Sunday, April 18, 2010

Break out the red green flags!

Don Surber notes that the United States' celebration of Earth Day falls on Lenin's birthday. Surber writes, "Thursday is Lenin’s Birthday. It will be celebrated around the world as Earth Day, a holiday begun by Democratic Sen. Gaylord Nelson in 1970 to keep anti-capitalist sentiment going after the Vietnam War ended."

Rich, creamy irony, indeed. The totalitarian impulse is difficult to eradicate because there will always be people who wish to order and manipulate the lives of their fellows, in the manner of a scientist experimenting with his lab rats, and no sooner does one statist ideology collapse from the weight of its own internal contradictions than another rises to take its place. Ninety years ago, communism; 35 years ago (and counting), environmentalism; tomorrow, government control of health care. That is why we should never grow complacent, never ease our vigilance; whenever one tyrant falls, there is another waiting in the wings to fill his shoes - as evidenced with chilling clarity in this short film clip of Lenin's state funeral.

No comments: