One Size Fits All

At the end of my very first blog I wrote a phrase in which I have a strong belief. The phrase I believe strongly in is "you cannot judge today's standards by yesterday nor judge yesterday's standards by today." I developed this belief after the progressive assault on Columbus day.

There are some states which do not celebrate Columbus day (HI, NV, and, of course, CA). In other places such as Venezuela, Columbus day has been replaced with Indigenous Revolution day. Christopher Columbus was once celebrated; but over the years, he has been portrayed more as a monster than the explorer who discovered America.

This viewpoint change came about because as a civilization, the world grew up. As the world became more populated, the values of the civilization changed. With this change in value came a change in the viewpoint of the past. This has resulted in Columbus being vilified vice glorified.

Let's face it, Christopher Columbus brought disease to Native American Indians. He enslaved them and he also slaughtered them. He was not a very nice man. He was a product of his time. He lived in a true Darwinian world where the strong ruled the meek and the weak.

If Columbus had not discovered America, someone else would have. The results would've been the same. We should continue to celebrate the discovery of the new world because of its significance to our history. We should not demonize it because it does not fit with our values of our times. We have developed a country where the strong is limited in their domination. We have developed a country where the weak and the strong can govern each other together with a respect for life and liberty. Can we not celebrate Columbus day as a day which led to the birth of a Free Nation?

Its amazing sometimes how these blogs develop. My original intent was to talk about Wilder Publications. They are a small publisher which publishes past works. One of their products is a book of the US Constitution with the Declaration of Independence. Due to customers complaints about some of the books they publish, they have enacted a policy of publishing a statement inside the front cover of every one of their books.

Their statement is "This book is a product of its time and does not reflect the same values as it would if it were written today. Parents might wish to discuss with their children how views on race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, and interpersonal relations have changed since this book was written before allowing them to read this classic work."

This statement does not belong in any book let alone the US Constitution. People need to wake up. Learn from history. Do not judge history. Know what you are reading. Parents should not have to be told to make any statement about books and stories from the past. But I guess I'm judging our time by a standard the masses won't understand.

Hearing the story about this one-size-fits-all statement included in a book on the Constitution made me think of one of my favorite phrases. Thus this blog was born. I can be judged by today's standards. Don't judge me by yesterday's standards and don't judge yesterday by your standards. One size does not fit all.

Mike