Friends, I live by a simple rule of thumb: do whatever Ray says. Therefore, when Ray complimented my piece on 9/11 and the human tendency to blow recently-encountered threats out of proportion, I knew I had to revisit that post and turn it into a full-fledged article. And so I did. It's a little more fleshed out than it was, and certainly longer, but the message is still the same. See what you make of it. Granted, it's a bit philosophical, and, despite my disclaimer about cynicism, it really is rather cynical. I hope it doesn't foster in any of you a fatalism about politics and the affairs of men. That wasn't my goal. Personally, though, I believe it always pays to recall our mortality and our foibles, lest we take ourselves too seriously, which is, after all, the greatest of all sins, and maybe even the only sin, when you get right down to it. But don't take it from me: I'm the mortal-est of the mortal myself!
https://www.wnd.com/2020/09/wages-gullibility-keep-us-constantly-fearful/
World Trade Center, Twin Towers, and all that. Why the shock that someone would try to destroy these "icons of capitalism"? Don't forget that for decades, the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) under the late Yasir Arafat were hijacking airliners all the time, landing them in deserts in North Africa, letting the passengers out, and then blowing up the planes. So what's new come 9/11? Seems "logical to me" that some Muslim terrorist group would go for a major target, and this time fly the planes into the target. And don't forget that they hit The Pentagon also, the epicenter of warfare itself. Surprised they didn't go for The Sears Tower (since renamed) in the windy city of Chicago. Why the shock?
ReplyDeleteDr.Waddy from Jack: As was true of your original,there is very much of credibility and creditability in your essay. And yet,and yet: let me be as presumptuous as to speak for perhaps the leading Cassandra of the 20th century - Churchill. " Why Dr. Waddy,you raise a defensible point! But what had I not sounded the tocsin in the '30's about 'that man'? What I pray? It was a near run thing anyway. I did it,at much personal trial and agony, because in my way,I 'knew' true! But did my advocacy confirm it. Understandably, ehhh, no. WWI had savaged the senses, the expectations,the beliefs, the sanity even,of those Edwardians drawn into it and who survived unto post war leadership. I am one of those few unscarred by combat though at heart I do not glory in it."
ReplyDeleteDr.Waddy from Churchill via presumptuous Jack: "to continue, from my 'enhanced view point ' now: Some paid me heed in the '30's, just enough perhaps to provide just barely, the air machines and radar (!) to enable the 'few' to deliver us! What little, but enough was perceived in my message which gained purchase?You being a historian: I bid you closely consider my time in order to perceive,with hindsight, that which proved me right ,despite creditable views to the contrary! Your great republic faces a very present threat fully comparable to that which we faced. You are yet one of it's most perceptive observers: that is all I may offer you Sir, in the way of guidance I pray you pay honor, in the sense with which I know you are familiar with my understanding of the term. I bid you good stead!"
ReplyDeleteRay, you're right that much of the world was accustomed to terrorism when the 9/11 attacks occurred. For whatever reason, we Americans thought we were immune. Well, we're not. In my view, we're fortunate that we don't experience MORE terrorist attacks. Since this is an open society, most of us are sitting ducks. Plus, if we confine the police to their barracks much longer, the terrorists will start to get ideas!
ReplyDeleteJack, that's a fair point that not every Cassandra is a false prophet. Some doomsayers turn out to be right...and quite a few even understate the dangers we face. The trick is to tell the credible warnings from the incredible. It ain't easy. My point is that you and I are every bit as qualified to attempt it as the "leading lights" of American democracy. And, as the light of American democracy fades, our take may be far superior to theirs. Either that or we may be bonkers ourselves. One or the other, or both at once. Ha ha.
Dr.Waddy from Jack: Please allow me to add to Chuchill's imaginary advice:". . . Iam one of the fortunate few unscarred by my intensive experience of combat. . ."
ReplyDeleteSo if the DemoNISTAS win in November 2020, how are they going to handle terrorism, foreign and domestic? My guess is, that if Biden cracked down on them, the media would no doubt praise him for his actions, whereas if Trump does the same he will be crucified for it.
ReplyDeleteDr.Waddy et al: What factors made Demosthenes, Billy Mitchell and Churchill right and where and in whom might we find such prescience today? Maybe they all took well informed guesses. Who are our best guessers today? Conservatives, because we consider the past and the empirical evidence it presents. This, instead of the airy, emotionally based presumption which bids fair to smother our painfully won civilization. Our own country may well be the decisive battlefield and final decision may be close.
ReplyDeleteDr.Waddy and Ray: If Biden wins I would expect to see a temporary pause in the insurrection as the left consolidates it's power. It would have to ensure that Biden will go gladly into factotumhood. It would of course need his appointive power to ensure swift empowerment of a far left junta, so it would humor him that far. The insurrection has shown much evidence of a high degree of centralized control so it may be possible to keep it under control for a time. But if the street crazies begin to think they are being gamed they may resort to ultimata: "get the job done or we'll go bugs__t again but much worse!" A Pax Bidenus might for a time promote a false and disarming sense of a return to order but when the far left agenda gets up steam, especially if the dems take Congress ,then totalitarianism will be open, obvious and perhaps unstoppable.
ReplyDeleteRay, I suspect you're right that a Biden administration wouldn't suffer BLM and Antifa much longer. They've been "useful idiots" for the Left up to now (or maybe were at first), but increasingly they're albatrosses for the movement. Sooner or later they'll figure that out.
ReplyDeleteJack, you make a good point that we conservatives aim to learn from (and honor) history, while the Left denigrates the wisdom of the ages and nominates itself as the fount of insight. The problem for us is that the "wisdom of the ages" is legendarily vague...
Jack's formulation of the future of BLM/Antifa is prescient, in my opinion. As I said above, I would expect the Dems to turn on the bomb-throwers soon. To some degree they already have. Biden would probably continue this policy, but Biden won't last forever. Two factors could lead to an upsurge in "unrest" in the medium term: the Democratic Party may not be able to control the mob, and it may go berserk once it realizes that the end of Trump doesn't necessarily mean that the Revolution is at end; and, two, the Dems may someday find it useful, once again, to stoke the fires of division and hatred. They might use the mob to punish those who continue to resist. They might use it to intimidate those whose support for the New Order is too soft. They might use it to justify expanding the powers of a (benevolent) police state. Violence always serves as a purpose. It's my view that, in the short term, Dem purposes will be best served by tamping down the unrest, but in the medium and long terms, well, we may be in for a rougher ride.