The Donny inspired mash-up with Iran has him making all kinds of proclamations, especially worrying is his proclamation that he would wipe out the Iranian civilization if they did not submit to his outrageous demands.
As a political historian I want to let my readers know that for all his ranting and chest thumping he is not alone with such visions.
Donald Trump is arguably the most out-of-control politician in American history. Yet he isn’t the first to threaten the lives of an entire civilization. He is, however, the first to announce a time and date. April 7, 2026, at 8 pm Eastern time.
American political leaders, especially in the 18th and 19th centuries, also made troubling remarks.
Andrew Jackson described Native resistance as something that would lead to their “utter annihilation.”
Theodore Roosevelt is documented as saying that the extermination of Native Americans was “as ultimately beneficial as it was inevitable.”
California’s first governors and legislators openly called for the extermination of Native tribes. Governor Peter Burnett said, “A war of extermination will continue to be waged… until the Indian race becomes extinct.”
During Reconstruction and Jim Crow, state legislators openly discussed the need to “eliminate” Black political power and sometimes Black populations in certain counties. This included threats of “wiping out” Black communities during racial pogroms.
Senator Benjamin Tillman openly bragged about killing Black people to suppress their political rights, saying, “We have done our level best to prevent Blacks from voting… We shot them.” He also threatened further mass violence if Black political power grew.
Thomas Jefferson articulated a framework in which Native peoples faced only two options as he saw them: assimilation into Euro‑American society or extermination through war. Historians widely cite this as one of the clearest examples of early U.S. federal policy framing Native survival as conditional. He said the goal was to prepare them for becoming citizens of the United States, or face destruction if they resisted U.S. expansion.
Abraham Lincoln’s initial plan for enslaved people was gradual emancipation and deportation, with the only other option a war of extermination.
“It does seem to me that systems of gradual emancipation might be adopted; but for their tardiness in this, I should be without hope of their ever being adopted. But if they were adopted, it would give time for the gradual emancipation and deportation of the negroes, so that they would not be a burden on us, nor we on them. But if we deal with the negro as with the white man, and make him politically and socially our equal, we shall have a war of extermination.” — Abraham Lincoln
During the James K. Polk administration, several U.S. generals and members of Congress advocated the annexation or destruction of Mexican society during the Mexican-American War. South Carolina Senator John C. Calhoun opposed annexing Mexico.
“We could never incorporate such a people,” said Calhoun. “It would be the destruction of our government.”
In 2010, another South Carolina Senator, Lindsey Graham, threatened Iran:
“We will obliterate their ability to function as a modern society,” said Graham
Harry Truman even sounds a little bit like Trump when he made threats against Japan.
“They may expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth.” — President Harry Truman
General Curtis LeMay oversaw the firebombing of Japanese cities and spoke in stark terms about the scale of destruction:
“We scorched and boiled and baked to death more people in Tokyo that night than went up in vapor at Hiroshima,” said General LeMay
He also said the goal was to “destroy Japan’s ability to wage war by burning down every city.”
In the 1942–1945 congressional debates, there were calls to “wipe Japan off the map.”
General LeMay also threatened that the United States could “bomb China back into the Stone Age. That sounds similar to a recent threat of Trump’s against Iran.
“We are blasting Iran into oblivion or, as they say, back to the Stone Ages,” said Trump
For the record, the United States has been to war multiple times against Britain, France, and Germany, without once threatening to wipe their countries and peoples off the map. I’m trying not to draw any conclusions about who America deems worthy of elimination and who is not. I think the simplest answer is probably correct.
But who am I to say?
(levelman.com)
As you can see there have been many times that we have threatened to wipe out one civilization or another.
The weekend after T’giving and I will post my usual FYI posts.
There is always some dude walking the streets of a city with a sign that reads “Repent! The End Is Near”….and when asked he will wax poetic and spew doom and gloom.
There are philosophers that believe that we humans have reached the pinnacle of our intelligence.
