Started out to write an opinion piece on the shortsighted foolishness of claiming "we have no enemy in the far direction of our own leanings," said by conservatives of the far Right, liberals of the far Left, religious types of their own religious extremists and so on. So, they're just like you but too idealistic, misguided, not as bad as they look or you have got to have 'em to stop The Other Side? History argues otherwise, and those funhouse-mirror reflections all too often go on to cause immense damage.
Looking that up let me to Jefferson, and his oath of having "...sworn upon the altar of god,
eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."* The letter in which he writes that phrase led me to the XYZ Affair, which led me to, among other things, the conclusion that John Adams was a much better man and President than the majority of his party's office-holders were as men, Representatives and Senators.
It also (of course, and if you don't know why, search engines are your friend) led me to the Directorate and the French Revolution, which pretty much always leaves me wondering if the species wasn't better off as small, semi-isolated bands of hunter-gatherers, flirting with extinction. I'm still wondering.
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* For the curious, he's being ironic, since he is writing of his opposition to religious groups hoping to get the Establishment of a government-sanctioned church.
BUILDING A 1:1 BALUN
4 years ago
2 comments:
Fanatics of all stripes are dangerous and a threat to a civilized society.
I think the key similarity to all of them is that none of them are willing to let those in the middle alone. Sooner or later they are going to demand that everyone else show the same devotion to (insert political/religious/social cause here) as they do. And are willing to use any means to force you to do so, "for your own good" of course.
When the boot of the state is stomping you in the face, do you really care if it's on the left or the right foot?
I am reading Hamilton by Chernow, and it is amazing the parallels between his time and now. Maybe history does repeat itself. If you haven't read Hamilton, it is well worth the time.
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