THE LONG MEMORY

In 1958 the musical film “South Pacific” hit the big screen. Elders remember well the beautiful movie based on the work of author James Mitchner that left us with such lovely music as “Some Enchanted Evening.”  The film was set on a South Pacific island and though the major theme was about the World War II conflict between the US and Japan, the film was really about people trying to understand one another.

One of the sub-plots in “South Pacific” was about a young American naval officer who had fallen in love with a young Polynesian woman, and how he struggled to overcome his own learned racism and misunderstanding.  The following short scene and song from the movie display his anguish:

There is a lesson in this scene – “you’ve got to be taught to hate and fear” – that is still unlearned. Perhaps more than ever before, we Americans are the victims of “taught to hate and fear.”

Elders also remember that in 1962 President John Kennedy was being urged by his military advisors to launch an all-out nuclear attack on Russia (at that point the Soviet Union) because Russia had placed nuclear armed missiles in Cuba – minutes from destroying major American cities including Washington D.C. Thankfully for all humanity, the wisdom and moral integrity of both Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev resulted in the Russians removing their missiles from Cuba. The US would not, and could not, tolerate adversarial missiles on its borders.

Now I am asking you to listen – overcome the hatred and really listen – to a man we have been taught is evil incarnate, the very devil himself, speaking openly, answering with no notes or restrictions, the questions of international reporters:

And now I am asking you to listen to what passes for “news” in US media:

“You’ve got to be taught to hate and fear.” Like America in 1962, the people of Russia – and no it is not just the evil Putin – the people of Russia will not, and cannot, tolerate US missiles on their borders. US “leadership” is now setting the same stage in Taiwan that it set in Ukraine, and we are being taught to hate and fear the people of China.

 

---