The history of mankind

By John Newton, former Slave-ship captain

July, 1777

Dear sir,

I have recently read "Robertson's History of Charles V", which, like most other histories, I consider as a comment upon those passages of Scripture which teach us the depravity of man, the deceitfulness of the heart, the ruinous effects of sin; and the powerful, though secret, rule of Divine Providence, moving, directing, controlling the designs and actions of men, with an unerring hand, to the accomplishment of his own purposes, both of mercy and judgment. Without the clue and the light which the Word of God affords—the history of mankind, of any, of every age, only presents to view—a labyrinth and a chaos; a detail of wickedness and misery to make us tremble; and a confused jumble of interfering incidents, as destitute of stability, connection, or order—as the clouds which fly over our heads.

But with the Scripture key—all is plain, all is instructive. Then I see, truly there is a God, who governs the earth, who pours contempt upon princes, takes the wise in their own craftiness, over-rules the wrath and pride of man to bring his own designs to pass, and restrains all that is not necessary to that end; blasting the best concerted enterprises at one time, by means apparently slight, and altogether unexpected, and at other times producing the most important events from instruments and circumstances which are at first thought too feeble and trivial to deserve notice.

I would like to see a writer of Dr. Robertson's abilities give us a history upon this plan; but I think his reflections of this sort are too general, too cold, and too few. What an empty phantom do the great men of the world pursue, while they wage war with the peace of mankind, and butcher (in the course of their lives) perhaps hundreds of thousands, to maintain the shadow of authority over distant nations, whom they can reach with no other influence than that of oppression and devastation! But when we consider those who are sacrificed to their ambition as justly suffering for their sins, then heroes and conquerors appear in their proper light, and worthy to be classed with earthquakes and pestilences—as instruments of Divine vengeance. So many cares, so much pains, so many mischiefs, merely to support the idea which a human worm has formed of his own grandeur, is a proof that man, by nature, is not only depraved—but infatuated. How awful is the case of those who live and die in such a spirit, and who have multiplied miseries upon their fellow-creatures, in order to support and feed their pride and arrogance! Perhaps they may, upon their entrance to the eternal state, be accosted by multitudes, to the purpose of that sarcastic language in the prophet's sublime ode of triumph over the king of Babylon, Isa. 14:5-17.

But though the effects of this principle of SELF are more extensive and calamitous in proportion as those who are governed by it are more elevated, the principle itself is deep-rooted in every heart, and is the spring of every action—until grace infuses a new principle, and self, like Dagon, falls before the Lord Almighty. Great and small are but relative terms; and the passions of discontent, pride, and envy, which, in the breast of a potentate are severely felt by one half of Europe, exert themselves with equal strength in the heart of a peasant, though, for lack of materials and opportunities, their operations are confined within narrow bounds. We are fallen into a state of gross idolatry—and SELF is the idol we worship!

