Confession: I haven't the slightest interest in my genetic ancestry or where my ancestors came from or what they did.
-
-
I like to think that my ancestors were nothing and nobody. Random boring peasants with no special talents or wealth. Except for Genghis Khan, of course. But he's everyone's ancestor.
Show this thread -
The best thing about this approach is that I don't have anything to live up to. ;-) (end)
Show this thread -
(more) But, you know, I actually am really proud of my ancestors. I'm just not proud of my *personal* ancestors for being better than the ancestors of other people (which they probably weren't). I'm proud of the ancestors of all humanity.
Show this thread -
I'm proud of the humans who found a way over the bloody centuries to lift themselves up out of agricultural indigence. Who found ways to wrench away from nature, bit by agonizing, confusing bit, the secrets of how the world actually works, and to preserve that knowledge.
Show this thread -
I'm proud of the humans who found a way to carve out a civilized safe space for (at least some) humans, so that now at least some people can grow up without the thing we call "PTSD", which was once the universal and natural human condition.
Show this thread -
I'm proud of the humans who, bit by agonizing bit, found moral principles more advanced than "might makes right", and who did the hard labor of centuries to craft societies who were just a little more kind and gentle than the ones that came before.
Show this thread -
And most of all, I'm proud of the apes (or pseudo-apes), my most glorious ancestors. The animals who somehow found a way to be a little more than animals. What a task that was. What a labor of millennia.
Show this thread -
We humans are not fallen beings. We did not fall from grace. We climbed upward from the muck. The fruit of the Tree of Knowledge was not sin - it was the whole damn point. Eating it was the only thing worth doing.
Show this thread -
(That sounds profound but actually I read it in a cheesy 1980s sci-fi book: https://www.amazon.com/Uplift-War-Saga-Book/dp/0553279718 …)
Show this thread -
And of course, there's so much left to do. There is so much farther to go. We're still animals, brutalizing each other and scrabbling for a living out of the unforgiving dirt. Our ignorance still dwarfs our knowledge. Our petty selfishness still dwarfs our kindness.
Show this thread -
But even though there's so much farther to go, I'm proud of how far we've come. Against all the odds. Against a Universe of random death and entropy that had it in for us every step of the way. Those aren't just my ancestors. They're yours too. And you should be proud. (end)
Show this thread
End of conversation
New conversation -
-
-
huh we have a surprisingly similar background except my dad's side is from Poland instead of Lithuania. Mom is also a Ukie. Do you feel attached to the culture at all? I personally try to go to some Ukrainian events or festivals when they're around.
-
Hmm! Not really TBH...
-
I also find it interesting how many Eastern Europeans changed their names when they came over. I have a decent amount of family friends who's grandparents changed their name as well.
End of conversation
New conversation -
-
-
Researching genealogy led to me reconnecting with my second cousin in Germany. After my Grandmother fled with my Grandfather, her family was wrecked for being the "Germans" who were on post-Potsdam Polish land (they were Selisian, more Pole-ish than Germanic).
-
Taking my first trip to Europe to visit his family in a month, going to be a Godfather and meet the Euro-fam. Our ancestors don't make us who we are, but I feel they can bring the larger world and history into our existence. It's worth finding out what happened that led to you.
End of conversation
New conversation -
-
-
Same here. My family comes from the Lithuanian-Russian corridor and Germany. Most moved to the US around the turn of the century, 1900. Many branches of my family that stayed were wiped out in either pogroms or the Holocaust
Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
-
-
-
damn...
Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
-
-
-
Mother of friends from HS was from outside Kiev ... born mid 1920s. Linguist in college in Kiev until Barbarossa... then slave labor camps in Germany till end of war. Married GI moved US. After curtain came down learned only one of ~60 family survived war and or Gulag.
Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
-
-
-
Probably a hint as to why it's troubling this president keeps bringing up DNA
Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
-
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.