Chapter 24: Accelerating Global Interaction Part 2

This last section of the chapter talks about the world's environment.  The three factors that are focused on are: population increase, use of fossil fuels, and economic growth.  It is amazing that the population has quadrupled going into the 20th century.  During 2000, the idea of global warming became the main focus with it's burning fossil fuels that effect the ozone layer.  The United States alone contributes 30% of global warming, it is no surprise since the US is a super power that distributes a lot of fossil fuels.

Women's Issues In Presidential Race

The fight for the “working women” in the Presidential campaign began in earnest last week with Hilary Rosen’s claim that Ann Romney is “out of touch with women’s issues” because, while Mrs. Romney is nice woman and to be admired for raising a family and overcoming a disease, she just has no experience with the economic issues women are facing since she has “never actually worked a day in her life.” Understanding their voting power, Ms. Rosen comments were directed at women, who constitute 46 percent of the workforce and 52 percent of the voters.
The aggregate power of women voters will ultimately determine the message "niches" used in the 2012 White House bid. Ms. Rosen’s “wedge-driving” remarks are clearly aimed at the marketing niche of working women, in an effort to alienate this significant voting block from Ms. Romney.
Rosen’s statements would be amusing, if they weren’t so offensive.  Ms. Rosen is a campaign strategist for the president, and certainly understands the consequences of her comments. She must also have calculated that the Democratic Party—the party that hails itself as the party of “choice” for women—has taken Ms. Romney’s choice of homemaker as a career, the path of board membership on civic and political organizations, the life of volunteer service (impacting lives of women and children through equine therapy, literacy outreach, and sports programs for children with severe disabilities) and devalues the woman and these significant and meaningful contributions.
Ms. Rosen attempted to create a “we vs. they” scenario by vilifying Ms. Romney’s choice as a homemaker, and making her appear “lesser than” the “working” woman.
Mobilizing the coveted universal, married and working woman is challenging, as this universe transcends traditional segmentation and crosses over socio-economic strata. No matter what explanation is provided, in the name of work/life balance, many women in this category do not fully and consistently “lean into” politics in the same fashion as men.  At some point many women stop demanding ideological politics because the “realities of life” carry a series of other demands.
Ms. Rosen attempted to polarize working women against Ms. Romney by saying Ms. Romney “never actually worked a day in her life.”  The message here is that by not working somehow Ms. Romney is “out of touch” with the day-to-day struggles of the working woman. Because the economy ranks highest in the wheelhouse of concerns for working women, one can only conclude these comments were purposeful and calculated. In light of a recent report from the Pew Research Center that found "women represent the only group for whom employment growth has lagged behind population growth in the recovery."
By differentiating Ms. Romney, Rosen implied that Republicans do not understand the struggles of working women and therefore cannot represent them as well as their counterparts.
John Sculley, former President of Pepsi and CEO of Apple once said, "No great marketing decisions have ever been made on qualitative data."
Numbers show that wedge issues in niche, female-centric markets, will continue to dominate the female vote. Politics is the war of moving numbers and the flexibility to message to women depends largely on understanding their complexities and real concerns. Ms. Rosen’s comments are made to strip the GOP of a strong and credible female voice by painting it as “out of touch” with real women, who are the backbone of both parties. Every woman should understand the strength of her voice. The travesty with this latest attempt at dividing women is that no one wins.

http://mauldin.patch.com/articles/gender-the-elephant-in-the-room-of-the-presidential-race

Women Of The Arab Spring

Last month, a delegation of members from the U.S. House of Representatives, which I was honored to lead, met with inspiring women of North Africa who are helping to change the world.

In Cairo, Egypt; Tunis, Tunisia; and Tripoli, Libya, we held discussions with women who are committed to ensuring that women have a seat at the table and are able to succeed in this rapidly changing and strategically important region. It is an uphill climb, but there is no better time than the present.

The women we met were outspoken in their belief that the new governments must be truly democratic, and that longstanding biases against full participation by women in their society must be abolished. These women came from many different backgrounds and viewpoints, yet they are aware that while their moment is now, the obstacles are great.

Some had participated in the massive Arab Spring demonstrations that challenged decades of autocratic rule. Others had studied in the United States and other countries and then returned to build a future where women's voices are equal to those of men. Some are already serving in government but spoke about a need for more women to serve and to lead in forming new democracies in the Middle East.

