Maggie's Farm

De Blasio could be as every other politician: long on talk, short on action. In 2019, should I live so long, I will look back at de Blasio’s term to judge how closely his rhetoric matched his actions.

What we learn from history is that people learn very well from history, but not the lessons we’d like them to learn.

From the history of Germany, we’d like politicians to learn the folly of the ideological state without limits. Yet the Big Lie and other propaganda techniques served Goebbels and Hitler well, for a while. Modern politicians like the means, think they can avoid the ends.

From Stalin, Castro, Mao, Chavez, et. al., we’d like people to learn the limits of ideological economics and the power of the state. Instead politicians learn that Stalin died an old man in his dacha, not hung from a meat hook like Mussolini and that Mao is the well-regarded founder of a rich and prosperous China. Che is the beloved icon of millions of well-educated Americans.

I’m sure de Blasio has learned his lessons and believes he can surpass those whom he admires. And he was freely chosen by our nation’s best and brightest and richest.

I, for one, wish him success. I hope he and his supporters get everything they want ten times over. Good luck to him. And to them.