Lessons of History
In 1968, eminent historians Will and Ariel Durant sounded a prescient word of caution in their book, The Lessons of History.
A democracy can be undermined, they wrote:
If war continues to absorb and dominate it, or if the itch to rule the world requires a large military establishment and appropriation, the freedoms of democracy may one by one succumb to the discipline of arms and strife. If race or class war divides us into hostile camps, changing political arguments into blind hate, one side or the other may overturn the hustings with the rule of the sword. If our economy of freedom fails to distribute wealth as ably as it has created it, the road to dictatorship will be open to any man who can persuasively promise security to all; and a martial government, under whatever charming phrases, will engulf the democratic world (pp. 79-80).
These observations of nearly 60 years ago echo George Santayana's original quote, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Hopefully we'll learn from the past, rather than attempt to ignore or deny it.....???
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Venezuelan misadventure