Lies Upon Lies

This weeks blog post is dedicated to revealing lies that were taught to us in school. I thought that writing about this particular topic would be interesting because, I just love ruining peoples' childhoods. Well that and I just enjoy history in general. I know, weird right? Who in their right mind would enjoy something so bland? To that I say, who would enjoy remembering the Pythagorean theorem for years and not having any use for it? With some of these facts, you can do plenty of things. Like get into arguments with random drunks at a bar and start a huge scene. No but really, some of these facts will be heart wrenching and quite demoralizing so if you want to turn back do it now.

First off, we have Christopher Columbus. According to Christopher Klein, author of the article, "10 Things You May Not Know About Christopher Columbus", Columbus did not discover America. Long before Columbus, there was Leif Erickson. Erickson was a viking who discovered America around the late tenth century. Klein also states that Columbus did not prove that the world was round. In fact, Greek philosophers from as early as the sixth century B.C., discovered that the earth was not flat. Not only that but Klein goes on to say that Columbus also took some of the natives as slaves back to Spain.

Secondly, we have Abraham Lincoln. Before I say this, I would just like to point out that Lincoln is still one of my favorite Presidents. According to Sarah Pruitt, author of the article "5 Things You Might Not Know About Lincoln, Slavery, and Emancipation", Lincoln was in fact a racist. However, so was ninety percent of the American people at that time. Pruitt also states that Lincoln was no abolitionist. Although he thought it was morally wrong, he did not consider African Americans' to be his equal. Not only that but Pruitt goes on to say that Lincoln did not free the slaves out of his own good will. His primary motivation was to crush the South's military so that the North would have a larger chance of ending the Civil War.

Lastly, we have Albert Einstein. Einstein was not the worlds smartest man. Yes, you heard that right. Einstein himself stated that Nikola Tesla among all others was the worlds smartest man at that time. The Huffington Post's article "10 Surprising Facts About Albert Einstein", states that Einstein never failed any math class and was actually a rather gifted individual from birth. Some even considered him to be a prodigy in his younger years so the next time someone says "Einstein was an underachiever!", hit them with the facts. Also, enjoy this poem that I wrote. It'll change your life. 

                       “Lies Upon Lies”

            Growing up,

            I was always told that Christopher Columbus discovered America,

            I was told that he proved that the world was round instead of flat,

            I was told that he befriended the natives,

            Then I reached adulthood,

            Growing up,

            I was always told that Abraham Lincoln was an abolitionist,

            I was told that he thought of every African American to be his equal,

            I was told that he freed the slaves out of his own good will,

            Then I reached adulthood,

            Growing up,

            I was told that Einstein was the world’s smartest man,

            I was told that he flunked math and was always getting into trouble,

            I was told that he started out just like any underachiever would,

            Then I reached adulthood,

            And I came to realize that all of these things,

            Were nothing more than added lies,

            Lies added to protect their images,

            Lies added to ensure that as kids we would come to think these men as heroes,

            You know what they say,

            Everyone loves a hero,

            But after a while you start to wonder,

            With all of these lies piled up after another,

            It makes you wonder,

            What else have they lied to us about?