Oh yes. It's capitalized, bitches. And you totally know who I'm talking about. The Historical Bad Dudes AND the people who just wave them off because they were defeated by 'Merica and our Planet Police Predecessors (also capitalized), all those Elizabeths and Henrys. Or they become irate with you for showing some sort of interest or (gasp!) respect for them.
"WHY DO YOU HAVE BOOKS ABOUT HITLER?"
"Because, I--"
"You hate Jewish people!"
"No, I really don't, I just--"
"And gay people!"
"Now, hold on--"
"And the Easter Bunny!"
"Are you going to let me talk?"
"You want to rule the world!"
"Now there you've got me."
"You must be a vegetarian."
" ........shit."
For cereal, though, folks. If you have any concern for the future, it is wise to familiarize yourself with the past. The average person understands this, but not everyone seems to understand that this also means "the bad shit." And obtaining knowledge about someone, or having respect for some aspects of their life, does not mean you condone the bad shit that they did. Most modern Historical Bad Dudes really did think they were doing what was best for their people, their country, and the future.They were complex packages full of good philosophies, genius military and leadership skills, and underlying psychotic elements and one or more really flawed points of logic, a.k.a really bad ideas. Obviously, they wouldn't fall into the Historical Bad Dude category if they didn't do something that we, as looker-backers, deemed bad shit or a really bad idea.
I have a Historical Bad Dude crush. Actually, I have a few, but for right now, let's just talk about my latest one. His name is Napoleon Bonaparte. As far as Historical Bad Dudes are concerned, he is fairly tame. He just really pissed off our Planet Police Predecessors on enough occasions that they, in typical fashion, made a big deal out of it, throwing the tea cups down and draggin' out the suits of armor and freakin' armadas. Also, he falls into HBD category because, and this is key now, kids: he lost. Multiple times actually. Loser=Bad Dude.
 |
| "Work it, baby. Work it." nga.gov |
So, everyone knows (I think) they can learn from their own mistakes. You can also learn from extremely well-documented ex-leaders' mistakes, as well. Hitler probably could have won if he had studied more Napoleon. You are not familiar with this concept possibly because you have written them both off.
"They were Bad Dudes, and we beat them. Who cares? Let's stop talking about it, you twisted mofo."
"Okay, you know why Hitler lost, right?"
"WHY ARE YOU SO OBSESSED WITH HITLER?!"
"Hitler attempted to fight a war on two fronts, one of the fronts being Russia, a country with a notoriously large population, dangerously close to winter, for which Russia is also notorious. Now, if Hitler hadn't written off the mistakes of the losers before him, we wouldn't be having this conversation. We'd be eating sausages--because Hitler loved sausages. No, he was not a vegetarian. Vegetarians are not evil--and cleaning the gas chambers. Actually, you might not be, but I would, because I am German, and therefore superior."
"NAZI! I knew it!!"
".....shit."
One common theme you may notice, in our brief studies of Hitler and Napoleon, is that they ARE people who wrote off HBDs, too. At least some HBDs did their homework. Napolean, a military strategy genius, was an expert on many HBDs and their campaigns. Did it help him in the end? No. Hitler was familiar with Napolean, just waved him off as a loser and thought he could do better, as did Napoleon with most of his knowledge when he saw his goal getting near. There is a word for this. It's called arrogance. And everyone knows what happens after that...eventually you do something stupid that history would clearly tell you can't be done. 'Somebody else already tried this, and let's talk about what happened to them. I don't think you're going to like it.' And you completely justify all of your means and ideas, even if it's a really bad idea and some bad shit, because you are so clouded by you own damn arrogance and desire to prove that you can.
So, why do you scare me, HBD-hater?
1) you're arrogant, and will likely make mistakes around me. Maybe big ones.
2) you likely have no respect for the ideas of others, and therefore, little respect for anything, I'm guessing.
3) you don't understand the value learning from the mistakes of others, so you may also be incapable of learning from your own damn mistakes, too.
4) you don't understand the value of familiarizing yourself with the past, because it WILL repeat itself. Therefore....
5) You have no idea how to recognize future HBDs....
| Rick Perry, dallasobserver.com |
If you have an HBD crush, I am seriously wiggling in anticipation in my seat. Please comment, and I will know that I do not need to fear you.
Fakewords: #'Merica (I'm not taking credit for that), #Elizabeths, #Henrys, #HBDs, #mofo
No comments:
Post a Comment