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May Day 2006: A Day of Remembrance
In remembrance of May Day, Catallarchy's contributors as well as some other guest writers speak to many of the historical evils done "for the people" by the government. Unfortunately for us all, history has too often been rewritten and too soon forgotten.
From last year's May Day:
The modern celebration of May Day began as a working class holiday in the late 19th century. It was the culmination of a struggle of the common man for better working conditions and a demand for greater dignity. In the 20th century, various governments gave their official endorsement to the holiday with celebrations consisting of displays of military and political might. With trumpets blaring, tanks rolled through public squares and square-jawed soldiers marched in lockstep, saluting flags while the Premier reveled in the exhibition of power.
Such parades were largely a facade that hid a harsh underlying reality. While the regimes played up an image of strength and vigor to the outside world, the societies they ruled over were decaying on the inside. And the same power on display in the parades was used in carte blanche fashion to create terror, repression, brutality, and crimes against humanity. The unfortunate irony is that the common man bore the brunt of the hardship. The victims of these totalitarian states were privy to human nature at its darkest depths.
Here are some topics they are covering at Catallarchy this year:
How Many Did Stalin Really Murder? by R. J. Rummel. Prof. Rummel estimates the number to be around 43 million, over twice the consensus number of 20 million.
The Road to Hell Was Paved with Bad Intentions by Bryan Caplan. Professor Caplan asks if Communism is remembered in a better light than Nazism simply because the Communists had better intentions.
The Berlin Wall by Randall McElroy. McElroy cites a speech by J. F. K. who spoke about the Berlin wall:
Freedom has many difficulties, and democracy is not perfect. But we have never had to put a wall up to keep our people in—to prevent them from leaving us.
The converse is also true: why would you ever want to keep people out if you truly believe in freedom? But we'll save that discussion for another day.
Remember May Day 2006.