Morality?

When judging Cortez in class, I think it’s impossible to dispute that his actions were acceptable in terms of material gain for Western Society. The Americas became a major source of wealth for Europe, and allowed the populations of Europe to expand by colonizing this new frontier. This is why we focused on the morality of Cortez’s actions during the trial. Our criteria for judging Cortez is certainly tainted by our current perspective, and it’s judging him by against the values and ethics of his own society is somewhat pointless. However, it’s relatively easy to understand Cortez’s actions, because he saw the world in terms of fairly modern values. Profit, trade, and territorial gain are the primary issues of current global politics. When there is no absolute right or wrong, it’s our governments who determine what is moral and immoral. Any action can be justified when operating from a position of power. For the Native Americans who received the shit end of the stick, they see Europe as a ruthless and destructive force. Unfortunately for them, they didn’t win, and so what they think doesn’t really matter. Sometimes you have to break a few eggs to make an omelet.