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TechnoratiA Columbus Day Meditation - As Nobel Laureate Obama Decides Whether to 'Conquer' Afghanistan...
"Gold is most excellent; gold constitutes treasure; and he who has it does all he wants in the world, and can even lift souls up to Paradise." -- Christopher Columbus, 1503 letter to the king and queen of Spain.
"Christopher Columbus not only opened the door to a New World, but also set an example for us all by showing what monumental feats can be accomplished through perseverance and faith." -- George H.W. Bush, 1989 speech
If you fly over the country of Haiti on the island of Hispaniola, the island on which Columbus landed, it looks like somebody took a blowtorch and burned away anything green. Even the ocean around the port capital of Port au Prince is choked for miles with the brown of human sewage and eroded topsoil. From the air, it looks like a lava flow spilling out into the sea.
The history of this small island is, in many ways, a microcosm for what's happening in the whole world.
When Columbus first landed on Hispaniola in 1492, virtually the entire island was covered by lush forest. The Taino "Indians" who lived there had an apparently idyllic life prior to Columbus, from the reports left to us by literate members of Columbus's crew such as Miguel Cuneo.
When Columbus and his crew arrived on their second visit to Hispaniola, however, they took captive about two thousand local villagers who had come out to greet them. Cuneo wrote: "When our caravels... where to leave for Spain, we gathered...one thousand six hundred male and female persons of those Indians, and these we embarked in our caravels on February 17, 1495...For those who remained, we let it be known (to the Spaniards who manned the island's fort) in the vicinity that anyone who wanted to take some of them could do so, to the amount desired, which was done."
Cuneo further notes that he himself took a beautiful teenage Carib girl as his personal slave, a gift from Columbus himself, but that when he attempted to have sex with her, she "resisted with all her strength." So, in his own words, he "thrashed her mercilessly and raped her."
While Columbus once referred to the Taino Indians as cannibals, a story made up by Columbus -- which is to this day still taught in some US schools -- to help justify his slaughter and enslavement of these people. He wrote to the Spanish monarchs in 1493: "It is possible, with the name of the Holy Trinity, to sell all the slaves which it is possible to sell...Here there are so many of these slaves, and also brazilwood, that although they are living things they are as good as gold..."
Columbus and his men also used the Taino as sex slaves: it was a common reward for Columbus' men for him to present them with local women to rape. As he began exporting Taino as slaves to other parts of the world, the sex-slave trade became an important part of the business, as Columbus wrote to a friend in 1500: "A hundred castellanoes (a Spanish coin) are as easily obtained for a woman as for a farm, and it is very general and there are plenty of dealers who go about looking for girls; those from nine to ten (years old) are now in demand."
However, the Taino turned out not to be particularly good workers in the plantations that the Spaniards and later the French established on Hispaniola: they resented their lands and children being taken, and attempted to fight back against the invaders. Since the Taino where obviously standing in the way of Spain's progress, Columbus sought to impose discipline on them. For even a minor offense, an Indian's nose or ear was cut off, se he could go back to his village to impress the people with the brutality the Spanish were capable of. Columbus attacked them with dogs, skewered them with pikes, and shot them.
Eventually, life for the Taino became so unbearable that, as Pedro de Cordoba wrote to King Ferdinand in a 1517 letter, "As a result of the sufferings and hard labor they endured, the Indians choose and have chosen suicide. Occasionally a hundred have committed mass suicide. The women, exhausted by labor, have shunned conception and childbirth... Many, when pregnant, have taken something to abort and have aborted. Others after delivery have killed their children with their own hands, so as not to leave them in such oppressive slavery."
Eventually, Columbus and later his brother Bartholomew Columbus who he left in charge of the island, simply resorted to wiping out the Taino altogether. Prior to Columbus' arrival, some scholars place the population of Haiti/Hispaniola (now at 16 million) at around 1.5 to 3 million people. By 1496, it was down to 1.1 million, according to a census done by Bartholomew Columbus. By 1516, the indigenous population was 12,000, and according to Las Casas (who were there) by 1542 fewer than 200 natives were alive. By 1555, every single one was dead.
This wasn't just the story of Hispaniola; the same has been done to indigenous peoples worldwide. Slavery, apartheid, and the entire concept of conservative Darwinian Economics, have been used to justify continued suffering by masses of human beings.
Dr. Jack Forbes, Professor of Native American Studies at the University of California at Davis and author of the brilliant book "Columbus and Other Cannibals," uses the Native American word wétiko (pronounced WET-ee-ko) to describe the collection of beliefs that would produce behavior like that of Columbus. Wétiko literally means "cannibal," and Forbes uses it quite intentionally to describe these standards of culture: we "eat" (consume) other humans by destroying them, destroying their lands, taking their natural resources, and consuming their life-force by enslaving them either physically or economically. The story of Columbus and the Taino is just one example.
We live in a culture that includes the principle that if somebody else has something we need, and they won't give it to us, and we have the means to kill them to get it, it's not unreasonable to go get it, using whatever force we need to.
In the United States, the first "Indian war" in New England was the "Pequot War of 1636," in which colonists surrounded the largest of the Pequot villages, set it afire as the sun began to rise, and then performed their duty: they shot everybody -- men, women, children, and the elderly -- who tried to escape. As Puritan colonist William Bradford described the scene: "It was a fearful sight to see them thus frying in the fire and the streams of blood quenching the same, and horrible was the stink and scent thereof; but the victory seemed a sweet sacrifice, and they [the colonists] gave praise therof to God, who had wrought so wonderfully..."
The Narragansetts, up to that point "friends" of the colonists, were so shocked by this example of European-style warfare that they refused further alliances with the whites. Captain John Underhill ridiculed the Narragansetts for their unwillingness to engage in genocide, saying Narragansett wars with other tribes were "more for pastime, than to conquer and subdue enemies."
