One of the few benefits of being an anthropologist is the uncanny >exhilaration one feels watching novel current events as re-runs from >previous episodes in the history of mankind.
Donald TrumpAs capture of Nicolas Maduro, President of Venezuela, is no >exception. Kidnapping Latin American emperors is a continental
tradition. ItAs simply most practical method for breaking the chain of >command in the region. It triggers succession chaos, enables the
extraction of resources, and keeps the rest of the hierarchy more or
less intact. In earlier centuries, it was Spain and Portugal. Today,
itAs the United States.
In the colonial era, the objective was to secure enough gold to beat >European rivals. Now, with an astonishing 90 per cent of VenezuelaAs oil >produce heading to China, itAs about ensuring dominance over East Asia.
And there has never been a better way of establishing dominance than by >carrying out a good kidnapping.
The first to try it in Latin America were the original Spanish
conquerors led by Christopher Columbus. When he sunk his leather boots
into the warm Caribbean sands in 1492, he discovered a continent of >unprecedented size and a near-endless source of human slaves. But
military resistance was immediate, and an Indian chieftain called
Caonab< was the fiercest of all, directing surprise attacks that killed >nearly all the men Columbus left on the islands when he regularly popped >back to Spain. When the Admiral heard the news, he sent a terrible
deputy, Alonso de Ojeda, to sort out Caonab< and eradicate any opposition.
Ojeda, approaching the Indian chieftain peacefully with a mere handful
of men, offered the chief some polished brass handcuffs and shackles,
saying that they were aroyal ornamentsA worn by kings in Spain that
offered them divine and magical properties. Caonab< believed him. And so
he let the Spaniard put them on. Then, Ojeda snapped them shut,
kidnapped the chief, and galloped back to his settlement u effectively >decapitating the nativeAs leadership. The entire culture crumbled soon >after, and slaves poured into Seville. And I imagine the sketching of >Caonab<As face looked just like the pep shots of Maduro that have been >circulating on social media today.
A few decades later, the conquistador Hernbn Cortos landed in
Tenochtitlan, present-day Mexico City, and discovered yet another
ancient civilization. This time, though, the sheer scale and
sophistication of the Aztecs surpassed even the greatest cities back in >Europe. The Emperor Moctezuma II, feeling untroubled by a couple hundred >badly smelling foreigners, invited him into the city to show Cortos his >personal aviary. The conquistador, following the Spanish tradition, >immediately kidnapped him and put him under palace arrest.
Much like TrumpAs recent announcement that the US would be running
Venezuela for the time being, Cortos, too, governed the Aztec empire
with Moctezuma as a puppet. The successful kidnap meant gold flowed back
to Spain in abundance, but the emperor himself soon died after being
taken onto the palace rooftop to try and calm his subjects. One of them, >unhappy with the emperorAs performance, ended the whole charade by
throwing a rock at his head.
Perhaps the most uncanny example happened a few years later, when
another Spanish conquistador, Francisco Pizarro, landed on the shores of >Peru to discover an even bigger empire: the Inca. Their emperor,
Atahualpa, also looked upon these straggly foreigners with little cause
for concern. A gambling man, Pizarro took the biggest risk of his life
by getting his priest to read the Inca emperor the Requerimiento; a
forced submission to Christianity with cultural roots in the Moorish >tradition, recently expunged from Spain, of the summons to accept Islam
or be attacked.
Atahualpa refused, as all self-respecting Latin American emperors did in
the face of foreign conquest, but misjudged the cunning of the Spanish,
who promptly closed the palace gates, locked out his army, butchered his >bodyguards and, as per tradition, kidnapped the emperor and held him to >ransom. Like Maduro, Atahualpa was handed a set of trumped up legal
charges u in this case aidolatryA and adultery (the emperor enjoyed many >wives). His kidnapping lasted 8 months before the Spanish strangled him
with an iron collar, but not before being forcibly baptised as aDon >FranciscoA after his conqueror and tormentor, Francisco Pizarro.
It did not surprise me to see that Nicolas Maduro, too, has already
ended up in todayAs cultural equivalent of the ritual humiliation once >offered as forced baptism. Maduro and his sovereignty were instantly
mocked online, videos of American eagles eyeing up his power, were
quickly reposted on Donald TrumpAs Truth Social feed. Stuck in his cell
in New York, awaiting trial, Maduro will take little comfort in the >knowledge that heAs just the latest Latin American leader to go through
this process.
Max Horder--
One of the few benefits of being an anthropologist is the uncanny exhilaration one feels watching novel current events as re-runs from
previous episodes in the history of mankind.
Donald TrumprCOs capture of Nicolas Maduro, President of Venezuela, is no exception. Kidnapping Latin American emperors is a continental
tradition. ItrCOs simply most practical method for breaking the chain of command in the region. It triggers succession chaos, enables the
extraction of resources, and keeps the rest of the hierarchy more or
less intact. In earlier centuries, it was Spain and Portugal. Today,
itrCOs the United States.
In the colonial era, the objective was to secure enough gold to beat
European rivals. Now, with an astonishing 90 per cent of VenezuelarCOs oil produce heading to China, itrCOs about ensuring dominance over East Asia.
And there has never been a better way of establishing dominance than by carrying out a good kidnapping.
The first to try it in Latin America were the original Spanish
conquerors led by Christopher Columbus. When he sunk his leather boots
into the warm Caribbean sands in 1492, he discovered a continent of unprecedented size and a near-endless source of human slaves. But
military resistance was immediate, and an Indian chieftain called
Caonab|| was the fiercest of all, directing surprise attacks that killed nearly all the men Columbus left on the islands when he regularly popped
back to Spain. When the Admiral heard the news, he sent a terrible
deputy, Alonso de Ojeda, to sort out Caonab|| and eradicate any opposition.
Ojeda, approaching the Indian chieftain peacefully with a mere handful
of men, offered the chief some polished brass handcuffs and shackles,
saying that they were rCyroyal ornamentsrCO worn by kings in Spain that offered them divine and magical properties. Caonab|| believed him. And so
he let the Spaniard put them on. Then, Ojeda snapped them shut,
kidnapped the chief, and galloped back to his settlement rCo effectively decapitating the nativerCOs leadership. The entire culture crumbled soon after, and slaves poured into Seville. And I imagine the sketching of Caonab||rCOs face looked just like the pep shots of Maduro that have been circulating on social media today.
A few decades later, the conquistador Hern|in Cort|-s landed in
Tenochtitlan, present-day Mexico City, and discovered yet another
ancient civilization. This time, though, the sheer scale and
sophistication of the Aztecs surpassed even the greatest cities back in Europe. The Emperor Moctezuma II, feeling untroubled by a couple hundred badly smelling foreigners, invited him into the city to show Cort|-s his personal aviary. The conquistador, following the Spanish tradition, immediately kidnapped him and put him under palace arrest.
Much like TrumprCOs recent announcement that the US would be running Venezuela for the time being, Cort|-s, too, governed the Aztec empire
with Moctezuma as a puppet. The successful kidnap meant gold flowed back
to Spain in abundance, but the emperor himself soon died after being
taken onto the palace rooftop to try and calm his subjects. One of them, unhappy with the emperorrCOs performance, ended the whole charade by
throwing a rock at his head.
Perhaps the most uncanny example happened a few years later, when
another Spanish conquistador, Francisco Pizarro, landed on the shores of
Peru to discover an even bigger empire: the Inca. Their emperor,
Atahualpa, also looked upon these straggly foreigners with little cause
for concern. A gambling man, Pizarro took the biggest risk of his life
by getting his priest to read the Inca emperor the Requerimiento; a
forced submission to Christianity with cultural roots in the Moorish tradition, recently expunged from Spain, of the summons to accept Islam
or be attacked.
