Why should any living person dwell on the French Revolution? Well, there is more to it than picturesque Parisian backdrops, powdered wigs, and peculiar costumes. On the other hand, the powerful image of a blood-spattered guillotine may give us a hint! In deference to true wisdom, let us therefore take the opportunity to quote the Spanish-American philosopher George Santayana: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
Although we tend to congratulate ourselves on living in a so-called “knowledge society,” school education is in decline. The development is practically the same throughout the West. In any case, knowledge is very unevenly distributed in society. The academic standards of present-day curricula in both primary school and university are being lowered in favor of politicization and indoctrination. The principles of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” are at variance with the classical ideals of academia.
To be sure, intellectual corruption poses a major threat to the survival of Western civilization. That the younger generations have not learned history in school actually represents an inexcusable neglect. When distanced from the moral basis of the church and largely uncultured, discounting the erratic impact from social media, they become extremely sensitive to extremist propaganda. Ignorant of historical facts in outline or depth, they relate uncritically to ideologically distorted narratives such as that of racism as the driving force in history. Immature megalomaniacs and with an appetite to be in the front row, which is typical of youth at all times, they are too easily seduced by the sirens of totalitarianism. They lack an enlightened, independent perspective. We have let them down. Now they are taking revenge.
History offers lessons of obvious importance to our ongoing adaptation. In the time around the Reign of Terror, philosophical masterminds on good terms with the Jacobins introduced the prototypical concepts of (a) secularism, (b) egalitarianism, and (c) economic centralism (planned economy, big government), which initially seemed perfectly........