Back in December, I wrote about finding book six of Churchill’s work on the Second World War. It was, in my opinion, the best thrift store find in history. I bought it, thinking, “I’m never gonna read it; but at least now I have the full set.”
Well, on a whim, I picked up Volume I, The Gathering Storm, and decided to give it a try.
It turns out, Churchill’s a good writer. And you have to admit, if anyone has the scoop on World War Two, it’s gonna be him. Big picture, front-line sized scoops.
By page 14, I’m remembering the axiom, “Those who don’t know history are bound to relive it.” Churchill says it matter-of-factly: “As fascism sprang from communism, so Nazism developed from Fascism.” One might think that that’s just his opinion, but for this: we have clear evidence that communism gives rise to some form of fascism in pretty much every nation that’s tried it: The Soviet Union. Communist China. Cuba. All stark examples. The revolutions happened with seemingly good intentions, but they all ended where good intentions like this are bound to go — in oppression and death.
“Meet the new boss…same as the old boss.” – Pete Townsend
History has shown us this: most revolutionaries are not interested in good intentions – they are only interested in power (fortunately, our American version mostly just wanted to be left alone). And they all quickly devolved into a ruling class that held power by pretending to represent the people…but of course insisting that they themselves were the only ones qualified to do so. Or not. Maybe they just went straight to “New Emperor” status…but they called it “Chairman” to keep up the façade.
It’s simple human nature: when one gets into a power they are unwilling to relinquish, the iron fist is not far behind. It doesn’t matter what side you’re on — left or right. In America, I can only hope there are enough true patriots (yes…people in the middle are probably the best of patriots) left in the middle who remember what real liberty is – a bloc who will rise up should either extreme try to replace “freedom” with their own version.
A few pages later, Churchill writes, “…the malice of the wicked was reinforced by the weakness of the virtuous” (a more beautiful version of “bad things happen when good men do nothing”), reminding me once again of the John Adams quote, “Our constitution was made for a moral people. It will work for no other.” It seemed at one time we had an idea of what virtuous men did. I hope we still do. We might need them soon enough…