One message came through clearly in every discussion: They look to the United States as an essential partner in their efforts to build democratic societies.

Women journalists played a crucial role in the overthrow of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Women are already deeply involved in rebuilding the political and economic systems of their country. Although just 10 of more than 500 members of the new parliament are women, the signal we received is that Egyptian women are committed to expanding their influence and their ranks, and to ensuring that the constitution under development will fully protect the rights of women in Egypt.

Similarly in Tunisia, Deputy Speaker Mehrezia Labidi pledged to lead the effort for women's rights and secular law in her nation. Women already hold 26% of the seats in the Constituent Assembly, which is responsible for drafting Tunisia's Constitution.

The determination of Tunisian women has been demonstrated outside the legislative chambers as well. In the midst of unrest at the University of Manouba, a young woman watched outraged as a zealot tore down her country's flag, and she then courageously climbed the flagpole to restore the flag to its rightful place, winning the plaudits of her countrymen.

Fundamental to opening opportunities to women in public and private life is expanding their access to education. The young women with whom we met in Tripoli were unanimous in their belief that improving the quality of education for all Libyans is essential to the success of their revolution and the modernization of their country, particularly in light of the utter failure of the nation's secondary schools and universities under Moammar Gadhafi.

What I heard from the women of North Africa was a refrain I have also heard in Iraq and Afghanistan and throughout the Middle East: Women and young people are weary of war. They are fed up with leaders who use ideology, religion and war to distract from the real challenges to peace, prosperity and democracy: a lack of education, a failure to provide jobs and economic opportunity, and the subjugation of women. They employed social media such as Facebook and Twitter to circumvent the repression imposed for decades by autocratic regimes and demonstrated astonishing bravery to liberate their countries from tyranny.

They have succeeded in that first phase: Gadhafi, Mubarak and Tunisia's Zine el Abidine Ben Ali are gone. These young women are under no illusions about the challenges they face. They are deeply committed to building democratic societies, and they are looking to us. We cannot fail them.

Leaders throughout North Africa and the Middle East must honor the role women played in freeing their countries: All their citizens -- including women -- have important contributions to make at this historic moment. That is a lesson it has taken the United States many generations to learn, but it is surely one of the most important pieces of wisdom we can share with developing democracies around the world.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/03/opinion/pelosi-women-africa-democracy/index.html

Chapter 24: Accelerating Global Interaction

The following Chapter talks about the idea of globalization which is the idea of international transactions and global commerce which is The exchange or buying and selling of commodities. During the 20th century the world started to have political relationships, cultural influences, and economic transactions.   The world was being brought together as means of trade and to make profit, but most importantly to improve the economy.   

MLK ANd Ghandi Quotes

"To believe in something, and not to live it, is dishonest" (Ghandi)

This quote means that what is the point in believing and having faith in life if you just give up on it and not fulfill it?  Yeah there are always obstacles, but it is up to each and every person to overcome those obstacles.  You must always believe.

 "A man who won't die for something is not fit to live" (MLK)

The same as Ghandi's quote, a person must always stand by their morals and not live in fear from them.  The power of believing is a powerful weapon, one that can and will change the world.  It will take time, but one day it will come true.  Always keep your head up no matter what.

Chapter 23

This chapter begins with Nelson Mandela who was in prison for 27 years and when he got out he became president of South Africa in 1994.  During this time many countries got their freedom, countries like: India,Pakistan, Syria, the Phillipines, Jordan, and Israel.  People like Ghandi were introduced who fought and wanted their freedom.

Chapter 22: Feminism and Communism Part 2

This last section really intrigued me because the term used to describe the problems between the United States and the Soviet Union(Russia) and that term is "The Cold War."  It is called that because it really wasn't a war it was more of a competition, mainly the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union.  The Soviet Union was the first nation to send a satellite into space, which caused American to be extremely scared and paranoid since Americans saw it as the Soviets becoming more advanced with their technology and they feared that the satellite was going to attack.  At that time things were more extreme than they are now.  The U.S. tried to out beat the Soviets by sending Apollo 11 to the moon.  The U.S. was the first nation to put man on the moon.  The other thing talked about was the Cuban Missile Crisis where at the time President Kennedy was in office when this event happened.  The way it happened was that U.S. jets flew over Cuba since it was their territory at the time and took survaillence photos of missiles being set up in Cuba with the Soviet logo on it.  This caused fear because a nuclear war could erupt with a simple push of a button by the Soviets and it was so close to the United States.  Kennedy decided that the U.S should make a blockade to prevent more missiles from coming in and it worked and the U.S. promised to remove their secret missiles that were located in Italy and Turkey as long as the Soviets got rid of theirs.  Crazy stuff

