Thanks Anne, with the exception of Poland, June 4, 1989 has proved to be a disaster for many of the citizens of China and Iran. Political power with the zealotry of religious extremism as manifested in Iran has left us in a far more precarious state than if those two states had evolved the way the Poles did. Good people are not unique to any particular culture but their ability to flourish can be severely limited by the culture they find themselves in. All of the freedoms that we take for granted because of our constitution, are like a candle in the wind if not protected, and once extinguished by a flood of extremist ideology can prove very hard to relight. The Chinese surveillance state has set a new low for its desire to control each and every one of its citizens, and they are marketing that technology to would be autocrats around the world. The Iranians don't have much to export anymore except armed conflict which their religious zealotry encourages them to do, so they take their mineral wealth and convert it into weapons used to destabilize their neighbors, much like their friends the Russians are doing in Ukraine with their help. Fascism and autocracy seem to go hand in hand, speaking of hands, ours are going to be full combating them, I wouldn't feel so threatened if we were all on the same page, my father's generation soundly defeated Fascism in the 40's, and here it is again evolving in much the same way.
Having been born in 1952, I remember vividly the extraordinary Solidarity movement led by Lech Walesa. Only heaven knows what happened to the courageous young man (assuming a man) who defied the column of tanks in Tianamen Square. We watched in amazement and in horror.
In the United States today, it is no overstatement to say we face the same grave, oppressive authoritarian future if we fail to act equally courageously - with minimal personal danger to do so, I might add.
Every year at this time I'm reminded of the patriotic love for our country that was carried out, person by person, wave after wave, on the beaches of France and throughout Germany. Those men and women saved many countries - including ours - from Hitler's hand. Every citizen at home marshalled whatever resources were available to support that extraordinary generation of men and women.
The shallow behavior borne of ignorance, of such a large percentage of Americans who can think of nothing but self-pity and retribution toward their own government, is sickening. Whether they deserve to living a democratic republic is debatable.
We just need to go win this thing in November. All hands on deck.
In every event you can look at. My particular expertise is World War II air actions. Say that Admiral Spruance (a non aviator) didn't listen to his Chief of Staff Miles Browning (an aviator) when he suggested they delay launching their strike against the Japanese carriers at Midway to try and catch them refueling their airplanes (Spruance fortunately was the kind of guy who was willing to listen to the experts). You do that and you don't catch three of the four enemy carriers at their most vulnerable moment, trying to launch fully-fueled and armed airplanes, and they don't explode in flames - and the United States doesn't win the Battle of Midway.
the most famous one is "what would have happened if the Germans had not provided Lenin with the closed train car to return to Russia" - and then there is no Bolshevik revolution. But you are right, it's true of every event.
Thanks Anne, with the exception of Poland, June 4, 1989 has proved to be a disaster for many of the citizens of China and Iran. Political power with the zealotry of religious extremism as manifested in Iran has left us in a far more precarious state than if those two states had evolved the way the Poles did. Good people are not unique to any particular culture but their ability to flourish can be severely limited by the culture they find themselves in. All of the freedoms that we take for granted because of our constitution, are like a candle in the wind if not protected, and once extinguished by a flood of extremist ideology can prove very hard to relight. The Chinese surveillance state has set a new low for its desire to control each and every one of its citizens, and they are marketing that technology to would be autocrats around the world. The Iranians don't have much to export anymore except armed conflict which their religious zealotry encourages them to do, so they take their mineral wealth and convert it into weapons used to destabilize their neighbors, much like their friends the Russians are doing in Ukraine with their help. Fascism and autocracy seem to go hand in hand, speaking of hands, ours are going to be full combating them, I wouldn't feel so threatened if we were all on the same page, my father's generation soundly defeated Fascism in the 40's, and here it is again evolving in much the same way.
Having been born in 1952, I remember vividly the extraordinary Solidarity movement led by Lech Walesa. Only heaven knows what happened to the courageous young man (assuming a man) who defied the column of tanks in Tianamen Square. We watched in amazement and in horror.
In the United States today, it is no overstatement to say we face the same grave, oppressive authoritarian future if we fail to act equally courageously - with minimal personal danger to do so, I might add.
Every year at this time I'm reminded of the patriotic love for our country that was carried out, person by person, wave after wave, on the beaches of France and throughout Germany. Those men and women saved many countries - including ours - from Hitler's hand. Every citizen at home marshalled whatever resources were available to support that extraordinary generation of men and women.
The shallow behavior borne of ignorance, of such a large percentage of Americans who can think of nothing but self-pity and retribution toward their own government, is sickening. Whether they deserve to living a democratic republic is debatable.
We just need to go win this thing in November. All hands on deck.
I saw Lech Walesa yesterday, age 80 - he's looking pretty well!
Is he at peace with the new govt?
Openly supports it, of course. The previous government wrote him and the original Solidarity out of history
Sorry to be a bit behind, but why did old govt disregarded him the org Solidarity (thanks for the translation btw)?
"Nothing about history is inevitable." The most accurate thing this historian has seen anyone say about the subject.
one or two decisions either way, and everything could have been different
In every event you can look at. My particular expertise is World War II air actions. Say that Admiral Spruance (a non aviator) didn't listen to his Chief of Staff Miles Browning (an aviator) when he suggested they delay launching their strike against the Japanese carriers at Midway to try and catch them refueling their airplanes (Spruance fortunately was the kind of guy who was willing to listen to the experts). You do that and you don't catch three of the four enemy carriers at their most vulnerable moment, trying to launch fully-fueled and armed airplanes, and they don't explode in flames - and the United States doesn't win the Battle of Midway.
the most famous one is "what would have happened if the Germans had not provided Lenin with the closed train car to return to Russia" - and then there is no Bolshevik revolution. But you are right, it's true of every event.
Yes, I remember being completely shocked when I learned of that.