Sometimes, man has to look back to see what progress mankind has really made.
In 1492, Columbus proved that the world wasn’t flat when he crossed the Atlantic and discovered North America. He called the first nation people “Indians” because Christopher thought he was in India. He was right about the earth not being flat, but was soon proved wrong on what continent he had landed on.
He thought that the First Nation people were pagans because they didn’t speak his language, dressed primitively, and didn’t seem very advanced. Five hundred years later we realized that . . .
their diet was very well balanced. They ate fish, vegetables, wild meat, wild fowl, corn bread and maple syrup. All the foods were natural with no chemical residue on them and they only took the fish, birds, and animals that they needed to eat. They wasted no food and used the animal skins to make their clothes.
These First Nation people didn’t pray to the same God as Columbus, but they honored the sun and rain which made things grow, the moon, which controlled the tides and cycles of life, fire which was magical to them, and other unexplainable, but necessary for life to exist, things.
When the Europeans tried to impose their religion on the First Nation people and remove their beliefs and heritage, as was later found out with the discovery of the residential school scandal, we began to wonder who were the pagans.
The First Nation people could cure many health problems with preparations made from roots, bark and parts of animals. Most deadly diseases landed with the Europeans. Many of the sicknesses that the early Europeans came down with were cured by the First Nation people. Although America’s First Nations didn’t take holidays per se, they did go on hunting and fishing parties and often spent the summers up in the mountains where its cooler and better hunting. They also moved to lower, more sheltered, warmer areas in the fall and winter.
During some trips to Europe, I realized that the older a country gets, the more pronounced the gap grows between rich and poor. More land becomes the property of the rich who may retain a beautiful house or castle in the country but spend most of their time at a posh summer home in the south. The farmers who work the land only lease the property and may make improvements and erect buildings, but never own them.
Back to home in North America. Just as in Europe, there was an extensive network of railways that criss-crossed the country moving everything from grain to automobiles to cattle and many other kinds of freight. Some of these trains were over 100 freight cars long and could transport as much freight as 500 semi-trailers.
Most of Europe has maintained their network of railroads and even sell day passes that allow passengers to move from train to bus to train all day for a very reasonable price. This affordable mode of transportation helps reduce car traffic and congestion in cities. At home, a government-owned railroad was sold and thousands of miles of track were torn up and sold for scrap by a former federal government.
Switching to trucks from trains for long haul has created many more jobs, but the extra cost of building and maintaining an expanded network of roads has an unknown price. Trucks are and will be required to transport anything and everything, but with the ever increasing fuel price, maybe the tracks were torn up too soon.
During the end of January and the start of February 2022, we have observed extreme frustration with lasting COVID-19 virus and lock downs, masking, and other measures to try to put a stop to COVID. Although we are all very frustrated, there are some who want it to end no matter what. It’s the “what” that bothers me. At the Ottawa protest there were a few “Odin” shirts on some protesters that got me curious. Those “Odin” shirts are sold on the Internet. They also showed up at the “charge” on the US Capital on Jan. 6, 2021. Google “Soldiers of Odin” for your own information and draw your own decisions.
Progress?
