The Decemberists, the Spanish Civil War, and Imperatives

If the title isn’t indicative of what a maelstrom my mind has been over the last month or so, I can’t really help you. However, charting the course remains a hobby, but continues to stand as my compulsion…

A few days ago, I was chatting with my wife about the Decemberists of 1825. It is fascinating to witness her amazement that she never knew (or questioned) what she learned about it in Soviet schools on the late 80s. The Soviet education system, even in the twilight of its own existence, carried a momentum of its own doing; the “truth” of the State was the only truth and the foundation of the justifications which lead to the creation and viability of the Soviet Union.

Those who were heralded as “heroes” in the textbooks were the ones who quite possibly fled early on, and the motivations which became legacy just might have been Machiavellian falsifications after the fact. Others may have implemented draconian measures during their ascent to power and, upon reaching the upper echelons of the social realities, continue to remove or intimidate at whatever cost necessary to keep that power at any cost necessary.

My reluctance for use of absolutes is intentional; after all, what if everything I know might be quite wrong – not just in this collection of my thoughts over the past few weeks, but on the larger timeline of my own life thus far.

All from one accidental video:

There’s a lot to unpack with this video – a dramatic representation of what might have happened on one day of a convoluted history of one nation. That’s always the case, isn’t it? That one image, one interpretation, one story… none of these things cannot possibly simplify the causes, motivations, and repercussions which lead up to and caused subsequent actions. One link does not make a chain, obviously.

While the effects of canister shot on static formations was grisly and fascinating at the same time, the reactions of the troops as they wavered between assurance, disbelief, shock, and self-preserving panic was one of the things which lingers in my mind. How did they – and others who were so sure that they were right – find themselves at that one moment in time? What effect did it have on the motivations of individual participation in their cause?

So many questions… but this is why history can be so addictive to some: the combination of philosophy, ethics, economics, sociology, psychology, physics, and logistics… All of these factors make for fairly deep thoughts on what it meant, what it means, and what it all implies.

Of course, this brings me to the question I was asked recently:

“You think we are getting close to something like the Spanish Civil War?”

Nah. Well, perhaps, but things are never the same.

We tend to look at the past with the understandings of the present.

I really don’t know how often it must be said: humans are not static. Repetitive and pattern-adhering, yes; violent and cruel at times even more so… but the societies we form and constitute are dynamic – even if that drive towards change seems more regressive than positive.

That is the challenge with history – we tend to think in present terms without understanding the contemporary meanings of the time… Likewise, other lessons which are so very clear – polarization, demonization, and the fickle nature of public opinion… these things have a predictable recurrence and yet still manage to completely surprise those who cherry-pick (at best) their own interpretations of history.

What we are seeing today… there are very few direct historical comparisons. Society has changed, technology has changed, and the mechanisms for governance have changed. The one overlooked constant, however, is what happens when the desperation on either side is fully realized. Then… quite often, “the rules go out the window.”

The Republicans of Spain in the 1930s consumed themselves in a blaze of idealism, but the individual versions of Utopia held by the different factions were effectively and violently incompatible. This isn’t to imply that the Nationalists were without fault – after all, there is rarely anything “civil” about civil wars; both sides were as vicious as they felt necessary – and then some.

In the end, it is always a matter of two variables who think theirs is an absolute for all factors involved.

We see it today every time we read the news, watch a movie, or participate in the great orchestration that is social media. Bias, suggestion, and censorship – a “right” and a “wrong.” Even writing such an obvious statement is bothersome… but apparently necessary as it becomes more and more apparent that emotions and reaction have increasingly replaced logic and caution in most communication.

So here we are… in the moment of history where our actions – or inactions – will resonate strongly in the world we will eventually leave…

We won’t be there to be blamed

We won’t be there to snitch

I just pray that someone there

Can hit the switch

Kate Bush, “Experiment IV”

Perhaps much of this will make sense to my kids when they are well past the “Meh” teenage years or the impulsiveness of their third year on the planet. I hope so… it will be my imperative to do all I can for them to remain as curious as they are impartial – up to a point, for we all have boundaries which should never be forced or imposed upon.

For them (when they are old enough to “get it”) and you, because you made it this far not to just make it this far, I leave three of my own maxims:

When you give up the ability to think for yourself, you negate any opinion or ability to push back when things don’t work out the way you expected.

History and hope are two distinct and dissimilar concepts, and to sacrifice one for the other would be to lose both.

Viciously Optimistic…

More later when I have more sleep and my ideas aren’t as fuzzy…