Opinion of Christopher Colombus

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Marginally better than Pol Pot and Hitler, though a case could be made that he was worse.

And nobody give me the "we can't judge the past on contemporary standards" excuse. Columbus was a genocidal maniac, a power-hungry egoistic bastard, a rapist, a muss-murdered, a looter, a cheat, an idiot and a reactionary bastard to boot. No excuses can be made for him, especially given that he didn't discover crap.

The North American cult of Columbus is really, really, really sickening.

[Earth]

HP. Why are we celebrating a man whose "discovery" lead to such horror, again? He was, after all, just working for Spain, and looking to support their economic standing.

[Oswald Acted Alone, You Kook]

Historical Villain Upgrade in recent years.

[??????????]

FF. Overly demonized by the leftist loons here. As was shown by the last few posters.

[minionofmidas]

Lucky Moron.

Of course the "discovery" of America would have happened without him, within a generation of his voyage, so the Hitler comparison is ridiculous.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

They'd been fishing off Newfies for a while, anyway.

[minionofmidas]

They'd been fishing off Newfies for a while, anyway.

Which he probably knew of, having (probably) been to Iceland and certainly to the British Isles.
That would certainly explain his certainty that the globe must be much smaller than it was (rightly) assumed to be; and the westward voyage to Asia feasible.

[Earth]

FF. Overly demonized by the leftist loons here. As was shown by the last few posters.

Was he an FF because you object to my, or Hashemite's characterization, or because of something else?

[feeblepizza]

States is correct. He is definitely over-demonized by the Left.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

He is both unfairly praised and at the same time unfairly demonized. He didn't create barbaric behavior that he exhibited and such acts of barbarity can be found all over the globe, even among the native american groups he had a hand in destroying.

HP. Why are we celebrating a man whose "discovery" lead to such horror, again? He was, after all, just working for Spain, and looking to support their economic standing.

But Americn would have been "found" eventually. And its hard to say that slavery and the slaughter of Native Americans wouldn't have occured had Colombus never been born. Why is it proper and acceptable to smash up Colombus for barbarity but nary a mention of the barbarity of the Aztecs, Incas, or Mali or any other "Un-civilized" society, as they were refered to back then, that were destroyed or wiped out by barbaric Europeans or by extention of their actions? Because the Europeans won in most cases and dominated the world? How does that excuse the actions of the defeated? In any conflict, both sides engage in unacceptable brutality, yet it seems in these instances, in Age of Discovery and Imperialism, one side gets a free pass, the losers. Criticize them both! There was unspeakable horror being perpetuated in North America and all over the world by savage men of all races, creeds and colors long before and after Colombus set foot on earth. 

He should be praised for his feet of crossing the Atlantic so many times at a time when Naval technology and tradition dictated that such a voyage was impossible if not sure death for any fool to attempt it.

Self-Flagelation may seem the popular or in thing for people in the Western world to engage in, however it can often be just as misguided as to follow a doctrine of one's culture never being wrong.

[Sewer]

I must echo what Hashemite said.

This reminds me of something I need to do in Atlasia.

[Хahar 🤔]

Not all that important, but HP for what he represents.

[Earth]

He is both unfairly praised and at the same time unfairly demonized. He didn't create barbaric behavior that he exhibited and such acts of barbarity can be found all over the globe, even among the native american groups he had a hand in destroying.

I love that sentiment.

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But America would have been "found" eventually.

By who? Certainly the natives already living here. It's like stumbling across a nightclub and saying you brought it to the world.

And its hard to say that slavery and the slaughter of Native Americans wouldn't have occured had Colombus never been born. Why is it proper and acceptable to smash up Colombus for barbarity but nary a mention of the barbarity of the Aztecs, Incas, or Mali or any other "Un-civilized" society, as they were refered to back then, that were destroyed or wiped out by barbaric Europeans or by extention of their actions?

The reason, presumably, that we didn't mention their barbarity is because this thread is about Colombus, not Colombus and the Aztecs, Incas, etc. Different thread.

But you're just grasping at straws attempting to justify barbarity because it occurred to "barbaric" people, like some karma.

Because the Europeans won in most cases and dominated the world? How does that excuse the actions of the defeated?  

Because the defeated aren't the ones on trial here.

In any conflict, both sides engage in unacceptable brutality, yet it seems in these instances, in Age of Discovery and Imperialism, one side gets a free pass, the losers. Criticize them both!

Why at the same time? I know, it's just to lessen the criticism placed upon Colombus and the Spaniards. "Look! Both acted horribly! That means it equaled itself out!" Childish moralism.