Section 5 And 6

The section that I was interested the most was section 6 when it talked about the labor work force and how the catholic social teaching is trying to make conditions better for the farm workers.  This section got me thinking about the Bracereo Program that was initiated during World War II which brought citizens from Mexico to the US in order to work in the fields.  My grandpa was part of the program and that is how my family got to the US, because of my grandpa.  Labor unions were a good and bad thing, it was good because many people, mostly immigrants were able to make money and escape poverty.  It was bad due to the conditions, like during the bracero program there was a situation called operation wetback where Mexicans were brutally beaten were sent back to Mexico, even the ones who were born in the US. People need to be more thankful when it comes to labor workers since they are the ones who provide the little necessities that they have.

Chapter 22: Feminism and Communism

The following chapter talks about the rise of communism and the evolution of the feminist movement. The thing that got my attention was that during this time, women were beginning to gain their independence.  For instance women able to do work and get a better education.  It was a time where women were treated as equals and that influence is seen today since a lot of women work and have equal rights

Chapter 21

This chapter focuses more about current world history with the beginning of World War I.  The Triple Alliance which consisted of: Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy and the Triple Entente: Britain, Russia, and France were created in order to keep Europe in balance, but eventually in 1914 war broke out.  The main factor that contributes to starting a war is nationalism where a nation likes to proclaim that it is better than the other nations and accompanying it is militarism where a nation has a lot of power when it comes weapons.  A nation with weapons is what causes fear.  At this time women began to have more rights with jobs since men were out fighting in the war.  In 1929 the Great Depression hit so hard and so many people were effected by it.  Only a few were privilged to live the good life while the rest were forced to live in poverty.  Because of the depression the rise of bottleging came along which was an illegal, but very easy way to make money and fast, like Al Capone for instance.  Also at this time Hitler was part of the Army for Germany and in time was arrested and during his time in person his thoughts created the infamous book known as Mein Kampf which translates to "My struggle" which showed extreme racism towards other races, mainly Jews stating that they are the source of evil and must be eliminated.  

DGP Catholic Social Teaching

I really liked reading this section since it support the logic and ideas that I have in my head when it came to colonialism.  What people tend to lack when it comes to history is the basic concept of the word itself.  People look at the word "History" people just see it as a class to take.  When I see the word "History" I see two separate words rather than one "His Story."  What that means is that only the winners side of the story gets told, the guys like Columbus who are seen as "hero's" but in reality the hero's were evil since they killed of many natives.  That is what this packet talks about the fact that people only see one side of the story, the hero side and never the loser side.  

Chapter 20: Colonial Encounters Continued

The next section of chapter 20 moves past the rough times of slave labor and tyranny towards the spread and acceptance of education.  The idea of education represented class rather than knowledge.  Yes it was great since now people were able to gain knowledge and had a better possibility of getting a job, but there was more to it.  The Europeans made education a status of class and sophistication.  They spoke different languages, came up with their own style, and even made their own custom houses.  Getting an education  at that time meant that you were a sophisticated and classy person.  Then came the influence of religion, in other words the spread of Christianity.  It is a negative thing since Religion is such an important thing for all cultures and to eliminate a belief is very insulting and disgraceful.   

Chapter 20: Colonial Encounters

The following section talks about the colonies and the colonial experience.  The Europeans used military force in order to conquer since Europe had a flourish of natural resources like their creations of guns and weapons.  To become a colony you had to conquer another territory, the Europeans had a great advantage due to their resources.  Obviously when Europe took over other colonies, the citizens began to rebel towards their new leader, it is only natural.  No one like a power hungry colony, so of course there is going to be conflict.  Not to mention the way Europeans treated their new colonies, for instance workers worked with no payment at all by force.  Plus money and land were taken form the citizens, like in the Netherlands in the East Indies where peasants had to give up 20% of their land in order to pay for taxes.  Also this is the first time that we are introduced to child labor, who were treated as adults when it came to work.  It was bad since children were not as strong as adults which resulted in more deaths and accidents at work than adults.