Atahualpa refused, as all self-respecting Latin American emperors did in
the face of foreign conquest, but misjudged the cunning of the Spanish,
who promptly closed the palace gates, locked out his army, butchered his bodyguards and, as per tradition, kidnapped the emperor and held him to ransom. Like Maduro, Atahualpa was handed a set of trumped up legal
charges rCo in this case rCyidolatryrCO and adultery (the emperor enjoyed many
wives). His kidnapping lasted 8 months before the Spanish strangled him
with an iron collar, but not before being forcibly baptised as rCyDon FranciscorCO after his conqueror and tormentor, Francisco Pizarro.
It did not surprise me to see that Nicolas Maduro, too, has already
ended up in todayrCOs cultural equivalent of the ritual humiliation once offered as forced baptism. Maduro and his sovereignty were instantly
mocked online, videos of American eagles eyeing up his power, were
quickly reposted on Donald TrumprCOs Truth Social feed. Stuck in his cell
in New York, awaiting trial, Maduro will take little comfort in the
knowledge that herCOs just the latest Latin American leader to go through this process.
Max Horder
On Jan 5, 2026 at 8:23:37rC>AM EST, "Julian" <julianlzb87@gmail.com> wrote:
One of the few benefits of being an anthropologist is the uncanny
exhilaration one feels watching novel current events as re-runs from
previous episodes in the history of mankind.
Donald TrumprCOs capture of Nicolas Maduro, President of Venezuela, is no
exception. Kidnapping Latin American emperors is a continental
tradition. ItrCOs simply most practical method for breaking the chain of
command in the region. It triggers succession chaos, enables the
extraction of resources, and keeps the rest of the hierarchy more or
less intact. In earlier centuries, it was Spain and Portugal. Today,
itrCOs the United States.
In the colonial era, the objective was to secure enough gold to beat
European rivals. Now, with an astonishing 90 per cent of VenezuelarCOs oil >> produce heading to China, itrCOs about ensuring dominance over East Asia.
And there has never been a better way of establishing dominance than by
carrying out a good kidnapping.
The first to try it in Latin America were the original Spanish
conquerors led by Christopher Columbus. When he sunk his leather boots
into the warm Caribbean sands in 1492, he discovered a continent of
unprecedented size and a near-endless source of human slaves. But
military resistance was immediate, and an Indian chieftain called
Caonab|| was the fiercest of all, directing surprise attacks that killed
nearly all the men Columbus left on the islands when he regularly popped
back to Spain. When the Admiral heard the news, he sent a terrible
deputy, Alonso de Ojeda, to sort out Caonab|| and eradicate any opposition. >>
Ojeda, approaching the Indian chieftain peacefully with a mere handful
of men, offered the chief some polished brass handcuffs and shackles,
saying that they were rCyroyal ornamentsrCO worn by kings in Spain that
offered them divine and magical properties. Caonab|| believed him. And so
he let the Spaniard put them on. Then, Ojeda snapped them shut,
kidnapped the chief, and galloped back to his settlement rCo effectively
decapitating the nativerCOs leadership. The entire culture crumbled soon
after, and slaves poured into Seville. And I imagine the sketching of
Caonab||rCOs face looked just like the pep shots of Maduro that have been
circulating on social media today.
A few decades later, the conquistador Hern|in Cort|-s landed in
Tenochtitlan, present-day Mexico City, and discovered yet another
ancient civilization. This time, though, the sheer scale and
sophistication of the Aztecs surpassed even the greatest cities back in
Europe. The Emperor Moctezuma II, feeling untroubled by a couple hundred
badly smelling foreigners, invited him into the city to show Cort|-s his
personal aviary. The conquistador, following the Spanish tradition,
immediately kidnapped him and put him under palace arrest.
Much like TrumprCOs recent announcement that the US would be running
Venezuela for the time being, Cort|-s, too, governed the Aztec empire
with Moctezuma as a puppet. The successful kidnap meant gold flowed back
to Spain in abundance, but the emperor himself soon died after being
taken onto the palace rooftop to try and calm his subjects. One of them,
unhappy with the emperorrCOs performance, ended the whole charade by
throwing a rock at his head.
Perhaps the most uncanny example happened a few years later, when
another Spanish conquistador, Francisco Pizarro, landed on the shores of
Peru to discover an even bigger empire: the Inca. Their emperor,
Atahualpa, also looked upon these straggly foreigners with little cause
for concern. A gambling man, Pizarro took the biggest risk of his life
by getting his priest to read the Inca emperor the Requerimiento; a
forced submission to Christianity with cultural roots in the Moorish
tradition, recently expunged from Spain, of the summons to accept Islam
or be attacked.
Atahualpa refused, as all self-respecting Latin American emperors did in
the face of foreign conquest, but misjudged the cunning of the Spanish,
who promptly closed the palace gates, locked out his army, butchered his
bodyguards and, as per tradition, kidnapped the emperor and held him to
ransom. Like Maduro, Atahualpa was handed a set of trumped up legal
charges rCo in this case rCyidolatryrCO and adultery (the emperor enjoyed many
wives). His kidnapping lasted 8 months before the Spanish strangled him
with an iron collar, but not before being forcibly baptised as rCyDon
FranciscorCO after his conqueror and tormentor, Francisco Pizarro.
It did not surprise me to see that Nicolas Maduro, too, has already
ended up in todayrCOs cultural equivalent of the ritual humiliation once
offered as forced baptism. Maduro and his sovereignty were instantly
mocked online, videos of American eagles eyeing up his power, were
quickly reposted on Donald TrumprCOs Truth Social feed. Stuck in his cell
in New York, awaiting trial, Maduro will take little comfort in the
knowledge that herCOs just the latest Latin American leader to go through
this process.
Max Horder
"We learn from history that we do not learn from history"
- Hegel
On Jan 5, 2026 at 10:52:46?AM EST, "Tara" <tsm@fastmail.ca> wrote:
On Jan 5, 2026 at 8:23:37?AM EST, "Julian" <julianlzb87@gmail.com> wrote:
One of the few benefits of being an anthropologist is the uncanny
exhilaration one feels watching novel current events as re-runs from
previous episodes in the history of mankind.
Donald TrumpAs capture of Nicolas Maduro, President of Venezuela, is no
exception. Kidnapping Latin American emperors is a continental
tradition. ItAs simply most practical method for breaking the chain of
command in the region. It triggers succession chaos, enables the
extraction of resources, and keeps the rest of the hierarchy more or
less intact. In earlier centuries, it was Spain and Portugal. Today,
itAs the United States.
In the colonial era, the objective was to secure enough gold to beat
European rivals. Now, with an astonishing 90 per cent of VenezuelaAs oil >>> produce heading to China, itAs about ensuring dominance over East Asia.
And there has never been a better way of establishing dominance than by
carrying out a good kidnapping.
The first to try it in Latin America were the original Spanish
conquerors led by Christopher Columbus. When he sunk his leather boots
into the warm Caribbean sands in 1492, he discovered a continent of
unprecedented size and a near-endless source of human slaves. But
military resistance was immediate, and an Indian chieftain called
Caonab< was the fiercest of all, directing surprise attacks that killed
nearly all the men Columbus left on the islands when he regularly popped >>> back to Spain. When the Admiral heard the news, he sent a terrible
deputy, Alonso de Ojeda, to sort out Caonab< and eradicate any opposition. >>>
Ojeda, approaching the Indian chieftain peacefully with a mere handful
of men, offered the chief some polished brass handcuffs and shackles,
saying that they were aroyal ornamentsA worn by kings in Spain that
offered them divine and magical properties. Caonab< believed him. And so >>> he let the Spaniard put them on. Then, Ojeda snapped them shut,
kidnapped the chief, and galloped back to his settlement u effectively
decapitating the nativeAs leadership. The entire culture crumbled soon
after, and slaves poured into Seville. And I imagine the sketching of
Caonab<As face looked just like the pep shots of Maduro that have been
circulating on social media today.
