“These nations, then, seem to me barbarous in this sense, that they have been fashioned very little by the human mind, and are still very close to their original naturalness. The laws of nature still rule them, very little corrupted by ours; and they are in such a state of purity” (356)…
Europe took over many countries slaughtering kings and their pupils in very barbaric methods. The irony of it all is that they viewed the people they killed as the barbaric ones. They brought death to them all for satisfaction of their vain and glamorous desires.
In the old world, people were not happy they were very much empty. We see how the kings only had expensive habits and things to show off to a poor society. It is all twisted and backwards. People were starving but held their king up high, and got nothing in return.
What good did this vanity bring? It only brought death. Death to the gladiators who had to put a show for their majesty. Death to other nations to please the love for gold and finer things. And death to a starving society, who had no food because of the love of greed of their king.
I think the more important plight of the less fortunate to focus on is how the lack of education was able to keep people oppressed yet still holding their oppressors in high regard. People weren’t empty as they were unfulfilled because they accepted their stations in life. It wasn’t until people got more access to writings that they could start questioning and fighting for revolution against the royals.