In one of those coincidences that give texture to our existence, today is a day to celebrate two different men, with two different legacies. The way in which each has been used and abused by history is quite instructive.
Today is Columbus Day, a day which used to be celebrated by Americans of all stripes and persuasions. Christopher Columbus discovered America and paved the way for the settlement of a New World; that New World eventually bequeathed us America. The myth of Christopher Columbus was of an intrepid explorer, sailing into the West, risking all to find a new world.
The New York Times today has only one article about Christopher Columbus. Apparently, there remains some dispute over his provenance. The article, Seeking Columbus’s Origins, With a Swab is fairly straightforward, but mentions, almost as a gratuitous afterthought, the current mythology surrounding Columbus as translated by our leading bastion of liberalism. In the middle of a discussion of the utility of DNA testing to establish whose claims to Columbus are correct, there is this:
A Colom match could overturn conventional wisdom about the nationality, class, religion, and motives of the man who began the age of American colonization. On the other hand, an association with Colombo DNA would cement Italy’s national pride in a man who remains a hero to many, complaints from American Indians he slaughtered, Africans he enslaved and Vikings who got there first notwithstanding. [Emphasis mine-SW]
By now no one is surprised that Columbus is only understood as a murderer of Native Americans who lived in an idyllic state of nature before the white man arrived, or that he was somehow responsible for enslaving Africans, or that he didn't even discover the New World. This devalued mythology is as one dimensional as the typical idealized depictions of Columbus when I was in grade school; of course, in first grade, we didn't expect much nuance.
The contrast is most striking because there is another anniversary celebration going on. For those who have not been paying attention, apparently we are celebrating the 40th anniversary of the death of that great humanitarian whose face launched a thousand T-shirts, Che Guevara.
Fausta has a helpful collection of links for anyone who desires to gain a greater appreciation of what a true sociopath looks like. He was the very definition of a murderous thug, but learned early on to spout leftist cant, and was adept at excusing his vicious character and behavior as being for the good of the people. Of course, to individual people, he was monstrous, but to people in the abstract, he was heroic. Fausta offers the telling quote which all tyrants rely on, in one form or another:
"We don't need proof to execute a man. We only need proof that it's necessary to execute him. A revolutionary must become a cold killing machine motivated by pure hate."
Fausta's comments about this "hero of the proletariat" were sparked by the BBC's hagiography of a true monster. The BBC describes why Che has become such an icon since his death;
"There is no other image like it. What other image has been sustained in this way?" asks Trisha Ziff, the curator of a touring exhibition on the iconography of Che.
"Che Guevara has become a brand. And the brand's logo is the image, which represents change. It has becomes the icon of the outside thinker, at whatever level - whether it is anti-war, pro-green or anti-globalisation," she says.
Its presence - everywhere from walls in the Palestinian territories to Parisian boutiques - makes it an image that is "out of control", she adds.
"It has become a corporation, an empire, at this point."
...
For Ms Ziff, Che Guevara's murder also marks the beginning of the mythical image.
"The birth of the image happens at the death of Che in October 1967," she says.
"He was good-looking, he was young, but more than that, he died for his ideals, so he automatically becomes an icon."
The difference in treatment of Columbus and Guevara is notable for the way in which the cruelty of Columbus, who was the product of a simpler and more primitive time, is all that is left while the Guevara's more brutal, murderous cruelty, in someone who had the benefit of 500 years of civilization upon which to build, is completely ignored and glossed over.
More importantly, the legacy that emerges form the two disparate myths is of even more import. Columbus left a myth that through the years was used to support a National image of devotion to greater and greater freedom, to attempted redress of much of the damage he brought. Our Nation, resting upon the legacy of individualism and freedom grew wealthy and strong. The contrast could not be starker. Che's legacy has been used to support the noxious creed of Left wing idealism. Everywhere the Left has succeeded, the people have suffered terribly. By overtly attempting to destroy inequality (and those who were successful) the Left has managed to impoverish all, save those who are "more equal than others."
Marc R. Masferrer describes how Che's legacy has destroyed Cuba, once a vibrant, if unequal, country. Now it is still unequal, but its vibrancy is long gone.
Baron Bodissey offers another cautionary tail; Socialism still retains the ability to destroy life and impoverish people.
Pete Seeger, with a very different slant, asked "When will they ever learn?" The question remains apt, but not the way the Left has always imagined.
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