Happy Columbus Day

[oVo]

and Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian buds eh.

They are the best people in the world and above all the gentlest—without knowledge of what is evil—nor do they murder or steal…they love their neighbors as themselves and they have the sweetest talk in the world…always laughing.

Throughout his journal

[Borderdawg]

F*ck Columbus, goddamn murderer, rapist and thief.

[colton24]

To celebrate Christopher Columbus, you should enter someone's house and claim it is yours







Do NOT do this...

[saxitoxin]

[quote="colton24"]
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[oVo]

Colton's idea would certainly make an interesting holiday.
Musical chairs on steroids.

to one of his Spanish patrons

They are very simple and honest and exceedingly liberal with all they have, none of them refusing anything he may possess when he is asked for it. They exhibit great love toward all others in preference to themselves.

In his journal Columbus writes: “They would make fine servants. With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want.”

[Dukasaur]

Colton's idea would certainly make an interesting holiday.
Musical chairs on steroids.

to one of his Spanish patrons

They are very simple and honest and exceedingly liberal with all they have, none of them refusing anything he may possess when he is asked for it. They exhibit great love toward all others in preference to themselves.

In his journal Columbus writes: “They would make fine servants. With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want.”

By the time he was done, they were almost extinct. It's a genocide every bit as evil as anything the 20th century has to offer.

[BigBallinStalin]

Germs are largely to blame. There should be a prohibition on germs too.

[tzor]

Remember, in order to bring Death and Destruction to others they had to endure Death and Destruction themselves.

Estimates put the death toll of the Black Death or plague around 25 Million, or 25-50% of the population of Europe.

Yea, had they known what we know now, they probably should have quarantined the entire continent.

[notyou2]

Germs are largely to blame. There should be a prohibition on germs too.

Exactly, We traded them germ infested blankets for gold, silver, gems, etc.

[BigBallinStalin]

Germs are largely to blame. There should be a prohibition on germs too.

Exactly, We traded them germ infested blankets for gold, silver, gems, etc.

Wow, you must be really old!

[notyou2]

Germs are largely to blame. There should be a prohibition on germs too.

Exactly, We traded them germ infested blankets for gold, silver, gems, etc.

Wow, you must be really old!

Older than germs.

[mrswdk]

It's easy to be all hipster and denounce Columbus as a genocidal (lol) imperialist, but his actions need to be put into context. The world in Columbus' time was a hard world, and violence was the standard way to deal with violent resistance. He was operating in a part of the world that was home to the Aztecs (and later, when it was given the chance to govern itself again, psychos like Pinochet and the Argentinian military). In that context, he was really rather ordinary

[Juan_Bottom]

The only thing that has changed between then and now is that communication is better, in part because of literacy and in part because of technology. Morality hasn't changed at all.

[oVo]

It's easy to be all hipster and denounce Columbus as a genocidal (lol) imperialist, but his actions need to be put into context. The world in Columbus' time was a hard world, and violence was the standard way to deal with violent resistance. He was operating in a part of the world that was home to the Aztecs (and later, when it was given the chance to govern itself again, psychos like Pinochet and the Argentinian military). In that context, he was really rather ordinary

Are you really going there? I'd forgotten how close Plymouth Rock was to Mexico or are you thinking Christopher Columbus was a Conquistador?

[Juan_Bottom]

Columbus actually died before the Aztecs were ever even discovered.
And the Aztecs appear to have been mostly nice to the Spanish, until the Spanish started conquering them first.

[Dukasaur]

It's easy to be all hipster and denounce Columbus as a genocidal (lol) imperialist, but his actions need to be put into context. The world in Columbus' time was a hard world, and violence was the standard way to deal with violent resistance. He was operating in a part of the world that was home to the Aztecs (and later, when it was given the chance to govern itself again, psychos like Pinochet and the Argentinian military). In that context, he was really rather ordinary

It was a hard world, but even by the standards of the time he was a ruthless prick. Facial mutilation for being late with one's taxes was not a common punishment. Unprovoked war and conquest was considered barbaric, even by medieval standards (and considering this was well into the Renaissance, even judging him by medieval standards is allowing him more latitude than he deserves.) Pimping pre-pubescent girls was considered a moral outrage by any community. As for wholesale genocide, that is a special-order of crime that few have even attempted, and even fewer have succeeded at.

[BigBallinStalin]

Yeah but he discovered America!

[BenBailey]

It's easy to be all hipster and denounce Columbus as a genocidal (lol) imperialist, but his actions need to be put into context. The world in Columbus' time was a hard world, and violence was the standard way to deal with violent resistance. He was operating in a part of the world that was home to the Aztecs (and later, when it was given the chance to govern itself again, psychos like Pinochet and the Argentinian military). In that context, he was really rather ordinary

Are you really going there? I'd forgotten how close Plymouth Rock was to Mexico or are you thinking Christopher Columbus was a Conquistador?

I'd forgotten that Christopher Columbus was a pilgrim? Or is Plymouth Rock actually located in what we now know as the Bahamas?

But regardless while I may be late to the party, Happy Columbus day all. A day to celebrate Columbus being lost at sea, and the friendly Native people finding and saving him.. Hmm maybe I slept through that day in history class. Oh well.

[/]

Would it help or hurt his reputation at this point to know that a reason he may have been completely nuts was because he was among the first to "discover" syphilis for Europe?
http://www.scientificamerican.com/artic ... -to-europe

[chang50]

Columbus actually died before the Aztecs were ever even discovered.
And the Aztecs appear to have been mostly nice to the Spanish, until the Spanish started conquering them first.

True,it was the genocide of the Caribs and Arawaks he began.A genocide so effective that it is reckoned it was complete in little more than a generation of 1492.

[tzor]

He was operating in a part of the world that was home to the Aztecs.

Actually, NO. No where near close. The Aztecs operated in central Mexico. Columbus was around Hispaniola, Cuba and Central America. Not even close.

[mrswdk]

Central America is nowhere near Mexico?

[chang50]

Central America is nowhere near Mexico?

Guatemala and Belize share borders with Mexico,but so does the US.I would say Maine for example is nowhere near Mexico in the same way as Panama or Costa Rica isn't.

[notyou2]

Maine is not too far from Newfoundland, and the native tribe in Newfoundland, the Beothuks, was wiped out completely. Columbus must be responsible.