Columbus Day
The President of the Unites States explained in today’s press release: “In 1492, Christopher Columbus set sail on a journey that changed the course of history. On Columbus Day, we celebrate this voyage of discovery and honor an Italian explorer who shaped the destiny of the New World.”
Of course this is nonsense (Howard Zinn offers a more complete version). Columbus was a villain, and there is no surprise in witnessing another parade of contradictions. Society no longer legitimizes its actions through appeals to rational thought, because society is comprised of such immense diversity that rigid claims are now impotent.
Society legitimizes itself symbolically. Columbus simply represents whatever those who control the flow of information claim he does. In this case, he represents courage and perseverance. These are good things, so we celebrate Columbus Day to celebrate them. It has nothing to do with Christopher.
Since the symbolic appeal is society’s chief method of legitimizing authority, the absurdity of Columbus Day does not surprise me. What surprises me is the normalcy of this absurdity.
When did we stop calling out the bullshit? Was it when doing so became tiresome? Or when it became ineffective?
Which happened first?
3 January 2008 at 7:52 pm
The discovery was unintentional by him. By “honor” meaning remember but give our thanks to something that just so happened to occur. The founding of our country is also appreciated by other countries because they have more contact with the rest of the world, despite their own hopes of conquering more land. If Columbus never found the New World, he would never have been remembered. All he wanted to do was make an impact on the world, and he did, shouldn’t he be mentioned for a little tiny bit for that?
8 January 2008 at 5:03 am
No–he should be remembered for his brutality. But this post is about how authority is legitimized in this culture and Columbus is used here simply as an example.