Quote of the Week...from George Santayana

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.     ---George Santayana

There is a corollary to this quote by the famous Spanish-American philosopher George Santayana (1863-1952): "A country without a memory is a country of madmen".  I first encountered his writing during my senior high school English class in late 1973...I had just turned 17.  It was an assigned book containing short essays from different intellectuals of the past.  Santayana's contribution was dry and pretentious...and I said as much on my subsequent written report, for which I received a grade of "9" (that school's equivalent of "A+").  But Santayana's legacy rests not so much in essays or books as it does in aphorisms, which is a fancy way of saying short, profound quotes.  With these he was right on target, as the above two illustrate.  My experience with politics and the rise of authoritarianism in some countries tells me that not only can we point back to world history of times like the early twentieth century, but also, we can see trends in our present mimicking those that led to the loss of freedom and democracy in different countries. The problem as I understand it is that within most nations exists a substantial core population of people who I conveniently term the "rabble".  They tend to view intellectuals as alternately weak and manipulative, while viewing strongarm leaders as effective and worthy of their devotion, at the same time tending to scapegoat various segments of the population as causing their own problems as they embrace tailor-made conspiracy theories to support their own prejudices...sound familiar?  The ominous revival of fascism here in America is also going on in other parts of the world...and I think this process is cyclical with that core potential in the population to keep stirring things up.  I'd hate to think we're getting another Hitler, but as Santayana said, those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it...and yes, a country without a memory is a country of madmen.  As for the philosopher's other writing, age has mellowed my earlier negative reaction to it.  When you're a novelist, you are writing with the general reader in mind, tailoring your language and narrative to their level and perspective.  When you're an academic, your papers will come out in a language that covers your thesis and arguments as completely as possible...this can result in that dry, almost unreadable text that students have long suffered with their assigned math textbooks.  Still, I'm partial to Santayana's aphorisms...