LEGACY REVIEWED Twenty-five years ago, under the disapproving gaze of Vladimir Lenin, whose giant stone bust loomed behind him, President Reagan addressed the students at Moscow State University. Referencing the garish backdrop depicting the Communist Revolution – complete with gold hammer-and-sickle – Reagan declared, “Standing here before a mural of your revolution, I want to talk about a very different revolution ... quietly sweeping the globe without bloodshed or conflict ... we are seeing the power of economic freedom spreading around the world.” The New York Times wasn’t impressed. “Like any actor, of course, Mr. Reagan relies on scripts, sets, and direction,” they sneered. But it was an extraordinary moment of triumph. Six years before, on June 8, 1982 , Reagan had described to the British Parliament “a plan and a hope for the long term – the march of freedom and democracy which will leave Marxism-Leninism on the ash-heap of history as it has left other tyrannies which stifle the freedom and muzzle the self-expression of the people.” At the time, almost nobody save Reagan believed this could ever happen. Yet here he was, in Moscow, standing on the ash-heap itself. The year before, on June 12, 1987 in Berlin, Reagan had fiercely demanded: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” But now, before select Young Communist League students, Reagan’s tone was confident and quiet. The commies did not yet realize it, but he did: communism was already defeated. The next year, on November 9, 1989, that wall would come down – not by politburo edict, but smashed to smithereens by ordinary people, craving liberty. “Liberty, just as life itself, is not earned but a gift from God ... Progress is not foreordained. The key is freedom – freedom of thought, freedom of information, freedom of communication.” – Ronald Reagan , in U.S.S.R., May 31, 1988
Posted on: Mon, 24 Jun 2013 18:42:48 +0000