Despite huge advances in science over the past century, our understanding of nature is still far from complete. Not only have scientists failed to find the Holy Grail of physics – unifying the very large (general relativity) with the very small (quantum mechanics) – they still don’t know what the vast majority of the universe is made up of. The sought after Theory of Everything continues to elude us. And there are other outstanding puzzles, too, such as how consciousness arises from mere matter.
Will science ever be able to provide all the answers? Human brains are the product of blind and unguided evolution. They were designed to solve practical problems impinging on our survival and reproduction, not to unravel the fabric of the universe. This realization has led some philosophers to embrace a curious form of pessimism, arguing there are bound to be things we will never understand. Human science will therefore one day hit a hard limit – and may already have done so.
With that said is it possible that our decline may have already began?
As the world reels under each new outbreak of crisis—record heatwaves across the Western hemisphere, devastating fires across the Amazon rainforest, the slow-moving Hurricane Dorian, severe ice melting at the poles—the question of how bad things might get, and how soon, has become increasingly urgent.
The fear of collapse is evident in the framing of movements such as ‘Extinction Rebellion’ and in resounding warnings that business-as-usual means heading toward an uninhabitable planet.
But a growing number of experts not only point at the looming possibility that human civilization itself is at risk; some believe that the science shows it is already too late to prevent collapse. The outcome of the debate on this is obviously critical: it throws light on whether and how societies should adjust to this uncertain landscape.
If the end is near the next question will be….what cokes with the end of history?
We all have a sense, however vague, of our position within history: a set of assumptions about how the past, present and future join together. Our understanding of the world’s direction of travel – decline, progress, cycle, apocalypse – is shaped by the events we see happening around us, but also by politics.
A Psi Phi (ΨΦ) Society–Fall Session–2019……the meeting was at the usual place with 5 members in attendance….
The Land Of Firsts
I can remember when the Middle East was seldom in the news….those days I was studying in university in subject I did not realize would become so important to the discourse.
Let us look at the region we call the Middle East…..a region rich in history and tradition.
So many of history’s firsts were invented in this region…..written word and math……
The Sumerian civilization (known also as Sumer) was one of the earliest civilizations in the world. This ancient civilization emerged in the region of southern Mesopotamia (modern day southern Iraq), between the Tigris and Euphrates River. The Sumerian civilization began around the 4th millennium BC and ended around the 24th century BC, when the whole of Mesopotamia came under the control of the Akkadian Empire .
The Sumerians re-emerged during the 22nd century BC and ruled southern Mesopotamia once more. The Third Dynasty of Ur that they established, however, did not last for long and fell after about a century. Although Sumerian dominance in Mesopotamia ended definitively this time, its numerous innovations benefitted subsequent Mesopotamian civilizations , and its legacy can still be felt even today.
To begin with the notion of civilization was first tried in the area (there is some dispute of the claim of first) but for the most part I agree with the Fertile Crescent as the “cradle of civilization”….
Sumer, located in Mesopotamia, is the first known complex civilization, developing the first city-states in the 4th millennium BCE. It was in these cities that the earliest known form of writing, cuneiform script, appeared around 3000 BCE. Cuneiform writing began as a system of pictographs. These pictorial representations eventually became simplified and more abstract. Cuneiform texts were written on clay tablets, on which symbols were drawn with a blunt reed used as a stylus. Writing made the administration of a large state far easier.
These developments led to the rise of territorial states and empires. In Mesopotamia there prevailed a pattern of independent warring city-states and of a loose hegemony shifting from one city to another.
Once civilization is up and running smoothly comes the next step…the first empire…..
pectacular things were happening in Mesopotamia in the period we call the Early Bronze Age, particularly in the southern part of it, commonly called Babylonia. It was here that the wealthy, sophisticated Sumerian civilization developed, its growth and prosperity greatly spurred by the invention of writing. A magnificent assortment of beautifully wrought items, like those unearthed from the so-called royal tombs of Ur and now on display in the British Museum, testifies to the high level of craftsmanship of the Sumerian civilization at its zenith.
