Greatness can be defined in many ways, sometimes it is when the right person encounters a critical moment in history. On the surface, that could be said of Winston Churchill. In the end, I believe that he was always a great man. His personal efforts in the great wars and being able foresee the future and consequences of the Iron Curtain are proof enough.
As the history of the wars fade, and the greatest generation passes silently from this world to the next. The western democracies are losing their way. History, as it is taught in our American school system, has become a background subject, with a majority of teachers believing that the United States and the West were the villains and the plague to all that is evil in the world.
Somehow socialism and communism have become vogue again with people clamoring for huge central governments tasked with supporting – controlling the masses. The thought of a big central government controlling my life makes me physically ill. As Churchill famously said in a speech to his cabinet, “If this long island story of ours is to end, at last, let it end only when each one of us lies choking in his own blood upon the ground!” I too, would do the same for our constitution, I will die defending it until I was choking upon my own blood upon the ground.
Why should be concerned with Churchill at this moment in time?” Churchill was:
- Courageous. Churchill said, “Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality that guarantees all others.”
- Committed to Principles. The moral foundation of life. Principles are the things that one can fall back on when life or situations begin to unravel.
- He was always learning and growing his knowledge. Never an idle moment with Churchill. Many have said that Churchill was always in a hurry, and he was.
- He had the incredible ability to learn from his mistakes. Not a trait that we would apply to many leaders.
- He didn’t blindly follow authority, which drove the conservative party nearly to wit’s end. If he towed the party line, Hitler would have had his way.
America and Britain, the two greatest English-speaking countries in the world need to step back and ask themselves, as Churchill has asked others during the early days of the war, “Where will we be after all that?”
Where will we be after the Chinese-virus? Where will we be when it’s time to rollback shelter in place and social restrictions? Where will be if the left wing with their communist/socialists ideals have their way? Where will be as individuals bound together with our roots in the Magna-Carta?
I say the United States and Britain take their rightful and earned place together to lead. Be the leaders of freedom, democracy, and liberty.
Still, it will take Courage, a commitment to a moral foundation, to learn and increase our knowledge, to learn from our mistakes, and to continually question authority.
We the people can do this.
Traveling the Bohemian Highway 