In that, Underhill was correct: the Narragansett form of war, like that of most indigenous Older Culture peoples, and almost all Native American tribes, does not have extermination of the opponent as a goal. After all, neighbors are necessary to trade with, to maintain a strong gene pool through intermarriage, and to insure cultural diversity. Most tribes wouldn't even want the lands of others, because they would have concerns about violating or entering the sacred or spirit-filled areas of the other tribes. Even the killing of "enemies" is not most often the goal of tribal "wars": It's most often to fight to some pre-determined measure of "victory" such as seizing a staff, crossing a particular line, or the first wounding or surrender of the opponent.
This wétiko type of theft and warfare is practiced daily by farmers and ranchers worldwide against wolves, coyotes, insects, animals and trees of the rainforest; and against indigenous tribes living in the jungles and rainforests. It is our way of life. It comes out of our foundational cultural notions.
So it should not surprise us that with the doubling of the world's population over the past 37 years has come an explosion of violence and brutality, and as the United States runs low on oil, we are now fighting wars in oil-rich parts of the world and pipeline-necessary Afghanistan. It shouldn't surprise us that generals want more troops (remember psychologist Abraham Maslow's famous dictum: "When the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail"); the rich want more tax cuts; and multi-millionaire health "insurance" cartel leaders give millions to politicians to ensure single-payer never passes, leaving the average person in the iron grip of the very rich.
These are all dimensions, after all, of our history of patriarchy, hierarchy, and slavery, which we celebrate on Columbus Day. But if we wake up, and we help the world wake up, they need not be our future.
Let's hope that President Obama brings the wisdom and intellect he has so often displayed to all of these issues, particularly (on this day) the ones that can bring about or further disrupt peace in this world.
84 Comments so far
Show AllTake an “inferior” society and destroy it by stealth and brute force.
This is the basic attitude engrained in the American psyche, and it is reenacted and reinforced every weekend with the ritual of American football.
The goal of football is to take away property from the inferior team, and when the loosing team is left with no property the game is over, and a new game is commenced with a kickoff.
Note that the USA is the only country in the world that plays this game of conquest (Canada being a minor exception).
If the USA is ever to become civilized, it must first eliminate football.
I would say football is an acceptable outlet for aggressive tendencies universal in young men. Many aboriginal societies had warlike games which served the same purpose.
kassandre's comment is astute, incisive and in many ways more far ranging than Hartmann's essay. But thanks to Thom for reviewing the sordid and damning early history of this bloody continent. We are the heirs of the cannibal Columbus. We have deserved the miserable leaders our unenlightened, bastardized version of Christianity has vomited forth. Up to and including the spineless Obama. He of the calm, confident, reasonable-sounding voice and bearing. He who idolizes the military as much as any of our warmongering commanders in chief. And depends on them to issue forth the next bloody chapter of American imperial conquest, as it's been done since 1495. The Iraqis and Afghans are the new Taino, Pequot, Naragansett, Iroquois, Shawnee, Arapaho, Sioux, Choctaw, Pawnee, Apache, Blackfeet and all the other tribes we basically wiped out over 5 cannibalistic centuries. Can't kill them for the glory of God anymore, so we must find new prey in the Middle East. New brown people to subdue, conquer, enslave, decimate or exterminate if they fail to bow down to American imperial arrogance. Force more bullshit Christianity down their throats, capitalism and false democracy. Give them 500 channels to watch and McDonalds to gorge on and grow sickly and obese like us, then provide health care only to their small elite class, just like us. This is what happens when a people lack all imagination, historical and otherwise. We turn into mechanisms for evil. Or monsters, as some would say.
Those of us who are the direct 'beneficiaries' of 'Mr. Columbus' having stumbled upon this continent, find 'so many things to admire' about so 'many of the wonderful things brought' by the Europeans, not the mention their 'bastard children the Americans'.
The entire story is laced with ironies that most Americans are 'blind to' or 'loathe to hear' or are simply so stupid that it could never be explained.
So, the USA takes an 'national holiday' to celebrate the 'discovery' of the 'Americas' (named after a 'friend of Chris') and the death and destruction that it brought to what most 'intelligent' figures reveal to be estimated at 500 million (give or take 'mil' or two); that the Americans proudly accepted and expounded upon from their European counter parts.
The fact that the people who were here then had learned to live in almost perfect harmony with their environment. Had developed the largest 'cache' of food plants that world has ever known. Along with sustainable agriculture to cultivate those food plants. Not to mention the establishment of what most Europeans were totally unfamiliar with---'sustainable democracy'---and what many scholars feel to be most important a remarkable alliance between the Patriarch and the Matriarch.
So much of this has been 'lost' on the American people that no matter the amount of 'reminding' they always revert to the same old 'mantra'--'it's all part' of "Gods Plan".
The the Americans have become the symbol to the world of excess and abuse. They do not keep their treaties, yet, never mention that 'trait' when making new ones. They kill and maim the innocent, in their quest for the land and resources of those innocents. They regard themselves as superior yet cannot be relied upon to take care of their own who are not part of the 'ruling elite'. They nurture a Plutocratic Oligarchy that controls almost every aspect of their daily lives, and even the lives of those who are unborn. They worship the mediocre to the highest level ever known in a culture; and yet are still unhappy with it.
They make war in the farthest reaches of the planet, and leave behind death destruction pollution genocide and misery. They people the 'touch' are never the same after the Americans are tired of them; and the Americans can 'turn on their friends' like a 'rabid dog'; and justify their every action.
And now it seems that the Americans are most likely on their last days. Their 'God' is not coming to save them from themselves. Their enemies and their 'friends' are simply waiting for the Americans to weaken; then they will do the 'American thing' to the Americans. They will devour the Americans that are 'left over' from when the Americans turned on the Americans; and devoured themselves.
If the survivors of the impending collapse of the USA and most likely the majority of the worlds human (and unfortunately animal) populations, are able to maintain any control over their lives it would do them well to remember the 'Americans'. They will be able to look back and say with accuracy.
The Euro/Americans were exceptionally destructive to all they encountered.
