 |
|
|
 |
Death Rattle for the 20th Century Too early for a wake. Too soon for a eulogy. An autopsy is out of the question. The body isn't even cold yet. But I can't help reflecting on the amazing 1900s... soon to pass away, out of sight and out of mind... ...which leads me back, as Yeats put it, "where all ladders start, that old rag and bone shop of the heart." One of my favorite movies is a film which may never have even made it to US screens... "Stalingrad." Made by a German filmmaker, it tells the story of a squad of German troops who are sent into the battle of Stalingrad in WWII. The opening scenes show the troops relaxing on the beaches of Italy. Then, they are on a train to the eastern front. Their young officer addresses a letter to his sweetheart, explaining how exhilarated he was to be in the company of his comrades-in-arms. I do not remember his lines. But I recall their message: Finally, being sent to the front, his life had meaning and purpose. It was the message of the mob -- the rallying spirit of football fans... but at a game played for mortal stakes. Like the good soldier he was, the hero of the story did not question the war, or even the strategy with which it was pursued. His job was to fight. He had his place, his role, his purpose. Stalingrad was a military blunder of epic proportions. The Germans dithered and foolishly allowed themselves to be cut off. Nine hundred thousand troops were taken prisoner. Very few of them survived the Russians' prisoner of war camps. Maybe a couple of thousand. But the greatest blunder of the entire century -- and what made it the bloodiest century in history -- was the way the intellectual classes embraced politics and used it to give meaning and purpose to their lives. Down in that rag and bone shop of the heart, people need the support of the crowd. Thousands of Ph.D. theses in psychology... as well as undergraduate research projects... have explored this dimension of the human character. People feel the need to fit in -- to be a part of something greater than themselves. They look to others... to the crowd... to give them courage, meaning, and purpose. The mob's imagination is not limited by experience or common sense. Well fed, rested troops, tanned from the Italian Riviera, and surrounded by what must have seemed like an abundance of materiel, may well imagine that they could conquer Russia. Likewise, a mob of investors can imagine that they will all get rich buying and selling stocks among themselves. Mobs turn men in to fools. The hallmark of the 20th century was the abandonment of private life for empty promises of mob politics. Hitler began by promising property and national pride. He then initiated campaigns to make life safer and healthier -- gun control and anti-smoking efforts were not born in America; they were products of Nazi Germany. The promises -- like the valuations of the Nasdaq 100 -- got further and further removed from good sense. It was not long before soldiers of the Third Reich were on their way to front lines in both the East and the West - - another colossal blunder that military strategists had warned against for at least a generation. But people want to believe in politics. Nietszche spoke for the intellectual establishment when he said that God was dead. Politics replaced God -- it gave people a rational, revolutionary plan that provided order and purpose. David Horowitz's memoire, "Radical Son" describes his parents' search for a place in 1930s America. They were the children Jewish immigrants to America and felt out of place. Communism gave them a sense of belonging, a new role to play, and an agenda. "I believe in politics," is how one radical feminist described her creed. She and millions of others embraced it. And the result has been a century of Stalingrads. Few people will mourn when this century ends. Bill Bonner * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
