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Change a Life 2 Change the World!
SWL about Neanderthals/Euro-American greed, violence, abuse &
world domination...
White/Caucasian is a term used to describe "a person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa" (NCBI, 2022).
The percentage of Neanderthal DNA in African humans is zero or close to zero and is about 1 to 2 percent in people of European or Asian background.
How the U.S. Stole America 1
How the U.S. Stole America 2
European World Takeover 1
European World Takeover 2
The destruction of Africa, from its historical legacies like slavery to modern-day challenges, is closely tied to a series of systemic forces that include colonialism, exploitation of resources, and global economic dynamics. Both past and present "conveniences" — systems, innovations, or institutions — have played a role in this.
1. Transatlantic Slavery and the Atlantic Economy
1. Transatlantic Slavery and the Atlantic Economy
Historical Convenience: The Atlantic slave trade (16th to 19th centuries) was a major engine of European and American economic growth. European nations and their colonies in the Americas depended on the labor of enslaved Africans to produce cash crops like sugar, cotton, and tobacco. The exploitation of African labor was essential to building wealth and global trade systems, especially for Europe.
Impact on Africa: Millions of Africans were forcibly removed, devastating population growth, creating long-lasting social and political instability, and weakening African states. This set the stage for European colonization in the late 19th century.
2. Colonialism and Resource Extraction
2. Colonialism and Resource Extraction
Historical and Modern Convenience: European colonial powers (1880s–1960s) exploited Africa’s natural resources — including rubber, minerals, gold, diamonds, and ivory — to fuel the Industrial Revolution and later, consumer economies in Europe and North America.
Impact on Africa: This period saw the wholesale extraction of wealth with minimal reinvestment into the African continent. Colonial borders, drawn without regard to ethnic or social groups, created long-lasting conflict and division. Infrastructure built during this time, such as railroads, often served extraction purposes, rather than benefiting local populations.
How It All began
How It All began
Neanderthals & modern humans both evolved from a common ancestor. Likely H. Heidelbergensis, though there’s still a bit of arguing going on there. The common ancestor species spread out from Africa something like 500,000 years ago. Some of them migrated to Europe, others stayed back in Africa. The population that was in Europe evolved into Neanderthals, at least by about 250,000 years ago, maybe a bit earlier. Meanwhile, back in Africa populations continued to evolve and interbreed, resulting in modern humans, also a bit before 250,000 years ago.
Modern humans spread out through Asia & Europe, and interacted with & interbred with the other hominins (Neanderthals, Denosovians, and likely a couple others). Though, based on the amount of genetic admixture, this interbreeding seems to have been infrequent, or not always successful. So some populations in Europe, Asia, and the Americas, do have some Neanderthal ancestry (≈1-2%), based on the mitochondrial and Y-chromosome genetic information we have, none of these populations directly evolved from Neanderthals.
As far as white skin. The genetic evidence shows there were at least two separate evolutions of light skin . Neanderthals developed a mutation of the MC1R gene that controls melanin giving them light skin. Though, based on some genetic sampling of Neanderthal remains, some of them had light skin, and others darker skin. Modern humans, also developed a similar, but slightly different mutation of the MC1R gene that resulted in pale skin. We can tell by looking at the genes of early modern humans they were all darker skinned until about 12,000 years ago (estimates range from 8,000 -18,000 years ago). This was long after Neanderthals had all died out.
Before the era of European exploration, which began in earnest in the late 15th century, Europe was a continent shaped by a myriad of social, political, economic, and environmental issues. These factors influenced the motivations behind the exploration and colonization efforts that followed. Some of the key issues in Europe prior to exploration included:
1. Feudalism and Social Stratification
1. Feudalism and Social Stratification
Feudal System: Europe was largely organized under a feudal system, where land was owned by nobles who ruled over the peasantry. This system created a rigid social hierarchy and significant disparities in wealth and power.
Serfdom: Many peasants were serfs, tied to the land they farmed and subject to the will of the landowner, with limited freedom or rights. This led to widespread social discontent and occasional revolts.