A few decades later, the conquistador Hernbn Cortos landed in
Tenochtitlan, present-day Mexico City, and discovered yet another
ancient civilization. This time, though, the sheer scale and
sophistication of the Aztecs surpassed even the greatest cities back in
Europe. The Emperor Moctezuma II, feeling untroubled by a couple hundred >>> badly smelling foreigners, invited him into the city to show Cortos his
personal aviary. The conquistador, following the Spanish tradition,
immediately kidnapped him and put him under palace arrest.
Much like TrumpAs recent announcement that the US would be running
Venezuela for the time being, Cortos, too, governed the Aztec empire
with Moctezuma as a puppet. The successful kidnap meant gold flowed back >>> to Spain in abundance, but the emperor himself soon died after being
taken onto the palace rooftop to try and calm his subjects. One of them, >>> unhappy with the emperorAs performance, ended the whole charade by
throwing a rock at his head.
Perhaps the most uncanny example happened a few years later, when
another Spanish conquistador, Francisco Pizarro, landed on the shores of >>> Peru to discover an even bigger empire: the Inca. Their emperor,
Atahualpa, also looked upon these straggly foreigners with little cause
for concern. A gambling man, Pizarro took the biggest risk of his life
by getting his priest to read the Inca emperor the Requerimiento; a
forced submission to Christianity with cultural roots in the Moorish
tradition, recently expunged from Spain, of the summons to accept Islam
or be attacked.
Atahualpa refused, as all self-respecting Latin American emperors did in >>> the face of foreign conquest, but misjudged the cunning of the Spanish,
who promptly closed the palace gates, locked out his army, butchered his >>> bodyguards and, as per tradition, kidnapped the emperor and held him to
ransom. Like Maduro, Atahualpa was handed a set of trumped up legal
charges u in this case aidolatryA and adultery (the emperor enjoyed many >>> wives). His kidnapping lasted 8 months before the Spanish strangled him
with an iron collar, but not before being forcibly baptised as aDon
FranciscoA after his conqueror and tormentor, Francisco Pizarro.
It did not surprise me to see that Nicolas Maduro, too, has already
ended up in todayAs cultural equivalent of the ritual humiliation once
offered as forced baptism. Maduro and his sovereignty were instantly
mocked online, videos of American eagles eyeing up his power, were
quickly reposted on Donald TrumpAs Truth Social feed. Stuck in his cell
in New York, awaiting trial, Maduro will take little comfort in the
knowledge that heAs just the latest Latin American leader to go through
this process.
Max Horder
"We learn from history that we do not learn from history"
- Hegel
Hegel didn't actually say this but it sounds good anyway.
On Jan 5, 2026 at 10:52:46rC>AM EST, "Tara" <tsm@fastmail.ca> wrote:
On Jan 5, 2026 at 8:23:37rC>AM EST, "Julian" <julianlzb87@gmail.com> wrote: >>
One of the few benefits of being an anthropologist is the uncanny
exhilaration one feels watching novel current events as re-runs from
previous episodes in the history of mankind.
Donald TrumprCOs capture of Nicolas Maduro, President of Venezuela, is no >>> exception. Kidnapping Latin American emperors is a continental
tradition. ItrCOs simply most practical method for breaking the chain of >>> command in the region. It triggers succession chaos, enables the
extraction of resources, and keeps the rest of the hierarchy more or
less intact. In earlier centuries, it was Spain and Portugal. Today,
itrCOs the United States.
In the colonial era, the objective was to secure enough gold to beat
European rivals. Now, with an astonishing 90 per cent of VenezuelarCOs oil >>> produce heading to China, itrCOs about ensuring dominance over East Asia. >>> And there has never been a better way of establishing dominance than by
carrying out a good kidnapping.
The first to try it in Latin America were the original Spanish
conquerors led by Christopher Columbus. When he sunk his leather boots
into the warm Caribbean sands in 1492, he discovered a continent of
unprecedented size and a near-endless source of human slaves. But
military resistance was immediate, and an Indian chieftain called
Caonab|| was the fiercest of all, directing surprise attacks that killed >>> nearly all the men Columbus left on the islands when he regularly popped >>> back to Spain. When the Admiral heard the news, he sent a terrible
deputy, Alonso de Ojeda, to sort out Caonab|| and eradicate any opposition. >>>
Ojeda, approaching the Indian chieftain peacefully with a mere handful
of men, offered the chief some polished brass handcuffs and shackles,
saying that they were rCyroyal ornamentsrCO worn by kings in Spain that
offered them divine and magical properties. Caonab|| believed him. And so >>> he let the Spaniard put them on. Then, Ojeda snapped them shut,
kidnapped the chief, and galloped back to his settlement rCo effectively >>> decapitating the nativerCOs leadership. The entire culture crumbled soon >>> after, and slaves poured into Seville. And I imagine the sketching of
Caonab||rCOs face looked just like the pep shots of Maduro that have been >>> circulating on social media today.
A few decades later, the conquistador Hern|in Cort|-s landed in
Tenochtitlan, present-day Mexico City, and discovered yet another
ancient civilization. This time, though, the sheer scale and
sophistication of the Aztecs surpassed even the greatest cities back in
Europe. The Emperor Moctezuma II, feeling untroubled by a couple hundred >>> badly smelling foreigners, invited him into the city to show Cort|-s his >>> personal aviary. The conquistador, following the Spanish tradition,
immediately kidnapped him and put him under palace arrest.
Much like TrumprCOs recent announcement that the US would be running
Venezuela for the time being, Cort|-s, too, governed the Aztec empire
with Moctezuma as a puppet. The successful kidnap meant gold flowed back >>> to Spain in abundance, but the emperor himself soon died after being
taken onto the palace rooftop to try and calm his subjects. One of them, >>> unhappy with the emperorrCOs performance, ended the whole charade by
throwing a rock at his head.
Perhaps the most uncanny example happened a few years later, when
another Spanish conquistador, Francisco Pizarro, landed on the shores of >>> Peru to discover an even bigger empire: the Inca. Their emperor,
Atahualpa, also looked upon these straggly foreigners with little cause
for concern. A gambling man, Pizarro took the biggest risk of his life
by getting his priest to read the Inca emperor the Requerimiento; a
forced submission to Christianity with cultural roots in the Moorish
tradition, recently expunged from Spain, of the summons to accept Islam
or be attacked.
Atahualpa refused, as all self-respecting Latin American emperors did in >>> the face of foreign conquest, but misjudged the cunning of the Spanish,
who promptly closed the palace gates, locked out his army, butchered his >>> bodyguards and, as per tradition, kidnapped the emperor and held him to
ransom. Like Maduro, Atahualpa was handed a set of trumped up legal
charges rCo in this case rCyidolatryrCO and adultery (the emperor enjoyed many
wives). His kidnapping lasted 8 months before the Spanish strangled him
with an iron collar, but not before being forcibly baptised as rCyDon
FranciscorCO after his conqueror and tormentor, Francisco Pizarro.
It did not surprise me to see that Nicolas Maduro, too, has already
ended up in todayrCOs cultural equivalent of the ritual humiliation once >>> offered as forced baptism. Maduro and his sovereignty were instantly
mocked online, videos of American eagles eyeing up his power, were
quickly reposted on Donald TrumprCOs Truth Social feed. Stuck in his cell >>> in New York, awaiting trial, Maduro will take little comfort in the
knowledge that herCOs just the latest Latin American leader to go through >>> this process.
Max Horder
"We learn from history that we do not learn from history"
- Hegel
Hegel didn't actually say this but it sounds good anyway.
