“Marco! . . . Polo!” Kids in a pool. One yells “Marco!”
Another answers, “Polo!” After the fifth iteration, I’m wondering why I decided
to go swimming that afternoon. After the tenth, I begin to entertain homicidal thoughts.
Yet this dumbest of games honors one of the West’s greatest human beings. Why
do I say that? For contrast, consider that other great Italian discoverer,
Christopher Columbus. A century and a half after Polo’s travels to Xanadu,
Columbus arrived in the Bahamas. As Howard Zinn reports in A People’s History of the
United States (2001), “When Columbus and his sailors came ashore . . . ,
the Arawaks ran to greet them, brought them food, water, gifts.” Here’s how Columbus
responded to their hospitality: “As soon as I arrived in the Indies, on the
first island which I found, I took some of the natives by force that . . . they
might give me information of whatever there is in these parts.” Later, on
Haiti, Zinn writes, “in two years, through murder, mutilation, or suicide, half
of the 250,000 Indians . . . were dead.” Quite differently, Marco Polo, per
Laurence Bergreen in his recent biography (2007), “did not just humanize the
Mongols, he extolled them. He did not simply describe the Mongol way of life,
he lived it.” To be clear, on arrival Columbus didn’t know where he was,
thinking he’d found Indonesia’s Spice Islands. Then this hero of ours became a
role model for cruelty, exploitation, and forced religious conversion. Polo
found his heathens to be fellow human beings with whom one could trade and from
whom one could learn. Not least, he discovered lo mein and brought back pasta to the West. So, you can celebrate
Columbus Day if you want. As for me, it’s “Marco! . . . Polo!” |
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Categoriesall-too-human v. fully humancelebration education happiness inner learning magic maturity metaphor Mysticism nationalism oneness pragmatism right use of power the future the good life the new renaissance Travel Blog war and peace wealth wisdom wisdom' wise living' the good life' talking to kids |
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