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the sub-saharan blacks couldn't invent the wheel by themselves, so that they'd be the inventors of chess is laughable.
Neither did the peoples of the Americas.
And here is the reason why according to some top anthropologists. Turns out there is less need for the wheel without a beast of burden to help move those heavy carts or wagons that are likely to be used. In other words, there is no way to move the weight without an ox or a horse.
Seems Africans never tamed the water buffalo as did the people of South Asia or Southeast Asia, who would use it as their primary beast of burden for centuries.
You also have to balance off the work that needs to be accomplished with the value of food a domesticated animal will consume. An animal the size of the water buffalo would take many times the food of, say, a small herd of goats, which could return food value in milk and cheeses without specific care or food gathering.
Remember, Africa doesn't produce as much food per acre as there is almost no top soil left in the great basins that comprise most of the available land. Erosion over the millenniums has carried most of the really good top soil away. The valuable volcanic land is scarce and limited to Rwanda and Burundi.
As far a mechanical devices that use wheels, those machines were developed out of using the wheel in transport and followed, rather than preceded, the invention of a wheel.
Short story: no beast to pull the weight, no wheel.
First of all, don't generalize, France, Ireland and the UK have birth rates that are slightly higher or about the same as replacmenet level. I guess you're right about the rest of Europe though!
Anyway, this has already happened in Rotterdam and the Hague, where foreign born population outweighs the local one, things are fine there for the moment, the way things will go depends on the country as each of them has a different policy regarding immigration and integration.
First, i have no problem with this as long as those who come here make an effort to adapt to the culture of the country of which they're at first host and then citizens. This is slowly happening throughout Europe, the only country i actually worry about is Sweden because it has been taking in a disproportionate amount in the last few years (a rate of 1% when compared to their actual population). Also immigration from areas that are more alike culturally to Europe outgrows immigration from those countries whose culture and religion are considered a threat to our values.
I recently noticed how certain minorities (Peruvians, Pinoys, Romanians, Nigerians but mostly those coming form a Christian background) are far more likely to get acclimatized and adapt to our culture than others, we should make an effort to try to attract more immigration from those countries with whom we have the most cultural affinities.
The fact that all this threads are often being derailed in the same old arguments by the same posters is sad. It seems like those two have an inferiority complex.
If 50 % of the population in Europe would drop dead next week every European country would still remain way too crowded and sometimes unlivable.
Same thing could be said about New York City, Los Angeles, or Beijing or Hong Kong.
Running out of bodies with a pulse is the very last problem in Europe, or any other place I can think of.
I don't know about genocide, but the Chinook and Cherokee kept slaves, that is a fact. People are people and a true anti-racist wouldn't uphold indigenous people on a pedestal as being morally superior.
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