The Birthday of the Global Economy

Happy Columbus Day.

And in honor of Columbus' employers, here is a Spanish march.







King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain, religious fanatics, bigots, and shameless opportunists, two people for our own time.


Ever since, it's been 5 centuries of cashboxes, account books, cargo ships, guns, chains, whips, and disease so that some could get rich while many others toiled.

The day when Earth Mother became real estate. The day when the Family of Man became the War of All Against All.



The Spanish Colonial government in Mexico replaced the religious concept of the Family of Man with the Sistema de Castas, a legal classification and ranking of the whole population in terms of race. Group could be set against group, and therefore easier to control and exploit. Here are 18th century paintings from Mexico explaining the system.