The Americans were a foolish people, driven by a foolish concept of humanity and its place in the ecosystem. They wasted the most beautiful continent on the planet, drove most of the human inhabitants into extinction along with hundreds of animal species. They polluted the rivers and the streams and the oceans even the waters UNDER the ground. They even polluted the deserts with their nuclear waste (and many other materials their 'liars in high places' have kept secret).
But then what can be expect from people ' who believe themselves to be 'special'---selected by some mean vindictive jealous weak and insecure deity that they created themselves---to be the possessors of 'stolen property'. A people who have selected as their 'mascot' the Bald Eagle, a 'raptor' that in reality is simply a 'dandified vulture' (T.R. Roosevelt) who would 'rather steal the kills from other raptors or predators'--or sit and wait for the Bears and Wolves and Coyotes to finish their kills---then eat the scraps left by the others.
The Americans will also be a 'memory' some day.
But what kind of memory, and to whom?
The wind?
Powerful stuff, N.S, eloquently stated. I feel your anger.
harvey wasserman:
This is an excellent piece, as always. I'll be using it today in my Cultural Diversity and History courses at the local colleges. It's long overdue the American mainstream face these realities.
Please read and carefully edit your submissions before posting to Common Dreams. There are myriad typos in this commentary by Hartmann!
Parents can talk with their schools about hosting alternative events to Columbus Day, such as Indigenous/Indian Peoples' Day. More communities should
be hosting this sort of event. They can feature Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States at the event.
This article is an example of the great Thom Hartmann.
Don't let my dramatic use of the word "great" in my first sentence deter anyone from taking me seriously.
I have been listening to Thom's radio show for several years and reading his books and articles.
There is no one better to learn factual, decent and humane information from.
Thom Hartmann is the epitome of deeply profound Liberal thought.
OPINION: Ironic that Hartmann begins his post with a reference to gold, a substance that he has shilled for regularly on radio commercials he voices, airing on his show and Air America. On the commercials, Hartmann apparently has no qualms about using fear as a motivator to scare people into buying the yellow metal. His message, as I hear it, is that when our currency crashes, the smart ones will own AU. Seems to me more than a bit a hypocritical, given Hartmann's rants against those on the opposite side of the political spectrum, who use the same fear techniques. So maybe it is all about entertainment anyway like those guys on the opposite side say. How disheartening and wasteful it is if that is true. But, Hartmann always allows time to promote books written by himself, and announcing book-signing appearances. Seems like he cranks out a new tome every few months. In my view, guys like Hartmann are smart enough to know better than to self-diminish their credibility by wasting precious airtime for self-promotion instead of maximizing the discussion of vital issues or carving out time to air more callers'opinions. And it seems other radio talk show hosts devote more and more time to alibi the shortcomings of the present administration with respect to its promises to bring "change you can believe in" to our lives and government. I feel they, like our president, are wasting time arguing with flat-earth types, with the unintended consequence of legitimizing their generally discredited notions. The outcome is always the same. Facts or logic never matter; nothing can change their beliefs. Sorry mister President and Thom...time to get really tough on these misguided, uninformed obstructionists. The polite debating society approach doesn't work with the GOPers, or the spokesperson from the Ayn Rand Institute(among many others). Listeners need to be told the unfortunate truth that nothing has changed yet, and unless the leadership grows a stiff spine, it will remain business as usual, with the middle class as usual "getting the business". Lately on many talk shows, lots of side issues divert focus from the vital ones. The GOP has never-ending talking points, and they are always on the offensive, provoking calculated, angry, and emotional over-reactions from the DEMs that send them careening off target. It's an obvious diversionary trick, and Air America hosts do take the bait. My suggestion to them is to ignore these junk attacks, and concentrate on the positive message about the necessity of bringing about change. The promo on Hartmann's station says, "...who would have thought that progressive would become mainstream...". who wants that anyway, especially when mainstream quacks like a neocon. Like millions of others marking their ballots last November, I believed I was voting for significant, rapid change, including single-payer medicare-type health care, a quick end to the Afgan and Iraq wars, strong re-regulation to remove the abuses of the financial industry, a practical government public works infrastructure program like FDR's NRA, WPA and a re-establishment and enforcement of all our constitutional rights. So far, instead, Americans are getting "Bush Lite", a redistribution of trillions of taxpayer dollars to Wall Street not main street, and a White House whose previously alleged progressive agenda is paralyzed by the BS word "socialist". This is unacceptable...no other word for it. Progressives need strong talk hosts who focus and stop rationalizing as necessary compromises, the dishonest, watered-down bills masquerading as promised legislation. Democrats have the majority...now the people have to make them use it. Talk show hosts can play a vital role, keeping the heat on, challenging political leaders to arm-twist congressmen and senators into voting the party line...the way the GOP does. Talk show hosts can empower the public to speak truth to power. If the Democrats fail to seize the initiative, to use the political clout they have, they won't convince me and others like me to vote them back into office next election. The goods many mainstream progressives have tried to sell us up to now, in my view, is mostly fools gold. The American people deserve the real thing in the form of change that will soon restore our country's economic health, and the reality of a good, just and happy life.
It is nice to see at least one cogent observation on the interminable contradictions of Thom Hartmann.
In reading others, Hartmann’s disciples seek to insure a single narrative is presented, much like the single narrative offered by the Bush groupies.
Bush could do no wrong as President, nor can Hartmann do any wrong as a capitalist driven pundit.
As I noted in a previous observation, Hartmann completely understands and writes eloquently about the demise of culture. (I wrote a positive book review on his latest book, Threshold on Amazon, and as of today, the review has received the most positive votes by readers.) Despite this, Hartmann’s clique of supporters will try to cast me as a troll.
The obvious problem is that Hartmann does not have a clue about how to move a progressive agenda forward. Never has, never will. Instead he is stuck spinning his wheels engaged in a fantasy of “change the Democrat Party from within” campaign
If the presidential election of 2008 has not proven that idea false by now, there really is no hope for planetary transformation currently. But this is especially true for those ditto clones on a mission to protect the purity of Hartmann’s ideology along with his belief system.