On Jan 5, 2026 at 11:02:19rC>AM EST, "Tara" <tsm@fastmail.ca> wrote:
On Jan 5, 2026 at 10:52:46rC>AM EST, "Tara" <tsm@fastmail.ca> wrote:
On Jan 5, 2026 at 8:23:37rC>AM EST, "Julian" <julianlzb87@gmail.com> wrote: >>>
One of the few benefits of being an anthropologist is the uncanny
exhilaration one feels watching novel current events as re-runs from
previous episodes in the history of mankind.
Donald TrumprCOs capture of Nicolas Maduro, President of Venezuela, is no >>>> exception. Kidnapping Latin American emperors is a continental
tradition. ItrCOs simply most practical method for breaking the chain of >>>> command in the region. It triggers succession chaos, enables the
extraction of resources, and keeps the rest of the hierarchy more or
less intact. In earlier centuries, it was Spain and Portugal. Today,
itrCOs the United States.
In the colonial era, the objective was to secure enough gold to beat
European rivals. Now, with an astonishing 90 per cent of VenezuelarCOs oil >>>> produce heading to China, itrCOs about ensuring dominance over East Asia. >>>> And there has never been a better way of establishing dominance than by >>>> carrying out a good kidnapping.
The first to try it in Latin America were the original Spanish
conquerors led by Christopher Columbus. When he sunk his leather boots >>>> into the warm Caribbean sands in 1492, he discovered a continent of
unprecedented size and a near-endless source of human slaves. But
military resistance was immediate, and an Indian chieftain called
Caonab|| was the fiercest of all, directing surprise attacks that killed >>>> nearly all the men Columbus left on the islands when he regularly popped >>>> back to Spain. When the Admiral heard the news, he sent a terrible
deputy, Alonso de Ojeda, to sort out Caonab|| and eradicate any opposition.
Ojeda, approaching the Indian chieftain peacefully with a mere handful >>>> of men, offered the chief some polished brass handcuffs and shackles,
saying that they were rCyroyal ornamentsrCO worn by kings in Spain that >>>> offered them divine and magical properties. Caonab|| believed him. And so >>>> he let the Spaniard put them on. Then, Ojeda snapped them shut,
kidnapped the chief, and galloped back to his settlement rCo effectively >>>> decapitating the nativerCOs leadership. The entire culture crumbled soon >>>> after, and slaves poured into Seville. And I imagine the sketching of
Caonab||rCOs face looked just like the pep shots of Maduro that have been >>>> circulating on social media today.
A few decades later, the conquistador Hern|in Cort|-s landed in
Tenochtitlan, present-day Mexico City, and discovered yet another
ancient civilization. This time, though, the sheer scale and
sophistication of the Aztecs surpassed even the greatest cities back in >>>> Europe. The Emperor Moctezuma II, feeling untroubled by a couple hundred >>>> badly smelling foreigners, invited him into the city to show Cort|-s his >>>> personal aviary. The conquistador, following the Spanish tradition,
immediately kidnapped him and put him under palace arrest.
Much like TrumprCOs recent announcement that the US would be running
Venezuela for the time being, Cort|-s, too, governed the Aztec empire
with Moctezuma as a puppet. The successful kidnap meant gold flowed back >>>> to Spain in abundance, but the emperor himself soon died after being
taken onto the palace rooftop to try and calm his subjects. One of them, >>>> unhappy with the emperorrCOs performance, ended the whole charade by
throwing a rock at his head.
Perhaps the most uncanny example happened a few years later, when
another Spanish conquistador, Francisco Pizarro, landed on the shores of >>>> Peru to discover an even bigger empire: the Inca. Their emperor,
Atahualpa, also looked upon these straggly foreigners with little cause >>>> for concern. A gambling man, Pizarro took the biggest risk of his life >>>> by getting his priest to read the Inca emperor the Requerimiento; a
forced submission to Christianity with cultural roots in the Moorish
tradition, recently expunged from Spain, of the summons to accept Islam >>>> or be attacked.
Atahualpa refused, as all self-respecting Latin American emperors did in >>>> the face of foreign conquest, but misjudged the cunning of the Spanish, >>>> who promptly closed the palace gates, locked out his army, butchered his >>>> bodyguards and, as per tradition, kidnapped the emperor and held him to >>>> ransom. Like Maduro, Atahualpa was handed a set of trumped up legal
charges rCo in this case rCyidolatryrCO and adultery (the emperor enjoyed many
wives). His kidnapping lasted 8 months before the Spanish strangled him >>>> with an iron collar, but not before being forcibly baptised as rCyDon
FranciscorCO after his conqueror and tormentor, Francisco Pizarro.
It did not surprise me to see that Nicolas Maduro, too, has already
ended up in todayrCOs cultural equivalent of the ritual humiliation once >>>> offered as forced baptism. Maduro and his sovereignty were instantly
mocked online, videos of American eagles eyeing up his power, were
quickly reposted on Donald TrumprCOs Truth Social feed. Stuck in his cell >>>> in New York, awaiting trial, Maduro will take little comfort in the
knowledge that herCOs just the latest Latin American leader to go through >>>> this process.
Max Horder
"We learn from history that we do not learn from history"
- Hegel
Hegel didn't actually say this but it sounds good anyway.
Hegel did say:
"But what experience and history teach is this, - that peoples and governments
never have learned anything from history, or acted on principles deduced from it."
I disagree on a personal level. I think that if an experience is profound enough, we learn to not repeat it.
On Jan 5, 2026 at 11:02:19?AM EST, "Tara" <tsm@fastmail.ca> wrote:
On Jan 5, 2026 at 10:52:46?AM EST, "Tara" <tsm@fastmail.ca> wrote:
On Jan 5, 2026 at 8:23:37?AM EST, "Julian" <julianlzb87@gmail.com> wrote: >>>
One of the few benefits of being an anthropologist is the uncanny
exhilaration one feels watching novel current events as re-runs from
previous episodes in the history of mankind.
Donald TrumpAs capture of Nicolas Maduro, President of Venezuela, is no >>>> exception. Kidnapping Latin American emperors is a continental
tradition. ItAs simply most practical method for breaking the chain of >>>> command in the region. It triggers succession chaos, enables the
extraction of resources, and keeps the rest of the hierarchy more or
less intact. In earlier centuries, it was Spain and Portugal. Today,
itAs the United States.
In the colonial era, the objective was to secure enough gold to beat
European rivals. Now, with an astonishing 90 per cent of VenezuelaAs oil >>>> produce heading to China, itAs about ensuring dominance over East Asia. >>>> And there has never been a better way of establishing dominance than by >>>> carrying out a good kidnapping.
The first to try it in Latin America were the original Spanish
conquerors led by Christopher Columbus. When he sunk his leather boots >>>> into the warm Caribbean sands in 1492, he discovered a continent of
unprecedented size and a near-endless source of human slaves. But
military resistance was immediate, and an Indian chieftain called
Caonab< was the fiercest of all, directing surprise attacks that killed >>>> nearly all the men Columbus left on the islands when he regularly popped >>>> back to Spain. When the Admiral heard the news, he sent a terrible
deputy, Alonso de Ojeda, to sort out Caonab< and eradicate any opposition. >>>>
Ojeda, approaching the Indian chieftain peacefully with a mere handful >>>> of men, offered the chief some polished brass handcuffs and shackles,
saying that they were aroyal ornamentsA worn by kings in Spain that
offered them divine and magical properties. Caonab< believed him. And so >>>> he let the Spaniard put them on. Then, Ojeda snapped them shut,
kidnapped the chief, and galloped back to his settlement u effectively >>>> decapitating the nativeAs leadership. The entire culture crumbled soon >>>> after, and slaves poured into Seville. And I imagine the sketching of
Caonab<As face looked just like the pep shots of Maduro that have been >>>> circulating on social media today.
