[norton]

Agreed that Eden was not in California then or now. But, "some of their much-vaunted “customs” weren’t better than what the Spanish had, and weren’t worth preserving." literally reeks of the same cultural hubris that the Spanish displayed in their conquest.

California's missions were also military outposts, they were also industrial/agricultural centers in need of labor and designed to export the riches believed to be abundant in the new world.

"Weren't better than what the Spanish had" suggests that you know that infant mortality etc. were no better in Madrid or London than on the Monterrey Peninsula of today's California...and I sincerely doubt that tribal wars here were even a fraction as horrendous as contemporary national and religious wars of Europe.

I guess this is a good time to ask you about your opinion of Mexican illegal immigration into the USA and muslim infiltration into Christian Europe and America today; both organized assaults on the existing culture which some say is "no better than...".

[norton]

I might also ask your opinion of the fact that "The San Miguel band of Mission Indians" is a small but quite wealthy operator of major casinos in So Cal; is that a good thing or a bad thing due to Spanish "association"?

(In my Neanderthal opinion, it sucks!)