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In this section, we hope to draw your attention to historical events that provide lessons from which we should learn for a better present and future. With so much talk about reshaping American power and policy for a new world order we would do well to consider historical figures and consequences of their actions. "Misgovernment is of four kinds, often in combination. They are: 1) tyranny or oppression, of which history provides so many well-known examples that they do not need citing; 2) excessive ambition, which as Athens' attempted conquest of Sicily in the Peloponnesian War, Philip Second's of England via the Armada, Germany's twice-attempted rule of Europe by a self-conceived master race, Japan's bid for an empire of Asia; 3) incompetence or decadence, as in the case of the late Roman empire, the last Romanovs and the last imperial dynasty of China; and finally 4) folly or perversity." Barbara W. Tuchman George McGovern's article - The Reason Way - is a timely and thought-provoking commentary on our current folly in Iraq. Robert Fisk of The Independent (UK) wrote an exceptionally thoughtful and enlightening article on previous attempts to bring order to the Middle East - History: For centuries we've been 'liberating' the Middle East. Why do we never learn? You should have known we'd fight by Burhan al-Chalabi (published in The Guardian (UK)) is another essay indicating that proponents of a war on Iraq misunderstood history. When Democracy Failed - The Warnings of History by Thom Hartmann makes some very interesting observations on the rise to power by Hitler and his Nazi Party and current events in the United States. In the build up to the war on Iraq the appeasement of Germany has often been evoked. (See Opposing War is Not Appeasement in the Naked Emperors section for a refutation of this argument) There are, however, two historical incidents that should be studied to understand some aspects related to the planning of this war. One is the path and methods used by Hitler and his Nazi party to gain power and seal Germany's fate. The other is the murder committed by Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold in Chicago in 1924. Loeb and Leopold were pampered, highly intellectual children of wealthy families. Loeb was fascinated by crime and eventually, with Leopold, concocted a plot to murder a young friend, Bobby Franks. Despite their many privileges, Loeb and Leopold suffered an absence of humanity. We now come to the end of the 20th Century and the beginning of the 21st when a larger group of people born into privilege have let their intellectual powers become warped with ideas of arranging a new world order with the United States being the only dominant power and all other nations subservient to it. Despite their claims of bringing greater morality around the world, recent events indicate they have no hesitation about abandoning the rule of law and risking committing crimes against humanity. |
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons that history has to teach." Aldous Huxley, Collected Essays |
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