Quote Originally Posted by Bob's World View Post
What's ironic to me is, that though we look back at our policies for how we treated the Native American Tribes with both realism and shame, the polices we apply to dealing with "failed states" and nation building are remarkably similar in nature, execution, and effect.
This all depends on whose "Indian Policy" one examines. In yet another parallel, there rarely WAS a defined policy as such, and it shifted from year to year and was (without fail) poorly funded by Congress. Still, in an attempt to hit some historical balance, our policy was still much more humane than that of the Spanish. Not as good as the Canadian, perhaps, but there were different pressures at work in the US.

There is a danger in trying to draw very close historical parallels, at least in terms of policy. Where I tend to find more useful comparisons is in terms of process. In some ways the Indians suffered because the great wave of "humanitarian idealism" unleashed by the Abolitionist movement was directed their way after the Civil War. It was then that the "elevation" consideration became paramount, and many unachievable and culturally destructive policies and ideas took root. There are any other number of considerations that come into play as well...I'm just picking these out of the hat. But maybe we should stop and consider if in our zeal to "save the world from itself" we aren't repeating the same well-intentioned mistakes made by the various crusaders in the latter half of the 19th century.