History Echoes

 

"Some of the movements that sprang from this longing were evil. Some people believed that they could impose order on an unruly society through bogus race science and white supremacy. This was the era of lynching and racial terrorism."   That's New York Times columnist David Brooks speaking of a time in U.S. history.  

Much of what Brooks said echoes the earlier evil of late eighteenth century France.  In the Reign of Terror, the revolutionaries believed that science would cleanse the nation of social evil.   Those not in favour of the Revolution were summarily executed--about three thousand in Paris alone and tens of thousands more across the nation.

In both cases, wholesale killing was done  in the name of public safety.

The ultimate in state killing echoed in  twentieth century Germany.  Despotic Adolf Hitler called his version of public safety "a new world order".  Science was  very much involved in the slaughter of millions of Jews, intellectuals and others who failed to adhere to the Nazi line.  

Truly "history doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme."  History also has a strange echo.  I'm thinking of fully blown despots  Vladimir Putin of Russia and China's Xi Jinping. And among the world's punk despots we have Hungary's Victor Orban and supremely so Kim Jong Un of North Korea.  Echoes will always be with us.