Poor Christopher Columbus just can't catch a break. Not only is he dead -- long dead -- but to add insult to injury now the Left is insisting that statues of the "discoverer" of the Americas must be torn down. Why? Because Columbus reminds them of the agony of the American Indian, and liberals, in case you haven't noticed, can't abide being reminded of anything unpleasant. You don't have to BE offensive, bigoted, or cruel, in their view -- you simply have to rub them the wrong way, and...OFF WITH YOUR HEAD! Victor Davis Hanson has written an excellent article about why this trend is both dangerous and misconceived:
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2019/03/14/waging_war_against_the_dead_139736.html
You may also wish to cast a glance at this superb analysis of the current state of climate change "science". "The science is settled," say the climate catastrophists. Is it really???
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/mar/13/what-are-the-opponents-of-donald-trumps-climate-re/
Lastly, let me add my voice to the growing chorus of Brexiteers who are immensely dismayed by the derogation of duty exhibited by Parliament last week. Parliament won't support ANY positive course of action on Brexit. All it can agree on is that MPs need more time to decide. More time, though, is inherently dangerous, because it will afford anti-Brexit forces more opportunity to hatch schemes to scuttle Brexit. I sincerely hope the EU says NO to an extension, and that a no-deal Brexit unfolds on March 29th. If it doesn't, British democracy will be in jeopardy.
Dr. Waddy: How characteristically reflexive was the destruction of the monument to the WWII General Lee. How simplistic and ignorant the left is, so very often.
ReplyDeleteI do not support any expressed regard for Columbus and would rejoice at the redesignation of his holiday (Ancestor's Day?). Columbus, though a courageous sailor, was a malevolent gangster who crudely threatened to kill indigenous peoples if they did not produce gold. He opened the way for one of the most tragic episodes in history, the Spanish assault on the Americas. Was Spanish culture superior to that which it savaged and enslaved? The dolorous history of Latin America and the present mass migration to a land informed by a far more advanced political culture, that of Great Britain,casts very much doubt on that. To hell with Columbus, I hold.
But I say that believing that the facts present a much different setting for the recent attack on Confederate memorials. I see Confederate defenders as saying this:" OK, we all know the North won and we have had no choice but to submit to its authority. We have demonstrated this in our having been perhaps the most patriotic region of the U.S. over the critical 20th century years and having been the backbone of the military which saved our nation three times in that century. What more do you want of us? We will not forget or disclaim the memory of those who gave all to defend our unique culture. You think you Yankees did any better than we might have? Then how do you explain the present disaffection of racial minorities? After all, you and your Supreme Court have been in charge and what do you have to show for it? AOC and Sharpton. Do you actually think we will endure their depredation? Think again!"
I think you are a little hard on old Columbus. He had plenty of faults, but the bottom line for me is that he began the fruitful contact between the Americas and Europe. Did plenty of people suffer in the course of that contact? Sure, but do any of us wish Columbus had stayed home? That the "neo-Europes" created in the Americas had never been? Not me. I celebrate the intrepidity of the explorers and early settlers, even if I acknowledge their mistakes. Same goes for the Spanish, needless to say.
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy: Maybe so, maybe I was. I've always admired my Viking ancestors, especially now after having seen the North Atlantic in winter, for their ruggedness and for the ultimately positive effect they had on Western history (eg. the Norman influence on England). But for a long while they were every bit as rapacious as the Conquistadores. They couldn't even maintain that they were saving souls. They couldn't have cared less about that.
ReplyDeleteI think the European conquest of the Americas was ALMOST inevitable and I think that present day North American civilization is on balance representative (along with the UK and its other children) of humanity's most creditable progress. I am so grateful I was born to it. Though I very much like many aspects of Latin American culture, I think their political culture to be largely dysfunctional, serving the interests mainly of an endless succession of "El Jefes". In that sense, I think, the advent of the Spanish, characterized as it was by peremptory and intolerant destruction and enslavement of entire civilizations, is unredeemed by eventual benefit. Columbus blazed their trail and was himself characteristically tyrannical and inhumane.
I know that many Italians in America cherish Columbus since he was of Genoa. But to celebrate his arrival is, I think, an unjustified thumb in the eye to the descendents of those for whom his voyages presaged incalculable tragedy. If I had the choice here is what I would do: Leave the Columbus statues alone but change the holiday to "Ancestor's Day", defined as honoring the Italians and all other groups who found blessed refuge and opportunity in America and also expressing sincere sorrow over the wrongs done those who preceded Europeans on this abundant continent (some of them themselves nonetheless ruthless conquerors). That IS progress. Imagine the Normans enacting regret at having "harrowed the North" after 1066.
