bookmark_borderWhy Columbus did actually discover the Americas

This Instagram post from Save Columbus Day makes a great argument for why it is actually correct to say that Columbus discovered the Americas. 

As the post points out, the dictionary definition of “discover” is:

“To notice or learn, especially by making an effort.”

or

“To be the first, or the first of one’s group or kind, to find, learn of, or observe.”

It’s indisputable that Columbus made an effort in finding the new continent. Starting when he was a child, he was so interested in the sea and traveling, that he took the initiative to teach himself sailing skills, geography, history, and different languages. He was so confident and impassioned about trying to find a westward route to Asia, that he spent years trying to persuade the rulers of various kingdoms to finance his idea. And of course, once he finally gained backing from Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain, the voyage itself required great effort from Columbus and his crew. They sailed in wooden boats, into literally unknown territory, far from home, with no comforts, little to eat or drink, and at the mercy of the dangerous seas. Columbus’s voyage absolutely fits the first definition of the word “discover.”

Additionally, Columbus was indisputably the first of his group or kind to learn of the new continent. The anti-Columbus bullies enjoy making the tired, hackneyed argument that Columbus did not discover the Americas because there were already people living there. Of course, it is true that people were living on the continent when Columbus arrived, so Columbus was not the very first person ever to discover the Americas. He was, however, the first European person to do so, which means that Columbus’s voyage fits the second definition of the word “discover” as well. 

The fact that the anti-Columbus bullies completely ignore this part of the definition – the fact that being the first of one’s group or kind counts as discovering as well – demonstrates their intolerance and racism. The anti-Columbus bullies see things only from the indigenous perspective. Other perspectives and viewpoints don’t matter to them. In their eyes, because Columbus was European, his perspective and his viewpoints don’t matter, and his accomplishments don’t matter. In their eyes, because Columbus is from a different group or kind than themselves, he ought to be attacked, condemned, and shamed, and his accomplishments dismissed and ridiculed. This is why I use the word “bullies.” Anti-Columbus activists are operating from a place of intolerance for any perspectives, viewpoints, and cultures other than their own. In their eyes, the only people who matter are themselves. 

Christopher Columbus was the first European person – the first of his group or kind – to discover the Americas. And that accomplishment matters. 

bookmark_borderAnother untitled poem

Trucks rumble up and down the hill,
Carting away debris.
The air is still and cold.
Fog lingers,
Clinging to the trees
And hovering above the water.
The hammering of construction workers
Can be heard far in the distance.
Sunlight cuts through the fog,
Gradually warming me.
Geese call out,
Honks echoing through the still air.
Lazily, they bob along,
Spreading out across the pond’s surface.

December 2023

bookmark_borderUntitled poem

A bleak day;
Clouds mingle with sunlight
As they drift lazily across the sky.
The grass is dry and brown,
Punctuated by a few remaining patches of snow;
The pond’s surface still half frozen.
Ducks and geese call to each other
As they paddle in the water
And waddle across the ice.

2/1/2024

bookmark_borderHow I feel about Black History Month

I recently came across a social media post about Black History Month, which said: “Celebrating Black history does not take away from those of other backgrounds.”

While I technically agree with this statement, the problem is that removing statues, monuments, memorials, and holidays of other backgrounds does take away from those of other backgrounds. And unfortunately, removing statues, monuments, memorials, and holidays of other backgrounds is exactly what has been happening en masse in our country since 2020. Plus, it tends to be the people who are most adamant about celebrating Black History Month who are also the most strongly in favor of removing statues, monuments, memorials, and holidays of other backgrounds.

Personally, Black History Month isn’t exactly my favorite thing. I am more interested in ancient and medieval history, because people in those long-ago time periods were so different from people today, as well as the history of people and groups who are overlooked, misunderstood, and looked down upon today. Black history is so emphasized, so prominent, so widely celebrated, and so popular in today’s society that due to my contrarian nature, it isn’t super interesting to me. 

