Why I do NOT support Churchill’s statue being defaced
. . .unless it’s officially sanctioned by whichever local city or government body is responsible . . .
Britain was recently rocked by a controversy on the Churchill statue defacing (along with which the statue of a well known philanthropist (I think?) and business person and former slave trader was also uprooted and flung into the ocean).
#blacklivesmatter, as they say.
Or does LIFE really matter?
The rioting, the anarchy, the RISING CRIME RATE and the ongoing MADNESS about defunding police departments (perhaps stunningly enough, the Seattle mayor is a lady that is seemingly unfazed by the rising crime and rape stats in the city!) . . . .
Is this the way to protest — anything, or any life?
Would George Floyd, or anyone with any sense have wanted this?
Herschel Walker, a man I GREATLY admire, and a man I’ve featured in 0 Excuses Fitness (very rightfully so) made the comment about if certain groups of people wanted the police defunded, then TAKE those people there and let them live there (in anarchy, I can only assume!).
But this isn’t even about those protests.
Winston Churchill, a great leader and orator.
Winston Churchill, an avowed and self proclaimed RACIST.
Winston Churchill, probably the UK’s greatest leader ever till date.
Winston Churchill, a man I greatly admire (might sound strange, but I do).
A multi faceted individual indeed that accomplished a hell of a lot. And curiously enough a man after my own taste.
Famously cranky.
Rose at 10AM at the earliest, and from what the books tell us, conducted business while in bed.
Replace bed with “man cave”, and 10 AM by 1130 AM, and you’ve got Rahul Mookerjee’s style of doing “business” right there!
All great men though are flawed, my friend and multi faceted.
And before the wackos (amongst those reading this) proclaim me as racist or “trying to put myself on par with Churchill”, let me tell you one damn thing.
I ain’t.
And I ain’t.
In fact, this piece isn’t about Churchill’s many accomplishments, or his famously racist and cranky statement about the 1943 (I think??) Bengal famine that led to millions starving in India while the grains were diverted to the U.K. as part of war rations (yes, they were running a surplus while people in india, supposedly the JEWEL in the crown were dying by millions).
Indians, a nation of people with a beastly religion, he was rumored to have said.
He was also rumored to not like the “slant” of Chinese (or Japanese, or Korean, and what we know as “Asian” eyes) . . .
(Before you nutters jump up and down calling me racist — please — FACT check. These are all recorded and verifiable facts about the man).
And yet . . . as I like to say, and as a wise man said BEFORE I was even born, I believe.
Those that don’t learn from history are doomed to REPEAT it.
And to me, learning from history doesn’t mean conveniently ignoring the BAD aspects of history.
It means LEARNING from history — and then MOVING past it.
#1 can only be done if we understand that terrible things happened in the past, and must never happen again, and the mindset that allowed a variety of horrible occurences to take place must never take place again.
. . . in the present, and in the future.
Such as looting black owned businesses, for instance, when allegedly and supposedly chanting and supporting “black lives matter”.
Or coolly ignoring the FACT that it was black people that SOLD THEIR OWN PEOPLE into slavery in the first place, so would that not make them equally culpable as white slave owners?
Or for the reparation drama currently going on? (If there is current more asinine issue, then I’d like to hear it!).
Why not LEARN from what Churchill did — the good things?
Why not adopt his good habits? His iron will? His INDOMITABLE SPIRIT? His oratory?
And so forth?
No, I am NOT saying forget his racism. Not for a minute.
But that is past, my friend.
Sometimes you have to, as my friend Uncle Bob once wisely said after a very long and protracted battle of words, “you have to let that bit of water flow under the bridge”.
Or, “we both need to get past it” (this was last year w.r.t a supposedly serious misunderstanding with one of my best friends).
And we did.
Last, but not least, mob mentality doesn’t, at least in MY book equate to popular opinion.
If there is a vote or whatever, and that vote (unrigged) says remove the statue, then remove the dadgum thing by all means.
But until that happens, and a CIVILIZED consensus is reached, I don’t support lunacy such as this.
And more on “forgetting history”?
Renaming cities in India to their so called “original names” for that matter falls under this ambit, at least to me.
Now don’t get me wrong. It ain’t an issue I care about either way. If you want to call Calcutta Kolkata, by all means do so. If you want to call Bangalore Bengaluru and Bombay Mumbai, then GO FOR IT, mi amigo.
You won’t hear a peep outta me.
But personally, every time I think of any of the above cities I think of the names I mentioned first, not the “new names”.
Is that right? Or wrong?
Am I a racist, or bleeding heart liberal?
Or an apologist?
Or, an “American dog” which was the latest in a very very long line of slurs I’ve been subjected to (keep ’em coming, I love ‘em! 😉).
I don’t know, my friend . . . personally I’d say none of the above.
Sometimes, some things just ARE.
And certain panty wadded sections of society need to ACCEPT things for what they are, and just bloody MOVE ON.
And those, my friend, are my thoughts on the mess.
More later!
Best,
Rahul Mookerjee
P.S. — And yes, I’m always this brazen and politically incorrect. Even on my newsletters, and even when I’m doing business (I’ll be posting a piece shortly about why its insane to be worried about losing business for saying it like it is — — stay tuned). Not everyone’s cup of tea. I get it. But for those of you interested in down to earth, brutally honest, fitness and other info — sign up right HERE-https://0excusesfitness.com/free-newsletter/
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