Hartmann and friends (what I call the spiritual elite) like to critique peripherally many of Obama’s appointments, but never in their analysis will you find them directly taking on Obama himself at least in a manner consistent with the likes of Chris Hedges, Lindorff, Goodman, Mckibben, and Greenwald – the authentic left.
Any truly objective person who has not yet drunk the cool aid of the Obama Administration can note the avoidance of issues meaningful to anyone calling themselves a progressive; in fact, so far the Obama Administration has looked a lot like the Bush Administration.
*Perpetual war escalation in Afghanistan.
*Occupation of Iraq without end in sight.
*Covert drone strikes on non combatants.
*Fantasy called “clean coal” along with campaign investments from Big Coal: Source Open Secrets.
*Continuation of torture polices and renditions to gulags of suspected terrorists. (Refer to Chris Hedges and other CD contributors on the subject.)
*TARP sellouts insuring no corporate executive left behind.
*FISA and Habeas Corpus sellouts codifying legal mandates that are unconstitutional and removing our personal rights.
*Bill Mckibben (a world class environmentalist along with Bobby Kennedy) lambasting Obama on Mountain Top Removal, Coal, and Nuclear energy. (If interested, read their many fine articles on CD.)
*Appointments of Guethnier, and Summers, who Michael Moore called “Wall Street insiders” in his new film, Capitalism a Love Story, and accurately noted Guethnier never got anything right when he was working for Bush – my paraphrase.
*Appointment of General McChystal who was Bush’s assassination General leading black operations in Iraq and responsible for increasing the body count of non-combatants in that war theatre.
*Gay rights activists have regularly denounced Obama as a sellout despite Obama’s rhetoric.
*Single payer off the table; the compromise (we were told) was supposedly a Public
Option plan; now Public Option is off the table; the so called compromise (we were told) was then referred to as “Triggers”; now Triggers is off the table, and the new compromise is called, Coops; many CD contributors has shown Coops to be watered down tripe not worth the paper they are written on.
As you can see, despite the Democrats controlling the Presidency, the Senate and the Congress, “compromise” has become a one way street to appease the Republicans and tt disguise the appearance of doing something for us, when in fact the Dems are only marching lock step with the for PROFIT INSURANCE INDUSTRY.
These are just some of the sellouts from Obama and those who advocated for him like Hartmann prior to the election. If Hartmann now wants to apologize for his endorsement (like others on the left have done) then his credibility will go up.
Case in point, many other progressive contributors on CD who supported the election of Obama, have humbly written their apologies to the authentic-left, and recanted the stupidity of their support. Dave Lindorff comes to mind to name one, but there are many others.
The prophetic voice of Chris Hedges a regular contributor to CD has never supported Obama and advocated for the election of Nader. He also keeps the pressure on Obama in hopes of moving him to the left; not by peripherally critiquing his Administration (like Hartmann, Hayden, Flanders, and Katrina) but taking him on directly. Glenn Greenwald has written extensively on Obama’s torture policies despite the rhetoric of Obama asserting otherwise; on TARP sellouts, war escalation, and on Health Care sellouts Greenwald has been a consistent critic without serving up soft-balls like Hartmann.
I invite Hartmann's disciples to get involved (like Hartmann asserts) but toward a truly progressive direction by working to build progressive third parties like the Green’s or the New Party; or many others that are gaining ground with the grass roots.
Just say NO to the status quo, and the duopoly.
Sioux Rose
ELOHIM: Excellent post. Thank you for taking the time to lay all these points (and perspectives) out.
Thank you.
I agree that a lot of Air America hosts spend too much time making fun of Republicans. They enjoy it because it's like shooting fish in a barrel. They should stick to promoting their agenda, but sometimes that involves denouncing conservatism.
However-- "Talk show hosts can play a vital role, keeping the heat on, challenging political leaders to arm-twist congressmen and senators into voting the party line..." No, no, no. The party line sucks. The party line includes funding endless war, bailing out banks with no oversight, and a weak public option. Progressive political leaders need to be challenged to arm-twist their unenlightened colleagues into CHANGING the freaking party line.
Your complaints about Hartmann promoting his books and gold are just bizarre. His books are excellent-- why not promote them? Gold? Big deal-- lots of people have some as a hedge against inflation.
You really do live in a dream world, Quick Step!
Why not use your multiple alter egos for something positive instead of living in front of your computer 24/7?
Elohim means God or "all-powerful one" in Hebrew. I guess that says it all. You know which screen name(s) goes with which person(s), what we do all day, and whether what we do is "positive".
If you are going to use multiple screen names you might be more careful in duplicate word-for-word posts under different sign on names. (I posted links to your asinine duplications months back, but I understand the virtual sickness you must be suffering from starring at the computer all day long, but it will not repair the depth of lonliness you must feel in your cul-de-sac of woe.)
Moreover, I studied Hebrew in graduate school, and contrary to your assertion, elohim does not mean "all powerful one." That is a false translation.
I guess if I find a internet link asserting the Moon is made of green cheese, using your logic, it must be so.
I only have one screen name. Sorry if you don't believe me. Sorry you think it's a productive use of time to find "duplications". Cheers.
And then came the plagues. Small wonder that the First Peoples resent Columbus et al.