With that being said, I don’t have anything against Black History Month, per se. I would have no problem with Black History Month being celebrated if Confederate Heritage Month, Confederate Memorial Day, Lee-Jackson Day, Italian Heritage Month, and Columbus Day were celebrated equally prominently, and if all of the Confederate statues and Columbus statues that have ever existed, continued to exist unharmed and unthreatened. But unfortunately, this is far from the case.

It’s not fair to celebrate the history and heritage one group, while the history and heritage of other groups are being deliberately erased, obliterated, and destroyed. It’s not fair to honor and venerate one group, while other groups are attacked as immoral and shameful merely because they are different.

So while I don’t have a problem with Black History Month itself, I have a problem with the inconsistency of celebrating and honoring some groups, while attacking and destroying others. It is unfair to celebrate Black History Month unless Italian history, European history in general, and Confederate history, to give just a few examples, are celebrated just as widely and prominently. That is why I will not be celebrating Black History Month.

bookmark_border“No one’s treading on you, sweetie”

Um, yes, someone is. Many people, actually.

I came across this image on Facebook. It was the profile picture of someone who left a bullying and harassing comment on a post about statues.

Contrary to what is claimed in this image, I can think of various ways in which I have been tread upon.

First of all, as an autistic person who wasn’t diagnosed as such until I was 25, I’ve spent the majority of my life being held to the same standards and expectations as a neurotypical person, causing me to be almost constantly stressed and exhausted from trying to live up to standards and expectations that were not realistic for me. 

Growing up, even though I didn’t know that I was autistic, I knew that I was different from other kids, and they knew it too. I was bullied for the way that I talked, the way that I dressed, the way that I did my hair, the music that I listened to, the shows and movies that I liked, the fact that I collected toys, and the fact that I wasn’t good at gym class, sports, or physical activities. 

I was also taught from a young age that each person is required to have friends and to socialize, a belief that I internalized. As a result, I spent countless hours forcing myself to participate in social activities, even though I didn’t enjoy them and would much rather have spent the time engaging in my interests. Having been rejected again and again by my peers, I was unable to say no or to express disagreement with anyone, no matter how inappropriate their behavior or unreasonable their demands, because I didn’t feel that I was in a position to push away any of the few people who were willing to be friends with me. 

Due to these repeated negative experiences with the people around me, I became interested in history, because historical figures were the only people I could relate to. Particularly, I was interested in historical figures who today are frowned upon and misunderstood, historical figures who fought losing battles for unpopular causes. 

Historical figures such as those who fought for the Confederacy. 

After a lifetime of feeling rejected, hurt, criticized, and controlled by the people around me, I was forced to watch helplessly as our society decided, starting in 2020, to obliterate from existence the one thing that I actually liked, the one thing that made my life worth living: the historical figures. I was forced to watch helplessly as statues, monuments, memorials, and holidays honoring the historical figures that I love were destroyed, sometimes violently. After a lifetime of bullying and exclusion, I was forced to watch helplessly as our cities, our parks, our public spaces, our calendars were reconfigured to ensure that I could not feel represented or included. 

And our society declared that it was doing all of this in the name of diversity and inclusion. 

When, in my eyes, nothing could possibly be further from the truth. 

And I haven’t even mentioned the fact that within the past few years, governments at the local, state, and federal level have decided that they should have the power to force people to undergo medical procedures against their will. 

If the totality of what I’ve described doesn’t constitute treading on someone, I’m not sure what does. 

That’s why I like the Gadsden Flag. That’s why it resonates with me. That’s why I display it in my home and use it online, including in the header of this blog.

So yeah, contrary to what is being claimed in the above image, someone is actually treading on me. Multiple “someone’s,” in fact. People have been treading on me in various ways throughout my entire life. 

Frankly, it is disgusting that someone would create, post, and/or use an image like the one above. Doing so is condescending and contemptuous, dismisses the experiences and struggles of other people, and demonstrates a complete lack of empathy. Perhaps the person who created this image, and the people who use it, think that it is somehow clever, or edgy, or funny. But in reality, it is none of those things. In reality, it is mean-spirited, cruel, and idiotic. Using such an image as one’s profile picture is abhorrent and achieves nothing other than proudly broadcasting one’s lack of empathy. And I’m not sure why anyone would consider a lack of empathy something to be proud of.

