Obligatory Columbus Day Thread

[blindpig]

Don't mean to piss on any body's cornflakes but the arrival of Columbus in this so-called New World was the worst thing to ever happen to the peoples, flora, fauna and land of this place.

If he hadn't done it someone else would have. See Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs & Steel.

No apology is adequate. The Pottery Barn rule is beyond enforcement.

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like in the Chesapeake Bay country before our sea pirate predecessors started the rape & pillage. It must have been magnificent.

All that we can do is justice for the living. Reparations for the survivors of genocide are in order. A cessation of the destruction of the Earth our Mother is not only right but necessary for our long term survival.

Peace.

[daveskilt]

1. also read Zinn's Peoples History of the United States

columbus was a pretty appalling wanker.

[firefox]

2. We gave the Indians democracy and freedom n/t

[H2O Man]

3. "Every now and then

I am impressed with the thinking of the non-Indian. I was in Cleveland last year and got talking with a non-Indian about American histoy. He said that he was really sorry about what had happened to Indian, but that there was a good reason for it. The continent had to be developed and he felt Indians had stood in the way and thus had to be removed. 'After all,' he remarked, 'what did you do with the land when you had it?' I didn't understand him until later when I discovered that the Cuyahoga River running through Cleveland is inflammable. So many combustible pollutants are dumped into the river that the inhabitants have to take special precautions during the summer to avoid accidentally setting it on fire. After reviewing the argument of my non-Indian friend I decided that he was probably correct. Whites had made better use of theland. How many Indians have thought of creating an inflammable river?"
-- We Talk, You Listen; Vine Deloria, Jr; 1970; page 1.

Vine is a great author. He has even pointed out some of the errors of Diamond's thoughts.

[blindpig]

4. kick

[Sabriel]

5. My 6 year-old daughter brought home the indoctrination stuff today

The usual Scholastic Weekly Reader mini-lesson on how great Columbus was. We had a nice talk about it.... Heh.