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Essays, Opinion, & Commentary |
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Something to Think About
by Gordon Francis Corbett
According to philosopher Alisa Zinovievna Rosenbaum, who wrote as "Ayn Rand," evil can never succeed except with the help of good. Exhibit "A" is the character of Adolf Hitler. Hitler had several extremely valuable attributes. Hitler was brave. He won five medals at the front in World War I. Hitler was perspicacious. Hitler could see people's motives and agendas as if they were tattooed on their foreheads. Hitler could persuade. He spoke so well that enormous audiences stopped thinking critically and followed him. Hitler was clever. Early on, he analyzed his German political opponents, and used those analyses to defeat them. His later attempt to do the same to the Allies succeeded until the combination of British cryptanalysis, of American men and materièl, and of his own addiction to amphetamines, defeated him. Hitler was industrious. Even for someone so wonderfully gifted, the subjugation of Germany required him to do an awful lot of plain hard work. These abilities could have let Hitler succeed legitimately. Unfortunately, legitimate work held little attraction for him. He had other plans. You see, Adolf Hitler was a crook: a brave, perspicacious, persuasive, clever, and industrious crook, whose gifts let him commit crimes of terrible size and horror. If Hitler had been a man of little bravery, of small oratorical skill, and of little perspicacity, cleverness, or ability to work hard, his cupidity could have brought him naught, and the millions he murdered would have lived out their lives in peace. Perhaps the greatest lesson is this. Few German philosophers had written much in support of liberty, and few Germans had read John Locke, George Mason, or our own Federalist Papers. Being therefore ignorant of principle, they placed their trust in one very bad personality. May we not do likewise.
Enrich your life with a book about politics and current events... Enrich your political & social life with a politics or news magazine... |
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Something to Think About Index |
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