For the Common Good

My friend John has an article in the American Thinker that explains why history is so important for us to remember and learn from.

The past week saw the anniversary of one of the great tragedies of history overlooked by most of the US mainstream media. On November 24th 75 years ago, Stalin announced plans to collectivize all grain from his people, in an attempt to enforce "true socialism" on the people for their own good. This Holodomor (forced famine) sentenced millions of Ukrainians to their deaths.

The lesson was given to John by a family member who lived through those days.

Last month I was in the Ukraine visiting my family, and got to meet my babushka (Russian word for grandmother), Darina. Darina is in her 80's and has lived in her little house for her entire life. She was a little girl when Stalin forced the food production quotas on the Ukraine people.

What John's babushka lived through was the starvation of 3.5 million Ukranian people for the "common good". It was a phrase that was used by the Stalinists to justify the gradual enslaving of the Russian people. So the next time that a politician proposes taking from one group to give to another, think about babushka Darina and the starvation of the Ukranian people. Stop and reflect on what the people suffered at the hands of an all powerful "benevolent" government that said that they were operating "for the common good".

Cross-posted at Ladies Logic