A few decades later, the conquistador Hernbn Cortos landed in
Tenochtitlan, present-day Mexico City, and discovered yet another
ancient civilization. This time, though, the sheer scale and
sophistication of the Aztecs surpassed even the greatest cities back in >>>> Europe. The Emperor Moctezuma II, feeling untroubled by a couple hundred >>>> badly smelling foreigners, invited him into the city to show Cortos his >>>> personal aviary. The conquistador, following the Spanish tradition,
immediately kidnapped him and put him under palace arrest.
Much like TrumpAs recent announcement that the US would be running
Venezuela for the time being, Cortos, too, governed the Aztec empire
with Moctezuma as a puppet. The successful kidnap meant gold flowed back >>>> to Spain in abundance, but the emperor himself soon died after being
taken onto the palace rooftop to try and calm his subjects. One of them, >>>> unhappy with the emperorAs performance, ended the whole charade by
throwing a rock at his head.
Perhaps the most uncanny example happened a few years later, when
another Spanish conquistador, Francisco Pizarro, landed on the shores of >>>> Peru to discover an even bigger empire: the Inca. Their emperor,
Atahualpa, also looked upon these straggly foreigners with little cause >>>> for concern. A gambling man, Pizarro took the biggest risk of his life >>>> by getting his priest to read the Inca emperor the Requerimiento; a
forced submission to Christianity with cultural roots in the Moorish
tradition, recently expunged from Spain, of the summons to accept Islam >>>> or be attacked.
Atahualpa refused, as all self-respecting Latin American emperors did in >>>> the face of foreign conquest, but misjudged the cunning of the Spanish, >>>> who promptly closed the palace gates, locked out his army, butchered his >>>> bodyguards and, as per tradition, kidnapped the emperor and held him to >>>> ransom. Like Maduro, Atahualpa was handed a set of trumped up legal
charges u in this case aidolatryA and adultery (the emperor enjoyed many >>>> wives). His kidnapping lasted 8 months before the Spanish strangled him >>>> with an iron collar, but not before being forcibly baptised as aDon
FranciscoA after his conqueror and tormentor, Francisco Pizarro.
It did not surprise me to see that Nicolas Maduro, too, has already
ended up in todayAs cultural equivalent of the ritual humiliation once >>>> offered as forced baptism. Maduro and his sovereignty were instantly
mocked online, videos of American eagles eyeing up his power, were
quickly reposted on Donald TrumpAs Truth Social feed. Stuck in his cell >>>> in New York, awaiting trial, Maduro will take little comfort in the
knowledge that heAs just the latest Latin American leader to go through >>>> this process.
Max Horder
"We learn from history that we do not learn from history"
- Hegel
Hegel didn't actually say this but it sounds good anyway.
Hegel did say:
"But what experience and history teach is this, - that peoples and governments >never have learned anything from history, or acted on principles deduced from >it."
I disagree on a personal level. I think that if an experience is profound >enough, we learn to not repeat it.
On Mon, 5 Jan 2026 16:11:59 -0000 (UTC), Tara <tsm@fastmail.ca> wrote:
On Jan 5, 2026 at 11:02:19?AM EST, "Tara" <tsm@fastmail.ca> wrote:
On Jan 5, 2026 at 10:52:46?AM EST, "Tara" <tsm@fastmail.ca> wrote:
On Jan 5, 2026 at 8:23:37?AM EST, "Julian" <julianlzb87@gmail.com> wrote: >>>>
One of the few benefits of being an anthropologist is the uncanny
exhilaration one feels watching novel current events as re-runs from >>>>> previous episodes in the history of mankind.
Donald Trump-As capture of Nicolas Maduro, President of Venezuela, is no >>>>> exception. Kidnapping Latin American emperors is a continental
tradition. It-As simply most practical method for breaking the chain of >>>>> command in the region. It triggers succession chaos, enables the
extraction of resources, and keeps the rest of the hierarchy more or >>>>> less intact. In earlier centuries, it was Spain and Portugal. Today, >>>>> it-As the United States.
In the colonial era, the objective was to secure enough gold to beat >>>>> European rivals. Now, with an astonishing 90 per cent of Venezuela-As oil >>>>> produce heading to China, it-As about ensuring dominance over East Asia. >>>>> And there has never been a better way of establishing dominance than by >>>>> carrying out a good kidnapping.
The first to try it in Latin America were the original Spanish
conquerors led by Christopher Columbus. When he sunk his leather boots >>>>> into the warm Caribbean sands in 1492, he discovered a continent of
unprecedented size and a near-endless source of human slaves. But
military resistance was immediate, and an Indian chieftain called
Caonab|| was the fiercest of all, directing surprise attacks that killed >>>>> nearly all the men Columbus left on the islands when he regularly popped >>>>> back to Spain. When the Admiral heard the news, he sent a terrible
deputy, Alonso de Ojeda, to sort out Caonab|| and eradicate any opposition.
Ojeda, approaching the Indian chieftain peacefully with a mere handful >>>>> of men, offered the chief some polished brass handcuffs and shackles, >>>>> saying that they were -aroyal ornaments-A worn by kings in Spain that >>>>> offered them divine and magical properties. Caonab|| believed him. And so >>>>> he let the Spaniard put them on. Then, Ojeda snapped them shut,
kidnapped the chief, and galloped back to his settlement -u effectively >>>>> decapitating the native-As leadership. The entire culture crumbled soon >>>>> after, and slaves poured into Seville. And I imagine the sketching of >>>>> Caonab||-As face looked just like the pep shots of Maduro that have been >>>>> circulating on social media today.
A few decades later, the conquistador Hern|in Cort|-s landed in
Tenochtitlan, present-day Mexico City, and discovered yet another
ancient civilization. This time, though, the sheer scale and
sophistication of the Aztecs surpassed even the greatest cities back in >>>>> Europe. The Emperor Moctezuma II, feeling untroubled by a couple hundred >>>>> badly smelling foreigners, invited him into the city to show Cort|-s his >>>>> personal aviary. The conquistador, following the Spanish tradition,
immediately kidnapped him and put him under palace arrest.
Much like Trump-As recent announcement that the US would be running
Venezuela for the time being, Cort|-s, too, governed the Aztec empire >>>>> with Moctezuma as a puppet. The successful kidnap meant gold flowed back >>>>> to Spain in abundance, but the emperor himself soon died after being >>>>> taken onto the palace rooftop to try and calm his subjects. One of them, >>>>> unhappy with the emperor-As performance, ended the whole charade by
throwing a rock at his head.
Perhaps the most uncanny example happened a few years later, when
another Spanish conquistador, Francisco Pizarro, landed on the shores of >>>>> Peru to discover an even bigger empire: the Inca. Their emperor,
Atahualpa, also looked upon these straggly foreigners with little cause >>>>> for concern. A gambling man, Pizarro took the biggest risk of his life >>>>> by getting his priest to read the Inca emperor the Requerimiento; a
forced submission to Christianity with cultural roots in the Moorish >>>>> tradition, recently expunged from Spain, of the summons to accept Islam >>>>> or be attacked.
Atahualpa refused, as all self-respecting Latin American emperors did in >>>>> the face of foreign conquest, but misjudged the cunning of the Spanish, >>>>> who promptly closed the palace gates, locked out his army, butchered his >>>>> bodyguards and, as per tradition, kidnapped the emperor and held him to >>>>> ransom. Like Maduro, Atahualpa was handed a set of trumped up legal
charges -u in this case -aidolatry-A and adultery (the emperor enjoyed many
wives). His kidnapping lasted 8 months before the Spanish strangled him >>>>> with an iron collar, but not before being forcibly baptised as -aDon >>>>> Francisco-A after his conqueror and tormentor, Francisco Pizarro.
