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I wouldn't lionize those who held the chains.

That's a fair point. But to quote Muhammad Ali (upon seeing the conditions in which people lived in Zaire), "I'm sure glad my great-great-granddaddy got on that boat!"

I won't applaud the oppression of colonialism. But I will argue that, in the vast majority of cases, when a superior nation colonizes an inferior one, the inferior one, in the long run, benefits in many ways. (There's a reason, after all, why one culture triumphs and another suffers defeat.)

Yes, sovereignty is sacrificed, and often liberty as well. But this is no less than nations and individuals have done willingly, seeing it to be in their best interests. And sometimes the conquered have arisen later to become the conquerers - just as the student, having learned all he can from his master and progressed beyond him, then becomes the master.

And this is as it should be, isn't it? Haven't the British, who we at one time were but whom we superseded politically and defeated in war, looked to us many times for guidance intellectually and aid militarily? Didn't India, who chafed under British colonialism, still adopt Britain's political and judicial philosophies? Don't we value the technological and industrial innovations of the Japanese, whom we defeated in war and subjugated under our culture of democratic rule? - innovations that would not have arisen under their archaic emperor-worship and aristocratic code. And so on and on throughout history.

Even the American Indians, had they not been overthrown by the colonies and the United States, would have been subjugated by another power. Now they're protected, subsidized, and benefited by what American culture has produced.

And should the culture of the West - which has substituted the rule of law for the law of the jungle, and brought technological innovation, convenience, medicine, political stability, and wealth unimagined in the days of King Solomon - submit to be equated with the cultures of those which can't even remember how to dig a latrine, not only will those peoples not benefit, but we too will suffer as a result.

The advance of civilization is neither pretty nor painless. But the alternative - leaving whole peoples to their barbarian ways, and even worse, returning to those ways ourselves - is unthinkable.

I appreciate your thoughtful response, and I can’t find much to disagree with.

Regarding your other response about your pessimism... I have always been an optimist. Perhaps that is a symptom of MY age.

Though I agree philosophically with most conservative ideals, and ideologically with many conservative politicians, I cannot bring myself to believe most liberals have evil or treasonous intentions.

Thus I often find myself posting “yes, but...” responses on FreeRepublic. Hopefully they’ll continue to be tolerated and not get me banned :).

I like to think that I’m at least giving perspective. We often chastise liberals for disregarding truth and reason, and I have cause to believe some conservatives have succumbed to the same since Obama was elected. You might call it Obama-derangement syndrome.

Regarding the matter at hand.. I will give you 3:1 odds that no significant number of new Haitians will be brought to the U.S. intentionally by the government.

Our government is currently flying planes over Haiti broadcasting radio messages from Haiti’s ambassador to the U.S. His message? “Do not attempt passage to the U.S. by sea. You will likely die, and if you do not, you will be sent back.”

Napolitano and others have given the same message in media outlets. I don’t think it’s irresponsible to prepare for the possibility of a mass migration. I also don’t think such preparation betrays the intention of the Obama administration to effect such a migration intentionally. But if the relief operation succeeds, it shouldn’t be an issue.

Some FReepers are talking about millions of new Haitian Democrats in Florida... What planet are they living on? If they came, they wouldn’t be able to vote, and the Floridians impacted by such a nightmare would burn the White House to the ground.