Emilie Quast, SE Como
Posted at 9:05pm, Oct 12
Note: First I want to say "you are welcome" in response to your statement,
thanking me for my efforts to resist the name change for Chicago Avenue, to
"Vikings Way,"in front of the US Bank stadium under the topic heading "George
Floyd Square". I was curious whether your appreciation was because of the name
they wanted to change it to, or just because of the confusion and chaos a new
name would cause. I guess, now I have my answer. But, enough of the
pleasantries.
Emilie Quast wrote;
“Leave the Viking statues alone…”
My response to Emilie:
Well, ok. Does that mean that we should return the Columbus statue too? My
concern is that the Vikings were here 500 years before Columbus. By comparison,
Columbus could be thought of as just a lost tourist, who thought he was in
Indea.
The Vikings began what would be the wholesale exploitation of the Indigenous
people. They were the first to kill and enslave the original occupants. I agree
that the Spaniards, and later the French and English did it on a much larger
scale, but they were not the first.
I am not concerned with what heroic deeds the Vikings may have done in other
eras and other places such as ancient Rome. Let’s take the statues there if
they want them. Here they proved themselves to be marauding murderers, and
makers of mischief and mayhem.
You continued: “Be aware that the European culture in MN is still broadly
"Scandinavian-German" Many of our Norwegian, Swedish, Dane, Fin
G-g-g-Grandpas came here for the farmland, joining the descendants of
Herman's people.”
I am Finish, German and English. While the Native Americans may have, I would
not have objected if the invaders from all of the areas you mentioned were
willing to share the land, use it responsibly and not over populate it. But,
they didn’t do any of those things. They came in and insisted on introducing
the concept of private ownership, where it had not existed and then they began
the process of acquiring all of the best land, exclusively for themselves, by
any means necessary. They killed off much of the fauna, that the Native
Americans needed to live and to preserve their way of life. They vastly
overpopulated the land and wastefully exploited its natural resources. Much of
the non renewable resources will be gone forever.
I believe the concept of private ownership of real estate is wrong, especially
on this continent where it was introduced against the original inhabitants
traditions and customs. I think land should be held in a land trust and its use
democratically decided upon. People, as individuals, families or intentional
communities, and businesses, should be granted long term use of land in
exchange for a resonate fee, but no one should have more than they reasonably
need. Why should some people have thousands of acres and others have to stay at
the Wall of Forgotten Natives and similar accommodations, where they literally
can't even find a place to legally go to the bathroom?