Declaration

konchan

The most important line in the U.S. Declaration of Independence was not the first line of the preamble that most of us know, nor was it any of the points outlined throughout. No. The most important line was the last one:

"And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."

Those men who signed that document knew that their very lives would be in danger and they would be branded traitors to the crown by doing so. Nevertheless, they pledged their lives for what they knew in their souls was the right thing. While some accounts of what happened to them seem to have been embellished, the truth is that they each did suffer in various ways for this pledge. They honored their pledge whatever came.

Could you do the same?

It's easy to think so when the threats are imagined. It is something else once they become real.

So could you? What does it take for someone to do so?

It takes several things:

  1. A belief that some things are more important than life itself
  2. A belief that any material thing, including family and friends, can and should be sacrificed for some causes
  3. A belief that the course plotted out is for the good of those you would leave behind, were you to die
  4. A strength to put aside personal wants and needs for the good of others

I'm sure other aspects could be added to the list, but that will do to make the point.

For more on the Declaration and the Constitution, please see the free courses available from Hillsdale College, like this one:

https://online.hillsdale.edu/landing/constitution-101

USA and Allies

Why don't I include the USA and its allies like the UK? The fact of the matter is that the Presidents, the Generals, the Admirals, and other top leaders were all in agreement that atrocities should not take place, and war should be fought using certain rules. The war crimes that were committed seem to have been done on an individual or unit level, against standing orders. That said, it seems those who broke the stated standards were usually not punished enough for what they did. Middle-leadership was too lenient and also kept many details from upper-leadership.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allied_war_crimes_during_World_War_II

That said, there is a group within the US that I will add at some point in the future. That group is perhaps the cause of just as much pain and misery throughout the world as any of the others I have already covered, so I shouldn't skip them.

Communism

Modern dictionaries and Wikipedia seem to want to paint Communism in a positive light. I don't know why. Communism is responsible for more human death and misery than Fascism was, and continues to ruin lives today. I can only conclude that it appeals to the power-hungry and the foolish. Take these definitions from Meriam-Webster:


"1 a: a system in which goods are owned in common and are available to all as needed
b: a theory advocating elimination of private property
2 a: a doctrine based on revolutionary Marxian socialism and Marxism-Leninism that was the official ideology of the Soviet Union
b: a totalitarian system of government in which a single authoritarian party controls state-owned means of production
c: a final stage of society in Marxist theory in which the state has withered away and economic goods are distributed equitably
d: communist systems collectively" (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/communism)

Notice how definitions 1a and 1b sound so nice. Wouldn't we all like "goods...available to all as needed"? At least Webster included definition 2b, which is closer to the truth. But Webster's dictionary of 1963 told it closer to how it is really is, "a totalitarian system of government in which a single authoritarian party controls state-owned means of production with the professed aim of establishing a stateless society." And yet every experiment shows that without a profit incentive, mankind won't work unless at the end of a whip.  But it does not reveal all that communism has done, none of it good. Further investigation, preferably from primary sources of people who lived and escaped it are best. I encourage you to do so. Communism is not a romantic notion; it is a horror in practice. There is no "if it was just done right, it would work."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_killings_under_communist_regimes

 

Fascism

Modern dictionaries miss the mark when defining Fascism. The definitions are too short and the words they use hide deeper meanings. Take for example this one from Meriam-Webster: "a political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition" (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fascism)

It is better to read longer treatments from encyclopedias or sources dedicated to history - and preferably, not produced recently, but closer to the actual events, so that those who lived through events can inform us of what actually happened.

One key aspect of fascism was how it permeated every aspect of German and Italian culture in the 1930s and 1940s. From business, to social clubs, everything had to do with supporting the state. Dissent was not tolerated. If you weren't enthusiastic, you at least had to keep quiet or you could be subject to reprisals. It was forced unity.

But the number one point, which is also the number one point of communism, is the elimination of the idea of self-determination and autonomy - of freedom, of democracy, etc. Both philosophies are authoritarian. Both are in direct opposition to the principles the U.S. was founded on. Both promise outcomes of peace and prosperity which cannot result from the methods they advocate. It is impossible.

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