Reading Response # 3

What's the deal with all this peace?

I don't know if it is just me but I am shocked at how little conflict the people of the Sub-Saharan and Saharan regions felt when traveling the long distances along the trade routes.  I feel as though I must have missed something because how it is possible that during a time when subjugation was occurring everywhere that these people who were exposing themselves to the open terrain never came across any rebels? 
This made me think of current times when people of that region are in war torn countries and rebels are constantly waiting for people out in the open to assault, kill, and rob.  How did they get to this point?  If you were to look at the history of these people you would think that this behavior is not surprising but at one time they were able to coexist and understood the need of other people to just get buy.  What has happened to us?  During the time of 300 C.E and on they were constantly doing trades over fast distances and people respected that they were trying to get valuables to those in need.  Now I do understand that there is the remote possibility that the author of our text chose to leave these details out, but nonetheless it makes you wonder.  If at one time people could travel so easily and their greatest concern was health reasons and not about being ambushed mid travel, why can't we do that today?  Pirates and Rebels have taken any sense of security the people living in this region of Africa had.  They can no longer trade with nearby tribes without having some group trying to either steal half of what they buy or forcing them to pay what little money they have to them as a finders fee of sorts.  If you believe in the idea that history repeats itself, then why is it always the bad that seems to repeat and not the good.  Why can't the days of worry free travel repeat and people who have suffered unnecessary persecution be allowed to live freely and provide for their families.  Instead we are constantly being bogged down with reports of innocent families and children being slaughtered because the man of the house couldn't afford the taxes being forced upon them.  I am sure that my idea seams a little idealistic but I choose to believe that mankind will eventually work it out or succumb to the next phase in evolution where problems like this seem obsolete.