As I mentioned in my previous essay, “What Will It Take,” Russia, historically has had no shortage of brutal despotic rulers. I imagine that Vladimir Putin, reflecting on his country’s bloody past, must have felt a bit dwarfed by the towering dictators that have gone before, especially when it comes down to the murder of innocent people. In that regard,
The civilized world, it would appear, is eternally threatened by “barbarians at the gates.” The Online Etymology Dictionary defines “barbarian” as: “pertaining to savages, rude, uncivilized.” The term was originally applied in classical times to invading tribes that were not Greek or Roman, and were said to be less “civilized” that the Greco-Roman citizens. The term has long been used
They haven’t changed. Not at all. While contemporary commentators have lauded the perfectibility of man, writers and poets have waxed eloquent on the spiritual growth of people, societies and countries, and political commentators speak of “a new era,” they haven’t changed. Though the world’s people gave a collective sigh of relief upon the collapse of the Soviet Union (and the