A Reminder

14-appomattox-statue

"THE HISTORICAL MEMORY OF A NATION IS NOT MERELY A REPOSITORY.  OUR VISION OF THE PAST CHANNELS OUR VISION OF THE FUTURE BY CONSTRAINING OPTIONS, BUT ALSO IT PLAYS A PROACTIVE ROLE.  THIS MEMORY IS ACTUALLY A VERY IMPORTANT FACTOR IN STRUGGLE…. IF ONE CONTROLS PEOPLES' MEMORY, ONE CONTROLS THEIR DYNAMISM….  IT IS VITAL TO HAVE POSSESSION OF THIS MEMORY, TO CONTROL IT, TO ADMINISTER IT, TELL IT WHAT IT MUST CONTAIN.'  COLLECTIVE MEMORY IS THE TOOLSHED, TOMORROW'S IDEOLOGICAL ARSENAL, FROM WHICH POLITICAL CONCEPTS AND SYMBOLS ARE SELECTED, REINTERPRETED, AND MANIPULATED BOTH BY ESTABLISHED GOVERNMENTS AND OPPOSITION GROUPS.  IT MAY WAIT FOR DECADES, PATIENTLY DORMANT, ONLY TO BE REACTIVATED SUDDENLY AS AN EXPLOSIVE CONTAGIOUS FORCE."

DR. CHRISTINE M. HELMS IN MCNAIR PAPER # 10 "ARABISM AND ISLAM: STATELESS NATIONS AND NATIONLESS STATES."  SEPTEMBER, 1990.

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12 Responses to A Reminder

  1. Linda says:

    Very well said. How did you happen to pull that from your files. I’m impressed.

  2. turcopolier says:

    linda
    The SST archive is searchable. Helm’s point is apropos, is it not? The historic memory of the South is in the process of eradication, but more importantly the anarchists cadres are seeking to eradicate Western civilization. In London the mob is chanting that the West is dying. Societies that will not defend themselves deserve to die.

  3. AK says:

    …POLITICAL CONCEPTS AND SYMBOLS ARE SELECTED, REINTERPRETED, AND MANIPULATED BOTH BY ESTABLISHED GOVERNMENTS AND OPPOSITION GROUPS. IT MAY WAIT FOR DECADES, PATIENTLY DORMANT, ONLY TO BE REACTIVATED SUDDENLY AS AN EXPLOSIVE CONTAGIOUS FORCE.
    It’s a dire reading at first glance, but an alternative optimistic (if you can call it that) interpretation came to mind, as well. Could one expand the “established governments” element Helm’s mentions here to also encompass the established culture? If so, could not a patiently dormant force awaiting to be awoken be the sentiments and sensibilities of the established culture, sentiments and sensibilities that have grown somewhat moribund out of sheer comfort and lack of overt challenge over several decades? I ask, because I can’t help but think that there are 300 million firearms in this country, and the owners of that arsenal are most assuredly not on the Left. I also can’t imagine the complete absence of a reaction to the Left’s lawlessness and clear and present attempted takeover of structures of society. What does that reaction look like? Surely, they can’t expect this segment of America to just roll over. What then?

  4. I just heard about the removal of Appomattox from its pedestal by the UDC. Given what happened to their headquarters building in Richmond a few nights ago, I guess it was the prudent thing to do. It was vulnerable to being toppled. Do you have any idea where it will be displayed? I thought the city and the UDC were working on a plan to put it in or outside the Lyceum. Of all the Confederate monuments, that one was always my favorite.

  5. turcopolier says:

    All
    The UDC should hide it somewhere away from the sons of bitches I live amongst here.

  6. BABAK MAKKINEJAD says:

    TTG:
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronze_Soldier_of_Tallinn
    Same thing will likely happen in Berlin.

  7. Upstater says:

    “the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots & tyrants. it is it’s natural manure.”
    https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/105.html

  8. mcohen says:

    Great will check this person out.Any other stuff on site

  9. VietnamVet says:

    Colonel,
    Once upon a time, I drove by the statue, depending on the traffic, on my commute to work. Every time I saw it, I felt the sadness of war. Those who have no past have no future.

  10. Mike46 says:

    It’s been said that “History is written (or in this case rewritten) by the victors”.
    I don’t see any winners in this.

  11. Germanreader says:

    @Babak
    “Same thing will likely happen in Berlin.”
    Unlikely, there’s no movement for that in Germany, and there are binding treaties with Russia and Ukraine to preserve Soviet war memorials (which often are part of cemeteries of fallen Red army soldiers). Since Russia has allowed some cemeteries for German WW2 dead on her soil, it would also be a very foolish thing to do since it would invite counter-moves.

  12. BABAK MAKKINEJAD says:

    Germanreader
    I hope you are right.

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