"Only now can we afford the truth," concludes this book review . The book admits that the French Resistance made no significant difference to the course of the war, but the myth of the Maquis helped De Gaulle resist Allied attempts to break up the French Empire.
Do you believe that there is a right time for the truth to be revealed?
Can you give examples of any truths that should be revealed, or myths dispelled, now?
half the problem in politics is that, at any given time, there is a body of truths that politicians dare not tell
ReplyDeletesometimes, however, they do need to deal with them, which puts them into a mode of lies and evasions
other times, the inability to tell translates into a refusal to acknowledge, or deal with them, at all
political genius is where someone know a truth, knows the sensitivities around telling it, knows it must be acted upon, and frames the public discourse so as to be able to advance towards it openly
The making of the welfare state which was in full flow from the last third of the 19th century and carried forward in its most important aspects - education, health and a subsistence income in times of unemployment - by Liberal and Conservative idealogues and politicians even after the Labour party came into being. Labour has a bad history of white male working class supremacy over any other group in society, including, indeed particularly, female working people.
ReplyDeleteFor specific events, the partigiani are viewed ambivalently by many, just like the French resistance.
Lots of them, including the fact that the financial system is irreperably broken, we have far too many mouths to feed worldwide, and all of our energy is running out. Not to mention the many drug-resistant diseases coming out.
ReplyDeleteI need a drink.
How about dispelling the Anthropogenic Global Warming myth, as soon as possible? (ie, before it bankrupts us all)
ReplyDeletePaddington, I call you as a Malthusian. There were people who thought we had too many mouths to feed a hundred years ago. They were wrong, too.