"There was no certainty; only the appeal to that mocking oracle they call History, who gave her sentence only when the jaws of the appealer had long since fallen to dust." - Darkness at Noon, Arthur Koestler
This quote is in reference to the horror of the Great Purges of the 1930's under Stalin's reign in communist Russia. It is appropriate because Marxism, the catalyst for the Soviet experiment, was entirely justified as objective historical fact- capitalism was simply a necessary stage of progression leading to communism. Soviet history is replete with the use of history as a means for justifying horrible things. The people simply had to endure the struggle, because history would one day show the world and its dissidents the truth about communism. In this they were right. History will always make its judgment, but it seems that judgment always comes too late. Millions of people may die, economies may crash, or countries may go to war before History passes its judgment. There is nothing to be done about this fact, but it is horrifying to consider. I am no anti-war activist, but this reliance on history's judgment along with its simultaneous uncertainty, hits a little too close to home with so many people making the claim (and rightly so) that no one can know now whether this war was right. Only time and the jurisprudence of History herself will work out this situation- long after the fact, long after all of the ramifications positive or otherwise have been realized.
On a lighter note, I just finished my last final and am getting ready to go home on Friday! Bittersweet.