[Dr Kain]

Quote:

Originally Posted by barnstenchfartface

So whether someone is a hero or not is determined by what benefit they brought to a nebulous concept of "us?" Even if we're giving credit to Columbus for things that happened hundreds of years after his voyage, it does not change the fact that he brought nothing but genocide and slavery to the lands he did land upon.

It's true that his discovery (as unaware of the fact that it was a discovery he may or may not have been) did set up the stage for continued interaction between the Americas and Europe...but these interactions, for hundreds of years, were also marked by the decimation of the native peoples already living here.

So uh, yeah, hooray for European colonialism? Thanks, Columbus.

Eh, this is actually really off topic by this point. But yeah, the man was no hero. He may have been influential, one can even say we owe it to him for the fact that western civilization in the Americas took hold, or whatever. But a hero, he was not.

If you are going to go that route, then there are no heroes because every culture and country has invaded and conquered some land. The Egyptians enslaved Jews (and pretty much everyone else). The Romans killed everyone who refused to bow to their rule. Alexander the Great conquered Persia, Alexandria, and some of India by killing millions. Genghis Khan slaughtered millions as well. Vlad the Impaler murdered thousands to free Transylvania from Turkish rule. Americans enslaved Africans. Washington and gang betrayed the King of England and then murdered his soldiers because he didn't agree with that.