Theory of the Invisible Hand

The reading discusses about supply and demand by Adam Smith.  He believes that with the invisible hand theory of supply and demand will help make the production and consumption of goods.  He defines demand as people who will pay a certain price for a specific good.  The reading describes a way where the economy can become better since it is completely dependent on consumers. 

Chapter 18: Revolutions of Industrialization (pgs. 541-556)

The Industrial Revolution can be seen as a good thing, but at the same time a bad thing.  It was good that new inventions were being introduced like factories that had machines doing production work ten times faster than a single person.  The down side is that the use of new inventions can cause very serious and sometimes deadly results towards the user.  The continuation of Chapter 18 focuses on the expansion of the Industrial Revolution in Western Europe.  In the 1900's it was established in: The United States, Russia, etc.  American Industrialization began with the New England textiles, which exploded after the Civil War.  By 1914 the United States obviously became the world's largest power.  Due to the industrialization  social divisions rose where the gap between the rich and poor grew larger and larger were many were poor and a few were rich.  In Russia, the Industrial Revolution was launched in 1890's which focused on railroads where there were only a few factories than Western Europe, but they were big.  In 1917 the Russian Revolution broke out which brought in radical socialist groups led by Vladimir Lenin.  The Industrial Revolution in Russia led Russia into social revolution.  Though the Industrial Revolution brought different negative results for different nations, it helped societies like the United States to modernize and be more advance like today.        

Chapter 18: Industrial Revolution

The following chapter talks about the Industrial Revolution which took place within 1750-1900.  The Industrial Revolution took place in Western Europe, but mostly in Britain.  More importantly the concept and idea of the Scientific Revolution was brought to life which gave people a different perspective on life and it's creation.  Also because new types of theories and inventions.  There were a lot of inventions being created.  For example the coal fire steam engine was created and later on petroleum engines were created.  The inventions were more energy efficient.  Energy was the big factor needed to create these types of inventions.  The British and the Europeans built a lot of energy efficient inventions, one of them being the steam engine which was used in transportation vehicles like boats and ships.  Also the Industrial Revolution began to focus more on new concepts like: steel, steamships, railroads, food processors, and electricity.  The world was starting to modernize.

Chapter 17: Atlantic Revolutions And Their Echoes Part 3

The continuation of Chapter 17 talks about the Haitian Revolution.  The origins of Haiti was that before it was named Saint Domingue and eventually the name was changed to Haiti.  At the time it was considered the wealthiest country since it had 80,000 plantations which produced sugar and coffee.  The down side was that the population was made up of 500,000 slaves.  The white population of Haiti is 40,000.  Then there is a third group of mixed races and different backgrounds with a population of 30,000.  The country was very diverse with different races.  Another thing that happened during this time period was the revolt of the Spanish and the Americas and the revolutions took place in: North America, France, and Haiti.  The revolutions started due to people insulting each other.  A good thing that cam about was the feminist movement for the rights of women who never spoke about different issues, and now they were.

Chapter 17: Atlantic Revolutions And Their Echoes Part 2

The following section of this chapter goes more in depth of the French Revolution.  During this time France was in a bad state.  Being on the edge of bankruptcy, not to mention that the tax reforms where in bad shape.  To make matters worse King Louis the XVI wanted to raise taxes against other classes, which is bad since most people can hardly afford to pay regular taxes and now the taxes were going to be raised.  He then called a meeting that had three representatives which included the: clergy, nobility, and the commoners.  When the king died, along with his queen it made everyone upset since everyone loved the kind so much.  After King Louis came Napoleon Bonaparte who was a great leader who wanted to reform France and make it better.     

Chapter 17: Atlantic Revolutions And Their Echoes

The following chapter talks about the Atlantic Revolutions.  The Atlantic was very resourceful when it came to spreading ideas and cultural resource like: newspapers, books, and pamphlets.  Not to mention other ideas like: liberty, equality, free trade, religious tolerance, republicanism, and human rationality.  With these new ideas comes a lot of controversy since society does not like new ideas or thoughts.  The chapter discusses about the: American, French, Haitian, and Spanish American Revolution and what were the causes for each revolution.  During the American Revolution had a conflict between the thirteen colonies and Great Britain.  The French Revolution on the other hand had a conflict within themselves where many were offended and one can image how violent it was.  The Haitians had a conflict with the French colony of Saint Domingue.  As for the Spanish American Revolution, it took place in the Spanish and Portuguese colonies.  Overall due to the revolutions, it was sort of like a path to a new world. 