It did not surprise me to see that Nicolas Maduro, too, has already
ended up in today-As cultural equivalent of the ritual humiliation once >>>>> offered as forced baptism. Maduro and his sovereignty were instantly >>>>> mocked online, videos of American eagles eyeing up his power, were
quickly reposted on Donald Trump-As Truth Social feed. Stuck in his cell >>>>> in New York, awaiting trial, Maduro will take little comfort in the
knowledge that he-As just the latest Latin American leader to go through >>>>> this process.
Max Horder
"We learn from history that we do not learn from history"
- Hegel
Hegel didn't actually say this but it sounds good anyway.
Hegel did say:
"But what experience and history teach is this, - that peoples and governments
never have learned anything from history, or acted on principles deduced from
it."
I disagree on a personal level. I think that if an experience is profound
enough, we learn to not repeat it.
On an individual level that is true. Once humans become a group
though, group thinking tends to take over.
On Mon, 5 Jan 2026 13:23:37 +0000, Julian <julianlzb87@gmail.com>
wrote:
One of the few benefits of being an anthropologist is the uncanny
exhilaration one feels watching novel current events as re-runs from
previous episodes in the history of mankind.
Watch out, a supposed anthropologist is going to say good things about hilmbo.
Donald TrumprCOs capture of Nicolas Maduro, President of Venezuela, is no
exception. Kidnapping Latin American emperors is a continental
tradition. ItrCOs simply most practical method for breaking the chain of
command in the region. It triggers succession chaos, enables the
extraction of resources, and keeps the rest of the hierarchy more or
less intact. In earlier centuries, it was Spain and Portugal. Today,
itrCOs the United States.
In the colonial era, the objective was to secure enough gold to beat
European rivals. Now, with an astonishing 90 per cent of VenezuelarCOs oil >> produce heading to China, itrCOs about ensuring dominance over East Asia.
And there has never been a better way of establishing dominance than by
carrying out a good kidnapping.
The first to try it in Latin America were the original Spanish
conquerors led by Christopher Columbus. When he sunk his leather boots
into the warm Caribbean sands in 1492, he discovered a continent of
unprecedented size and a near-endless source of human slaves. But
military resistance was immediate, and an Indian chieftain called
Caonab|| was the fiercest of all, directing surprise attacks that killed
nearly all the men Columbus left on the islands when he regularly popped
back to Spain. When the Admiral heard the news, he sent a terrible
deputy, Alonso de Ojeda, to sort out Caonab|| and eradicate any opposition. >>
Ojeda, approaching the Indian chieftain peacefully with a mere handful
of men, offered the chief some polished brass handcuffs and shackles,
saying that they were rCyroyal ornamentsrCO worn by kings in Spain that
offered them divine and magical properties. Caonab|| believed him. And so
he let the Spaniard put them on. Then, Ojeda snapped them shut,
kidnapped the chief, and galloped back to his settlement rCo effectively
decapitating the nativerCOs leadership. The entire culture crumbled soon
after, and slaves poured into Seville. And I imagine the sketching of
Caonab||rCOs face looked just like the pep shots of Maduro that have been
circulating on social media today.
A few decades later, the conquistador Hern|in Cort|-s landed in
Tenochtitlan, present-day Mexico City, and discovered yet another
ancient civilization. This time, though, the sheer scale and
sophistication of the Aztecs surpassed even the greatest cities back in
Europe. The Emperor Moctezuma II, feeling untroubled by a couple hundred
badly smelling foreigners, invited him into the city to show Cort|-s his
personal aviary. The conquistador, following the Spanish tradition,
immediately kidnapped him and put him under palace arrest.
Much like TrumprCOs recent announcement that the US would be running
Venezuela for the time being, Cort|-s, too, governed the Aztec empire
with Moctezuma as a puppet. The successful kidnap meant gold flowed back
to Spain in abundance, but the emperor himself soon died after being
taken onto the palace rooftop to try and calm his subjects. One of them,
unhappy with the emperorrCOs performance, ended the whole charade by
throwing a rock at his head.
Perhaps the most uncanny example happened a few years later, when
another Spanish conquistador, Francisco Pizarro, landed on the shores of
Peru to discover an even bigger empire: the Inca. Their emperor,
Atahualpa, also looked upon these straggly foreigners with little cause
for concern. A gambling man, Pizarro took the biggest risk of his life
by getting his priest to read the Inca emperor the Requerimiento; a
forced submission to Christianity with cultural roots in the Moorish
tradition, recently expunged from Spain, of the summons to accept Islam
or be attacked.
Atahualpa refused, as all self-respecting Latin American emperors did in
the face of foreign conquest, but misjudged the cunning of the Spanish,
who promptly closed the palace gates, locked out his army, butchered his
bodyguards and, as per tradition, kidnapped the emperor and held him to
ransom. Like Maduro, Atahualpa was handed a set of trumped up legal
charges rCo in this case rCyidolatryrCO and adultery (the emperor enjoyed many
wives). His kidnapping lasted 8 months before the Spanish strangled him
with an iron collar, but not before being forcibly baptised as rCyDon
FranciscorCO after his conqueror and tormentor, Francisco Pizarro.
It did not surprise me to see that Nicolas Maduro, too, has already
ended up in todayrCOs cultural equivalent of the ritual humiliation once
offered as forced baptism. Maduro and his sovereignty were instantly
mocked online, videos of American eagles eyeing up his power, were
quickly reposted on Donald TrumprCOs Truth Social feed. Stuck in his cell
in New York, awaiting trial, Maduro will take little comfort in the
knowledge that herCOs just the latest Latin American leader to go through
this process.
Max Horder
On 1/5/2026 6:56 AM, Noah Sombrero wrote:
On Mon, 5 Jan 2026 13:23:37 +0000, Julian <julianlzb87@gmail.com>Question:
wrote:
One of the few benefits of being an anthropologist is the uncanny
exhilaration one feels watching novel current events as re-runs from
previous episodes in the history of mankind.
Watch out, a supposed anthropologist is going to say good things about
hilmbo.
Who is this "hilbo" of which you speak?
Other questions:
Why don't you write in English?
How many native Americans did the French Canadians kidnap?
--Donald TrumpAs capture of Nicolas Maduro, President of Venezuela, is no
exception. Kidnapping Latin American emperors is a continental
tradition. ItAs simply most practical method for breaking the chain of
command in the region. It triggers succession chaos, enables the
extraction of resources, and keeps the rest of the hierarchy more or
less intact. In earlier centuries, it was Spain and Portugal. Today,
itAs the United States.
In the colonial era, the objective was to secure enough gold to beat
European rivals. Now, with an astonishing 90 per cent of VenezuelaAs oil >>> produce heading to China, itAs about ensuring dominance over East Asia.
And there has never been a better way of establishing dominance than by
carrying out a good kidnapping.
The first to try it in Latin America were the original Spanish
conquerors led by Christopher Columbus. When he sunk his leather boots
into the warm Caribbean sands in 1492, he discovered a continent of
unprecedented size and a near-endless source of human slaves. But
military resistance was immediate, and an Indian chieftain called
Caonab< was the fiercest of all, directing surprise attacks that killed
nearly all the men Columbus left on the islands when he regularly popped >>> back to Spain. When the Admiral heard the news, he sent a terrible
deputy, Alonso de Ojeda, to sort out Caonab< and eradicate any opposition. >>>
Ojeda, approaching the Indian chieftain peacefully with a mere handful
of men, offered the chief some polished brass handcuffs and shackles,
saying that they were aroyal ornamentsA worn by kings in Spain that
offered them divine and magical properties. Caonab< believed him. And so >>> he let the Spaniard put them on. Then, Ojeda snapped them shut,
kidnapped the chief, and galloped back to his settlement u effectively
decapitating the nativeAs leadership. The entire culture crumbled soon
after, and slaves poured into Seville. And I imagine the sketching of
Caonab<As face looked just like the pep shots of Maduro that have been
circulating on social media today.
