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I need to give the Muse a few days off, she has been working overtime. Also, I am preparing for yet another trip to Sandy Eggo later this week. Though the task seems Sisyphean at times, it pays rather well.
The quote above from Cicero really rings true to me, as most of you know, I am something of a history buff. I was watching a documentary on Netflix called Being Napoleon. It's about the events and people leading up to the reenactment of the Battle of Waterloo which was held on the field itself in 2015, the 200th anniversary of that fight.
Some of you might recall that I was at that reenactment when it was held twenty years prior to that in 1995, I wrote about that here. Seems they do it every five years, though, as I recall, it wasn't held in 2020. I think you all know why.
Anyhoo, here's the trailer for that documentary -
Now the leading quote and the documentary are tied together in the following manner ...
Thomas Jefferson and Napoléon Bonaparte are walking down Bourbon Street in New Orleans ... (not really, but in the documentary they are) ... and the man playing Jefferson mentions their shared love of history to the man playing Bonaparte. Jefferson attributes to Cicero the following -
"A people must never forget their history. If they forget their history, they will be like schoolchildren all their lives, ready to be led, rather than to lead themselves."
I couldn't find that exact quote so I used the one I did find.
As to that last quote, all I can say is "Hear! Hear!"
As a people we stand to lose everything which those who fought for gained at the cost of their lives in times past. The country is currently headed down a dangerous path. Do what you can to arrest this fall. Otherwise we are all in peril.
That is all.
True, so long as we remember the bad parts of it, as well. Jefferson is a prime example, and not just for being a slaver.
ReplyDeleteAnyhoo, this interesting bit of tech might be if interest for your current near-future story.
https://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htamph/articles/20211031.aspx
The bad parts are often the most instructive.
DeleteThose loitering munitions look very interesting. I need to read up on those.
In ten years or so, they may be numerous enough to be found in reserve depots. Question is whether or not the Chinese "peacekeepers" also have them.
DeleteIf they haven't stolen the design already...
DeleteLoitering munitions could make things really messy. Your Muse may not like them.
DeleteVery true!
DeleteIt might be because I'm running on only one cup of coffee, but when I scrolled down to the new post section the words ran together and I saw "... Newer Post Communist World" and thought there is still hope for the future. Old Guns
ReplyDeleteHahaha!
DeleteNice thought though.
Enjoyed reading that link Sarge, there was a road trip to remember! As to that path we're on it's changed to being driven down it, accompanied by demands of "You must think like this because if you don't you're evil!" I'm remembering what another man wrote in the last half of the eighteenth century....."These are the times that try men's souls".
ReplyDeleteGroupthink, very dangerous indeed.
Delete"...Sisyphean...", I think I do know why you said that, but am not entirely sure. I thought that your endeavors in Sandy Eggo had been satisfactorily productive in the past. Is this in any way a reference to the 'New Navy"? I do very much appreciate your ongoing interaction with the new military (which is entirely foreign to me), and am more than willing to listen attentively to any and all observations you may provide us ignorant savages with respect thereto.
ReplyDeleteThere's always more as in, "What if we do it this way?"
DeleteDoD procurement is nightmarish, DoD oversight of projects is almost as bad, constantly changing requirements, groups who don't communicate well with others (and even within the group). So Sisyphean, I keep rolling the rock up the hill, it keeps rolling back down.
You had me at "Cicero" - Delightful writer and in many ways very courageous, although at times a bit full of himself.
ReplyDeleteAnd in a great many ways, very relevant to the times in which we live. Regardless of whatever people may or may not consider the times to be in relationship to "The Fall of Rome", he did live in and almost to the end of a form of government (yes, I know, the "Republic" went on after 44 B.C. but there was never any doubt it ever acted independently except in the smallest of things after that and - I suppose - could be argued to have essentially destroyed the concept of republican (small "r" there) governments until the 18th Century). In that aspect his life and what he saw - the cycle of tyrants in Marius, Gaius, and then the triumvirate of Caesar/Pompey/Crassus leading to Civil War and the victory of Caesar - he has a great deal to teach us.
Beyond his various speeches (his texts on Orations are quite enjoyable), I might recommend the biography Cicero by Anthony Everitt as a grand introduction. I include the closing passage of the book as I think it says a great deal about him:
"The Emperor Augustus assiduously cultivated the memory of his adoptive father. The assembly hall in Pompey's theater was walled up, the fifteenth of March was named the Day of Parricide and the Senate resolved never to meet on that date again. However, the "heaven-sent boy" (Augustus) remembered with admiration one of the Dictator's greatest critics, in whose murder he had colluded. Many years later he happened to pay a visit to one of his grandsons. The lad was reading a book by Cicero and, terrified of his grandfather, tried to hide it under his cloak. Augustus noticed and took the book from him. He stood for a long time reading the entire text. He handed it back with the words "An eloquent man, my child, an eloquent man, and a patriot.""
We could use a Cicero in our government, a number of 'em really.
DeleteI worked hard to give my kids the same love of history that I have. I tell stories to my grand kids when I'm visiting. I've passed on historical quips and dangled historical worms at work. I guess all that to say this, if I don't reach them, who will? For lack of vision the people perish. The vision we are being fed now is for feed lot cows. Eat up, so you'll be fat when we kill you. Thank you, no.
ReplyDeleteI hope the next trip is productive. Changing goal posts is just normal anymore...
Yup, they keep moving them.
DeleteSarge, I had the pleasure of seeing a re-enactment of the Battle of Waterloo in the early to mid 80's. Stayed with a friend whose home was across the grain fields, appx. a mile from the Lion Monument.
ReplyDeleteHappened to be wearing my boots (cowboy) and after the re-enactment stopped at the tavern close to the monument, that was loaded with re-enactors in full period regalia. The re-enactors had been well fortified with alcohol prior to and during the event, and afterward continued to celebrate at the tavern. Once my boots were noticed, we were swamped by viewers of the tv series "Dallas" and reminded of how much the Belgians love “Dallas” and J.R. Afterward, we endured a picture taking session with highly inebriated re-enactors and their significant others dressed as camp followers in period costume.
Definitely something to remember.
Cletus
Ah, going to town in 'garb,' how I remember those days.
DeleteBuncha my friends went to a Chinese Buffet in Hattisburg, MS, one night of Gulf Wars (a 'war' between most of Texas and most of Florida with a bunch of other places thrown in for fun) in garb. The leader was dressed in high Japanese (15th Century) with a bunch of Mongols (13th Century) and various other places and times and... one 1st Crusade Arab (late 11th Century, full head rag, the whole getup.) At the same restaurant were the local Nat Guard, just back from Iraq, in their first real night back while on duty, in full uniform (sans guns, really good idea.) So no problem with the Jap, the Mongols, the one English Cavalier, a smattering of other people, but when Arab boy walks in, crickets... It worked out, all cool, Arab boy took his head wrap off and things were cool.
Man, I miss those days....
Cletus - Oh, how I wished I could have hobnobbed with those recreating those men from long ago. Done a bit of reenacting myself, always nice to meet the people behind the uniform.
DeleteBeans - Up in the mountains of Colorado, long ago. We stopped to refuel the '41 Mercedes Staff Car. We were in full regalia, attendant asked if we were in the National Guard.
Delete"Something like that," said the guy driving the '42 BMW motorcycle with sidecar. Occupied by another of our lot manning the MG 42.
Heh. Knew a guy who had a kubelwagonized VW Thing in Desert Afrika Korps livery, except where the swastika on the palm tree was, there was a VW badge. And he did reenactments, too.
DeleteInteresting!
DeleteI remember when History was taught and it was about the great people and the great movements and achievements. And then when it started to turn into diversity participation by non-white males. Which often times meant contradicting what was taught in previous classes.
ReplyDeleteSad. Remove history and you remove the basis for which the civilization is based on, for good or bad. Remove concentration camps and you can say "What Holocaust?" while blinking huge anime eyes. Remove Native American symbols and pictures and you can say "What Native Americans?" Same with, well, anything else.
Quite frankly, it scares me.
Now, I am not against looking at history and seeing where it's wrong, and correcting it. Like Richard III. Who was not the evil hunchback of Shakespeare's play, but rather a really nice guy who loved his family, his nation, and was an excellent soldier and statesman, who also had a really bad case of scoliosis. Correcting the world outlook on him is a positive thing. Same with Napoleon. Making people realize he was as tall or taller than a lot of people in his time, rather than the shrimp that people make him out to be (which was part of the 'othering' done by the English during the Napoleonic Wars) is also a good thing.
Not telling lies about our historical figures is a good thing. As long as the history is taken into context. Like, oh, say, slave-owning founding fathers. Oh, sure, it was a thing back then. But did they treat slaves well? That's the question. Did they also treat their indentured servants well? Did they also treat other nationalities well, like the Irish? Did they, even when fallen men, strive to create a better future? And did they acknowledge that things sucked, and write them into law to fix it (like.... Slavery, which was supposed to end much earlier than 1865, but the law that did that got superseded by new law written by.... democrats.)
Mrs. Andrew likes watching ghost hunting shows on tv, as she finds them amusing. We both laugh and yell when some modern idiot talks about the tragic deaths of all the children linked to a location. You know, the child mortality rates of the pre-antibiotic age? Context. Context matters. Yes, children died of all sorts of things, like diptheria or being snacked on by pigs or other animals or falling into wells or being crushed by cows or sheep or by malnutrition from not eating fortified bread (yes, that last one is a very real thing, death by a cornbread diet only used to be a real thing in post Civil-War era South until almost WWII)(and one of the major dangers of medieval times for babies was the family porker snacking on said baby.) But how were the living children cared for? That's what matters.
As to your pilgrimage to San Diego, I've got some posts almost ready. So I'll watch for you or the other posters to not post and I'll jump in. Hehehehehehehe.
History made us who we are today, the progs don't like that. A pox on them and their houses.
DeleteThose who ignore history are tomorrow's ignorant voters, the sheep being led to slaughter by the power-hungry elite.
ReplyDeletePrecisely!
DeleteCletus mentions up-thread about watching a re-enactment of the Battle of Waterloo which reminds me of the best film I've ever seen about it which I viewed in London in 1970 at its debut starring Rod Steiger as Napoleon, Chris Plummer as Duke of Wellington, Orson Wells AS Louis XVIII & Jack Hawkins as Gen Sir Thomas Picton and other luminaries. Filmed in the Ukraine, notable was sweeping overhead camera shots of French Cavalry breaking a British Square with literally thousands (15,000)of troops in the shot. STUNNING visuals! Check it out on WIKI & imbd..
ReplyDeleteLove that film, I've probably watched it at least ten times, probably more.
Delete@OAFS/ Seen it in a wide-screen theater? 'Course it's no longer being shown in theaters (AFAIK) but the big screen REALLY IS stunning! Especially as I viewed it from balcony seats which made the overhead shots of the battle even more spectacular--almost as if one were looking down from Asgard on Mt. Olympus..
DeleteI saw it in the theater in '71, don't think it was wide screen though.
DeletePlus the balcony man, made ALL the diff. (IMHO...and I do say so myself. :) )
DeleteOur little theater in Vermont had no balcony. We were lucky to have a theater!
Delete(Don McCollor)...History is writ by the moving finger that then moved on. It happened, and accept it without trying to to impose one's own culture/motives/morality upon it. At a greater depth, History is complex, with intertwined skeins of relationships, motives that we dimly understand and small events with great consequences that can not be reduced to simple assertions of motive or cause. And there is a dearth of information increasing as one goes further back in the past. It is amazing what has been preserved. Read and enjoy...
ReplyDeleteRoger that.
DeleteI see Don, above, is a devotee of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.. :)
DeleteAs am I.
DeleteNever give up, Never surrender! I might have said this a time or two before.
ReplyDeleteIt's more important now.
It’s most important to choose your battles carefully, as well. They are being successful in this area. Balkanization, a great tactic from Alinsky and those before him.
DeleteYour in good company, juvat/ Churchill: "Never Give Up. Never, Ever, Give Up!" Captain James Lawrence: "Don't Give Up The Ship!" Battle OF Lake Champlain, War of 1812..
Deletejuvat - Aye!
DeleteLtFuzz - Indeed. A pox on Alinsky and all his followers, scum of the Earth.
DeleteVirgil - Not to be "that guy," but Captain Lawrence said that on the quarterdeck of his ship, USS Chesapeake, after being mortally wounded in battle with HMS Shannon. USS Chesapeake became HMS Chesapeake, we lost that one.
DeleteOliver Hazard Perry used that on a flag at the battle on Lake Champlain.
@OAFS/ You're right ("Hits self on head") Was quoting from memory & forgot just exactly who that "Victor Dude" actually was at the Battle of Lake Champlain. :)
DeleteIf I hadn't just read Six Frigates I probably would have missed that.
DeleteFunny story re Battle of L. Champlain & War of 1812, Sarge: When we lived in Louisville some of our best friends were a CPA & his school-teacher wife who taught in inner-city grammar schools to under-privileged Blacks. In teaching the unit on the War of 1812 she mentioned that the Treaty of Paris which ended the war was negotiated by none other than John Jay who later went on to become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. While reviewing for a test on the unit she asked if she had covered everything. One of her favorite & earnest, hard-working students piped up: Miss Evans, you forgot that Indian part" "Indian?" Roz replied. "Yeah, you know, the one about 'Chief Justice?' " LOL! THEN, upon little "Johnny' taking the test Roz, anxious to see how her favorite student had done inquired:"Well, how do you think you did?" "Oh, pretty good Miss Evans except that question asking who was the victor of the of Lake Champlain. I could never figure out exactly who that 'Victor Dude' was."
ReplyDelete:)
Zoiks! I edited & STILL omitted "Battle"
DeleteVirgil #1 - Great story!
DeleteVirgil #2 - I didn't notice until you mentioned it, odd how the mind fills in the blanks.
Delete