and establish, or reestablish, a more genuine form of self-government; one that sees all living beings as kith and kin, that respects the community formed by all our relations, and that seeks inner and social peace with and within that community.
I cannot wait for the follow-up to this article regarding a discussion on a completely different understanding of human reality and experience!
Stephen, thx for the mention.
PS
*Apocalipto* alludes to, or plays on, western notions of 'savages' (or 'progress'). There is no real colour spectrum; no clear left versus right... Given the iconic superficiality of the evangelical pay-load, it does offer a view - vision, if you will - on what it means to be human (rather than Christian in a strict sense.)
Your review of Robert P. Jones’s *The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy* casts light on my unease after watching *Eucalypto* [2006, directed by Mel Gibson - two years prior to your *Pagans in the Promised Land*], a fictional movie which frames the - literal - view at the ship and the small boats emerging from those ships, carrrying clerics with (allegedly) happy tidings. ~Those beatific faces, the
solemnity of those crosses! Misery will soon be over~
The message in front of this epic tells us civilizations crumble under some rot from within; meaning the contagious fear with which one "tribe" may infect another overnight; a nearby city/temple state (a cinematic rendering of Tenochttitlan, say, minus canals & vegetable gardens, plus human sacrifice - quite 'epic', as they say), paying homage to Christian binaries about 'noble savages' - versus decadent 'Babylonians oversea'. Both varieties of 'heathendom' come across as unbearably cruel; life and its immutable hierarchy conspire to keep the lives of both hunter-gatherers and city dwellers nasty, short, and brutish - so much so that the advent of Christian colonizers seems a blessing.
As a cinematographic feat, unburdened by accuracy (not the same as literalness...), *Apocalipto* had a visual and visceral impact on me: the lie was for the most part hidden, with the result that I ("inspired" by christendom, at least on an unconscious level), could for one moment accept the agitprop as a 'figure of script', by way of speeding up closure. I wish had read *Pagans...* first, it would have spared me much confusion; though I am unable to foretell what my response would have been then.
"A system of domination" (as a term) enhances a more profound understanding of the ways white supremacy has (at certain times, or under specific policies) exerted a sway over people in & beyond Turtle Island/the Americas.
The legalistic framework of the Papal Bulls harks back to the Roman Empire (formally) and to the core tenets of Christendom (ideologically/religiously). And the other thing to note is that at least one papal decree (Dum Diversas, in 1452, issued by Pope Nicholas V) mandates King Alphonso V of Portugal to subdue 'infidels' and 'Saracens' into perpetual slavery, which has little to do with the discovery of continents (Africa was largely known); or 'white supremacy' as we know it. Unless we assume racism was what sprang from the aftermath of the Great Flood in Genesis (which suggests a later, perhaps Protestant [?] addition).
As for the (near) future: whatever things the proponents of The Great Reset wish to do away with, 'a system of domination' won't be in that mix. On the contrary, their 'religion' relies on (the presumption of... the endeavour to establish...) global domination.
Thank you Pim. Exactly right, because it is a Great Reset of the System of Domination that the WEF crew and their allies are working on. If we could see their Map of the Future, we can be certain that we aren't on it, in the same way that the Quaker's map of the future, which is depicted on mural in Friendship Park in Philadelphia does not have one depiction of our Lenape ancestors or any other Original Native People. The WEF and others of their ilk claim that the planet has too many people but they they never place themselves in that category because, I assume, they regard themselves as "essential humans," whereas the common folk are regarded as "the expendables." Thanks for your comment. I appreciate it.
Thanks for taking that analysis one step further, Steven. Yes indeed, it's the system of dominatition itself they are "resetting" [=weaponizing]. Offering my two cents is the least I can do, after having read and reread "Pagans in the Promised Land." Tessa Lena was right when she praised your scholarship. Growing up in a former Dutch colony (Curacao, near Venezuela), I was taught some snippets of our bloody colonial history in elementary school, but the horrendous slaughter as witnessed by young Willem Kieft [told in the documentary "The Doctrine of Discovery. Unmasking the Domination Code"] was not in the curriculum, as you won't be surprised to learn.