Re:Why Jewish History Is So Hard to Write
by MichaelMoser123 on Thursday April 05, 2018 @09:26AM
(#16764665)
I don't see any condescension (it doesn't diminish the present greatness of the great capitals at all), it is a factual observation (also you might need a sense of humour to see the irony on the part of what used to be a persecuted minority, after all - and I used to be in east Berlin before the frigging wall came down)
Could be. What I do know is that I have Greek friends who express the same feeling and they weren't a persecuted minority. There's a certain hubris about nationalities with a rich past.
It's not necessarily bad, but it's still hubris :)
Re:Why Jewish History Is So Hard to Write
by jjgreen on Thursday April 05, 2018 @12:26PM
(#16766322)
"The people of Crete unfortunately make more history than they can consume locally"
Saki, The Jesting of Arlingthon Stringham
Dude, I’m Romanian, I know about the Ottomans.
Greeks were still the majority in Greece and they were a well regarded minority in the empire. They were persecuted after WW1 (see the population exchanges and the Smyrna massacre).
But Greeks don’t view themselves as a persecuted minority, historically. It’s all about the mindset and self-perception.
And secondly it's important to remember your roots, but in my opinion the focus was wrong (or maybe the conversation included this aspect, you just didn't present it): we were around back when Berlin was a swamp and we're still around now, prosperous and developed.
In my eyes that's the real achievement! (look at Iraq, Iran, Egypt, even Greece or India to some degree)