2. Religious Conflicts
2. Religious Conflicts
Catholic Dominance: The Roman Catholic Church wielded enormous influence over European society, politics, and culture. However, its authority was increasingly questioned, leading to tensions and conflicts.
Heresy and Persecution: Individuals or groups that challenged the doctrines of the Church faced persecution, including the Inquisition, aimed at rooting out heresy.
Jewish Persecution: Jewish communities in Europe frequently faced discrimination, persecution, and expulsion, rooted in religious intolerance and economic envy.
3. Economic Challenges
3. Economic Challenges
Agricultural Limitations: Europe's economy was primarily agrarian, but farming practices were often inefficient, and the continent experienced periodic famines due to crop failures.
Trade Restrictions: Trade within Europe was hampered by feudal boundaries and tolls, and the Ottoman control of key trade routes to Asia limited access to valuable spices and silks, making these goods expensive and rare.
4. Political Fragmentation and Warfare
4. Political Fragmentation and Warfare
Fragmented Political Entities: Europe was a patchwork of kingdoms, principalities, and city-states, often engaged in conflicts over territory, power, and influence.
Hundred Years' War: This prolonged conflict between England and France (1337-1453) drained resources and destabilized regions, showcasing the destructive nature of medieval warfare.
5. The Black Death
5. The Black Death
Pandemic Impact: In the mid-14th century, the Black Death (bubonic plague) swept through Europe, killing an estimated one-third of the population. The pandemic caused profound social, economic, and cultural upheaval.
6. Desire for New Trade Routes
Economic Motivations: Direct access to the wealth of Asia (spices, silks, etc.) became a significant driving force for exploration as Europeans sought to bypass Ottoman-controlled trade routes.
These pre-exploration challenges shaped the context within which the Age of Exploration unfolded.
The desire to alleviate economic constraints, expand territorial claims, spread Christianity, and satisfy a growing curiosity about the world were all factors that propelled European nations into their expansive ventures across the globe.
The Moors 800 Year Occupation (711C.E. - 1492 C.E.)
Moors is a term generally used by Europeans to describe the Muslim people of North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula during the Middle Ages. Between 711 C.E. and 1492 C.E. Muslim people of African descent controlled parts of Iberia which consist of modern-day Spain and Portugal.
The Moors were northern Africans that invaded and ruled the Iberian Peninsula (Europe). The Moors from North Africa were the first Islamic Empire to invade Iberia in 711. Once Al-Andalus was established more and more Moors migrated to Iberia and lived there for almost 800 years. While they controlled a majority of the peninsula, they still permitted people to follow Christianity or Judaism if they paid a tax.
The Moors, through the cultural figure Ziryab, are credited with introducing a new style of eating in Western Europe, specifically in al-Andalus (Muslim Spain), which consisted of a set, multi-course meal including soup, fish, meat, and dessert, a practice that influenced and became a precursor to the modern Western dining experience. This is an eating style that can still be seen in Western society today.
The Influence of Ziryab introduced:
Aesthetic and Etiquette:
Ziryab revolutionized dining by emphasizing it as an aesthetic and harmonious experience, rather than a crude consumption of food. Introducing the use of crystal, as opposed to metal, to serve drinks.Course Structure:
He introduced the concept of serving meals in separate, sequential courses, beginning with soup, followed by fish, then meat, and concluding with dessert.New Ingredients:
The Moors, under Ziryab's influence, also expanded the diet of the region by introducing new crops like oranges, lemons, peaches, and apricots, along with sugar, rice, and saffron.Tableware:
He also advocated for the use of crystal glassware instead of metal for serving drinks, and his influence included the introduction of finely worked leather tablecloths.
Instituting these new crops in the region gave Europeans knowledge about irrigation and crop cultivation. They also taught Europeans how to properly store spices for up to 100 years.
