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I really, truly dislike the way people* look at the 'dark ages'.
There's a show on the History channel right now, about that very subject. I'm tired, so I'm not going to go in depth into why this all bothers me so much-- though I gladly will if anyone asks me in a more coherent moment-- but I truly, truly hate how it's made out to be-- by a channel about HISTORY!-- absolutely nothing but endless, plague- and war- and ignorance-filled horror. It wasn't. Was it a bright and shining period of advancement and enlightenment? No. But it was not, damn it, as 'dark' or dismal as people think. And as for all that-- there is still plague, and war, and ignorance. People still die, there is genocide and hatred and bigotry and cruelty. Even those not actively involved in modern horrors turn a blind eye to it, because it doesn't touch us, and if we just pretend then it's all okay.
Neither are we a bright and shining period of history.
*This post is full of generalizations. It's easier to write that way. Assume I mean 'most'. And that by 'most', I mean 'roughly ninety-nine percent of everyone'.
And tomorrow, I'll tell you about the terrifying carnival I went to last night.
There's a show on the History channel right now, about that very subject. I'm tired, so I'm not going to go in depth into why this all bothers me so much-- though I gladly will if anyone asks me in a more coherent moment-- but I truly, truly hate how it's made out to be-- by a channel about HISTORY!-- absolutely nothing but endless, plague- and war- and ignorance-filled horror. It wasn't. Was it a bright and shining period of advancement and enlightenment? No. But it was not, damn it, as 'dark' or dismal as people think. And as for all that-- there is still plague, and war, and ignorance. People still die, there is genocide and hatred and bigotry and cruelty. Even those not actively involved in modern horrors turn a blind eye to it, because it doesn't touch us, and if we just pretend then it's all okay.
Neither are we a bright and shining period of history.
*This post is full of generalizations. It's easier to write that way. Assume I mean 'most'. And that by 'most', I mean 'roughly ninety-nine percent of everyone'.
And tomorrow, I'll tell you about the terrifying carnival I went to last night.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-11 05:46 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-11 02:36 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-12 10:32 am (UTC)Small boy: Because there were so many knights?
I'm sure they had lots of nice bright sunny days, too. Stupid History Channel. What do they know?
(no subject)
Date: 2007-03-12 05:36 pm (UTC)And dammit, the whole "dark" thing was originally applied because they were less into written records (so we thought) so we didn't know much about that time, not because it was a time of great crappiness.