I was thinking about monuments. What are our monuments to, in Washington? We have the Washington monument, dedicated to one of the most scrupulous and talented leaders the world has ever known. We quite easily could have been ruled by a dictator.
The Lincoln Memorial remembers, too, one of the most talented and principled leaders any nation has ever known. He was a passionate abolitionist, but considered the principles of our Constitution and the necessity of preserving the Union to be paramount. He negotiated as well as was possible the most terrible time our nation has ever known. One can question his wisdom, but not his humanity and deep-seated desire to do what was right.
The Vietnam and Korean War memorials remember wars we fought overseas for other nations, to protect their freedom, and to position the powers of democracy favorable relative to the Communist authoritarians who wanted to end freedom on the planet Earth.
World War 2 memorial remembers another war we fought overseas, which resulted in the liberation of large sections of East Asia, the protection of Australia and New Zealand, and the liberation of Europe. Other people started the War. We finished it.
Jefferson Memorial. He was a complicated man, but no one can doubt that even though he may have been weak as an individual-really, a man of his times and his place–that he articulated some of the most noble ideals ever uttered by anyone.
Contrast this with the Arc De Triomphe. It remembers a dictator who made war on Europe for over a decade, killing millions. He was the heir to a revolution in which they tried to kill religion, and succeeded in murdering ten’s of thousands of people solely based on accidents of birth, political misfortune, and chance.
The Eiffel Tower was erected on the 100th anniversay of that same revolution, which created the template for Communist totalitarianism.
If you look at Rome, you see everywhere symbols of either Catholic tyranny, or Roman tyranny. The Coliseum saw the public murder of many people. St. Peter’s has presided over the execution of many heretics.
Look at Greece. The Athenians were imperialists. They conquered large sections of the Mediterrean, including parts of Turkey, Sicily and other places. The Parthenon itself, as I recall, was built in a time of war with somebody. Might have been the Peloponnesian War.
I don’t have the time and patience to be exhaustive, but will say simply that almost all nations commemorate empires. The Kremlin. Tiananmen Square. Angkor Wat.
The people we commemorate were decent human beings. The wars we have fought have by and large been for other nations. The Spanish-American War was fought in no small measure because of the repressions of the Spanish.
We have not been saints, by any means, but I do see a sincere effort to remember times of genuine generosity and nobility of spirit. Our best is better than the best of most other nations in history.