Flame — HabitableZone

Flame » in reply to Wish I was half the philosopher

re: Wish I was half the philosopher
ER — (archived)

I was born and raised in this country, but I can see it through different cultural eyes and from a different perspective. Fascism is possible here, it lies just below the surface, ready to leap forth whenever the system is under stress, when it is threatened or afraid. The founding fathers saw tyranny as solely the megalomania of aristocrats, but there are so many new candidates now. Bureaucrats claim they are controlled by the voters, businessmen protest they are moderated by the market and both do everything in their power to escape the supervision of either, and they get better at it every day.

One of those founding fathers stated that the tree of liberty had to be watered from time to time by the blood of patriots, but sometimes that is not enough. It wasn't in Germany and Italy as you pointed out, and rivers of blood couldn't stop the tyrant in Spain. In Russia the opportunists stole the revolution and in Cuba it was betrayed and one tyranny was merely replaced by another.

Sooner or later it goes to the streets, and that does bring change but rarely for the better. You're right, perhaps it is dangerous to overintellectualize it, and you will notice the one thing all tyrants have in common is contempt for intellectuals. But beware the intellectual when he reaches for a gun. He can be the most unforgiving and dangerous of all.

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