Now let's see if we can figure this screwup out, and without a bunch of mindless hyperbole. The President wants to "conquer" Afghanistan? Well so far no one, including the US has been able to do it. Not even when it meant the US and Soviets facing off. Afghanistan is a dead nation for all intents and purposes. It is ruled by countless tribal leaders, every one of the Islamic, and yet, like cretins, I mean christians, all different. Hamid Karzai, a former exec of UNOCAL and Condie Rice, only interested in wealth and the power that comes with it. He might be president inside his home, depending on his wife's mood. He's, otherwise, an american stooge, and the Afghans know this. Taleban?, Al Quaeda? both american products. No, Afghanistan is a failed state. The americans should do what they didn't do in the Nam, and get hell out. The world's full of little tin pot dictators place by the CIA and the Republican party, and democraps. Without a complete social control paradigm in this country, we are dead. No life, no "freedoms" as the idiots' say, (you're either free, or you are not.} DESTROY THE US CORPOCRACY AND ANYTHING ASSOCIATED WITH IT. Or shut your mouths about freedom and "are childurn, and grainchildurn.
Obama can decide to conquer Afghanistan all he wants. Actually conquering it, is another thing.
Yes, at the cost of bankrupting America.
(And the Right Wingers would not mind spending all of our money in this way, while thinking is terrible to spend a small fraction of that on infrastructure and/or the poorer half of America.)
Also going on at the same time that the Americas were being "discovered" by Columbus was the Spanish Inquisition. In fact, the destruction of Native American civilizations by the Spanish could be viewed as yet another manifestation of the Inquisition, which was targetting all non-Catholics (basically ethnically cleansing any remnants of Moorish Spain in the Iberian Peninsula). It is not an accident that Granada fell in January of 1492, the same year that "Columbus sailed the ocean blue." Certainly, the death and destruction visited upon the Native Americans could be viewed as an extension of the racism and cruelty already running rampant in Spain at the time.
Yes,
The "blankety blank" (fill in the blank with your most profane swear words) Right Wingers love this stuff, because they NOW are like this, too.
Isabella persecuted the Jews so she could confiscate their wealth and afford to pay the soldiers necessary to defeat the Moors.
Every USan should spray the petro-opiate out of the pump nozzle into the sky and light it on fire to honor the plunder of the Americas 500 years ago and to honor the plunder of Central/West Asia today.
Should have ended the title after the first 4 words.
Columbus was a contractor, funded by a government, unaccountable to any laws...
wasn't it woody allen that said basically, " I feel a lot better now that hope has died"? In our circumstances meaning don't wait for Obama to save us - he won't - we have to either make him do the right thing or toss his ass out on the street.
Thom Hartmann:
"our history of patriarchy, hierarchy, and slavery, which we celebrate on Columbus Day. But if we wake up, and we help the world wake up, they need not be our future."
"Let's hope that President Obama brings the wisdom and intellect he has so often displayed to all of these issues, particularly (on this day) the ones that can bring about or further disrupt peace in this world."
WHAT "wisdom" and "intellect" HAS Obama "displayed to all of these issues" (patriarchy, hierarchy, slavery)???
ALL of these emphasize supreme POWER and DOMINION over people, which OBAMA has clearly continued to exercize in Afghanistan, Iraq, Guantanamo, AMERICA!!
If WAR equals PEACE, then Obama has, indeed, succeeded.
Nicely stated.
Conquer what?? They are fighting an entity..Alkayduh,Tahleeban,Insurgents,Terrerwrists etc. at what point do they become freedom fighters?.... Iraq/Afghani armed forces??...we decimated them, along with their infrastructure...and whats an occasional American life at the hands of his Iraq/Afghani counterpart?? It's almost laughable ditto heads. Withdraw and apologize!
~Some people live their whole lives without ever waking up~
Finally someone with a forum has remembered the pipeline. We've been so overrun with articles and comments about the dearth of Al Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan, and how that is why America is free to militarily disengage from Afghanistan, that we've all forgotten that the invasion was not about destroying Al Qaeda -- that could have been done much better with investigative and commando operations -- but to unseat a government that wasn't giving us the contract for "our" pipeline.
With the country politically completely unstable and corrupt, and territory changing hands (usually to opponents of the United States) with great frequency, that pipeline still can't be built and defended, so we ain't going nowhere just yet -- and maybe not ever, because political and territorial stability probably cannot be achieved there. Bush got us caught in a Gordian knot, and Obama is trying to untie it by tightening it. The only way to change that is if peace activists declare the real anti-war front in Afghanistan to be the pipeline, not the terrorists, and force Obama to respond.
I have heard this pipeline argument before and would like to know more about it. Where is the oil this pipeline would access? Why does it have to go through Afghanistan? Where would it end? Why is this the way that the US has chosen to get access to this oil? Thanks for any info you can share about this.
Greenfield provides good info, below. Consider that only a year ago Russia invaded Georgia. Reason? Georgian's were threatening to pipe Central Asian oil outside of Russian-owned N Georgia, and thru pipelines owned by Western agents. As traditional supplies become overtapped, Central Asian Oil's importance will grow exponentially, and the powers are aligning themselves in anticipation. Iraq and Afghanistan will be known as history proceeds as two of the first of many 'oil wars'. Although Englands attempts to own Afghanistan and Russia's later 1979 invasion were definitely also based on oil: oil that Afghanistan doesn't own, but can transport. It's pretty obvious that Afghanistan has little else of interest to anyone. Not even Al Qaida.
Natural gas and oil pipelines to get Central Asian/Caspian hydrocarbons to the west.
Only official citations from me, no conspiracy theories. Google the links instead of C&P'ing them in your browser, as most of the originals are down, 11+ years old now, but they're archived all over the place. These deals were being developed in the late 1990's, scuttled after the Clinton cruise missile attack on Bin Laden in 1998 after the Cole incident. Taliban later sought to award contracts to Bridas, the Argentine oil & gas company. Unocal Board of Directors, made up largely of alumni of Bush 1's administration, became very unhappy & hired themselves a new Bush who would have the head of Halliburton (which would do much of the construction end) become his VP and launcher of wars), with the assistance of much of the original Reagan/Bush squad. That's what you lived under for the last 8 years. You may wish to google Unocal's settlement for the atrocities it paid for in building its Burmese pipeline. In 2005, just after the settlement, Unocal was absorbed by Chevron.