Jack, personally I'm tired of apologies. You can't swing a dead cat without hitting a contrite white man these days. I say: don't apologize unless you TRULY wish you could take back your actions, and certainly don't apologize for something your ancestors did decades or centuries ago...
ReplyDeleteYou're right about the dark side of Spanish influence, but there are other ways to look at it. Arguably, the Spanish policy towards both natives and slaves was, at least at the legal/theoretical level, milder and more humane than policy in British North America. It's hard to generalize, though. Anyway, as an adherent of El Jefe Donaldo, I'm inclined to think the Hispanics might be on to something... Ha ha.
Dr. Waddy: Those are sound counterpoints. Its a plausible, arguable test of the sincerity of an expression of regret to question whether it indicates a willingness to make real remedial sacrifice (if such recompense is even possible).
ReplyDeleteI've read creditable criticism of La Leyenda Negra and that and your observation do persuade me that it could be that Spanish administration was no worse than that of the Brits and their successors.
Dr. Waddy: The Times wouldn't let me read the article ( why? I'm on their side) but I know what you mean. I have seen leftist eyes glaze over when I had the temerity to propose to them that, well, the scientific argument is NOT settled and that some scientists are as impudent as to express doubt on Al Gore's gospel and that their doubts are documented and accessible to the intellectually principled.
ReplyDeleteThere just has to be something inherent in the totalitarian mindset which sets an easily accomplished standard for verity; of course emotion plays a major role. And the 20th century offers us abundant evidence of how demagogues manipulate the frantically sensitive credulous. Social sanctions such as becoming the dorm's pariah or the department's soon to be seeking another job in academia crank or the state gov't office staff's recipient of patronizing glances and comments are difficult to stand up to. And of course there are very substantial financial risks for middle level managers in questioning the reflexive and inconsequential(for those on high)politically correct pronunciamentos which issue from their offices after their three hour lunch breaks (or tomorrow to be sure). Understandably then, the straw bosses simply pass it on. They know on which side their bread is buttered.
You're right, Jack -- peer pressure and bullying go a long way in this world. The Left has mastered both tactics to compel adherence to their program even among the dubious. And you're quite right that it takes an extraordinary level of credulousness to function in a totalitarian system or environment. Doubt and debate simply aren't permissible -- which means instant acceptance of all claims, no matter how fanciful, is mandatory, and surely our human rational faculties recoil at that. In fact, it's more than just our reason. It seems to me that we humans are also somewhat instinctively scornful of authority. We mock it incessantly, even if we (grudgingly) obey it, most of the time. I can't even imagine what a strain it would be to live under totalitarian conditions -- though not as much of a strain as it would be to struggle against them... Maybe totalitarianism works in part because most people are apolitical, and thus are happy to have someone else sort out the theory and policy while they get on with their lives?
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy: I know a guy who owns an excellent car repair business. He told me "I can't pay attention to politics; running my business takes all my time". He's very honest and competent and he does more real good than most government "idealists".
ReplyDeleteI just saw a documentary about how the Kronstadt sailors, realizing in 1921 that the Bolsheviks had betrayed Russia, revolted and were crushed by Trotsky. They thought they would be supported by the general population, which by then had to know that they were very much worse off than under the Czar but were just too worn out to resist.
Dr. Waddy: I have lived under intensely authoritarian rule in the military and have participated in it in the prison system. I think: if it is administered by those who have experienced it at subordinate levels and who have received creditable instruction in its responsible and moral application, it can generate much benefit. But such was not true of the historically and morally unrestrained monsters who imposed Marxist totalitarianism on unlucky populations. We have this terribly established record to guide us now and it should direct our resolve to ensuring that we never, ever, allow them sway!
ReplyDeleteThat's a good point, Jack: authoritarian, top-down rule has its positive aspects. In responsible hands authority, even absolute authority, can be wielded in a beneficent way. It's no accident that almost all militaries are organized hierarchically rather than democratically -- nor is it an accident that democracies are never less democratic than when they are at war. Nevertheless, centralizing power has distinct drawbacks, as the Soviets proved in spades. And if the people at the top of an authoritarian system are utopian idealists rather than conservatives or traditionalists, the potential for carnage and injustice is essentially limitless.
ReplyDeletePoor Russia! They came so close to overthrowing the Bolsheviks even after their unlikely takeover. If only the Russians had known the stakes...