From: wolfone@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Patrick Chester)
Newsgroups: alt.activism.d
Subject: Re: IN THE STEPS OF COLUMBUS: CORPORATE LAND THEFT
Date: 1 Oct 92 03:02:49 GMT
Organization: The University of Texas at Austin, Austin TX

In article <1992Sep25.233930.1447@mont.cs.missouri.edu> rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu (Rich Winkel) writes:
>
>By David Webster
>
>A lot has been written about the continuing destruction of native 
>cultures, 500 years after Christopher Columbus launched the European
> invasion of the Americas. None of it, though, goes straight to the heart 
Whoa, wait a minute. Columbus did not launch the invasion of the Americas.
He didn't even know it existed. His main purpose in his voyages was finding
another sea route to East Asia. He did not know there was an entire continent
in the way. So how could he launch said invasion? I know that it is currently
politically correct to blame Columbus for the destruction of many native 
cultures since it was his voyage that ran into the Americas but I find accusing
him of starting the destruction to be inaccurate. Columbus could be more 
rightly seen as a Pandora since his voyage seemed to have the same effect as
Pandora's curiosity. 

Actually, if you want to strive for total accuracy, you shouldn't blame 
Columbus at all. He was just a tool following available data. The real culprit
is: (drumroll)

Copernicus!!

Why? Copernicus' heliocentric theory of the universe put the Sun in place of
the Earth as the center of the universe. He was wrong about that but it was a
start. Anyway, to explain the sunrise and sunset it was postulated that the
Earth was round and rotated. This was no big mystery since the Arabs allready
knew that and a Greek philosopher in Ptolomyan Alexandria had calculated the
Earth's circumference a few thousand years before but, to the Europeans who
were starting to come out of the dark ages it was news. Without Copernicus, 
*no one* amongst us "evil" Europeans would have *ever* thought of sailing 
west for fear of falling of the edge of the Earth. America would have been
safe from European hegemony for awhile but I doubt that could have lasted.
Someone would have discovered the Americas, be they European....or Chinese....
or Arab.... or any other Eurasian/African civilization that wanted to explore.
Who knows? Maybe the Aztecs or Incas would have started exploring in the next
few centuries and "found" Europe, causing a similar catastrophe to Europe that
befell the Americas. But that is speculation. And no, it is not impossible
because the Aztecs and Incas were not very different from Europe as far as
conquest goes, just out-teched and hurt by accidental transmission of diseases
that were incubated and created all across Eurasia and Africa. Sorry for being
politically incorrect (NOT), but I cannot conform to this belief. 


Maybe I should deflect the blame yet again. Perhaps you should not fault
Columbus for the disaster that befell the Americas simply because he blundered
into the continent on a voyage of exploration. Nor Copernicus, for that matter,
just because he provided the means for Columbus to think of looking West for
a fast trade route to China and India. After all, there is no way that either
of these men could have predicted what would happen because of their actions
or how their information would be used. Copernicus was too busy fighting off
the Church for daring to go against their dogma and Columbus, well he never
knew he had run into a different continent and died convinced that he *had*
reached Asia. Maybe we should blame the people *who actually commited the
crimes* you decry. Like Pizarro and Cortes, who destroyed the two most viable
civilizations on the continent: the Aztecs and Incas. Like all the other crimes
that I leave to you all to catalog since I don't want this to get much longer
than it has to. Blaming such people would be more logical than just burning
Columbus and Copernicus in effigy.

But no, you will not do that; will you? You won't blame Copernicus because you
never thought of that and the analogy is admittedly weak. Columbus though, ah
THAT is a name you can lump all the crimes commited in America on. The first
person to map a voyage to and from the Americas (sorry Leif, we haven't found
your map and your colony eventually failed and was wiped out by Eskimo tribes.)
You can unite a lot of people behind this indictment because Columbus is so
respected and identifyable by society that you must attack this icon. Pity,
for you have attempted to destroy a man I respect and have emphasized the
wrong point about his explorations for your own political gains. The thing
I find significant about this voyage was that it was the start of a long age
of intensive exploration of the globe. No time before had such a level of
exploration been attempted. Sure, it was motivated by financial considerations
but what sort of exploration isn't. Sure, China had been doing such a thing
a couple of centuries before, but they didn't get too far before the rulers
of the Chinese lands pulled their explorers back and went into a period of
isolation. I find this era of exploration inspiring because I find great
similarity with the exploration of the current Great Unknown: space. By 
traveling through the Solar System and later to the stars I think we do homage
to the explorers of that time since we too go into uncharted territory and
defy the naysaying of people who would rather hide in their caves. Space 
exploration has no natives to trample over, but I see that as a benefit.
Castigating Columbus degrades any attempt at exploration because you imply that
something bad will come out of any attempt to find what's out there.

So blaming Columbus is incredibly unjust. Not only did the man not commit the
crimes you accuse him of, he could not have known what would follow his voyage.
The only purpose your charges seem to serve is to provide a scapegoat for you
to all rally around and gain power through your constant cries for justice.
Well, I will not be a part of this injust trial. I will celebrate Columbus Day
with a clean conscience since I know he was not responsible for the travesty
which hit the natives of America. I will further honor his voyage by actively
supporting the space program and go off into the unknown like he did 500yrs
ago. Maybe my efforts will be more kindly remembered than his 500 yrs from now.
Of course, maybe I will be simply castigated now for being politically incorrect
or for wasting time in space when I should be trying to save the Earth. The 
first is wrong and by going into space I will be finding ways to save the Earth.

So flame away. I could care less. Besides, flames don't burn in vacuum. :->

P.S.:
>Next up, Survival lists Britain's Royal Air Force, which along with the 
>German Luftwaffe and the Royal Netherlands Air Force is engaged in 
>what amounts to a virtual war on the hunting culture of the 10,000 
>Innu natives of Labrador and Quebec. Low-level military training 
>flights by pilots from the three NATO countries are making it impossible 
>for the Innu to live off the land.
>The top ten list:
>
>6. Royal Air Force (UK).
You complain about military training wreaking havoc and you *don't* include
the United States military in your complaint? Will the wonders ever cease?

:->
-- 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Patrick Chester            |"The earth is too fragile a basket in which to keep
wolfone@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu |  all your eggs." Robert A. Heinlein
Politically Incorrect      |"The meek shall inherit the earth. The rest of us
Future Lunar Colonist      |  are going to the stars." Anonymous
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------