It is said that those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it. But the lesson that history teaches is that most people don't know the lessons of history. Here this week to help us understand the mindset of progressives – a group that never seems to learn from history – is Pedro Blas Gonzalez (barry.edu), Professor of Philosophy at Barry University. He looks at why people and leaders in totalitarian societies have behaved the way they have throughout history. Understanding their motivation helps to explain the illogic and contradictions constantly bandied about by the Left today. And it helps clarify for us what the truth really is.
One lesson we can learn from history is from the people and movements surrounding the fall of Communism in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Spotlighting both Pope John Paul II and the Solidarity movement in Poland is Stephanie Slade (reaosn.com), Managing Editor at Reason Magazine. She examines how the people in Poland never gave up on freedom, even when the powers that be tried to take it from them. Eventually, they had had enough, decided they were no longer going to live that way, and together with Pope John Paul II and others, planted the seeds of destruction for Communism. It's a great history lesson for today.
John finishes up the show this week highlighting inconsistencies in history. When flip flopping narratives replace truth, the solid foundation you built your belief or your society on begins to be overshadowed by other, less important things. That's when historical truth is forgotten and mistakes that shouldn't be made are made all over again.