In addition, the Moors taught Europeans new hygiene practices they significantly influenced European hygiene by reintroducing and popularizing bathing and the use of soap, perfumes, and other sanitation practices during their rule in the Iberian Peninsula and beyond, a departure from the generally low levels of personal hygiene prevalent in much of medieval Europe at the time. Figures like Ziryab are associated with introducing these advanced practices, which included public bathhouses, daily bathing, use of scented oils, and grooming. The legacy of Moorish hygiene practices left a lasting mark on European cultures, though some practices were reversed with the end of the Moorish rule.
During this time London had a largely illiterate population, unpaved streets with none of the technological advancement of the Roman empire that existed 600 years prior; the Moors advanced greatly the growth and development of Europe.
During the 10th century the Moors had paved roads, street lighting, running water, hundreds of public baths, mosques and well stocked libraries.
Because paper was needed in order to create documents to transfer knowledge the Moors also brought paper making to Spain, and under Moorish conquest the first paper mill is recorded at Xàtiva in 1151. Along with this, over 4,000 Arabic words and derived phrases were absorbed into the Spanish language. Spanish use of words like algebra, alcohol, chemistry, nadir, alkaline, cipher checkmate, influenza, typhoon, orange, and cable can be traced back to the Moors.
The Renaissance (a direct result of Moor occupation)
The Renaissance (a direct result of Moor occupation)
-begun in Italy during the 14th century, after the end of the Middle Ages, and it reached its height there between the 1490s and the 1520s, a period referred to as the High Renaissance.
The Moors significantly advanced and transformed Europe, especially the Iberian Peninsula, by introducing new knowledge and technologies in architecture, agriculture, medicine, and science. Key contributions included advanced irrigation, new fruits and vegetables like oranges and rice, sophisticated sanitation, the development of hospitals, and the reintroduction of lost classical philosophy and mathematics. Their influence also extended to the arts, music, language, and the founding of universities, which helped usher in the Renaissance and modernize the continent.
Cultural Rebirth: the Renaissance was a period of cultural, artistic, and intellectual revival that began in the 14th century, leading to a questioning of traditional knowledge and hierarchies. This movement laid the groundwork for the Age of Exploration, as Europeans sought new routes and connections to the wider world.
The greed of European exploration and subsequent colonization of the Americas had profound and lasting effects on the indigenous peoples, ecosystems, and the land itself. The damage caused by this period of history can be broadly categorized into several areas:
1. Demographic Catastrophe for Indigenous Peoples
The most immediate and devastating impact of European exploration was the massive decline in the indigenous population. This was primarily due to murder and diseases such as smallpox, measles, and influenza, to which the native populations had no immunity. It is estimated that in the first century after contact, murder and diseases killed up to 90% of the indigenous population in some areas. This demographic catastrophe had profound cultural and societal implications for the surviving indigenous communities.
2. Cultural Disruption and Loss
European colonization led to the disruption and often the destruction of indigenous cultures. Colonizers imposed their own languages, religions, and social structures, often by force. Indigenous languages, traditions, and knowledge systems were devalued or lost, leading to a cultural erosion that many communities are still working to recover from today.
3. Environmental Alteration and Degradation
The European settlers drastically altered the landscape of the Americas through agriculture, urban development, and the exploitation of natural resources. Forests were cleared for timber and to make way for settlements and plantations, leading to loss of biodiversity and changes in local climates. Additionally, the introduction of European livestock and non-native plant species disrupted local ecosystems, sometimes leading to the extinction of native species.
4. Economic Exploitation and Resource Extraction
The colonizers exploited the natural resources of the Americas, including gold, silver, and other valuable commodities, often through the forced labor of indigenous peoples and later African slaves. This extraction and exportation of wealth contributed to the economic development of Europe but led to economic dependency and underdevelopment in many parts of the Americas.
5. Forced Labor and Enslavement
European colonizers often relied on forced labor systems, such as the encomienda and hacienda systems in Spanish America, which imposed harsh working conditions and led to the further decimation of indigenous populations. Additionally, the transatlantic slave trade brought millions of African slaves to the Americas, with devastating effects on African societies and cultures, as well as on the lives and communities of the enslaved people in the Americas.