In the wake of the Sumerian Early Dynastic period ( 2900–2334 BC), there arose in southern Mesopotamia the first great empire in Near Eastern history—the Akkadian empire ( 2334–2193 BC) founded by Sargon, which at its peak extended through the whole of Mesopotamia, and north-westwards into south-eastern Anatolia. Early Bronze Age Mesopotamia’s archaeological remains and prolific tablet-finds provided rich and exciting fields of investigation for archaeologists, historians, and linguists alike.
Once great empires were established then came another first….the first diplomatic correspondence….
The Amarna Letters are a body of 14th century BCE correspondence exchanged between the rulers of the Ancient Near East and Egypt. They are perhaps the earliest examples of international diplomacy while their most common subjects are negotiations of diplomatic marriage, friendship statements and exchanged materials. The name “Amarna Letters” derives from the place where the tablets were found: the ancient city of Akhetaten (built by order of the PharaohAkhenaten), but nowadays known as Tell el-Amarna, in Egypt.
They are the first international diplomatic system known to us, i.e. they contain rules, conventions and institutions responsible for communication and negotiation. Although in the early third millennium BCE there was already another form of relationship, this was merely straightforward written communication between Mesopotamia and Syria. With time, this form added some rules, based on necessity and developed the beginning of diplomatic mechanisms, which would culminate in the Amarna system. Thus, diplomacy was created to be used as a tool in the process of creating an empire.
When empires clashed in conflict the results were another first…….Then there was the very first Peace Treaty….between Egypt and the Hittite Empire….
Ramesses II (The Great, 1279-1213 BCE) ruled Egypt for 67 years and, today, the Egyptian landscape still bears testimony to the prosperity of his reign in the many temples and monuments he had built in honor of his conquests and accomplishments. There is virtually no ancient site in Egypt which does not mention the name of Ramesses II and his account of his victory at The Battle of Kadesh in 1274 BCE is legendary. Among his greatest moments as pharaoh, however, is not an act of war but one of peace: the signing of the first peace treaty in history.
While there does exist an earlier treaty, known as the Treaty of Mesilim, between the Mesopotamian cities of Umma and Lagash, dated to 2550 BCE, scholarly consensus rejects this as an actual peace treaty and defines it as a Treaty of Delimitation (meaning a treaty which sets borders or boundaries). Further, as the Treaty of Mesilim is actually a written agreement between the gods of Umma and Lagash, and not between the rulers of the city or those rulers’ representatives, it cannot be considered an actual peace treaty. The Treaty of Kadesh of 1258 BCE, then, holds the distinction as the world’s first peace treaty.
According to the museum, the two cities were disputing over a fertile area called Gu’edina or the ‘Edge of the Plain.’ Around 2400 B.C. Enmetena, king of Lagash, had the pillar erected to stake his claim to the territory. Rachel Campbell-Johnston at The Timesreports it is likely the earliest written evidence of a border dispute and is also the first time the term “no man’s land” is used.
Personally I think the treaty with the Hittites was more a peace treaty than the Treaty of Mesilim…..but make up your own mind.
The next first is the Declaration of the Persian king, Cyrus the Great……on human rights……
In 539 BCE, Persian troops under Cyrus the Great entered the city of Babylon, which they took without encountering any resistance. On 29 October 539 BCE, Cyrus himself entered the city and proclaimed himself “king of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four corners of the world,” after which he placed the Cyrus Cylinder, the world’s first declaration of human rights, under the walls of Babylon, in the foundations of the temple of Esaglia. The text of the cylinder denounces Babylon’s previous leader, Nabonidus, glorifies Cyrus, and describes how he improved the lives of the people of Babylon. Upon conquering Babylon, Cyrus is said to have proclaimed, “Today, I announce that everyone is free to choose a religion. People are free to live in all regions and take up a job provided that they never violate other’s rights.”
