The Mikado
Moderators
Atlas Star
Posts: 21,873
|
 |
« on: February 17, 2008, 02:33:06 PM » |
|
The stakes are much higher. In the post-1945 era, Great Power Wars would end up depopulating the planet. Plus, within our own society, there is no longer a group who it is "safe" to persecute/victimize. As recently as the thirties, lynching was an easy thing to get away with. After the war, lynching, though still prevalent in the South, was much harder to rationalize and successfully accomplish (Emmett Till being the ultimate example: that wouldn't have even been news in 1925, but it was an international firestorm in 1955). It's very hard to beat and kill someone and "get away with it" in 21st century America (yes, I'm aware of the domestic violence epidemic, but the fact that more and more of those assholes get what they deserve is a major change).
So yes, in 1808 you could beat, rape, and kill slaves with impunity, murder and steal from Natives, duel at will, and come home and thrash the old lady, and you couldn't do that today. And in that period, you could (like l'Empereur Napoleon I) declare simultaneous war on four major European powers and fight them all pretty much constantly for 23 years. (With substitutions and a series of shifting coalitions), another thing one couldn't do today.
|
