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closeGeorge Santayana, (1863-1952) was a Spanish born philosopher, essayist, poet and novelist who wrote primarily in English and is generally considered an American man of letters. His most famous quote is, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” The quote first appeared in his 1905 book “Reason in Common Sense; The Life of Reason, Volume 1” and I first read it in a framed document mounted in a display case in the pedestal structure that support the statue of liberty.
Today in our country, we are engaged in a great ideological civil war which threatens to destroy our liberty. We are now, with the federal takeover of General Motors and the imminent takeover of the health-care system, fast heading down the road to socialism. The past has clearly taught the world that although it hides behind many guises such as Nazism, socialism, Marxist Leninism, Stalinism, Maoism and communism — the idea is flawed and dangerous.
I can tell you first hand it only took months from the day socialism took hold in Cuba to the day production stopped and the economy tanked. I can tell you first hand that registration of firearms took place and a few months later confiscation followed. I can tell you second-hand (a relative was a high-level manager in the sugar industry) that prior to socialism the Cuban sugar industry produced more sugar than the rest of the world combined and that two years later the Cuban sugar industry could not meet domestic demand.
Are we so arrogant as to think we can make this misguided idea succeed even though it has failed everywhere else on the planet? If we close our eyes to the past we will repeat it.
Pedro J Camejo is a resident of Warner Robins.
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