Erasing What Came Before

According to Conant, the rapid militarization and modernization of Japan in the late 19th century was a laudable thing. Japan went from an isolated, medieval island nation, to an industrial militaristic empire in a handful of years. (Commodore Perry arrived in Japan in 1853.)

Japan has already made her entry, almost like Athene full-armed from the brain of Zeus [emphasis added], into the modern industrial world. The increased capacity of her people for production, giving them increased command over the products of other peoples, is producing its natural effect in the rise of wages and increased importations.

Part of Japan's "increased command" was raping, murdering, and plundering their neighbors. For example, the Japanese first destabilized, then invaded Korea, looted the country and made a concerted effort to erase all traces of Korean national identity.

That same process has been repeated time and time again on peoples around the world and continues today. Their past is devoured and replaced with a new mythology that serves the invaders. The native Americans were systematically schooled to erase their past. Medieval Europeans' ancient religions were erased and incorporated into Christian myth. The modern American school system, founded in the late 19th century, continues this process of molding people.