Forethought is a key to a successful and peaceful future. But no amount of fore-thinking can account perfectly for what has yet to be or account for the effects of external and internal forces born in the recesses of any system that evolves into the rule of the many by the few.
Take Bolshevism as an example. Assume well-meaning originators wanted to overthrow a former corrupt system. Now, long after they have come and gone, look at the product: Over the twentieth century tens of millions died under the system the Bolsheviks instituted, and billions throughout the world governed by Communists suffered by losing to the state their prospect for personal economic growth. The originators of socialistic and communistic governments might have had the best of intentions—might even have thought that they were doing something highly ethical—but the product of their efforts couldn’t have been seen in full until they were applied. (Look, for example, at the plight of Venezuelans in the second decade of the twenty-first century after the institution of socialism by Chavez***)
This isn’t an original thought. In a 1919 edition of Punch, the satirical British weekly, the editors included this statement: “The —— Society has a large selection of literature tracing the origin and development of Bolshevism, and exposing its miseries and horrors, of which samples will be forwarded on application.--Times. We are not applying; it is bad enough to read about them.”*
Is there any lasting Utopia? Think the Gulag under Stalin.
In a newsletter designed for instructing children in current events called The Great Round World and What Is Going On in It, the editors report on the practice of sending people to Siberia.
“On page 134 of Vol. I. we spoke about the unfortunate Russians who are exiled to Siberia, and of the thousands of miles they are forced to march across the continent before they reach their place of punishment. It has just been reported that the Czar has issued a decree that persons who are exiled to Siberia shall, from this time forth, be carried by train to the convict settlements. In the days when the poor unfortunates had to make the journey on foot it took ninety days of steady marching to reach the journey's end, and women and children as well as men took their places in the long, sad procession that wound its way across the dreary steppes of Russia. This decree must have caused much rejoicing among the Russian people, and if the Czar continues to rule his people so mercifully and kindly, we may all live to see the day when there will be no more Nihilism or hatred between the ruler and the ruled in Russia, and when it will no longer be necessary to send anybody to Siberia.”**
The editors wrote that in May, 1897. Let’s see if I understand. People would still be exiled to Siberia, but they wouldn’t have to walk there. Yes, I can see that as something worth rejoicing. Not.
Obviously, a segment of Russian society also didn’t feel like rejoicing over train rides to Siberian exile. The overthrow of the Tzar seems to confirm their lack of rejoicing. But what did they get in exchange for the overthrow?
“Perfect social systems” eventually become imperfect by application. That’s life on a scale of many people, and there’s little the average person can do to mitigate the coming effects of proposed and enacted rules that encompass a country. Those who lived past the time of the Tzar’s overthrow and who opposed the leadership of Stalin were sent to Siberia. “Welcome to the Gulag, a place of forced labor, few rewards, and severe climate.” I don’t think they rejoiced because they made the trip by train.
By application Bolshevism forwarded the same practice of exile.
What do you value more than your freedom and individuality? Are you willing, for example, to exchange a system like capitalism that ensures no successes but that allows you to achieve them for a system that guarantees some tenuous security but negates personal growth and that eventually, upon being forwarded by application, decreases the quality of life for individuals who are not in control?
Train ride? No thanks. I think I’ll walk somewhere I want to go.
* Punch, Vol. 156, April 9, 1919.
** https://ia800301.us.archive.org/18/items/thegreatroundwor15518gut/15518-8.txt
*** Rich Venezuelans Eat Sushi, Guzzle Cocktails Amid Chaos
https://www.yahoo.com/news/rich-venezuelans-eat-sushi-guzzle-cocktails-amid-chaos-142524940.html
Take Bolshevism as an example. Assume well-meaning originators wanted to overthrow a former corrupt system. Now, long after they have come and gone, look at the product: Over the twentieth century tens of millions died under the system the Bolsheviks instituted, and billions throughout the world governed by Communists suffered by losing to the state their prospect for personal economic growth. The originators of socialistic and communistic governments might have had the best of intentions—might even have thought that they were doing something highly ethical—but the product of their efforts couldn’t have been seen in full until they were applied. (Look, for example, at the plight of Venezuelans in the second decade of the twenty-first century after the institution of socialism by Chavez***)
This isn’t an original thought. In a 1919 edition of Punch, the satirical British weekly, the editors included this statement: “The —— Society has a large selection of literature tracing the origin and development of Bolshevism, and exposing its miseries and horrors, of which samples will be forwarded on application.--Times. We are not applying; it is bad enough to read about them.”*
Is there any lasting Utopia? Think the Gulag under Stalin.
In a newsletter designed for instructing children in current events called The Great Round World and What Is Going On in It, the editors report on the practice of sending people to Siberia.
“On page 134 of Vol. I. we spoke about the unfortunate Russians who are exiled to Siberia, and of the thousands of miles they are forced to march across the continent before they reach their place of punishment. It has just been reported that the Czar has issued a decree that persons who are exiled to Siberia shall, from this time forth, be carried by train to the convict settlements. In the days when the poor unfortunates had to make the journey on foot it took ninety days of steady marching to reach the journey's end, and women and children as well as men took their places in the long, sad procession that wound its way across the dreary steppes of Russia. This decree must have caused much rejoicing among the Russian people, and if the Czar continues to rule his people so mercifully and kindly, we may all live to see the day when there will be no more Nihilism or hatred between the ruler and the ruled in Russia, and when it will no longer be necessary to send anybody to Siberia.”**
The editors wrote that in May, 1897. Let’s see if I understand. People would still be exiled to Siberia, but they wouldn’t have to walk there. Yes, I can see that as something worth rejoicing. Not.
Obviously, a segment of Russian society also didn’t feel like rejoicing over train rides to Siberian exile. The overthrow of the Tzar seems to confirm their lack of rejoicing. But what did they get in exchange for the overthrow?
“Perfect social systems” eventually become imperfect by application. That’s life on a scale of many people, and there’s little the average person can do to mitigate the coming effects of proposed and enacted rules that encompass a country. Those who lived past the time of the Tzar’s overthrow and who opposed the leadership of Stalin were sent to Siberia. “Welcome to the Gulag, a place of forced labor, few rewards, and severe climate.” I don’t think they rejoiced because they made the trip by train.
By application Bolshevism forwarded the same practice of exile.
What do you value more than your freedom and individuality? Are you willing, for example, to exchange a system like capitalism that ensures no successes but that allows you to achieve them for a system that guarantees some tenuous security but negates personal growth and that eventually, upon being forwarded by application, decreases the quality of life for individuals who are not in control?
Train ride? No thanks. I think I’ll walk somewhere I want to go.
* Punch, Vol. 156, April 9, 1919.
** https://ia800301.us.archive.org/18/items/thegreatroundwor15518gut/15518-8.txt
*** Rich Venezuelans Eat Sushi, Guzzle Cocktails Amid Chaos
https://www.yahoo.com/news/rich-venezuelans-eat-sushi-guzzle-cocktails-amid-chaos-142524940.html
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