This acknowledgement of human rights and freedom of religion—made more than 2,500 years ago by perhaps the most powerful man on Earth at the time—was an astounding example of benevolence, tolerance, and mercy. True to his word, Cyrus respected the customs and religions of the lands he conquered. Upon conquering Babylon, he is said to have freed the Jews there from captivity. (You would think that the Israelis would celebrate this…after all they celebrte a wandering for 40 years in a desert)
The Next “First” was a canon of laws…..the Hammurabi Code”…..
Hammurabi was the sixth king in the Babylonian dynasty, which ruled in central Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq) from c. 1894 to 1595 B.C.
His family was descended from the Amorites, a semi-nomadic tribe in western Syria, and his name reflects a mix of cultures: Hammu, which means “family” in Amorite, combined with rapi, meaning “great” in Akkadian, the everyday language of Babylon.
In the 30th year of his reign, Hammurabi began to expand his kingdom up and down the Tigris and Euphrates river valley, overthrowing the kingdoms of Assyria, Larsa, Eshunna and Mari until all of Mesopotamia was under his sway.
1. If a man commits a murder, that man must be killed. 2. If a man commits a robbery, he will be killed. 3. If a man commits a kidnapping, he is to be imprisoned and pay 15 shekels of silver. 4. If a slave marries a slave, and that slave is set free, he does not leave the household. 5. If a slave marries a native (i.e. free) person, he/she is to hand the firstborn son over to his owner. 6. If a man violates the right of another and deflowers the virgin wife of a young man, they shall kill that male. 7. If the wife of a man followed after another man and he slept with her, they shall slay that woman, but that male shall be set free. 8. If a man proceeded by force, and deflowered the virgin slavewoman of another man, that man must pay five shekels of silver. 9. If a man divorces his first-time wife, he shall pay her one mina of silver. 10. If it is a (former) widow whom he divorces, he shall pay her half a mina of silver.
Then there is the science and technology firsts…….
Fast forward to Islamic Golden Age, 750-1258, and a host of first as well……
Advancements in mathematics, including the birth of algebra and new insights into geometry and trigonometry.
The origins of the scientific method, along with the development of chemistry, physics, and astronomy as discrete fields of inquiry.
The invention of the modern “teaching hospital” and a medical encyclopedia that served Europe for the next 600 years.
The preservation and translation of the world’s great literature, from the Hadith (or sayings of Muhammad) to the master works of Greece and Rome.
Ontological philosophy that served future Jewish, Christian, and Muslim theologians concerned with the nature of God and the relationship between faith and reason.
The region today may be a hot bed of violence and may be it has always been so, as so many believe, but that does not ever diminish the accomplishments of the people of the Middle East.
More firsts…the Sumerians lead the way……
The Sumerians were responsible for many of the most important innovations, inventions, and concepts taken for granted in the present day. They essentially “invented” time by dividing day and night into 12-hour periods, hours into 60 minutes, and minutes into 60 seconds. Their other innovations and inventions include the first schools, the earliest version of the tale of the Great Flood and other biblical narratives, the oldest heroic epic, governmental bureaucracy, monumental architecture, and irrigation techniques.
I have seen many TV shows and heard of movies that use the downfall of Western Civilization as their main premise…..I have talked to numerous people that also see mankind as a cancer and that civilization could be short lived…..
Situations are pointing to an end to Western civilization….at least according to some predictors…….including one Davis Brooks……
In his New York Times column Friday, David Brooks is worried about what might be the ultimate big picture: the collapse of Western civilization. He sees the signs all over, particularly in the rise of “strong men” around the world such as Vladimir Putin, Turkey’s Recep Erdogan, Kim Jong Un, and, yes, our own president. “While running for office, Donald Trump violated every norm of statesmanship built up over these many centuries, and it turned out many people didn’t notice or didn’t care,” writes Brooks. Modern governments, he adds, are beginning to resemble “premodern mafia states, run by family-based commercial clans.” He’s also worried about the rise of fringe parties, as can be seen in the presence of Marine Le Pen in France, and the “collapse of liberal values at home,” as seen in the shouting down of speakers at college campuses.
