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From: John van Hezewyk
Date: 9/26/2003
Time: 12:17:50 AM
Remote Name: 67.243.39.25
When I look at Columbus and Vespucci, I don't see Renaissance visionaries or innovators. I see greedy men who saw the opportunity to make a profit and earn fame. Columbus didn't discover the New World--he wasn't a thinker. All he did was use someone else's work to make money. Vespucci was a flunky, literally along for the ride in the hope of turning a profit. Copernicus and Galileo, in contrast, epitomize the spirit of the Renaissance. They researched and promoted ideas that were considered heresy, endangering their lives in the quest for knowledge. Despite these contrasts, we celebrate Columbus Day and live in America (Amerigo>>America). Call me a cynic, but that seems somewhat fitting: the nation that honors greed celebrates two remarkably unsavory and greedy individuals. How...capitalist.