Part Five The European Momnet In World History

The following reading introduces Chapters 17 and 18 which was during the time periods of 1750-1914.  This was called the long nineteenth century.  The main theme that will be discussed during this time period is a new kind of society called modernism and to exercise of more power.  It looks as if Europe will be the main focus of this section and I am anxious to find out why Europe is the main focus.

DGP The Americas A Hemispheric History

What I really found interesting, well I have actually always found it interesting that even though Canada is within the United States, it is separate from the United States.  Yet, Canada is considered more American than the Northern and Southern part of America since that is where Mexico is located.  I just found it odd.  Another thing that I find interesting when I read the packet was that for instance if you were born in North America you would be considered a Norteamericano.  Then there are Canadians, Chicanos, Latinos, Indos, Cacuasians , Angolos, etc.  I understand that there are people from many races that are proud of their culture, which makes it hard for people to refer to themselves as Americans.

DGP What Is Enlightenment?

I can honestly say that the reading was hard to understand because it was difficult to pin point what the author was talking about.  There are some concepts that I understood clearly though.  One being the idea of enlightenment.  Enlightenment is man's release from his self-incurred tutelage.  The definition of tutelage is man's inability to make use of his understanding without direction from another.  The author in my mind was looking ahead to our generation and seeing the lack of knowledge and free will of society.  There are tons of people in the world today who are incapable of not only thinking for themselves, but solving and figuring out problems by themselves.  Some people feel as if they need to be pointed the right direction in order to find out the truth about something.  Yet what people should do is find the answers by themselves because every person thinks differently.  Each answer and discovery is unique and should not be limited by a being dictating how you should think or answer. 

Chapter 16: Religion And Science Part 2

 The remaining part of this section talks about the Scientific Revolution, which happened during the mid-sixteenth to the eighteenth century which gave a different perspective on how the world was created and challenged the ideas of the church  and Christianity.  The European's condition were very favorable to rise in the ideas of science since there was a legal system which guaranteed the independence of institutions.  Meaning that they were allowed to believe in whatever they wanted without any consequences.  Overall the reading reminded me about Inherit the Wind, which was a play that was written during the 1950's and became a film during the 1960's. Which was based on the Scopes trial in 1925.   The play was about a teacher by the name of Bertram Cates who is arrested and sent to court for the crime of teaching his students about science and the theory of evolution and he is put on trial.  The prosecutor was Matthew Harrison Brady who is well known as a Biblical Scholar and everyone loves him.  Defending Bertram was Henry Drummond who is a friend of Brady and is known as a famous lawyer for his controversial mind.  The case ends with Bertram being found guilty, but because Drummond's case was well organized Bertram only had to pay a small fine.  It shows how the idea of science was a controversial thing since at the time so many people were very religious. 

Chapter 16: Religion And Science

The following chapter talks about the ideas of Religion and Science between 1450-1750. At the time, Christianity was only limited in Europe during the 1500's and in time became divided between the Roman Catholics of Western and Central Europe, as well Eastern Europe and Russia.  On the chart in page 464 it describes the differences in beliefs between the Catholics and Protestants.  The chapter also talked about the Protestant Reformation where there were serious divisions came about between Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox sects.  The Reformation was a different perspective of Christianity and even questioned the Pope.  In time the Protestant Reformation was countered by a Catholic Reformation.  In the end Christianity began to spread quickly, converting and affecting many.  

