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https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/a-columbian-exchange

Adraste: Happy Indigenous People\u2019s Day!

Beroe: Happy Columbus Day!

Adraste: \u2026okay, surely we can both sketch out the form of the argument we\u2019re about to have. Genocide, political correctness, moral progress, trying to destroy cherished American traditions, etc, etc, would you like to just pretend we hit all of the usual beats, rather than actually doing it?

Beroe: Does \u201cColumbus Day was originally intended as a woke holiday celebrating marginalized groups; President Benjamin Harrison established it in 1892 after an anti-Italian pogrom in order to highlight the positive role of Italians in American history\u201d count as one of the usual beats by this point?

Adraste: I would have to say that it does.

Beroe: What about \u201cIndigenous People\u2019s Day is offensive because indigenous peoples were frequently involved in slavery and genocide\u201d?

Adraste: I\u2019m not sure I\u2019ve heard that particular argument before.

Beroe: But surely you can sketch it out. Many indigenous peoples practiced forms of hereditary slavery, usually of war captives from other tribes. Some of them tortured slaves pretty atrociously; others ceremonially killed them as a spectacular show of wealth. There\u2019s genetic and archaeological evidence of entire lost native tribes, most likely massacred by more warlike ones long before European contact. Some historians think that the Aztecs may have ritually murdered between 0.1% and 1% of their empire\u2019s population every year, although as always other historians disagree. I refuse to celebrate Indigenous People\u2019s Day, because I think we need to question holidays dedicated to mass murderers even when they\u2019re \u201ctraditional\u201d or \u201chelp connect people to their history\u201d.