EN -- LARRY ROMANOFF -- A Brief History of America That You Won't Learn in a University -- November 28, 2020

 •A Brief History of America That You Won't Learn in a University

By  Larry Romanoff, November 28, 2020

 

Good mental health was not a prerequisite for European settlers emigrating to the New World. We are fond of reminding ourselves that Australia was (and mostly still is) populated primarily with murderers, thieves and sexual perverts, but the immigrants to America were not noticeably better. Indeed, the inscription on the Statue of Liberty got the words more or less correct in referring to "the wretched refuse of your teeming shore". While the Australians had their serial killers and muggers, the Europeans went one better with their Christian extremists who spent their weekdays burning witches and killing Indians, and their Sundays in church thanking God for the opportunity. The Australians have marginally improved their habits over the centuries while the Americans have not.