On Reagan, Thatcher, John Paul and the Shoulders of Giants

Bernard of Chartres used to say that we are like dwarfs on the shoulders of giants, so that we can see more than they, and things at a greater distance, not by virtue of any sharpness of sight on our part, or any physical distinction, but because we are carried high and raised up by their giant size. -- John of Salisbury

With the passage of Margaret Thatcher, we have lost the last of the triumvirate of the great leaders of the free world of the late 20th century.

It is sad that they failed. But giants always fail, in the long run. The wheel of time grinds even giants beneath it. What is important is that we occasionally have giants, so that we briefly have their shoulders to stand upon.

One might respond that they didn't fail, that they brought down the Soviet Union, and helped freedom and capitalism flourish. But the Soviet Union itself was just a giant of a darker kind. The giants rise and fall, but the impulses that drive the world remain the same.

The Soviet Union and its fellow Marxist states managed to take what seems like an admirable, egalitarian sentiment "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need." and turn it into one of the worst nightmares of human suffering ever seen on the planet.

If our giants had really triumphed, then that impulse would be gone. But it is not. Not even close. Because it is a fundamental feature of human nature. Always there have been people who have a vision for making the world a better place. And always there have been those willing to make their visions a reality by whatever means necessary.

The 99% vs, the 1%. "Asking" (because there's no "asking" involved) the "rich" (the defining line of who is rich is always changing) to "pay their fair share" (what share is "fair" is never, ever given a hard definition, for that would rob the phrase of its usefulness), or "spread the wealth around" is just another formulation of the original marxist creed. "You didn't build that" is another expression of the collectivist urge.

The collectivist urge can't be wiped from the human psyche. Indeed, there's nothing evil about it. We do accomplish great things when we work together. Likewise, the urge for individual achievement cannot be wiped away either. It, also, is fundamental, and not evil -- the world needs giants -- people of great ambition and ability.

What is evil is the totalitarian urge. The totalitarian urge isn't left or right, collective or individualist, it's simply the wielding of force to achieve one's vision without the consent of those who disagree or who are in the way.

The totalitarian urge, too, I'm afraid, is an essential characteristic of human nature.

Thus, giants of light and dark will always arise and impose their will upon the world. Masses will rise up and perform sweeping acts of collective good and evil. And talented ambitious people will use their abilities to achieve great and terrible ends.

This will not change. Ever.

We will never escape the giants of light and dark. The value of the giants of light isn't that they may change things for good, forever, but that when we live in lesser times, in lands of dwarves, we may remember when we stood upon their shoulders, and how far we could see.