This first link from the US Geological Survey, 1997, still seems to be working! http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/country/1997/9301097.pdf You'll want to read the whole thing. The war in Afghanistan neither Bush nor Obama told you about is contained therein. Excerpt:
"Unocal Corp. of the United States and Bridas of Argentina were competing for the right to build a $2.5 billion, natural gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to Pakistan; it would cross southern Afghanistan (Far Eastern Economic Review, 1997). The Unocal proposal was favored by Turkmenistan and Pakistan, and Bridas's was backed by the Taliban of Afghanistan. Unocal was unlikely to secure the financing required for the project until the ethnic fighting ends. Unocal and its Saudi partner, Delta Oil, planned to start construction by the end of1997, even though the Taliban refused to give Unocal permission to build the pipeline across their territory. Turkmenistan was to sell natural gas to the consortium at the border. Bridas was prepared to go ahead with the project without external funding from major banks. Bridas set up the TAP Pipeline, a 50-50 partnership with Ningharco of Saudi Arabia, and might offer up to 45% of its shares to other oil companies to raise the necessary funds. The Taliban demands for building infrastructure and the continuing war delayed the negotiations."
continued from above:
From the Department of Energy (have to google this link) http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/afghan2.html
"Regional Pipeline Plans
In January 1998, the Taliban signed an agreement that would allow a proposed 890-mile, $2-billion, 1.9-billion-cubic-feet-per-day natural gas pipeline project led by Unocal to proceed. The proposed pipeline would have transported natural gas from Turkmenistan's 45-Tcf Dauletabad natural gas field to Pakistan, and most likely would have run from Dauletabad south to the Afghan border and through Herat and Qandahar in Afghanistan, to Quetta, Pakistan. The line would then have linked with Pakistan's natural gas grid at Sui. Natural gas shipments had been projected to start at 700 Mmcf/d in 1999 and to rise to 1.4 Bcf/d or higher by 2002. In March 1998, however, Unocal announced a delay in finalizing project details due to Afghanistan's continuing civil war. In June 1998, Gazprom announced that it was relinquishing its 10% stake in the gas pipeline project consortium (known as the Central Asian Gas Pipeline Ltd., or Centgas), which was formed in August 1996. As of June 1998, Unocal and Saudi Arabia's Delta Oil held a combined 85% stake in Centgas, while Turkmenrusgas owned 5%. Other participants in the proposed project besides Delta Oil include the Crescent Group of Pakistan, Gazprom of Russia, Hyundai Engineering & Construction Company of South Korea, Inpex and Itochu of Japan On December 8, 1998, Unocal announced that it was withdrawing from the Centgas consortium, citing low oil prices and turmoil in Afghanistan as making the pipeline project uneconomical and too risky. Unocal's announcement followed an earlier statement -- in August 1998 -- that the company was suspending its role in the Afghanistan gas pipeline project in light of the recent U.S. government military action in Afghanistan, and also due to intensified fighting between the Taliban and opposition groups. Unocal had previously stressed that the Centgas pipeline project would not proceed until an internationally recognized government was in place in Afghanistan. To date, however, only three countries -- Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates -- have recognized the Taliban government. Besides the gas pipeline, Unocal also had considered building a 1,000-mile, 1-million barrel-per-day (bbl/d) capacity oil pipeline that would link Chardzou, Turkmenistan to Pakistan's Arabian Sea Coast via Afghanistan. Since the Chardzou refinery is already linked to Russia's Western Siberian oil fields, this line could provide a possible alternative export route for regional oil production from the Caspian Sea. The $2.5-billion pipeline is known as the Central Asian Oil Pipeline Project. For a variety of reasons, including high political risk and security concerns, however, financing for this project remains highly uncertain. In April 1999, Pakistan, Turkmenistan and the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan agreed to reactivate the Turkmenistan-Pakistan gas pipeline project, and to ask the Centgas consortium, now led by Saudi Arabia's Delta Oil (following Unocal's withdrawal from the project), to proceed. Periodic meetings to discuss the project have continued. It remains unlikely, however, that this pipeline will be built."
House of Representatives testimony (have to google the link): www.house.gov/international_relations/105th/ap/wsap212982.htm
"Today we would like to focus on issues concerning this region, its resources and U.S. policy: The need for multiple pipeline routes for Central Asian oil and gas. ... The Caspian region contains tremendous untapped hydrocarbon reserves, much of them located in the Caspian Sea basin itself. Proven natural gas reserves within Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan equal more than 236 trillion cubic feet. The region's total oil reserves may reach more than 60 billion barrels of oil - enough to service Europe's oil needs for 11 years. Some estimates are as high as 200 billion barrels. ...
"[An] option is to build a pipeline south from Central Asia to the Indian Ocean. ... The only other possible route option is across Afghanistan, which has its own unique challenges. The country has been involved in bitter warfare for almost two decades. The territory across which the pipeline would extend is controlled by the Taliban, an Islamic movement that is not recognized as a government by most other nations.
"From the outset, we have made it clear that construction of our proposed pipeline cannot begin until a recognized government is in place that has the confidence of governments, lenders and our company. In spite of this, a route through Afghanistan appears to be the best option with the fewest technical obstacles. It is the shortest route to the sea and has relatively favorable terrain for a pipeline. The route through Afghanistan is the one that would bring Central Asian oil closest to Asian markets and thus would be the cheapest in terms of transporting the oil.
"Unocal envisions the creation of a Central Asian Oil Pipeline Consortium. The pipeline would become an integral part of a regional oil pipeline system that will utilize and gather oil from existing pipeline infrastructure in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Russia. The 1,040-mile-long oil pipeline would begin near the town of Chardzhou, in northern Turkmenistan, and extend southeasterly through Afghanistan to an export terminal that would be constructed on the Pakistan coast on the Arabian Sea. Only about 440 miles of the pipeline would be in Afghanistan. This 42-inch-diameter pipeline will have a shipping capacity of one million barrels of oil per day. Estimated cost of the project -- which is similar in scope to the Trans Alaska Pipeline -- is about $2.5 billion."
