It's still like dying and going to heaven to hear a Secretary of State raise the bar in political discourse.. politics being 'downstream from culture' and all.
They (the ancients) believed – fiercely – in the ideal of the great man: the exceptional individual who obtains immortality through his own deeds. But they believed that glory and fame, those things were won through striving, sacrificing and achieving greatly for something larger than yourself. The recurring hero of the ancient Greek world was the man who was willing to pay any cost for a cause worthy of his loyalty. We see this in Socrates, who refused to abandon the inquiry into truth even at the cost of his own life. We see it in the legendary stand of 300 Spartans – surrounded and hopelessly outnumbered by the vast armies of Persia – who refused the chance to save themselves, choosing to fight to the last man rather than abandon their post or abandon their duty. And we see it in the epic myth of Achilles, who is offered the choice to return home and live a long and peaceful life – but chooses instead to remain at Troy and perish in pursuit of eternal glory.
These – these are the qualities that would shape the Western moral imagination. From the Christian martyr who refused to betray his faith to the patriot who gave his life for his country; from Saint Thomas More to the Battle of the Alamo, running through the immortal closing words of the Declaration of Independence of the United States which says, 'We mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.'
It is from the Greeks that the West inherited its sense of duty – an unbreakable loyalty to one’s code, one’s cause, one’s country. Our heroes, the heroes of the West are those who choose to remain faithful to their duty precisely when it is most difficult and painful to do so: the man who is bound by his word, the soldier who will not abandon his post, the captain, the proverbial captain, who goes down with his ship. This is wholly different from what we see, even now, for example from fanatics like the radical mullahs of Iran, whose cult of death hails child suicide bombers as national heroes, and portrays martyrdom as an end to itself. Our heroes – our heroes may be willing to die for their cause; but our heroes do not worship death. It is precisely because we value life that we come to recognize the heroism in those who would sooner sacrifice it than to betray their principles.
Now, we take the West’s conception of these things – heroism, honor, duty – we take these things for granted. We assume that these somehow are universal to all people in all times and in all places. They are not. They are the product of a distinct character, a distinct character which arose here and shaped the whole story of the civilization that came after it. A civilization that we must fight to defend today with the same passion as our forefathers did.
Oh God, a 1000 times, Amen!
This is rightly the future of political discourse - and has been all along if you love the Free World. A command to RISE.
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Olivia is a NZ blogger, author and essayist who likes to write about history and its wide influence on our present time. This article was sourced HERE
These – these are the qualities that would shape the Western moral imagination. From the Christian martyr who refused to betray his faith to the patriot who gave his life for his country; from Saint Thomas More to the Battle of the Alamo, running through the immortal closing words of the Declaration of Independence of the United States which says, 'We mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.'
It is from the Greeks that the West inherited its sense of duty – an unbreakable loyalty to one’s code, one’s cause, one’s country. Our heroes, the heroes of the West are those who choose to remain faithful to their duty precisely when it is most difficult and painful to do so: the man who is bound by his word, the soldier who will not abandon his post, the captain, the proverbial captain, who goes down with his ship. This is wholly different from what we see, even now, for example from fanatics like the radical mullahs of Iran, whose cult of death hails child suicide bombers as national heroes, and portrays martyrdom as an end to itself. Our heroes – our heroes may be willing to die for their cause; but our heroes do not worship death. It is precisely because we value life that we come to recognize the heroism in those who would sooner sacrifice it than to betray their principles.
Now, we take the West’s conception of these things – heroism, honor, duty – we take these things for granted. We assume that these somehow are universal to all people in all times and in all places. They are not. They are the product of a distinct character, a distinct character which arose here and shaped the whole story of the civilization that came after it. A civilization that we must fight to defend today with the same passion as our forefathers did.
Oh God, a 1000 times, Amen!
This is rightly the future of political discourse - and has been all along if you love the Free World. A command to RISE.
Click to view
Olivia is a NZ blogger, author and essayist who likes to write about history and its wide influence on our present time. This article was sourced HERE
6 comments:
Hopefully the next US president.
It is good to see our Graeco-Roman heritage getting such publicity. However, I think the assertion that "It is from the Greeks that the West inherited its sense of duty" may be stretching things a bit. Duty to king & country was a well established paradigm throughout Europe (and Asia, especially China) way back. Duty as perceived by, inter alia, the ancient Germanics did not stem from Greek philosophers and storytellers.
Where the Olympics came from is a good start for me as they are generally a unifying force .
Gag! Is Pierson seriously elevating the utterances of Rubio to Socratic heights? A man whose only political objective is to do the bidding of Donald Trump, the biggest hypocrite in United States politics who specialises in recasting Western civilisation in his own corrupt image. How dare Rubio lecture the rest of us on the meaning of life when he clearly only has his sights set on Trump's job, although I daresay Governor of Cuba might come a close second.
Rubio will be the next US President. From what is admittedly a narrow field he’s the only one ‘telegenic’ enough to look the part.
Democrat Newsome also does, but he is completely tainted by his association with the mess that is California under his Governorship, so, in our times when appearance is everything, Rubio it will be.
Is it just me, or does anyone else struggle to see the difference between a Greek hero willfully sacrificing his life in defence of values he holds sacred, and an Arab heroine who willfully sacrifices her life in defence of values she holds sacred? Or is it just that groupthink dictates - Western good, Arab bad?
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