"A declaration of war should be a kind of popular festival with entrance tickets and bands, like a bullfight. Then in the arena the ministers and generals of the two countries dressed in bathing drawers and armed with clubs, can havit out among themselves. Whoever survives, his country wins. That would be much simpler and more just than this arrangement, where the wrong people do the fighting."
Kropp, from All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Saturday, April 25, 2009
The Republican Carthage
So, I'm no Democrat or anything, but the impending Republican party breakup has me totally stoked, and I have personally been drooling over the prospect since before the elections. However, the Democratic excitement about it has me befuddled.
I just don't understand why staunch two-party supporters on the left think the loss of a substansive opponent on the right won't rip them assunder as well. Much as Rome turned in upon itself with no external enemy after the end of Carthage, so have the Democrats already started drawing lines between themselves. The only real question that remains is whether the currently bi-polar political structure will maintain itself in an increasingly diverse political arena where a multitude of special interests pull votes and voters in various directions at the same time. Personally I hope not.
And so with vile words flying from side to side, as well as between factions within the two sides, we find ourselves in a situation where we can choose something totally new, or manifestly perpetuate the false precept that history repeats itself and just patch up our status quo.
That there are patterns of human responses to similar stimuli traceable throughout the historical record is undeniable. What repeats though is not the actual history itself but the choices we make when the choices are important. And with human reluctance to embrace change, this leaves us only the option to reflect on what we did last time we were in a situation similar to this, making all of our choices involve the repetition, or avoidance of something historical.
Will President Obama make a Graachian mistake in the face of his current dilemas, which resemble those the famous brothers faced 2k years ago? Could such a mistake lead to the last hundred years of our republic, or will someone step up and seek change no more radical than that of the American and French revolutions which culminated in the modern rights we enjoy in the West. Not that I think these are the only possible outcomes in front of us, but regardless of whether it is a inadvertent, well intentioned mistake by a populist representative, or the forcible maintenance of a faltering two party system, if we just keep patching it, eventually there will be no original material left. Somewhere there is the right mix of holding on to what is working, and radically changing what is not, I hope we find the recipe soon.
I just don't understand why staunch two-party supporters on the left think the loss of a substansive opponent on the right won't rip them assunder as well. Much as Rome turned in upon itself with no external enemy after the end of Carthage, so have the Democrats already started drawing lines between themselves. The only real question that remains is whether the currently bi-polar political structure will maintain itself in an increasingly diverse political arena where a multitude of special interests pull votes and voters in various directions at the same time. Personally I hope not.
And so with vile words flying from side to side, as well as between factions within the two sides, we find ourselves in a situation where we can choose something totally new, or manifestly perpetuate the false precept that history repeats itself and just patch up our status quo.
That there are patterns of human responses to similar stimuli traceable throughout the historical record is undeniable. What repeats though is not the actual history itself but the choices we make when the choices are important. And with human reluctance to embrace change, this leaves us only the option to reflect on what we did last time we were in a situation similar to this, making all of our choices involve the repetition, or avoidance of something historical.
Will President Obama make a Graachian mistake in the face of his current dilemas, which resemble those the famous brothers faced 2k years ago? Could such a mistake lead to the last hundred years of our republic, or will someone step up and seek change no more radical than that of the American and French revolutions which culminated in the modern rights we enjoy in the West. Not that I think these are the only possible outcomes in front of us, but regardless of whether it is a inadvertent, well intentioned mistake by a populist representative, or the forcible maintenance of a faltering two party system, if we just keep patching it, eventually there will be no original material left. Somewhere there is the right mix of holding on to what is working, and radically changing what is not, I hope we find the recipe soon.
Remarks on Remarque
I am no war historian, hate the stuff personally, but some things about WWI really intrigue me. How horrific to have marched off to war in a Napoleonic army, white gloves, swords and Calvary still on horseback, and to have ended up fighting the modern war they ended up in! For all intents and purposes warfare in general had not changed very much at all since the war of 1812, but mid way through WWI technological advances brought mustard gas, bombing from planes, and the concept of trench warfare. Soldiers experienced traumas like no soldier ever had before and they really were ill equipped for it.
As part of my history class I have to interview a veteran who has been involved in a fire zone before, and compare/contrast their experiences with those of the characters in Remarque's "All Quiet on the Western Front." The choice of this assignment in the atmosphere of our current wars is quite apt, as there have been similar tactical changes that our soldiers have had to deal with "in theater" as they were as well, ill equipped to deal with the challenges that faced them.
I plan to ask an old "hippie" friend of mine who chose to enlist a few years back and did a tour in Iraq. I believe the added contrast of his former, and maybe even current, pacifism will add an even greater dimension to what I am going to try to accomplish with this paper.
There is a great podcast that I listen to called Hardcore History by someone named Dan Carlin and he did a show on this very idea, and as a matter of fact, I do believe is who first put this dramatic contrast into my head. The episode name is "Scars of the Old War" and is unfortunately not in the current line up of free episodes. I do however highly recommend paying Dan a little bit of cash so you can access the older episodes, especially if you are a history buff. He is not a historian, just a fan of history, and he asks questions I love to speculate on the answers to.
As part of my history class I have to interview a veteran who has been involved in a fire zone before, and compare/contrast their experiences with those of the characters in Remarque's "All Quiet on the Western Front." The choice of this assignment in the atmosphere of our current wars is quite apt, as there have been similar tactical changes that our soldiers have had to deal with "in theater" as they were as well, ill equipped to deal with the challenges that faced them.
I plan to ask an old "hippie" friend of mine who chose to enlist a few years back and did a tour in Iraq. I believe the added contrast of his former, and maybe even current, pacifism will add an even greater dimension to what I am going to try to accomplish with this paper.
There is a great podcast that I listen to called Hardcore History by someone named Dan Carlin and he did a show on this very idea, and as a matter of fact, I do believe is who first put this dramatic contrast into my head. The episode name is "Scars of the Old War" and is unfortunately not in the current line up of free episodes. I do however highly recommend paying Dan a little bit of cash so you can access the older episodes, especially if you are a history buff. He is not a historian, just a fan of history, and he asks questions I love to speculate on the answers to.
So It's been a little longer than 3 days
So here it is, new technological advances bring me to the 21st century with the rest of you, and I have decided it is time to revive and use this space. Hold tight, whoever you happen to be, and I'll get some stuff up here soon.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)