A few decades later, the conquistador Hernbn Cortos landed in
Tenochtitlan, present-day Mexico City, and discovered yet another
ancient civilization. This time, though, the sheer scale and
sophistication of the Aztecs surpassed even the greatest cities back in
Europe. The Emperor Moctezuma II, feeling untroubled by a couple hundred >>> badly smelling foreigners, invited him into the city to show Cortos his
personal aviary. The conquistador, following the Spanish tradition,
immediately kidnapped him and put him under palace arrest.
Much like TrumpAs recent announcement that the US would be running
Venezuela for the time being, Cortos, too, governed the Aztec empire
with Moctezuma as a puppet. The successful kidnap meant gold flowed back >>> to Spain in abundance, but the emperor himself soon died after being
taken onto the palace rooftop to try and calm his subjects. One of them, >>> unhappy with the emperorAs performance, ended the whole charade by
throwing a rock at his head.
Perhaps the most uncanny example happened a few years later, when
another Spanish conquistador, Francisco Pizarro, landed on the shores of >>> Peru to discover an even bigger empire: the Inca. Their emperor,
Atahualpa, also looked upon these straggly foreigners with little cause
for concern. A gambling man, Pizarro took the biggest risk of his life
by getting his priest to read the Inca emperor the Requerimiento; a
forced submission to Christianity with cultural roots in the Moorish
tradition, recently expunged from Spain, of the summons to accept Islam
or be attacked.
Atahualpa refused, as all self-respecting Latin American emperors did in >>> the face of foreign conquest, but misjudged the cunning of the Spanish,
who promptly closed the palace gates, locked out his army, butchered his >>> bodyguards and, as per tradition, kidnapped the emperor and held him to
ransom. Like Maduro, Atahualpa was handed a set of trumped up legal
charges u in this case aidolatryA and adultery (the emperor enjoyed many >>> wives). His kidnapping lasted 8 months before the Spanish strangled him
with an iron collar, but not before being forcibly baptised as aDon
FranciscoA after his conqueror and tormentor, Francisco Pizarro.
It did not surprise me to see that Nicolas Maduro, too, has already
ended up in todayAs cultural equivalent of the ritual humiliation once
offered as forced baptism. Maduro and his sovereignty were instantly
mocked online, videos of American eagles eyeing up his power, were
quickly reposted on Donald TrumpAs Truth Social feed. Stuck in his cell
in New York, awaiting trial, Maduro will take little comfort in the
knowledge that heAs just the latest Latin American leader to go through
this process.
Max Horder
On Jan 5, 2026 at 12:54:09?PM EST, "Noah Sombrero" <fedora@fea.st> wrote:
On Mon, 5 Jan 2026 16:11:59 -0000 (UTC), Tara <tsm@fastmail.ca> wrote:
On Jan 5, 2026 at 11:02:19?AM EST, "Tara" <tsm@fastmail.ca> wrote:
On Jan 5, 2026 at 10:52:46?AM EST, "Tara" <tsm@fastmail.ca> wrote:
On Jan 5, 2026 at 8:23:37?AM EST, "Julian" <julianlzb87@gmail.com> wrote: >>>>>
One of the few benefits of being an anthropologist is the uncanny
exhilaration one feels watching novel current events as re-runs from >>>>>> previous episodes in the history of mankind.
Donald Trump?s capture of Nicolas Maduro, President of Venezuela, is no >>>>>> exception. Kidnapping Latin American emperors is a continental
tradition. It?s simply most practical method for breaking the chain of >>>>>> command in the region. It triggers succession chaos, enables the
extraction of resources, and keeps the rest of the hierarchy more or >>>>>> less intact. In earlier centuries, it was Spain and Portugal. Today, >>>>>> it?s the United States.
In the colonial era, the objective was to secure enough gold to beat >>>>>> European rivals. Now, with an astonishing 90 per cent of Venezuela?s oil >>>>>> produce heading to China, it?s about ensuring dominance over East Asia. >>>>>> And there has never been a better way of establishing dominance than by >>>>>> carrying out a good kidnapping.
The first to try it in Latin America were the original Spanish
conquerors led by Christopher Columbus. When he sunk his leather boots >>>>>> into the warm Caribbean sands in 1492, he discovered a continent of >>>>>> unprecedented size and a near-endless source of human slaves. But
military resistance was immediate, and an Indian chieftain called
Caonab< was the fiercest of all, directing surprise attacks that killed >>>>>> nearly all the men Columbus left on the islands when he regularly popped >>>>>> back to Spain. When the Admiral heard the news, he sent a terrible >>>>>> deputy, Alonso de Ojeda, to sort out Caonab< and eradicate any opposition.
Ojeda, approaching the Indian chieftain peacefully with a mere handful >>>>>> of men, offered the chief some polished brass handcuffs and shackles, >>>>>> saying that they were ?royal ornaments? worn by kings in Spain that >>>>>> offered them divine and magical properties. Caonab< believed him. And so >>>>>> he let the Spaniard put them on. Then, Ojeda snapped them shut,
kidnapped the chief, and galloped back to his settlement ? effectively >>>>>> decapitating the native?s leadership. The entire culture crumbled soon >>>>>> after, and slaves poured into Seville. And I imagine the sketching of >>>>>> Caonab<?s face looked just like the pep shots of Maduro that have been >>>>>> circulating on social media today.
A few decades later, the conquistador Hernbn Cortos landed in
Tenochtitlan, present-day Mexico City, and discovered yet another
ancient civilization. This time, though, the sheer scale and
sophistication of the Aztecs surpassed even the greatest cities back in >>>>>> Europe. The Emperor Moctezuma II, feeling untroubled by a couple hundred >>>>>> badly smelling foreigners, invited him into the city to show Cortos his >>>>>> personal aviary. The conquistador, following the Spanish tradition, >>>>>> immediately kidnapped him and put him under palace arrest.
Much like Trump?s recent announcement that the US would be running >>>>>> Venezuela for the time being, Cortos, too, governed the Aztec empire >>>>>> with Moctezuma as a puppet. The successful kidnap meant gold flowed back >>>>>> to Spain in abundance, but the emperor himself soon died after being >>>>>> taken onto the palace rooftop to try and calm his subjects. One of them, >>>>>> unhappy with the emperor?s performance, ended the whole charade by >>>>>> throwing a rock at his head.
Perhaps the most uncanny example happened a few years later, when
another Spanish conquistador, Francisco Pizarro, landed on the shores of >>>>>> Peru to discover an even bigger empire: the Inca. Their emperor,
Atahualpa, also looked upon these straggly foreigners with little cause >>>>>> for concern. A gambling man, Pizarro took the biggest risk of his life >>>>>> by getting his priest to read the Inca emperor the Requerimiento; a >>>>>> forced submission to Christianity with cultural roots in the Moorish >>>>>> tradition, recently expunged from Spain, of the summons to accept Islam >>>>>> or be attacked.
Atahualpa refused, as all self-respecting Latin American emperors did in >>>>>> the face of foreign conquest, but misjudged the cunning of the Spanish, >>>>>> who promptly closed the palace gates, locked out his army, butchered his >>>>>> bodyguards and, as per tradition, kidnapped the emperor and held him to >>>>>> ransom. Like Maduro, Atahualpa was handed a set of trumped up legal >>>>>> charges ? in this case ?idolatry? and adultery (the emperor enjoyed many >>>>>> wives). His kidnapping lasted 8 months before the Spanish strangled him >>>>>> with an iron collar, but not before being forcibly baptised as ?Don >>>>>> Francisco? after his conqueror and tormentor, Francisco Pizarro.
It did not surprise me to see that Nicolas Maduro, too, has already >>>>>> ended up in today?s cultural equivalent of the ritual humiliation once >>>>>> offered as forced baptism. Maduro and his sovereignty were instantly >>>>>> mocked online, videos of American eagles eyeing up his power, were >>>>>> quickly reposted on Donald Trump?s Truth Social feed. Stuck in his cell >>>>>> in New York, awaiting trial, Maduro will take little comfort in the >>>>>> knowledge that he?s just the latest Latin American leader to go through >>>>>> this process.
