That particular slogan was like saying "tables usually have 4 legs". Well, yes. Yawn. Superficial and stupid. Or sagely noting that "summer follows winter". Okay. Thank you Mr Politician, here's all my money.
I was responding particularly to the anti-pacifist slogan, which was absurd. But the others were silly slogans too:
<Character, in the long run, is the decisive factor in the life of an individual and of nations alike. >
Was that some kind of revelation at the time, that character has some influence on a person's life? But of course it is not always the decisive factor in the life of an individual. Do you think "character" of the individual made much difference to the long run lives of those in Hiroshima? How about the Jews on the trains to Auschwitz? And, how about a young Maori wondering what those Pakeha were doing? Or, to suggest something BEFORE Teddy boy's time, being a slave in a plantation, or being shipped from Africa. Their characters didn't make a big difference to their lives. Being defined as slaves is what defined the overall ambit of their lives.
Within that dominating sphere, they could avoid being whupped with suitable displays of character. Excellent. That's kind of like freedom.
But as I say, it was the absurd, mindlessly moronic anti-pacifist slogan which particularly irked me. Roosevelt needed a good flogging to show him the error of his anti-pacifist ways.
Mqurice |