Thank you so much for this invaluable information!
It's not oil. It's gas. Look it up in Wiki.
And would anyone actually put a gas pipeline in such a volatile part of the world ? Not good business practice.
Yes, but of course the pipes must be laid where the material-to-be-piped is located.
Given a finite amount of global resources, business will be forced to choose from increasingly remote and inconvenient locations. Some are indeed in bad neighborhoods.
Then it's just a matter of using the economic alchemy of cost-benefit analysis to transmute base locations into gold.
That is, the highly corporatized and militarized capitalist hegemony-- fka the U S of A-- calculates the most efficient use of resources, including the probable volume of blood to be shed by military meat puppets and "collateral damage", to achieve the biggest bang for the buck.
· Yr Obd't Servant
Its useful to recall that after farming out most of her industry and living on credit for 30 years, America's trade imbalance and foreign-owned debt are 'forgiveable' only through deploymen of our one remaining asset, our military. That Iraqi oil and Afghan oil pipeline are being secured for interests that aren't even primarily American (we really do have much of our own oil, after all). It seems almost too shameful to admit that the soldiers we are asking to die on foreign soil are dying to make someone else rich, someone who probably isn't American.
Mention the pipeline on Huffington Post and the editors rarely allow the comment.
Thom Hartmann once again nails it. His knowledge of history is remarkable. This is a real lesson that should be shared. The fact that we Celebrate Columbus day is ludicrous, since he NEVER DISCOVERED America!
Please watch this short, uplifting video from Paul Hawken and share it far & wide!
The species knows, at a molecular level, change must happen!
http://blessedunrest.com/video.html.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
"The only means of strengthening one's intellect is to make up one's mind about nothing, to let the mind be a thoroughfare for all thoughts." - John Keats
Thom left out one huge fact, that underpins so much of world events like CC. The role of organized religion. When your belief system institutionalizes US as the chosen, and THEM as savages, of COURSE episodes like CC's will result.
And it doesn't do to "apologize" by saying, religion wasn't at fault, it was just those who used religion as a scapegoat.
Sioux Rose
KANE: Good point. Also, within the religious context, this idea that GOD GAVE MAN DOMINION over the earth. By seeing the Indigenous as a form of nature, and extension of the earth and its creatures, the belief that domination was ordained by 'god' was easier to practice... with alleged impunity.
Dr. Alberto Villoldo, who was a California brain surgeon that left the operating room to study with Indigenous tribes (particularly their medicine men) of South America noted that the Western Bible's Creation allegory is the ONLY one (of all myths of creation) that throws the lovers, man and woman, OUT of the garden. What results is a repudiation of nature along with the natural instincts (like healthy sexuality) that flesh is heir to. I find Villoldo compelling.
Playing into the Dominion over the earth part, is this belief in a messiah that will come down and save believers from all sins.
This all but excuses those believers from SIN. As long as they believe in this Messiah THEY will be saved.
The Dominionists are a very scary bunch. Their belief system in a nutshell is that trying to preserve the enviroment is the work of Satan. God gave man Dominion over the earth so that man can CONSUME it while waiting on the savior to take us all to a better place. Those left behind with Earths carcass are the "unbelievers".
Sioux Rose
Hey, GW, the church made plenty of money centuries ago selling Indulgences, too; so why not take that monkey out, dust it off, give it a facelift... along with a modern rationale, and presto! You're in business again!
The philosophical, or should I say spiritually bankrupt intersection between US militarism, which seems to be resurrecting a new model of M.A.D (Mutually assured destruction) and Christian fundamentalism which BELIEVES in a holy war to end all wars, is inordinately lethal, in combination.
Whether it's the Muslim boys who become suicide bombers or the naive Christian fundamentalists who join the air force, in both instances, they take "God's will" for acts of destruction, sometimes including the self-destructive sort.
I can think of no greater spiritual blasphemy than that of a human presuming to speak for God's will while calling for the destruction of ANY (other) human being. Nor does it present a show of particularly astute spiritual homage to destroy the earth and desecrate her brilliantly woven ecosystems. The GOD worshipped by too many, as I frequently point out in this forum, IS Mars. In fact, it's a Mars-Mammon hybrid, and both of these entities represent what compels THE FALL in human beings, and the natural world they are now prepared to take along with them.
The astrologer truly was the first heretic because one learned in this art is positioned to counter, indeed challenge, the church's claim to absolute, immutable authority when it speaks for, and has alleged to speak for, the deity over endlessly-bloody centuries. Our understanding bears witness to a more inclusive system of relationships than that which suits the church's need for insiders/the saved, versus outsiders/those consigned to hell, death, sin & damnation.
Beliefs are what fuel action. Given the direction of mankind, beliefs are in need of altering to a higher level of realization. Frankly, I think the mystics (along with the poets and artists) can offer a vision that could prove an improvement over M.A.D-driven End Times. Expansion of minds or the fate of massive decimation, seems like a no-brainer to me!
From Thom's article:
"...and they [the colonists] gave praise therof to God, who had wrought so wonderfully..."
CC and his buddies were some sick bastards.
Cancel this most DESPICABLE of "holidays" now!!!
Hey Kucinich2012--
I was just about to agree with you when it ocurred to me that actually "Columbus Day" is a most perfect and quintessential American holiday. Along with Independance and Memorial Days this unholy trinity most accurately mirrors our culture that celebrates and honors greedy acquisition, unending warfare and death.
Poet
And our national symbol, the eagle? A ruthless predator that attacks from the air.
You are right on the money about that!!
It says a lot about America that a thug like CC is honered with a national holiday while the indigenous people's of America have never been honored with a national holiday. Lets replace CC day with Native American day.
South Dakota has already done so!
Poet
Well written and informative. Thank you Thom. It bears mentioning that sexual slavery continued right through the Emancipation Proclamation. When the South fought to maintain their way of life, they were fighting for property rights which included the right to do whatever they wanted to the bodies of their property. Quite a history.