Ongoing Aboriginal Genocide In Apartheid Australia By Dr Gideon Polya According to Article 2 of the UN Geneva Convention: “In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such: a) Killing members of the group; b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group” (see UN Geneva Convention (see: http://www.edwebproject.org/sideshow/genocide/convention.html ). A key term in the UN Genocide Convention definition of “genocide” is “intent” which can be ascertained either by (a) confession (most unlikely even if the genocidists are arraigned before the International Criminal Court) or (b) evidence of sustained action or inaction leading to excess deaths (avoidable deaths). Australia is clearly guilty of sustained, remorseless “intent”, in relation to Indigenous (Aboriginal) Australia, to “bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part” by sustained inaction. It is estimated that 9,000 Indigenous Australians die every year out of a total Indigenous population of about 0.5 million (see “Aboriginal Genocide”: http://sites.google.com/site/aboriginalgenocide/home ). Australia must be described as Apartheid Australia because it has race-based laws that specifically exclude Northern Territory Indigenous Australians from the protection of the 1975 Racial Discrimination Act (RDA), legislation passed by the anti-racist reformist Australian Labor Government of Gough Whitlam back in 1975 before it was overthrown by a CIA-backed coup (see “1975 Racial Discrimination Act”: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racial_Discrimination_Act_1975 ; for a summary of the 1975 CIA-backed coup in Australia see William Blum’s best selling book “Rogue State”). This racist legislation excluding NT Aboriginals from the protection of the 1975 Racial Discrimination Act (RDA) was endorsed by both the then Liberal-National Party Coalition Government and the then Labor Opposition (collectively known as the Lib-Labs) in legislation known as the Northern Territory National Emergency Response Bill 2007 ("NTNER Bill"). Clause 132 of the NTNER Bill states that the provisions of it are classified as 'special measures' under the 1975 Racial Discrimination Act and therefore exempt from Part II of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (RDA) (see “Northern Territory National Emergency Response Bill 2007”: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Territory_ National_Emergency_Response_Bill_2007 ). The Australian Human Rights and Equal Rights Commission (HREOC) strongly opposed this racist legislation in the following terms: “HREOC welcomes the recognition by the government of the serious, broad ranging social and economic disadvantage in many Indigenous communities... However, HREOC stresses that the legislation and action taken under it must seek to achieve its goals consistently with the fundamental right to racial equality. HREOC does not support the NTNER measures being exempt from the RDA. These laws clearly have a number of significant actual and potential negative impacts upon the rights of Indigenous people which are discriminatory. The laws generally must therefore be justifiable as a ‘special measure’ taken for the advancement of Indigenous people to be consistent with human rights principles. If the NTNER measures are not ‘special measures’, they should not be enacted. HREOC submits that a fundamental feature of ‘special measures’ is that they are done following effective consultation with the intended beneficiaries and generally with their consent… HREOC submits that a fundamental feature of ‘special measures’ is that they are done following effective consultation with the intended beneficiaries and generally with their consent. The absence of effective consultation with Indigenous people concerning the NTNER measures is therefore a matter of serious concern. HREOC accepts the need for urgent action. However, the success of that action both immediately and in the long term will depend upon effective consultation. And such consultation is fundamental to respecting the human rights of Indigenous people. More broadly, HREOC is concerned that the NTNER measures are likely to produce unintended negative consequences that adversely impact upon the rights of Indigenous people” (see “Submission of the Human Rights and Equal Rights Commission (HREOC) to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Committee on the Northern Territory National Emergency Response Legislation”, 10 August 2007, Australian Human Rights: http://www.hreoc.gov.au/legal/submissions/2007/ NTNER_Measures20070810.html ). The Australian Labor Party (ALP) now merits the description as the “Apartheid Labor Party” and “Another Liberal Party”. The Apartheid Labor Federal Government of Apartheid Australia has gone further in its attacks on Aborigjnal Human Rights. Thus it is denying proper medical, housing and security services to Aborigines in remote communities and thus forcing them off their Sacred Land. It already seizes or withholds the social service welfare payments of Indigenous Australians in remote communities and is now proposing to extend this to all people in the Northern Territory and thence to all Australia as a punishment for school child truancy (and thereby overwhelmingly discriminating against Indigenous Australians in both cases) (see: http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/ truants-parents-to-lose-welfare/2008/06/20/1213770924117.html ). However the real crime of the Apartheid Labor Government is simply not reported by the Mainstream media and neocon politicians of Apartheid Australia – the real crime is the appalling avoidable death rate of Indigenous Australians due to an estimated 2-3-fold under-funding of Aboriginal health services. Australians are aware of the nearly 20 year difference between the life expectancy of White Australians and Indigenous Australians but the