Max Horder
"We learn from history that we do not learn from history"
- Hegel
Hegel didn't actually say this but it sounds good anyway.
Hegel did say:
"But what experience and history teach is this, - that peoples and governments
never have learned anything from history, or acted on principles deduced from
it."
I disagree on a personal level. I think that if an experience is profound >>> enough, we learn to not repeat it.
On an individual level that is true. Once humans become a group
though, group thinking tends to take over.
Groups are comfy and lack personal responsibility.
From my observation, most choose group 'love'.--
On Mon, 5 Jan 2026 10:53:13 -0800, Dude <punditster@gmail.com> wrote:
On 1/5/2026 6:56 AM, Noah Sombrero wrote:
On Mon, 5 Jan 2026 13:23:37 +0000, Julian <julianlzb87@gmail.com>Question:
wrote:
One of the few benefits of being an anthropologist is the uncanny
exhilaration one feels watching novel current events as re-runs from
previous episodes in the history of mankind.
Watch out, a supposed anthropologist is going to say good things about
hilmbo.
Who is this "hilbo" of which you speak?
Other questions:
Why don't you write in English?
How many native Americans did the French Canadians kidnap?
Who cares?
On Mon, 5 Jan 2026 18:20:27 -0000 (UTC), Tara <tsm@fastmail.ca> wrote:
On Jan 5, 2026 at 12:54:09?PM EST, "Noah Sombrero" <fedora@fea.st> wrote:
On Mon, 5 Jan 2026 16:11:59 -0000 (UTC), Tara <tsm@fastmail.ca> wrote:
On Jan 5, 2026 at 11:02:19?AM EST, "Tara" <tsm@fastmail.ca> wrote:
On Jan 5, 2026 at 10:52:46?AM EST, "Tara" <tsm@fastmail.ca> wrote:
On Jan 5, 2026 at 8:23:37?AM EST, "Julian" <julianlzb87@gmail.com> wrote:
One of the few benefits of being an anthropologist is the uncanny >>>>>>> exhilaration one feels watching novel current events as re-runs from >>>>>>> previous episodes in the history of mankind.
Donald Trump?s capture of Nicolas Maduro, President of Venezuela, is no >>>>>>> exception. Kidnapping Latin American emperors is a continental
tradition. It?s simply most practical method for breaking the chain of >>>>>>> command in the region. It triggers succession chaos, enables the >>>>>>> extraction of resources, and keeps the rest of the hierarchy more or >>>>>>> less intact. In earlier centuries, it was Spain and Portugal. Today, >>>>>>> it?s the United States.
In the colonial era, the objective was to secure enough gold to beat >>>>>>> European rivals. Now, with an astonishing 90 per cent of Venezuela?s oil
produce heading to China, it?s about ensuring dominance over East Asia. >>>>>>> And there has never been a better way of establishing dominance than by >>>>>>> carrying out a good kidnapping.
The first to try it in Latin America were the original Spanish
conquerors led by Christopher Columbus. When he sunk his leather boots >>>>>>> into the warm Caribbean sands in 1492, he discovered a continent of >>>>>>> unprecedented size and a near-endless source of human slaves. But >>>>>>> military resistance was immediate, and an Indian chieftain called >>>>>>> Caonab|| was the fiercest of all, directing surprise attacks that killed
nearly all the men Columbus left on the islands when he regularly popped
back to Spain. When the Admiral heard the news, he sent a terrible >>>>>>> deputy, Alonso de Ojeda, to sort out Caonab|| and eradicate any opposition.
Ojeda, approaching the Indian chieftain peacefully with a mere handful >>>>>>> of men, offered the chief some polished brass handcuffs and shackles, >>>>>>> saying that they were ?royal ornaments? worn by kings in Spain that >>>>>>> offered them divine and magical properties. Caonab|| believed him. And so
he let the Spaniard put them on. Then, Ojeda snapped them shut,
kidnapped the chief, and galloped back to his settlement ? effectively >>>>>>> decapitating the native?s leadership. The entire culture crumbled soon >>>>>>> after, and slaves poured into Seville. And I imagine the sketching of >>>>>>> Caonab||?s face looked just like the pep shots of Maduro that have been >>>>>>> circulating on social media today.
A few decades later, the conquistador Hern|in Cort|-s landed in
Tenochtitlan, present-day Mexico City, and discovered yet another >>>>>>> ancient civilization. This time, though, the sheer scale and
sophistication of the Aztecs surpassed even the greatest cities back in >>>>>>> Europe. The Emperor Moctezuma II, feeling untroubled by a couple hundred
badly smelling foreigners, invited him into the city to show Cort|-s his
personal aviary. The conquistador, following the Spanish tradition, >>>>>>> immediately kidnapped him and put him under palace arrest.
Much like Trump?s recent announcement that the US would be running >>>>>>> Venezuela for the time being, Cort|-s, too, governed the Aztec empire >>>>>>> with Moctezuma as a puppet. The successful kidnap meant gold flowed back
to Spain in abundance, but the emperor himself soon died after being >>>>>>> taken onto the palace rooftop to try and calm his subjects. One of them,
unhappy with the emperor?s performance, ended the whole charade by >>>>>>> throwing a rock at his head.
Perhaps the most uncanny example happened a few years later, when >>>>>>> another Spanish conquistador, Francisco Pizarro, landed on the shores of
Peru to discover an even bigger empire: the Inca. Their emperor, >>>>>>> Atahualpa, also looked upon these straggly foreigners with little cause >>>>>>> for concern. A gambling man, Pizarro took the biggest risk of his life >>>>>>> by getting his priest to read the Inca emperor the Requerimiento; a >>>>>>> forced submission to Christianity with cultural roots in the Moorish >>>>>>> tradition, recently expunged from Spain, of the summons to accept Islam >>>>>>> or be attacked.
Atahualpa refused, as all self-respecting Latin American emperors did in
the face of foreign conquest, but misjudged the cunning of the Spanish, >>>>>>> who promptly closed the palace gates, locked out his army, butchered his
bodyguards and, as per tradition, kidnapped the emperor and held him to >>>>>>> ransom. Like Maduro, Atahualpa was handed a set of trumped up legal >>>>>>> charges ? in this case ?idolatry? and adultery (the emperor enjoyed many
wives). His kidnapping lasted 8 months before the Spanish strangled him >>>>>>> with an iron collar, but not before being forcibly baptised as ?Don >>>>>>> Francisco? after his conqueror and tormentor, Francisco Pizarro. >>>>>>>
It did not surprise me to see that Nicolas Maduro, too, has already >>>>>>> ended up in today?s cultural equivalent of the ritual humiliation once >>>>>>> offered as forced baptism. Maduro and his sovereignty were instantly >>>>>>> mocked online, videos of American eagles eyeing up his power, were >>>>>>> quickly reposted on Donald Trump?s Truth Social feed. Stuck in his cell >>>>>>> in New York, awaiting trial, Maduro will take little comfort in the >>>>>>> knowledge that he?s just the latest Latin American leader to go through >>>>>>> this process.
Max Horder
"We learn from history that we do not learn from history"
- Hegel
Hegel didn't actually say this but it sounds good anyway.
Hegel did say:
"But what experience and history teach is this, - that peoples and governments
never have learned anything from history, or acted on principles deduced from
it."
I disagree on a personal level. I think that if an experience is profound >>>> enough, we learn to not repeat it.
On an individual level that is true. Once humans become a group
though, group thinking tends to take over.
Groups are comfy and lack personal responsibility.
Otherwise known as the madness of crowds.
From my observation, most choose group 'love'
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