6. Territorial Dispossession
Indigenous peoples were often forcibly removed from their ancestral lands, leading to loss of territory, resources, and sovereignty. This dispossession was frequently justified through doctrines such as terra nullius (nobody's land), ignoring indigenous claims and connections to the land.
Conclusion
The consequences of European exploration and colonization in the Americas are complex and multifaceted, affecting not just the indigenous populations and their cultures, but also the environment and geopolitical landscape of the continent. The legacy of this period continues to influence the Americas, with ongoing efforts to address historical injustices and to recognize and preserve indigenous cultures and rights.
Modern inventions, while often improving efficiency, convenience, and the overall quality of life, have also brought about a range of negative consequences. These impacts can be seen across various aspects of society and the environment. Here's a look at some of the key areas where modern inventions have caused damage:
1. Environmental Degradation
Plastic Pollution:
The invention of synthetic plastics has led to widespread environmental pollution. Because plastics are non-biodegradable, they accumulate in landfills and oceans, harming wildlife and ecosystems.
Electronic Waste (E-waste):
The rapid pace of technological innovation results in a constant stream of electronic devices that quickly become obsolete. The disposal of e-waste has become a significant environmental issue, as it often contains toxic substances like lead, mercury, and cadmium, which can leach into soil and water.
Carbon Emissions:
Modern transportation methods, including cars and airplanes, contribute significantly to global carbon emissions, driving climate change. The industrial processes required to produce these technologies also consume vast amounts of energy, further contributing to carbon output.
2. Social and Psychological Effects
Increased Screen Time: Devices like smartphones and computers have led to increased screen time, which is linked to various health issues, including eye strain, sleep disruption, and mental health problems such as anxiety and depression.
Privacy Concerns: The rise of digital technology and the internet has led to significant privacy concerns. Data breaches and the unauthorized collection and use of personal data are increasingly common, raising questions about security and individual rights.
Social Isolation: While social media and communication technologies have made it easier to stay in touch, they have also been linked to increased feelings of isolation and loneliness in some individuals, as digital interactions replace face-to-face communication.
3. Economic Disruptions
Job Displacement: Automation and artificial intelligence have the potential to displace a wide range of jobs, from manufacturing to services, leading to economic uncertainty for many workers.
Market Monopolization: The tech industry is dominated by a few major companies, raising concerns about monopolistic practices, stifling innovation, and limiting competition.
4. Health Risks
Radiation Exposure: Devices like cell phones and laptops emit low levels of radiation, which some studies suggest could have health impacts with long-term exposure, although this remains a subject of ongoing research and debate.
Chemical Hazards: The production of modern technologies involves a range of chemicals, some of which pose health risks to workers in these industries, particularly in countries with lax safety regulations.
5. Ethical and Moral Dilemmas
Surveillance Technologies: The development of surveillance technologies has led to increased capabilities for both government and private surveillance, raising ethical concerns about the right to privacy and the potential for abuse.
Autonomous Weapons: The development of autonomous drones and other weapons technologies raises ethical questions about the future of warfare and the potential loss of human oversight in life-and-death decisions.
Conclusion
The negative consequences of modern inventions are complex and multifaceted, affecting environmental, social, psychological, economic, health, and ethical domains. Addressing these issues requires a multi-pronged approach, including regulatory oversight, innovation in sustainable technologies, and increased public awareness and education to mitigate the adverse effects while harnessing the benefits of these inventions.
The Industrial Revolution, which began in the late 18th century in Britain and spread to other parts of the world throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, was a period of significant technological, socioeconomic, and cultural change. While it led to unprecedented economic growth and laid the foundations for modern industrial society, it also caused extensive environmental damage, social upheaval, and had several negative health impacts. Here are some of the primary negative consequences associated with the Industrial Revolution:
1. Environmental Degradation
Pollution: The rapid increase in industrial activity led to significant air and water pollution. The use of coal as a primary energy source resulted in smog and soot, affecting air quality and public health. Water bodies near industrial sites were often contaminated with waste, harming aquatic life and making water unsafe for human consumption.