Hartmann is good when it comes to articulating a vision of the decline of culture, but when it comes to Obama and his corporate/Military driven Administration, along with the Presidency that never was/or never will be, he still has on blinders: what Jung called the Shadow. Too bad; it does not appear that Hartmann will ever reconcile the contradictions of his belief system rooted in a form of spiritual hubris of BiG Brother knows what is best for the rest of us.
OK, we get it. You have a beef with Hartmann. But he's a great orator and debater, a well-informed and thoughtful progressive. He's one of us. He's not an Obama groupie-- he criticizes Obama regularly, and supports when appropriate.
You only look foolish using multiple sign on names (alter egos) or is it just multiple personality disorder?
You, on the other hand, look brilliant with your name-calling.
Thom speaks to Obama's errors daily.
Buy a radio!
Oh, another Hartmann 24/7 Disciple. Ever try thinking for yourself for once? Hartmann is not my guru, I think that is your domain.
And if you can't afford a radio, you can find links to listen to Thom live or via podcast at his home station, KPOJ: www.620kpoj.com
Perhaps if you listen to him you can learn to respond logically, like Thom, instead of with gratuitous insults, like Hannity & Limbaugh.
Your presuppositions represent galactic stupidity. I know Hartmann personally.
Thank you for proving my point.
That is the charm you offer here ctl, you often have no point.
Thanks again. Really though, no need to prove it further.
Oh dear, now it is abundantly clear; you just have issues with men, and need to get the last word in. Ok. Take the last word and make it memorable!
Issues with men? You're claiming to be an adult? An adult male? That is memorable.
...can you blow yourself?
Obama's allegiance is to the Military Industrial Complex. So he already knows what to do regarding these problems. What " hope" would you have that he would do the right thing in Afghanistan? He chose Gen. McChrystal as his commander there when he knew that McChrystal had lied about the circumstances of Pat Tillman's death.
Similiarly, as far as economic policy, could Obama have chosen any more vile appointees than Geithner and Summers? Hope is nice...but why waste it on Obama?
Other than the wasted hope thingy, great article. Thank you for the information and perspective.
summers brought us the definition of "economic comparative advantage" that AFRICA has a comparative advantage as a toxic waste dump site for the future because they have very weak governments that can't stand up to the multi-nationals dumping waste there. If that's not the very definition of being a sociopath I don't know what is. And summers is Obama's main economic adviser. God help the indigenous peoples around the world - they'll need it.
Obama's allegiance is to the Military Industrial Complex. So he already knows what to do regarding these problems. What " hope" would you have that he would do the right thing in Afghanistan? He chose Gen. McChrystal as his commander there when he knew that McChrystal had lied about the circumstances of Pat Tillman's death.
Similiarly, as far as economic policy, could Obama have chosen any more vile appointees than Geithner and Summers? Hope is nice...but why waste it on Obama?
Other than the wasted hope thingy, great article. Thank you for the information and perspective.
...greenspan and lafer!?!?!
WTF wisdom from the duped BS Soldier-in-Chief?
I suspect Mr. Obama's actions are designed to protect him from being a victim of 'wetiko' at the expense of others.
He's a man too cowardly and weak to stand up to the entrenched forces that rule the country --- even if he wanted to.
Pretty much says it all: Obama is a Master of Lip-Service. Nothing more.
George Will said it right calling Obama the Presentational President.
?...were will's lips moving?
Probably, but the words were prerecorded--Disney animatronics is really amazing isn't it?
Poet
I stopped viewing that Show years ago. George Steppinopolus (and friends) Katrina, Flanders, Hartmann, and Hayden: the spiritial elite advocating for a narrative called, Still Waiting For Godot!
A few bits of wisdom taken from the original narrative entitled Waiting for Godot:
The tears of the world are a constant quantity. For each one who begins to weep somewhere else another stops. The same is true of the laugh. Let us not then speak ill of our generation, it is not any unhappier than its predecessors. Let us not speak well of it either. Let us not speak of it at all. It is true the population has increased."
- Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot
"Astride of a grave and a difficult birth. Down in the hole, lingeringly, the gravedigger puts on the forceps."
- Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot
"I don't seem to be able... (long hesitation) to depart."
- Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot
"Such is life."
- Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot
"Our Saviour. Two thieves. One is supposed to have been saved and the other (he searches for the contrary of saved) damned."
- Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot
We are all born mad. Some remain so."
- Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot
"Let us not waste our time in idle discourse! (Pause. Vehemently.) Let us do something, while we have the chance! It is not every day that we are needed. But at this place, at this moment of time, all mankind is us, whether we like it or not. Let us make the most of it, before it is too late!"
- Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot
"But that is not the question. Why are we here, that is the question. And we are blessed in this, that we happen to know the answer. Yes, in this immense confusion one thing alone is clear. We are waiting for Godot to come."
- Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot
"To-morrow, when I wake, or think I do, what shall I say of to-day?"
- Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot
"Astride of a grave and a difficult birth. Down in the hole, lingeringly, the grave-digger puts on the forceps. We have time to grow old. The air is full of our cries. (He listens.) But habit is a great deadener."
- Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot
"We wait. We are bored. (He throws up his hand.) No, don't protest, we are bored to death, there's no denying it. Good. A diversion comes along and what do we do? We let it go to waste... In an instant all will vanish and we'll be alone once more, in the midst of nothingness!"
- Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot
A metaphor for those (like Hartmann) still waiting for Obama to do somthing progressive.
Happy Columbus Day everyone. I think I'll celebrate it by going out and slaughter some Indians and take all their gold and land. America honors thugs like Columbus is just sickening. How about a holiday for Al Capone?
G.B.Shaw said that what we learn from history is that we do not learn from history.
I suspect that President Obama will just be another in a long line to confirm the truth of that assertion.
Great quote, but from what I've seen, the wealthy and powerful employ people to destroy or distort beyond recognition the historical record.