As a history writer I make my living telling people how important it is to understand history.
But sometimes we give history attention at the expense of present reality, not creating more clarity but more haze.
In SoMe posts I see people stating that Christianity is just as bad as Jihadists – with even greater genocides and acts of terror.
Historically: unquestionably true. But at present the number of religiously motivated acts of terror, carried out by Christian fundamentalists is very close to zero.
I’m not saying it’s forgivable or “water under the bridge”, but claiming that something happening now is balanced out by elsething that happened 500 years ago is simply ridiculous.
I see people stating that Greenlanders feel the same disgust for their Danish colonisers as for the US government.
Yes, it was a colony, and yes The Danes were oppressive and cruel to the indigenous population.
Greenland is not a colony anymore, and the impact the Danes have inflicted on the population has become part of today’s Greenlandic culture. The vast majority wants to remain a part of the Danish Kingdom, and oppose American influence.
That doesn’t justify what happened, but it’s the reality right now.
I’m reading about the Danish West Indies, purchased by the US, to become the U.S. Virgin Islands.
So they can also buy Greenland, right?
There was actually a national referendum before the islands were sold – it wasn’t just the US that decided.
But it was only the Danes who voted: On the islands that were sold, they didn’t have the right to vote. They still don’t – in 2026!
Before Greenland can be bought, there will be a referendum in Greenland. Because they do have the right to vote.
For people in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Greenland, history, in this context, is kind of irrelevant. It’s the here and now that matters: Some have self-determination, others don’t.
Last thing about Greenland: “Just because some ships landed two hundred years ago (…)” – not really relevant, buster. Listen to the population now, and fuck the history lesson.
“The Vikings were actually the first to arrive in America”…
No, the first indigenous people came first. And then some new indigenous people. And another wave. And another…
Then came fortune hunters from Europe, and hungry masses, and religiously persecuted, and African slaves, and refugees and immigrants from all sorts of places.
Arguing about who is truly American is ridiculous, and assigning skin colour is even more ridiculous. It is what it is, and no one is more right because they came before or more voluntarily than anyone else. If you can’t even find your ethnic origin on a world map, or speak anything other than simplified English, you are 100% American.
The same is true in most countries, not just the “New World”.
Even those who belong to the most indigenous people: If they could travel back in time they would probably see their ancestors conquering and murdering an even earlier indigenous population.
Now, here we are – deal with it.
“I have Viking blood in my veins”.
Yes, you probably do. And so what? It’s not a membership card, and it doesn’t give you any special qualities. You probably also have a rape victim in your gene pool, and therefore also a rapist. Presumably even both a slave and a slave trader.
Your DNA inheritance is interesting only if you are heir to the throne, or if you have a hereditary disease (possible Venn diagram).
Now tell me: What are you doing with your life?
“Christianity is not the natural religion in Denmark”.
No. And 1,000 years ago people would probably say the same about Ásatrú. To most people both are mythologies that has had the impact it has had on the Danish culture. And here we are. Deal with it.
(Feel free to substitute the two religions with whatever is before and after in your country.)
“Ásatrú rituals are not authentic”.
No, we don’t have a clue what rituals they did 1,000 years ago. But here we are. Can we move on?
(Feel free to substitute with any other religion, including Christianity. Remember: Everything is rewritten over and over again.)
“Chili is not Thai, and spaghetti is not Italian”.
Now they are. That’s how the world works.
Greenlanders sit in wooden houses and eat cake made with flour – there are neither trees nor grain in Greenland. The gene for blond hair originates in southern Siberia, not Finland. English cities have Danish names, and Indians play cricket.
How it got that way is terribly interesting (preferably with confirmed sources, maps, timelines, and spreadsheets), but calling it “wrong” is simply a waste of people’s precious attention.
Chili is now Thai, and spaghetti is now Italian.
Trust me, nobody nowadays wants to eat anything that is 500 years authentic!
History is fascinating, and explains how we ended up in this predicament. We can learn from historical fuckuppery which shenanigans to avoid the most, and who to blame. But balancing stupidity in mediaeval times with present day cock-ups is like blaming your wife for something your ex girlfriend did. It’s unfair and irrelevant. It is – as they say – ancient history.