Chapter 15 Part 2: The Slave Trade In Context

When it comes to slavery the first race/group that comes to everyone's mind is the African Americans.  But what caught me off guard was that African Americans were not the 1st slaves, which is what I always thought.  It was the Slavic people who were the first slaves.  Another interesting thing was that the word Slave came form "Slav' referring to the Slavic people.  It amazed me that during the 15th century, the practice of slavery was just like owning a pet, it was widely accepted.  Trade between the Europeans and Africans all took place in the Mediterranean World. Europeans provided products like sugar, honey, and fruits while Africa provided a variety of slaves.  There were charts on pg 454 that caught my attention, which rightfully should.  The first chart explained the rise and decline of slavery, where slavery started off slowly until the 1600's where it increased dramatically.  During the years of 1751-1775 was when slavery was at it's peak where over 60 thousand slaves where imported to the US.  In 1870 slavery was abolished.  The second chart talks about the location of slavery where the America's had the lowest.  British North America and US only had 348,000 slaves combined, but Brazil and the Caribbean combined had over 5,000,000 slaves between 1450-1750.  It is amazing how slavery was widely accepted in those times.

Chapter 15: Global Commerce

This chapter talks about the different trade routes where goods were being traded.  The main key to success in order to be wealthy was the idea of Commerce, which drove globalization.  The Europeans wanted to be part of the trade in order to obtain spices from places like India. The Europeans wanted a commercial connection with the Asians since they were in demand of spices.  At the same time Spain and Portugal both wanted to take control of the Asian trade.  If you take over the Asian trade who were in demand with spices from place like India, then they gain the supplies and can sale it in order to gain profit.  Both Vasco da Gama and Columbus wanted routes to Asia because their main object they desired were spices.  In time the silver trade came into play after the spice trade.  85% of silver was located in Spanish America, and due to the discovery of silver in Spanish America they became luxurious because of it.  Then came the hut for fur, which was in high demand at the time and there were intense competitions over animals fur, but the supply was slightly decreasing.  There were a ton of countries that demanded fur, but rather than hunting for the fur themselves, they relied too much on trade.  At the end of the day it was all about getting the product and exporting it for a high price.  As the expression goes:  money and power make the world go round. 

DGP Chapter 4: Sweet Nexus: Sugar And The Origins Of The Modern World

If you ever watch a mob movie like: Goodfellas or Scarface you notice that the men in those movies made a living by exporting goods.  It was their source of wealth and power.  At the same time it lead to war.  Empires in Western Europe had many resources that they exported to other countries.  One important resource at the time was sugar, which was seen as luxury.  It was their source of power.  The discovery of sugar at the time was sort of like importing and selling high class drugs, except it was legal and it did not kill you.  At the same time the discovery of sugar lead to a war for the product between nations like the French and British since it was seen that only people of royalty could have sugar.  Plus people  became slaves who were ordered to grow commodities.  Like the native people of the Americas for instance.  Who worked for no wage and long hours and treated as only objects that can be replaceable.  The discovery of sugar and the results it can bring to a person or an empire like wealth, is what inspires modern American.  To be on top of the world selling goods, only now its about a different type of sugar.

Chapter 14: Empires And Encounters Part 2

The remaining pages of Chapter 14 mostly revolves around the Russian and Asian Empires.  The Russian Empire at that time became the world's largest state.  It was centered in Moscow where it emerged form Mongol rule.  As we learned last semester, the Mongol's conquered by force where they completely wiped out villages and cities.  Through the use of organization and modern weapons, the Russian Empire grew fast.  The Russian empire was diverse and lasted for a long time until it's fall 1991, which was when the Soviet Union collapsed.  It lasted for a long time.  The Asian Empires on the other hand were more regional than global.  The interesting thing was that the Asian Empire did not deal with any diseases like other empires since they were expanding to new places. 

Chapter 14: Empires And Encounters

his chapter talks about the expansion of European empires.  Mainly due to the advantages they had.   For instance when it comes to the location, they were closer to unclaimed territory of the Americas then Asian countries.  The nation of Spain is well known for conquering ancient Mexico and the Aztecs when Hernan Cortes lead an expedition to the ancient city of Teotiachuan and caused the fall of the ancient civilization.  The Spanish mainly focused on Central America and the majority parts of Southern America.  While the English conquered the northern part of America and the East Coast.  The French gained the central part of modern day America.  And Portugal conquered what is now known as Brazil.  Most of these colonies farmed for sugar.  Other colonies like the British wanted to spread their religious beliefs and values to other nations, notably the Native Americans.  An interesting fact that many people don't know was that before Columbus, the Chinese sailed the seas and discovered America.  Not to mention that the Native Americans have lived there for most of their lives, Columbus was just a guy who found America dead last.