Black Authors : Guns, Germs and Steel

[Zulile]

author - Jared Diamond. (eta - although not a Black Author - he tried to explain how it came to be, european domination)

here is a review that sums it up:

http://econ161.berkeley.edu/Econ_Articles/Reviews/diamond_guns.html

"Why is English becoming the default world language? Why did people from Europe conquer the people on the other continents--in the Americas, in Oceana, in Australasia, in Africa, and even in large chunks of Asia. Over all the globe only China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Ethiopia avoided a permanent European conquest that destroyed their previous political regime. (Moreover, Ethiopia was occupied by Italy for five years; Taiwan and Korea were conquered and occupied by Japan; and for the second half of the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth century Chinese independence was a near-run thing.)

Why? Why did Europeans conquer Peru, Mexico, Ghana, and Australia? Why didn't Incas, Aztecs, Ashanti, or Australians conquer Eurasians. That is the question that Jared Diamond answers--largely successfully--in this book. And his answer can be summed up in one phrase: "seeds, germs, size, and guns." (Note that the answer is not "guns, germs, and steel"--a phrase that is more euphonious but less meaningful.)"


I read this book several years ago and enjoyed it. Very thought provoking.

 

[Edward Williams]

author - Jared Diamond. (eta - although not a Black Author - he tried to explain how it came to be, european domination)

here is a review that sums it up:

http://econ161.berkeley.edu/Econ_Articles/Reviews/diamond_guns.html

"Why is English becoming the default world language? Why did people from Europe conquer the people on the other continents--in the Americas, in Oceana, in Australasia, in Africa, and even in large chunks of Asia. Over all the globe only China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Ethiopia avoided a permanent European conquest that destroyed their previous political regime. (Moreover, Ethiopia was occupied by Italy for five years; Taiwan and Korea were conquered and occupied by Japan; and for the second half of the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth century Chinese independence was a near-run thing.)

Why? Why did Europeans conquer Peru, Mexico, Ghana, and Australia? Why didn't Incas, Aztecs, Ashanti, or Australians conquer Eurasians. That is the question that Jared Diamond answers--largely successfully--in this book. And his answer can be summed up in one phrase: "seeds, germs, size, and guns." (Note that the answer is not "guns, germs, and steel"--a phrase that is more euphonious but less meaningful.)"


I read this book several years ago and enjoyed it. Very thought provoking.

Yes, very interesting indeed. But it doesn't say anything about mistreating people on the basis of color. Going around the world classifying people as white or non-white (not white) and doing the business of the world based on the classifications. This is the "unified theory" as Einstein would put it.

The "seeds, germs, guns, size, and steel" aspects were merely tools used to accomplish the unified end. It is an act of identifying who your enemy is and the tools needed to make them subject to you.

White people want you to focus on the tools...not what the tools were used to accomplish.

 

[Zulile]

Yes, very interesting indeed. But it doesn't say anything about mistreating people on the basis of color. Going around the world classifying people as white or non-white (not white) and doing the business of the world based on the classifications. This is the "unified theory" as Einstein would put it.

The "seeds, germs, guns, size, and steel" aspects were merely tools used to accomplish the unified end. It is an act of identifying who your enemy is and the tools needed to make them subject to you.

White people want you to focus on the tools...not what the tools were used to accomplish.

Hello Edward,

This book does not discuss the mistreatment of colour - and rightfully so - as people have been warring amongst each other, before "races" even met - civilizations were developing on the foundations of arable land, animal domestication, eventually trade - the question asked is why did one particular group of people succeed, and others fail? With the basic idea that "necessity is the mother of invention" - why did some invent, and others not? more importantly, why did hunters turn to farmers? why & where were these ideas born and developed - and their initial purpose?

Of course we understand the use and abuse of guns, germs and steel today - but, were these things created intentionally to harm - or did that occur hand in hand with technological and social/civilized development? Inventions born from necessity?

When you look at it on the surface, it seems so simple - so easy to understand how we came to be where we are.

Zulile