Deforestation: The demand for land for factories, housing, and infrastructure, as well as the need for wood for construction and fuel, led to widespread deforestation. This had long-term impacts on biodiversity, soil erosion, and climate.
Resource Depletion: The Industrial Revolution marked the beginning of the intensive extraction of minerals and fossil fuels, leading to the depletion of natural resources.
2. Social and Economic Disparities
Labor Exploitation: The factory system led to the exploitation of workers, including children. Long working hours, minimal wages, and unsafe working conditions were common. This exploitation was a factor in the vast wealth inequalities that emerged during this period.
Urbanization Problems: Rapid urbanization, driven by people moving to cities in search of work, outpaced the development of adequate housing, sanitation, and infrastructure. This resulted in overcrowded slums with poor living conditions, contributing to disease and mortality.
Displacement of Traditional Livelihoods: The rise of industrial production undermined traditional crafts and agriculture, displacing workers and causing economic hardship for many families.
3. Health Issues
Occupational Hazards: Workers in factories and mines faced hazardous conditions, including exposure to toxic substances, leading to health issues like respiratory problems, accidents, and long-term ailments.
Public Health Crises: The overcrowded and unsanitary conditions in urban areas facilitated the spread of infectious diseases such as cholera and tuberculosis, leading to high mortality rates.
4. Cultural and Psychological Impacts
Loss of Community and Traditions: The shift from rural, agrarian societies to urban, industrial ones disrupted traditional lifestyles and communities, leading to a sense of alienation among some populations.
Stress and Mental Health: The pressures of industrial work, including long hours and job insecurity, contributed to stress and other mental health issues.
5. Global Impact
Colonial Exploitation: The demand for raw materials and markets for manufactured goods fueled colonial expansion, leading to the exploitation and subjugation of African peoples and societies.
Climate Change: While the contribution to climate change was not understood at the time, the Industrial Revolution marked the beginning of significant increases in greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to long-term changes in the Earth's climate.
While the Industrial Revolution was a catalyst for economic development and technological progress, it also brought about significant environmental damage, social upheaval, health issues, and contributed to global inequalities. Its legacy is a reminder of the complexities and dualities of industrial and technological progress.
CAPITALISM
Capitalism is an economic system where private individuals or entities own and control the means of production (like factories, land, and businesses), and where prices, production, and the distribution of goods and services are primarily determined by competition in a free market. It is characterized by private property, profit motive, and market competition.
Capitalism's origins lie in the transformation of agrarian societies and the rise of trade and manufacturing, particularly in early modern England. While it's a system associated with wealth creation and innovation, it also carries inherent tendencies toward destruction through exploitation of both labor and the environment, and the creation of inequality and social division.
Origins:
The shift from subsistence farming to market-oriented agriculture in England involved enclosures of common land and the displacement of peasants, creating a landless workforce and laying the groundwork for wage labor.
Slavery as the Foundation of Capitalism
1. Capital Accumulation: The “Primitive” Stage
1. Capital Accumulation: The “Primitive” Stage
Capitalism needs capital to exist — money, credit, and assets to invest. Before industrialization, Europe did not yet have vast reserves of wealth. That wealth was built on slavery:
Plantation Profits: Sugar, cotton, tobacco, and coffee plantations in the Americas — run on enslaved African labor — generated immense profits because labor costs were near zero.
Slave Trade Profits: The buying, selling, and transporting of enslaved Africans was itself a massive business, involving shipping, insurance, banking, and manufacturing.
Seed Capital for Europe: These profits financed banks, merchants, governments, and early industrialists. Without this “primitive accumulation”, capitalism could not have taken root.
Karl Marx described this accumulation (through slavery, colonization, and plunder) as the precondition for capitalism.
