The New Conquistadors: A Technological Divide Threatens Our Survival
Friday, May 3, 2013
The Conquistadors were soldiers and explorers who conquered foreign lands and their people on behalf of the Spanish Empire between the 15th and 17th centuries. Highly organized, with the resources of an entire empire behind them and armed with superior technology, they easily swept aside entire civilizations, including the Aztec and Incan Empires.
There was an immense technological disparity between the Conquistadors and the empires they toppled. Paralyzing fear of these foreigners and their technology caused many to either flee or even side with their new overlords.
While the Conquistadors were far from the gods many may have perceived them to be, the ignorance of the natives coupled with their technological inferiority created conditions not unlike a god descending upon a world to devour it. Today, these natives still exist in many countries as second-rate citizens to the descendants of the Conquistadors, so many centuries later.
A similar scenario played out in North America with the coming of French and British colonialists. Both a technological disadvantage and infighting amongst native tribes allowed Europeans to swallow up an entire continent. Like their counterparts in South America, North American natives to this day exist in a state of perpetual subjugation.