[rollei_list] Re: OT: Health Care Costs
- From: Marc James Small <marcsmall@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2010 18:21:45 -0400
At 12:31 PM 3/22/2010, Allen Zak wrote:
>?? Your mischaracterization of Count Otto is considerably off the
>marck ;-) . The Iron Chancellor is universally regarded one of the
>preeminent reactionaries of his day, a tough-minded supporter of the
>German capitalist/aristocratic ruling class and implacable enemy of
>socialism.
Every major history of nineteenth century Germany
describes Bismarck as a REFORMER. The
reactionaries of the time were rigidly opposed to
the unification of the Germanies or sought a
"Great Germany" under Austrian leadership. Even
the relatively leftish professors at Yale touted
Bismarck as one of their own, when I studied
history in Grad School four decades back.
A "reactionary" is someone who wishes to overturn
recent social and political changes and to revert
to an earlier situation. Bismarck, to the
contrary, wanted to push Germany THROUGH a number
of changes so that it would become a completely transformed polity.
And, yes, he "fought" the Socialists -- by buying
them off. His successors were not as apt at
doing so but, even so, the SPD did not constitute
a threat to the German state until the late 1920's, when it became radicalized.
Marc
msmall@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Cha robh bàs fir gun ghràs fir!
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