On the Deadness of Marxism
In his most welcome remarks on my tribute to the Battle of Cold Harbor, Michael Sheldon tried to imagine what a Marxist theory of the Civil War might be like – Eeevil captains of industry sending the poor off to be killed so that they could be replaced in the factories by even cheaper freed slaves, etc. Marxists and progressives, borrowing from Hegel, do see history as the constant collision and reformation of vast impersonal forces or classes, like some cosmic lava lamp. Such a souless, dreary perspective leaves the after-taste of despair and impotence. If anyone gets anything from my series on liberty, let it be this: The thoughts, words and deeds of even the least of us can MATTER – whether it was a scribe for King Alfred, a palfrey rider bring news from the next shire, a man-at-arms for one of the barons who forced King John’s hand, a clansman who stood with the Bruce at Bannockburn, or a yeoman archer beside his king at Agincourt.
"All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was all vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act upon their dreams with open eyes to make them possible." T.E. Lawrence (of Arabia).
So the next time somebody tells you to "dream on," take them up on it; and get "dangerous."
About the Author
David Churchill Barrow
David Churchill Barrow is a Massachusetts “Swamp Yankee” descendant of William Bradford and Myles Standish of Pilgrim fame, who grew up on a farm that has not been sold since first built in the early 1700s. In that farmhouse still hangs the commission of James Churchill as a captain in the Massachusetts militia signed by John Hancock, and the sword of Thomas Churchill, a Navy engineer who served in the Blockade of the Confederacy. David’s father, David Bradford Barrow, was a Marine gentleman farmer who commanded a flame-thrower tank in the Battle of Saipan in WW II.
David’s childhood was mostly spent in the woods and swamps of Southeast Massachusetts, building forts and pretending to be Daniel Boone, the Little Drummer Boy of Shiloh, or just an unnamed “Minuteman” making ready to “fire the shot heard round the world.” He has lived and breathed history since first opening his eyes.
He met his wife MaryLu in high school. They were married in 1979 and have three adult children. MaryLu is a former elementary school teacher working on her first children’s book. Today they live just outside Tampa, Florida, with their
Berger Blanc Suisse Attila and their two cats, Minnie and Tink.
David has written non-fiction historical pieces and columns for
The Tampa Tribune (now the Tampa Bay Times),
The Marine Corps Gazette and the “
Lore of the Corps” section of
The Marine Corps Times. He has been a regular contributor of both short stories and posts to
Liberty Island Magazine since its inception. He and MaryLu co-authored
Silver and Lead and are working together on a YA novel centered around the so-called “Boston Massacre.”
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