I’m fortunate at this present moment to be staying in a house with a good library. Fortunate in that I don’t need to surf elsewhere for information I can read from the comfort of a lazy chair with a wood fire crackling next to me and dogs snoring (and farting) on the carpet. The choice was wide but for context’s sake and for relevance I chose the first of Churchill’s volumes on the Second World War, the first of twelve. Yes, some politicians actually do have work to do. When they are not drinking, smoking and painting. And saving the world, yes. Nice also to hear from the horse’s mouth, if not from his bridles. And to see an artist in action, a visionary, a prophet and a bloody hell raiser. One thing I read just now, in his lead up (The Gathering Storm) to the Second World War (he served in the Boer War, 1898 to 1902) and the First World War (war minister for Great Britain, 1914 to 1918) was the way in which Hitler played the world, and the world powers. And how the world powers really really really did not want another war but he was going to give it to them anyway. And no matter how much they wanted to disarm, and to pretend there was no threat, and to ignore the threat, and do anything but bend over backwards for the man and let him give it to them any way he wanted, it did not change anything. And I wonder if today we are not doing the same thing with another Hitler. Now you ask me who would that be and I will say it is the same nation, the same head of that nation, that holds the UN in contempt, the way he did. And you all know who that is. The nation who goes to war on somebody no matter who, what country, what world has anything to say about it. And he does it in the name of freedom and justice and human rights of course, unlike Hitler, who did it for Germany only. In that sense he was way more honest and trustworthy. But look how similar they are in their attitude and their stance. Look how arrogant and up yours they are. Look how pathetically confident they are in victory. That’s the thing I really like about them, because I know it will be their ruin. Apart from that, I have been reading The Boer War by Christian De Wet, who fought the British Empire basically singlehanded. He fought for the nation, of course, and for the republics, and what he called the Africans (to hell with the kaffirs.) And he gave them murder. And they loved him and hated him and feared him for it. And they gave him the country back again in the end. He did such a great job. And I’m thinking it’s all relative. All subjective. You might think God is with you, on your side, but basically you are just what you are, a man, prone to mistakes. What makes him different though, and less wrong, or mistaken, or ignorant, or plain perverse, is he really believed he was right. These buggers, on the other hand, believe no such thing. They know they are wrong and want you to believe they are right. Exactly the same as Hitler. So there you have it, little history lesson from a century back. Hope you learned something, no, hope you didn’t. I know nothing of what I’ve said here is going to make any difference. History must, of course, repeat itself. Sorry Winston.
Posted on: Fri, 06 Sep 2013 16:30:45 +0000
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