Columbus Day and shaking off our delusions of cultural superiority

Also see Goodbye, Columbus Day by Patrick J. Buchanan in The American Conservative. I wrote my comments below in response to his article and to some of the claims commenters made on the site linked above. ****

10-31-14 It seems a lot of psychological baggage exists around what ‘race’ or ethnic group or culture achieved what accomplishment in terms of the arts, sciences, political organization, and so on.

But it might be wiser to think of , for example, calculus or an epic poem, or the General Theory of Relativity as human accomplishments.

Black folk , women and others as part of categories of oppression have had to reclaim history so as to correct racist and sexist omissions and lies pertaining to human achievemental. (Anarcho-primitivists might question some of those human achievements as such in terms of human destruction of ecosystems thru, according to them, civilization)
______ __________ __________.

How is our cultural self-confidence the same as a belief in our collective superiority? Wow !

Some people post here as if they believe that a sense of superiority is virtuous. Should we also aspire to arrogance ? How about striving for dishonesty or maybe treacherousness for making ourselves ‘great’ ? 🙂 Mr. Buchanan presents a warped morality when he claims that great men (or women) are often not good. His sexist language is yet another indication of his hostility toward true moral progress.

Reconsidering honoring Columbus as a hero shows progress in terms of our culture being based on a firmer grasp of reality.

Gladly, the collective delusion about our superiority is now less entrenched than it was during the ‘good ol’ days’ of amnesia regarding Western imperialism, slavery, genocide and other forms of oppression.

It’s a matter of debate whether the forms of oppression that, for example, Stalin or Mao and other ‘socialists’ triggered were, on balance, a greater or lesser evil compared with the many forms of oppression within Western Culture during and prior to capitalism.

Further, our ecological crises might involve some of us questioning the superiority of ‘civilized’ societies, as well as redefining our definitions of ‘progress.’

Shaking off our delusions of superiority as a nation and as members of Western Culture improves our chances of thriving and surviving into the future as a society. Our cultural delusions are a liability, contrary to what Pat Buchanan and other reactionaries claim. Let’s not confuse self-confidence and arrogance.

Colonizing ourselves by being apologists for ‘globalization’

The everyone-is-on-their-own concept, if taken to the extreme, is perhaps a form of anarchy. All of us, to varying degrees, depend upon public services that are run by government and paid for by people in society chipping in for the cost.

So, no handouts for you, right ? Under no circumstances, would you call the police or the fire department or use a road or a sidewalk or get the benefit of a traffic light or check a book out at a library or have a picnic in a park, or buy food or medicine inspected by the USDA or FDA …and so on ?

Actually, many of the people waiting for ‘handouts’, in terms of health-care or food stamps actually have jobs that involve low pay and long hours.

By far, the problem with ordinary people wanting ‘handouts’ is far outweighed by the problem of powerful corporations wanting and getting their own form of handouts which are hurting our nation economically and in terms of national interest (ie-what do we actually make in this country anymore ?)

How about taking a look at the WTO, and NAFTA and how corporations otherwise seek to maximize profits for a select few by relocating jobs wherever they can get away with paying the lowest wages with the least amount of workers’ rights and the least amount of environmental responsibility ?

The gap between rich and poor increases in this country, and national debt increases, and our manufacturing capacity decreases. Meanwhile many CEOs make hundreds of times what line employees make. Meanwhile people talk about cutting taxes and social services (which may be good for the private prison industry but bad for our democracy).

Why not take a look at the WTO whose decisions affect people all over the world, including you and me, and which operates secretively and answers to no one but the most powerful multinational corporations ?

Or is it better to blame the poor for wanting ‘handouts’, and blaming environmentalists and labor unions for creating a climate that’s unattractive for business ?

Should be blame people in tough economic situations or should we seek to hold multinational corporations accountable for being more socially responsible and invest their vast wealth into public services ?

After all, did the corporations create their vast wealth on some other planet, or did they use air, land, water, and other natural resources (plus our human resources) to create their wealth ?

I can’t help but think that when middle class or even upper middle class people act as apologists for our current system of privatizing gain and socializing costs, that many of us unwittingly contribute to our own colonization.

Is there a connection between the sweatshop worker in Bangladesh and the former family farmer and former factory worker in Ohio ?

Should we blame labor unions and environmentalists or should we seek to prevent multinational corporations from exploiting people –including you and me– in terms of our ability to earn a living and maybe have a planet to pass on to our descendants ?

This may not be a situation in which we choose either big government or big business. The key problem may be the concentration of power, whether that concentration is bureaucratic or corporate.

I favor decentralization of political and economic power. To do that, we may need to address what some people refer to as ‘corporatism’, the combination of big government with big business.

Colonizing ourselves by being apologists for 'globalization'

The everyone-is-on-their-own concept, if taken to the extreme, is perhaps a form of anarchy. All of us, to varying degrees, depend upon public services that are run by government and paid for by people in society chipping in for the cost.

So, no handouts for you, right ? Under no circumstances, would you call the police or the fire department or use a road or a sidewalk or get the benefit of a traffic light or check a book out at a library or have a picnic in a park, or buy food or medicine inspected by the USDA or FDA …and so on ?

Actually, many of the people waiting for ‘handouts’, in terms of health-care or food stamps actually have jobs that involve low pay and long hours.

By far, the problem with ordinary people wanting ‘handouts’ is far outweighed by the problem of powerful corporations wanting and getting their own form of handouts which are hurting our nation economically and in terms of national interest (ie-what do we actually make in this country anymore ?)

How about taking a look at the WTO, and NAFTA and how corporations otherwise seek to maximize profits for a select few by relocating jobs wherever they can get away with paying the lowest wages with the least amount of workers’ rights and the least amount of environmental responsibility ?

The gap between rich and poor increases in this country, and national debt increases, and our manufacturing capacity decreases. Meanwhile many CEOs make hundreds of times what line employees make. Meanwhile people talk about cutting taxes and social services (which may be good for the private prison industry but bad for our democracy).

Why not take a look at the WTO whose decisions affect people all over the world, including you and me, and which operates secretively and answers to no one but the most powerful multinational corporations ?

Or is it better to blame the poor for wanting ‘handouts’, and blaming environmentalists and labor unions for creating a climate that’s unattractive for business ?

Should be blame people in tough economic situations or should we seek to hold multinational corporations accountable for being more socially responsible and invest their vast wealth into public services ?

After all, did the corporations create their vast wealth on some other planet, or did they use air, land, water, and other natural resources (plus our human resources) to create their wealth ?

I can’t help but think that when middle class or even upper middle class people act as apologists for our current system of privatizing gain and socializing costs, that many of us unwittingly contribute to our own colonization.

Is there a connection between the sweatshop worker in Bangladesh and the former family farmer and former factory worker in Ohio ?

Should we blame labor unions and environmentalists or should we seek to prevent multinational corporations from exploiting people –including you and me– in terms of our ability to earn a living and maybe have a planet to pass on to our descendants ?

This may not be a situation in which we choose either big government or big business. The key problem may be the concentration of power, whether that concentration is bureaucratic or corporate.

I favor decentralization of political and economic power. To do that, we may need to address what some people refer to as ‘corporatism’, the combination of big government with big business.