As an American History teacher, I make a point to let my student know that historical is not cyclical, as many might believe. That is a historical fallacy to think that we will necessarily repeat the past. But it is not a fallacy to suggest that human nature, which is driven by money, greed, sex, and power will fall into the same predictable patterns so long as human being are driven by those four traits.
It is in that spirit that I post more of C. Vann Woodward's treatise written in 1968, but applicable to today.
"There is more respect to be won in the opinion of the world by a resolute and courageous liquidation of unsound positions than in the most stubborn pursuit of extravagant or unpromising objectives"- George Kennan, 1967.
The men I have quoted are thoroughly American, but to the ears of anyone attuned to the traditional rhetoric of American myth, their words will set up an immediate dissonance. One might, were it not for the derogatory connotations that cling to the word, call their pronouncements "un-American".
For anyone who seriously entertains a solution for a war other than "victory", or who admit that a grave domestic problem simply has no visible solution, is clearly marching out of tune with the chorus of the American Way. He is marching to another drum. It may be the drum of the future (and I rather suspect that it is) but not that of the past--of tradition.
In the American past, and in the predominant mind of the present as well, all wars end in victory and all problems have solutions. Both victory and solution might require some patience, but not very much.
The idea of admitting defeat and the prospect of living patiently with an unsolved social problem are...unthinkable thoughts for most Americans.
The characteristic American adjustment to the current foreign and domestic enigmas that confound our national myths has not been to abandon the myths but to reaffirm them.
-C. Vann Woodward, 1968
We cannot transform a failure and a dumb war into some sort of mythic Lost Cause, as the South did during the Civil War. We should have never been in Iraq in the first place, and as Senator Obama says, this war should never have been authorized.
I favor us pulling the troops out in a responsible fashion, while understanding that no one knows for sure what will happen to the country when all our our troops are gone.
Do I think any of the Democratic candidates running will do this? Here's hoping, friends.
If Obama is elected, I would rather him accomplish ONE GOOD THING, then 12 half-baked ideas that cause more harm than good in the long run.
Selfishly, I want us out of Iraq now.
Selfish, I want universal health care to treat my chronic illness.
If those two were done sufficiently and put together soundly, I would consider an Obama Presidency a success.
1 comment:
I second that emotion. And logic. And I like your history lesson, too.
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