Dr. Jones: Robert Conquest nails it...

Again.

Conquest is the historian of Soviet Communism whose books The Great Terror and Harvest of Sorrow made it impossible for honest scholars to believe that Stalin was just slaughtering a "few bad apples" in his purges. Conquest's careful documentation of the millions of Soviets murdered by the Soviet Union made that impossible to believe. It was a vast democide.

In Harvest, Conquest stated:

We may perhaps put this in perspective in the present case by saying that in the actions here recorded about twenty human lives were lost for, not every word, but every letter, in this book.

As this blogger noted: "That sentence represents 3,040 lives. The book is 411 pages long."

Conquest, a leading historian of Communism, has now entered the fray over universalism versus multiculturalism in the 21st century...and he comes down decisively in favor of universalism: Liberty for all, or at least tyranny for none, is what he wants as the driving force behind 21st century international relations. This kind of moral universalism is suspect within academia (and some wings of both political parties) today, but it is simply the new century's invocation of this man's words:

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.

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Orig Posted by Garett Jones to Right Economy at 12/01/2005 01:32:00 AM