2. Creation of a Global Market
2. Creation of a Global Market
Slavery created the first globalized capitalist system:
Triangular Trade: Enslaved Africans → Americas; plantation goods → Europe; manufactured goods → Africa.
Interconnected Economies: Sugar in the Caribbean fed demand in London cafés; cotton from Mississippi fueled British textile mills; profits cycled back into European banks.
Commercial Infrastructure: Ports, shipping networks, and trading companies were organized around slavery-based commerce, setting the template for global capitalism.
Slavery was the engine of the world’s first truly international capitalist economy.
3. The Industrial Revolution: Fueled by Slavery
3. The Industrial Revolution: Fueled by Slavery
The wealth generated from the slave trade and colonial plantations played a significant role in the initial accumulation of capital that fueled European industrialization.
The leap from commercial capitalism to industrial capitalism was powered by enslaved labor:
Cotton = King: Cotton picked by enslaved Africans in the U.S. South was the essential raw material for Britain’s booming textile industry — the flagship of the Industrial Revolution.
Plantations as Factories: The plantation was essentially the first large-scale capitalist enterprise, with discipline, time management, and profit-maximization — later mirrored in factories.
Mass Consumerism: Slave-produced goods like sugar, tobacco, and coffee reshaped European diets and created consumer markets — vital for capitalism’s growth.
Without enslaved labor, there would have been no cheap raw materials to feed industrial capitalism.
4. The Logic of Exploitation
4. The Logic of Exploitation
Slavery didn’t just provide capital and goods — it established the labor model of capitalism:
Commodification of Humans: Enslaved people were treated as property, their bodies as capital investments, their labor as raw output. This logic — treating labor as a cost to minimize — is central to capitalism.
Discipline and Control: Methods used on plantations (surveillance, punishment, time schedules) informed later capitalist workplace discipline.
Transition to Wage Labor: After slavery was abolished, capitalism adapted by creating wage labor systems that still exploited racial and class hierarchies.
Capitalism’s obsession with profit through exploitation was born on the plantation.
5. Enduring Legacy in Modern Capitalism
5. Enduring Legacy in Modern Capitalism
Even after slavery’s formal abolition in the 19th century, capitalism remained rooted in it:
Wealth Transfer: Generations of profits from slavery remained embedded in Western banks, corporations, and governments.
Colonial Capitalism: The system shifted to resource extraction (rubber, minerals, oil), still relying on coerced, cheap, and racialized labor.
Global Supply Chains Today: Exploitation of low-wage workers in the Global South echoes plantation logic — maximizing profit by minimizing the cost of human labor.
Modern capitalism is haunted by the ghost of slavery — its structures, institutions, and inequalities trace back directly to it.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Slavery wasn’t a side note or an unfortunate byproduct of capitalism. It was the foundation:
It generated the capital that launched industrialization.
It created the first globalized trading system.
It shaped capitalist institutions like banks, insurance, and shipping.
It provided the labor model of exploitation and commodification.
Its legacies still structure modern economies.
Without slavery, capitalism as we know it would not exist.
Destructive Tendencies:
Capitalism relies on the extraction of surplus value from workers, leading to long hours, low wages, and unsafe working conditions.
The pursuit of profit often prioritizes short-term gains over environmental sustainability, leading to deforestation, pollution, and climate change.
Capitalism tends to concentrate wealth and power in the hands of a few, leading to vast disparities in income and opportunity.
While innovation is a hallmark of capitalism, the process of "creative destruction" can also displace workers and destabilize industries, creating social upheaval.
The development of advanced weaponry and fortifications during the rise of capitalism fueled both internal and external conflicts, demonstrating the system's inherent propensity for violence.
Criticisms:
Monopolies and Oligopolies:
Capitalism can lead to the concentration of economic power in the hands of a few large corporations, limiting competition and potentially leading to exploitation.Market Instability:
Capitalism is prone to boom and bust cycles, leading to economic crises and social unrest.Commodification of Everything:
Critics argue that capitalism reduces all aspects of life, including human relationships and natural resources, to commodities that can be bought and sold.
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