Remembering History

There is an old but familiar adage that says "those who forget history are doomed to repeat it." Frequently, it is used to remind society of its great failings in the face of evil intent, such as that perpetrated by the Nazis during the Holocaust and WWII. The history of human civilization is but a repeating cycle of war, conquest, peace, drift, oppression, tyranny, revolution, war and back to conquest. Technology changes, but the patterns remain the same. Prior to the advent of Western democracy, wars fought between nations were primarily in the interest of material and imperial conquest. Afterward, the concept "liberation" took hold as the Allied nations beat back this conquest ideology. The long-held American belief of self-determination prevented us from absorbing Europe as American territories. Granted, America maintains a military presence that dates back to WWII, and some indeed may look upon the reconstruction efforts of that era - as well as today's Iraq - as imperialistic. I think that is a mistaken viewpoint driven by propaganda, but I can see the perspective.

The Cold War, however, was something new in the sense that the battle was fought by proxy in lands apart from the primary ideological combatants. The stakes were high - to maintain spheres of influence that could stand firm against the waves of communist and socialist ideologies that began to emerge in every corner of the world. It really is quite amazing that we have yet to experience a full-scale nuclear conflict. Perhaps because even above ideology, there remains a core instinct for self-preservation.

Who were the victors of the Cold War? Who were its gallant champions? Truman, Thatcher, Pope John Paul II, and of course, Reagan. The fall of the Berlin Wall, 20 years ago yesterday, remains a vivid image in my mind. It was merely an outward, yet important feature that all but marked the beginning of the end of the Cold War, as Soviet communism began to accelerate its collapse upon itself. In a war of disparate ideologies: liberty and communism, there was a clear and undisputable victor. It is an achievement worthy of celebration and joy - and it was, for those who remember watching the blocks fall into the night as German celebrants danced on top of the crumbling structure that for so long served as the physical manifestation of the Iron Curtain. America, that beacon on a hill (as Reagan used to call her), stood tall, alone and proud - not as a conqueror, but as an inspiration to all those seeking self-determination and liberty.

Yes, it is said that those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. Yet what can be said about those who forget, not through complacency or neglect, but rather by deliberate omission or rejection? After a monumental struggle spanning over 40 years, fought by two generations of Americans, this moment deserves more than a few minutes of platitudes by tape delay.

While there is nothing inherently wrong about the President's video comments below, the treatment of the anniversary as a footnote in history, lauding only a President whose limited forays into the Cold War were nearly disastrous, strikes me as terribly insufficient to the sacrifices and courage of countless Americans and freedom-loving people. And frankly, I'm turned off by yet another injection of his election into the narrative. Historic his election may be, it has absolutely nothing to do with the fall of the Berlin Wall. (h/t: Powerline)


I realize it is perhaps too much to expect of our President to honor Reagan, Thatcher and the late Pope. But the failure to reinforce the facts of history, to minimize the American exceptionalism that led directly to the dismantling of that wall, is simply to set this generation on a course for drift and oppression. If that be true, then tyranny - whatever form it may take - is soon to follow. In that day, will the light of liberty still shine from America?