actual numbers of avoidable deaths (excess deaths) involved are simply not reported. Thus a search of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) (see: http://search.abc.net.au/search/search.cgi?query=% 22excess+death%22&sort=&collection=abcall&form=simple ) .for the terms “excess death” or “avoidable death” yields zero (0) results relating to Aborigines and searches for “avoidable mortality” and “excess mortality” yield 2 and 1 such results, respectively. This is what the ABC, the Mainstream media and neocon politicians of Apartheid Australia choose not to tell their fellow Australians: the “annual death rate” is 2.2% (for Indigenous Australians) and 2.4% (for Indigenous Australians in the Northern Territory) as compared to 0.4% (what it should be) and about 2.5% (for sheep in Australian paddocks) (for details and documentation see Thomson, N., Burns, J., Burrow, S & Kirov, E. (2004), Overview of indigenous health 2004. Australian Indigenous Health Bulletin; 4(4): Reviews; Gideon Polya, “The Awful Truth”, National Indigenous Times, 14 June 2007: http://www.nit.com.au/news/story.aspx?id=11555 ; and Gideon Polya Aboriginal genocide. Racist White Australian Child Abuse & Passive Mass Murder”: http://sites.google.com/site/aboriginalgenocide/aboriginal-genocide ). The above data indicate an “annual avoidable death rate” of 1.8% for Indigenous Australians and 2.0% for Northern Territory Indigenous Australians – as compared to 0.0% (White Australians, North Americans), 0.01% (East Asians), 0.03% (Latin Americans), 0.05% (West Europeans), 0.25% (Arab North Africa and Middle East), 0.26% (South East Asia), 0.3% (Eastern Europe), 0.26% (Turkey, Iran and Central Asia), 0.38% (South Asia), 0.39% (Pacific) and 0.97% (non-Arab Africa). Indeed the “annual avoidable death rate” of 1.8% for Indigenous Australians and 2.0% for Northern Territory Indigenous Australians must be compared with the very worst national figures from around the World e.g. 0.5% (North Korea), 1.1% (Haiti), 1.8% (Afghanistan), 2.3% (Zimbabwe), 2.4% (Zambia) and 2.6% (Sierra Leone) (2003 data from Gideon Polya, “Body Count. Global avoidable mortality since 1950”: http://globalavoidablemortality.blogspot.com/ ). What these figures mean in cold hard reality is that 9,000 Indigenous Australians die avoidably each year out of a total Indigenous population of about 0.5 million – and this is happening in one of the richest countries in the world. For further details of this continuing outrage see “Aboriginal Genocide”: http://sites.google.com/site/aboriginalgenocide/home . Of course politically correct racist (PC racist) Australians endlessly declare their love for Indigenous Australians while permitting this atrocity to continue. Spare a thought therefore for Australian Subjects who are not actually Australians. Thus the “annual death rate” is 7% for under-5 year old infants in Australian-occupied Afghanistan - as compared to 4% for Poles in Nazi-occupied Poland, 7% for French Jews in Nazi-occupied France and 13% for Australian prisoners of war (POWs) of the Japanese in World War 2 (see “Polish Holocaust (1939-1945) & Afghan Holocaust (2001- )”: http://gpolya.polls.newsvine.com/_news/2009/09/02/3218030- polish-holocaust-1939-1945-afghan-holocaust-2001-?groupId=1191 ). In addition to the continuing Aboriginal Genocide (about 2 million avoidable deaths over 222 years), Australia has been involved in a further 20 genocidal atrocities (see “Australia’s Secret Genocide History. La Trobe, “Bundoora Eucalyptus” & Black Crimes of White Australia”: http://sites.google.com/site/aboriginalgenocide/australia-s-secret-genocide-history ). Australia is involved in 7 continuing, genocide atrocities namely the ongoing Aboriginal Genocide (9,000 avoidable deaths annually), Palestinian Genocide ( post-invasion excess deaths 0.3 million), the Iraqi Genocide (1990-2010 excess deaths 4.4 million), the Afghan Genocide (post-invasion excess deaths 4.5 million), the Muslim Genocide (1990-2005 excess deaths 0.6 billion), worsening Biofuel Genocide (billions threatened by the First World food for fuel perversion) and Climate Genocide (22 million people die avoidably each year from increasingly climate-impacted poverty; 10 billion non-Europeans are predicted to die this century from unaddressed, man-made climate change with Australia the world’s worst annual per capita greenhouse gas polluter). What can decent people do? Decent people must (a) tell everyone they can (silence kills and silence is complicity) and (b) apply Sanctions and Boycotts against Apartheid Australia just as Sanctions and Boycotts were successfully applied to Apartheid Australia-, US-, UK- and Apartheid Israel-supported Apartheid South Africa. Dr Gideon Polya currently teaches science students at a major Australian university. He published some 130 works in a 5 decade scientific career, most recently a huge pharmacological reference text "Biochemical Targets of Plant Bioactive Compounds" (CRC Press/Taylor & Francis, New York & London , 2003). He has recently published “Body Count. Global avoidable mortality since 1950” (G.M. Polya, Melbourne, 2007: http://globalbodycount.blogspot.com/ ); see also his contribution “Australian complicity in Iraq mass mortality” in “Lies, Deep Fries & Statistics” (edited by Robyn Williams, ABC Books, Sydney, 2007): http://www.abc.net.au/rn/science/ockham/stories/s1445960.htm ). He has just published a revised and updated 2008 version of his 1998 book “Jane Austen and the Black Hole of British History” (see: http://janeaustenand.blogspot.com/ ) as biofuel-, globalization- and climate-driven global food price increases threaten a greater famine catastrophe than the man-made famine in British-ruled India that killed 6-7 million Indians in the “forgotten” World War 2 Bengal Famine (see recent BBC broadcast involving Dr Polya, http://www.countercurrents.org/polya030410.htm