I choose to display the Gadsden flag in my home and to use it as an avatar online because, as a person who has been tread upon in various ways throughout my life, its message resonates with me. No person should tread on another person. This concept is not a joke. It is not ridiculous. It is the very essence of morality. 

Therefore, the Gadsden Flag is neither a joke, nor ridiculous either. Any person who would treat it as such has no concept of morality and no empathy for other people. 

bookmark_border“Election deniers” and presuming what you are trying to prove

 

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A post shared by Defiant L’s (@defiant.ls)

I came across this post from “Defiant Ls,” which shows not only the blatant hypocrisy of Rep. Anna Eskamani and so many others who share her political views, but also their disturbing practice of presuming the truth of what they are trying to prove.

In particular, the use of the term “election denier” demonstrates the intolerance and authoritarianism of the left.

When you call someone a “denier,” you are presuming that the thing in question is true and therefore that the person is wrong to deny it.

The use of the term “election denier” presumes that the election was legitimate.

The use of the term “Holocaust denier” presumes that the Holocaust happened.

The use of the term “climate denier” presumes that climate change is occurring.

The use of the term “science denier” presumes that the scientific findings in question are correct.

I could continue giving more examples, but I think you get the point.

The problem is not the act of claiming that an election was legitimate, or that the Holocaust happened, or that climate change is actually occurring. In fact, I would probably agree with these claims. The problem is presuming these things. A person should never presume the thing that they are trying to prove, no matter how obvious they believe that thing is.

If you believe something, you need to state it, as opposed to presuming it.

If you believe that a person is wrong, you need to state that, as opposed to presuming it by calling that person a “denier.”

Presuming the truth of what you are trying to prove implies that there are no possible views that a person could have, other than your own. It doesn’t even allow for the possibility of alternative views existing. And that is the ultimate in intolerance and authoritarianism.

bookmark_borderFood for thought…

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by Sam Orwell (@classicalliberty)

Correct. Disliking something is not the same thing as being afraid of it. Equating someone’s preference with a fear is a way of unfairly de-legitimizing preferences that you disapprove of. A person is not cowardly or fearful for disliking something; they simply dislike something. Do not imply that people are cowardly or fearful for having preferences that differ from your own.

bookmark_borderThe Palmer Report is pure trash

Liberal news website the Palmer Report posted the below tweets in which (as pointed out by “Defiant Ls”) they demonstrated both hypocrisy and intolerance:

 

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A post shared by Defiant L’s (@defiant.ls)

So just to recap: attacking the character of not only Melania Trump, but also all people who respect her, is perfectly fine, but attacking the character of Jill Biden is so unacceptable that doing so makes a person “pure trash.”

Also, just to recap: the Palmer Report believes that Melania Trump, all people who respect her, and all right wing pundits, are pure trash. This demonstrates that like so many others on the left-hand side of the political spectrum, whoever published these tweets on behalf of the Palmer Report is a bigot and a bully with no tolerance for anyone who differs from him/herself in any way.

I would argue that whoever published these tweets on behalf of the Palmer Report has shown him/herself to be pure trash through this display of intolerance and hypocrisy.

Making matters worse, one not particularly intelligent commenter wrote, “one of these two women is a literally mail-order bride and the other one is an actual american.”

Um, I doubt that Melania Trump is literally a mail order bride.

Plus, more importantly, this comment has nothing to do with the actual point of the post, which is to point out the hypocrisy of calling a first lady “trash,” only to later claim that it is unacceptable to attack a first lady’s character.

This commenter seems to be implying that Melania’s country of origin somehow erases the Palmer Report’s logical inconsistency and makes the two tweets logically consistent. It doesn’t.

Additionally, this commenter seems to be implying that because Melania Trump was not born in America, it is somehow okay to call her trash. Which makes this commenter not only completely lacking in logic, but also a bigot.

Yet another example of the bigotry and intolerance of those on the left.