“These days, the whole idea of Western civ is assumed to be reactionary and oppressive,” he concludes. “All I can say is, if you think that was reactionary and oppressive, wait until you get a load of the world that comes after it.” At the BBC, Rachel Nuwer paints a similarly dark picture after interviewing scientists and historians about the long-term prospects for Western societies. The two main themes are growing economic and ecological stresses, but she does end with a hint of hope, summing up the view of one of her interviewees: “Western civilization is not a lost cause, however. Using reason and science to guide decisions, paired with extraordinary leadership and exceptional goodwill, human society can progress to higher and higher levels of well-being and development.” Click for Brooks’ column, and for Nuwer’s.
Disclaimer: I do not use NYT much as a source ut I read this piece and thought it would make good fodder for conversation…….
This will be my only post today as my weekend begins and I am feeling my oats….wink wink. My granddaughter will be by today for a rematch in Dominoes……I am teaching her backgammon….she will be good at it as soon as she gets all the stuff down……I am also tutoring her in history……especially the early years of civilization….she is an excellent student….very inquisitive.
The garden is doing good….tomatoes are starting to come in almost daily…..the peaches and pears are maturing and the grapes are graping….pain has made the last week a bitch….but I take my pain out on those people that try to anger me with BS instead of facts…..made the best pork roast ever! It was a honey mustard crusted roast…..absolutely yummy.
Enough with the niceties….move on and get it out of the way…..
I admit that I also have guilty pleasures when it comes to TV….some watch the mind numbing reality crap others want something else….me? My guilty pleasure is a bowl of popcorn and the History Channel’s “Ancient Aliens”……in case you have not seen this piece of work…..for 5 or 6 season there has been some dudue with wild hair giving his theories that all antiquity is thanx to ETs visits in our past….the pyramids, Mayas, Stonehenge……well you get the idea. These visitors came to the Fertile crescent to mine gold and started civilization…..no this is not some tongue in cheek thing these people believe that….gold….in Iraq……and it gets stranger like the dinos were killed to make room for their experiment (humans)……the Black Death was an alien situation….on and on……
But first….a little music interlude……
I bring this up because I read something that will give them ammo for at least 2 more seasons……
The odds of us being the first technological civilization the universe has ever seen are similar to those of Elvis and the Loch Ness monster sharing a Powerball jackpot, according to a new study. In a paper published in Astrobiology, researchers updated the famous 1961 Drake equation on the probability of alien civilizations to include what we know now about the prevalence of possibly habitable planets, and concluded that there have almost certainly been billions of other civilizations. Lead researcher Adam Frank, a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Rochester, says that even if civilization arose on just one in a trillion planets, which he calls a very pessimistic estimate, there would have been more than 10 billion civilizations since the universe began, reports LiveScience.
Frank, who estimates the odds of us being the first technological civilization to arise are in the neighborhood of one in 10 billion trillion, calls his calculations the “archaeological form” of the Drake equation, since billions of other intelligent species have presumably become extinct over the universe’s 13 billion-year history, Discovery reports. With only our 10,000-year history to go on, how long alien civilizations last is one of the big remaining unknowns, he says—and we should “begin exploring the problem using simulations to get a sense of what leads to long-lived civilizations and what doesn’t.”
If you want a good chuckle then I suggest you watch this program and see how they want to re-write our history……as a history geek I love to watch and point out the crap from the facts……
Please start your weekend on a happy note and enjoy your time off…….
“Live long and prosper” civilization….remember…”life here began out there” Immortal words of Battlestar Galactica