There was unspeakable horror being perpetuated in North America and all over the world by savage men of all races, creeds and colors long before and after Colombus set foot on earth.  

So what? With that logic, let's not focus on any aspect of anything historical, lest the conservatives take offense.

He should be praised for his feet of crossing the Atlantic so many times at a time when Naval technology and tradition dictated that such a voyage was impossible if not sure death for any fool to attempt it.

You do realize water navigation has been around since at least 5000 years? Didn't Colombus mistake America for India, again?

The knee jerk "No! He's Okay!" reaction to criticizing Colombus is kind of pathetic.  

Self-Flagelation may seem the popular or in thing for people in the Western world to engage in, however it can often be just as misguided as to follow a doctrine of one's culture never being wrong.

So cute.

[dead0man]

The funniest part is that he was wrong and the educated of the day were right, the exact opposite of what our history books try to tell us.  He thought the earth was much smaller than it actually is.  Everybody else was like, dude, yes, the earth is round, but our calculations tell us it's going to be like 10,000 miles or something, you aint going to make it.  He was luck as hell there was a big chunk of land to run into that wasn't Asia...of course he still thought he made it to Asia, the dumb ass.

He is the most overrated man in history.

[Frink]

Marginally better than Pol Pot and Hitler, though a case could be made that he was worse.

And nobody give me the "we can't judge the past on contemporary standards" excuse. Columbus was a genocidal maniac, a power-hungry egoistic bastard, a rapist, a muss-murdered, a looter, a cheat, an idiot and a reactionary bastard to boot. No excuses can be made for him, especially given that he didn't discover crap.

The North American cult of Columbus is really, really, really sickening.

This just about sums up my feelings on him along with this quote on the subject:

"I saw here cruelty on a scale no living being has ever seen or expects to see." - Bartolomé de las Casas

Just because your fighting people you conceive of as savages doesn't justify making yourself even more savage in the process.

[k-onmmunist]

FF. Overly demonized by the leftist loons here. As was shown by the last few posters.

Yeah, those damned leftists! They're always demonizing people like Hitler and Mussolini too! Outrageous isn't it?

[afleitch]

I think focusing a dislike of the way in which Europe treated the America's upon discovery onto the man credited with their discovery is misguided. As others have rightly said they would have been found at any rate by another paid navigator. Also remember that disease brought by European voyagers to which Americans had no natural defence killed millions (if not tens of millions) and indeed advanced further and faster than explorers could wiping out communities prior to their discovery (the Americans also gave some diseases back in turn...) This was the biggest killer.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Leaving the alleged sins or blessings of his accidental discovery out of the equation and looking at the character of the man, it is clear that he was an HP, even by 15th century standards.

[GMantis]

On a wall in Belgrade there is the following sign: "Colombus, fuсk your mother for your curiosity." Don't quite agree with the sentiment, but it's not entirely surprising.
As for the man himself, he was a rather cruel conquistador, so HP.

[Tetro Kornbluth]

There is no guarantee in a Colombus-less universe that the would-be immortal mariner would be in the pay of the Spanish Monarchy. Perhaps you might now be living in ´Cabotia´and speak Portuguese...

[Storebought]

Columbus's brutality would have been replicated by any other Spanish/Portuguese conquistador of the 15th century.

[Bunwahaha [still dunno why, but well, so be it]]

No matter you like him or not, you can try to remake the History 100 hundreds times or more in your brain if you find it fancy, which could lead yourself to the conclusion that finally it could have been lions that could have been the 1st to walk on the Moon, but, in the end, that remains thanks to him leading these expeditions that all of you are there today. Not saying you can't judge the man negatively, wouldn't be the 1st time we have to accept bad things in our heritage.

As for Incas and all. That's not their thread, yeah, but it's always worth reminding it too, since in most conventional brains it was the awful Europeans against Pocahontas.

[Storebought]

No matter you like him or not, you can try to remake the History 100 hundreds times or more in your brain if you find it fancy, which could lead yourself to the conclusion that finally it could have been lions that could have been the 1st to walk on the Moon, but, in the end, that remains thanks to him leading these expeditions that all of you are there today. Not saying you can't judge the man negatively, wouldn't be the 1st time we have to accept bad things in our heritage.

As for Incas and all. That's not their thread, yeah, but it's always worth reminding it too, since in most conventional brains it was the awful Europeans against Pocahontas.

I don't suspect Colombus is hated specifically as representing some negative aspect of European colonial legacy. Far from it: It strikes me as yet another manifestation of whatever it is that drives anti-Isreal and anti-US sentiment here-and-now.

[tpfkaw]

Well, it's good that he discovered the Americas, but he was personally a massive creep.  Definitely HP.