25 Koreans and Indochinese,
26 Polynesians and Celts,
27 aBasques and bIcelanders,
28 cAnd all the little nameless people, in all the countries of the world, who never knew what they were dying for, when all it was was history.
29 dBut there are always winners and losers,
30 Because that's the way history works,
31 And the ones who were in the game for at least a little while had it easy compared to the ones who never had a chance.
CHAPTER 31 The Central American Indians never had a chance.
2 The Inca and Maya and the Aztecs build their own civilizations out of nothing,
3 With sweat and wooden tools and enormous pieces of rock,
4 eAnd all they really wanted was to be left alone,
5 fTo do things their own way,
6 And they never even tried to rule the world,
7 But they got it in the neck anyway,
8 gBecause the conquistadors wanted what they had,
9 hAnd what they couldn't give,
10 iNo matter how many of them got tortured and enslaved and maimed and wasted by disease and killed.
11 And that's generally what happens when a Chosen Nation shows up on your doorstep,
12 With the gleam of history in their eyes.
13 Poor bastards.
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CHAPTER 41 The South American Indians never had a chance.
2 The children of the rain forest, the Pygmies and headhunters, and all the rest never wanted to build anything,
3 jExcept a life like the one they had always known,
4 kNext to nature,
5 Where they could hunt what they needed,
6 And leave the rest for future generations.
7 But there won't be too many future generations,
8 Because the Europeans came,
9 lWith their Christianity,
10 And their love of gold,
11 And their passion for building giant cities,
12 And plantations,
13 And fortunes,
14 Even if it meant tearing nature apart,
15 Which it did.
16 mAnd the natives got all the benefits of living with the Chosen,
17 Including disease and dislocation and the destruction of their culture and independence,
18 Not to mention the loss of their whole world.
19 Poor bastards.
CHAPTER 51 The North American Indians never had a chance.
2 The Cherokee and the Seminoles and the Blackfeet and the Sioux and the Apaches and the Cheyenne and all the rest didn't want any monuments and temples made of stone,
3 Because they'd never learned to be civilized.
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