Talleyrand, when commenting upon the failures of the kings who precipitated the French Revolution, declared that the Bourbons “had learned nothing and forgotten nothing.” Despite their many mistakes, when restored to power they continued on the same unfortunate trajectory.
This observation has been compared with Einstein’s assertion is that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Nowadays, these admonitions apply to liberals. They also keep repeating failed policies in the expectation that they will work.
We have thus witnessed their inability to learn with respect to tax strategies. Leftists doggedly refuse to admit that lowering taxes spurs economic activity. We have similarly seen it with respect to health care. They loudly insist on a greater role for the government despite the disappointments of ObamaCare.
But it is in the area of foreign policy that we observe the most intransigence. On a nearly daily basis, Donald Trump is pilloried for his alleged incompetence in handling international relations. He is, by all accounts, a bully who is alienating our friends and placating our enemies.
This is absurd. It is doubly absurd in the light of Ronald Reagan’s triumphs. Reagan, as few would today deny, helped end the Cold War. Nonetheless, that was almost forty years ago. How could liberals be expected to remember something from that far in the past?
As it happens, Reagan was also ridiculed for his purported ineptitude. Everyone knew—certainly every liberal knew—that calling the Soviet Union an evil empire was insane. Baiting the Russian bear was a sure way to ignite a hot war. Insulting the communists would unquestionably provoke thin-skinned Bolsheviks into attacking us.
Détente—that’s what made sense. Be accommodating. Don’t demand that Gorbachev tear down the Berlin Wall. He isn’t going to do any such thing and therefore it is foolish to ask. Yet when he did offer concessions in Iceland, these could not be turned down. They were the best we could get.
Now here is Trump following in Reagan’s footsteps. He too is accused of being an inept amateur. Whenever he sounds belligerent, he is told to settle down and follow the advise of State Department professionals. They know that we must make nice with the Iranians and the North Koreans. Anything less could spark World War III.
But then Trump goes off the reservation and derides Kim Jong Un as “little rocket man.” Next he thumbs his nose as the Iranian mullahs. He tells them he will not honor Obama’s agreement and they had better be prepared to make a better deal.
Whoa! Wait up say the commentators in the media. Mr. Trump, you are temping the fates. Your victims will get upset. Rather than come to the negotiating table, they will be obdurate. This is not how diplomacy works.
Whoa, add the congressional Democrats. Obama’s policies ought not be undone. He did the best that anyone could and therefore we should accept that Iran and North Korea will soon be nuclear powers. Trying to stop them is plainly more dangerous than appeasing them.
Furthermore, it is dicey to demand that our trading partners alter their tariff policies. Although they have more barriers to American goods entering their countries than we do to theirs, insisting on redress might provoke a trade war. This would obviously be worse than acquiescing in the current unfairness.
In fact, what we are witnessing is arrant cowardice. Liberals say that we must be nice to everyone so that we do not arouse their indignation. Their conventional wisdom has it that niceness always begets niceness, even though history demonstrates no such connection.
Reagan won because he was tough. He stuck to his principles even though he could not be sure of the outcome. