The Danger of isms

I recently finished reading all of Winston Churchill's non-fiction books and compilations of his speeches. For him, World War One was easy. To end the war, all that was needed was, in two words, "Kill Germans!" His view was, as soon as enough Germans were killed, Germany would sue for peace. Basically, to simplify a very complicated topic, that's what happened.

World War Two was different. Killing Germans, Italians and Japanese was not enough; "ism"s had to be destroyed. A dead Hitler, Mussolini and Hirohito would have been nice, but it would not, in and of itself, end the danger. Nazism, fascism and militarism had to be destroyed. Those were ideologies which, for decades, had been the religion, almost literally, of the Germans, Italians and Japanese. You can shoot a person dead, which may be a bad idea because they could rise to the status of martyr, but not an "ism." Churchill recognized that and proceeded accordingly. (Of course, he would have loved to have also gotten rid of communism, but that was not to be.)

It will come as no surprise to my regular readers that the "ism" that I believe must be eradicated is wokeism. I define the newest cancer infecting society as the belief that others must subscribe to your social agenda or be eliminated, i.e., cancelled, fired.

Of course, nothing is never really new. Today, members of the Democratic party, first and foremost the president, refer to their opponents as "MAGA Republicans." In the 1858 and 1860 elections they were called, by the Democrats, "Black Republicans" because they, the Republicans, opposed slavery while Democrats supported, to one degree or another, "the peculiar institution" as it was euphemistically?called. Demeaning one's opponents is also part of wokeism. It's the mild form of "cancel culture." Don't agree with the gospel according to Kerry about climate change, and you are a "flat earther," meaning your opinion is so ridiculous it is not worth consideration...and neither are you. Nothing's new.

Even "cancel culture" is not new. Jon Meacham (p. 268) quotes Abraham Lincoln, speaking at Cooper Union during his first presidential campaign, as saying,

“You will grant a hearing to pirates or murderers, but nothing like it to ‘Black Republicans,’ ” Lincoln said, addressing white Southerners. “Indeed, such condemnation of us seems to be an indispensable prerequisite—license, so to speak—among you to be admitted or permitted to speak at all.”

My modest solution, again no surprise to my regular readers, is to hire seniors. Having strict HR policies forbidding promoting one's political or social agenda in the workplace is another step to be considered. Something must be done. Historically, wars of words have become wars of bullets and, hopefully, no one wants that.

I shall conclude by once again quoting Lincoln, who, as an elected represented from Illinois in the House of Representatives, said in 1848, "The true rule, in determining to embrace, or reject anything, is not whether it have [sic] any evil in it; but whether it have [sic] more of evil, than of good" (p.165). I find no good in wokeism, only evil.

(The quotes are from Jon Meacham's, And There was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle; emphasis added.)

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