During a long & very varied political life, Winston Churchill was frequently vilified & called to account. A disastrous military adventure in Turkey during the First World War resulting in massive loss of life & uncompromisingly tough action taken against strikers during the General Strike of 1926 blighted his career. Arguably only Adolf Hitler could have revived Churchill's fortunes.
I have no axe to grind for him. He was as enthusiastic a supporter of class division & as ruthless a promoter of aggressive imperialism as any of his peers. However, the chilling statement to the right evinces clearly a.) an ability to reflect & analyse clearly & rationally; b.) a sense of vision & an apprehension of cause & effect; c.) a facility with language that enables fluent & lucid communication.
Whatever tactical manoeuvrings & shameless pragmatism drove Churchill's political practice, what is clear from the statement is an awareness of the appalling dangers that attend extreme political activity. In the final analysis, even if morality is on permanent hold, intelligence & enlightened self-interest inform the choices made by even the most Machievellian of able politicians.
Global oblivion is unlikly to come about while the wily, canny leaders with an acute sense of self-preservation are in the chair. It will be decisions made by slack-jawed, wall-eyed, grinning idiots that will see us off.
10:26:55 PM 
|
