Sven Lindqvist's work and influence

Exterminate All the Brutes

The book 'Exterminate all the brutes', written by Sven Lindqvist is a book that intends to inform people of a number of things that they actually know yet they do not take time to critically evaluate and understand in depth. It also conveys varying messages in reference to actions and events that occurred throughout global history. The message most prominent in the book is that of the man's continuous efforts of stemming back in history to eliminate the inferior race and minority groups from the face of the earth. This very inhuman efforts have been practiced by groups of people that consider themselves superior and deserving while justifying their actions with scientific theories and logic.

A key question that the author feels is unanswered is the reason behind the belief held by some people that they are superior and why this superiority places them in authority to do away with the people that are not like them or in other words those that are inferior. The books start with a statement expressing the present knowledge of everyone. It is not knowledge that everyone lacks but rather the missing element is the courage that would enable people to understand that which they know and come out with conclusions from it

. This starting statement is also the closing statement and it refers to the European colonialism that took place in the nineteenth-century as well as the genocide that came to follow in the wake of colonialism. The words forming this book's title have haunted Lindqvist (a Swedish lad that grew up during the Second World War) all of his life

. He draws them from 'Heart of Darkness' (a book by Joseph Conrad) and applies them to the European people and the attitude they held towards the inferior groups that got subjugated as the national empires expanded. Basically the book in part explores history, in part applies literary criticism, and in part comes out as a travelogue. Lindqvist enters deep into the Sahara Desert and exposes the Darkness underlying in European dominion in the region and all over the world.

In the nineteenth-century European powers along with America developed advanced weapons and technology that enabled them to practice dominion over native peoples to gruesome extents. This story is narrated by Lindqvist who exposes the extensive violence and destruction caused by European powers and the unfortunate loss of lives and culture by those that were caught in this European progress. Their endeavors lacked moral restraint and minimal protest was expressed at home regarding their exploits and so they traded on practicing their scorched-earth policy and in the process leaving numerous dead bodies on their way

. The underlying belief was that God had chosen them to take control of the world, take without any inquiry, and destroy the people that got in their way and sometimes even the ones that tried cooperation. The false idea behind all these evil was the interest to 'open up markets' words that are familiar to many.

Additional justification for the racism practiced by Europeans was dug from science. Imperialism manifested the idea presented by Charles Darwin that the species that are superior are bound to do away with the ones that are inferior

. European and American circles held the 'fashionable' belief that white people were the superior race and the gradual elimination of the other races was proclaimed an act of favor to them. In the eyes of the Europeans, these other races had outlived their usefulness and deserved to be exterminated. Darwin too shared this ideology, as Lindqvist expresses, although in contradiction there was a time he opposed how the Spanish treated South American Indians

Looking back at Conrad, who criticized imperialism fiercely, Lindqvist refers to Kurtz's character and actions in Congo in the 'Heart of Darkness' and how his extensive and uncontrolled carnage can be equated to Europe's treatment of Native people. Very few people, Conrad among them, could see through the blinding justifications of Europe and other Great powers and understand the utter immorality present in their deeds. Lindqvist also acknowledges H.G. Wells in his work 'War of the Worlds' to be criticizing imperialism and narrating of the atrocities of superior races through a commentary on colonialism that is slightly disguised

. The Martians invade and murder London residents indiscriminately and since the British lack the technology to defend themselves, the London residents suffer a terrible fate. This situation is perfectly similar to the invasion of the British into Africa and how they destroyed every individual that stood on their way.

The underlying theme in Lindqvist's book is the belief that the Holocaust was not something new in European history; instead it was just a much clearer manifestation of the policy that Europe held towards outsiders. Hitler opposed to Semitism viewed the Jews as obstructing his way towards realization of expansion. Their fate was not any different from that of the Native Americans, the Africans, and the Aborigines that were eliminated before them. Auschwitz (as put by Lindqvist) was the modern approach in extermination policy that Europe has long based its endeavors in World dominion. The horror in the policy only came out when other Europeans became victims of the policy.

In present times there is little progress regarding this underlying European tradition. Although the approach applied is quite different from that practiced in the past, the result is the same. The economic system is the modern weapon applied by Europe to oppress those that they consider inferior. Lindqvist clearly relates the actions of French troops in Vietnam and of Russians in Afghanistan to those of South Africans in Mozambique and Americans in Central America

. The same knowledge the French troops had of the results of their actions in Vietnam and Algeria is the same knowledge held by Europeans of the impacts of their debt strategy on poor countries which leaves many children dead. Knowledge is not what is missing because the educated individuals have generally always known the atrocities practiced behind the deception of Socialism, Market expansion, Civilization, Progress among other excuses used to blind people

. All around the universe races and nations that consider themselves superior continue to oppress those that are inferior with similar consequences as was in the past. However, knowledge gets suppressed and those who know are not courageous enough to understand as well as deduce conclusions from what they know.

The newspaper accounts of a Belgian captain that manifested the evil in imperialism describe how he used heads of African natives in decorating flower beds. The evil prevails as the author tells of how wounded Mahdist soldiers got massacred by the British following the battle of Omdurman and in less than five hours a historically significant army (the strongest and best armed) died under European power with little difficulty

. The horrors brought out by Lindqvist are not acts of savagery that would appear unexpectedly from time to time but rather they illustrate the doctrine that Europe has always held believing their place in the evolutionary ladder is at the top and the other species below Europe had to be eliminated. The narrative is peppered by notes of Lindqvist's journey into the Sahara Desert occasionally introducing self-indulgence. However, this personal encounter does not deviate from the key argument that he presents in the book or the view he holds that the 'Heart of Darkness' is yet to be abandoned and is still in play even in present times.

The twentieth century holocaust is not something that should be considered new carnal behavior. Its roots are firm in the practices and ideology that nineteenth century colonialism held and taught. European colonialists themselves bring out the most potent darkness in reference to 'Heart of Darkness'. Even the word 'Europe' itself has roots in a Semitic word that refers to 'darkness'. Various native peoples suffered under European imperialism behind the deception that Europeans sought to improve the lives of these native peoples

. In truth, the European people held a single purpose which was to eliminate these native groups and make them extinct. It is with this in mind that Lindqvist titles his book. The title of the work "exterminate all the brutes" is a representation of the basic ideology held by the Europeans. Lindqvist's analysis is greatly enriched by his linking of colonial practices to scientific evolutionary theory as well as the Darwin concept.

The theory on natural selection, which explains the mass extinctions of species going way back in history, can be applied as justification of the elimination of branches of the human family that are not fit enough. This mindset that Europe has had in history rolled over into the Nazi regime and lead to the genocide that took place then. The Nazi atrocities therefore don't reveal the shocking callousness of one individual (Adolf Hitler) or of one regime (the Nazi Regime) but rather of the underlying European policy which decimated native peoples in a large scale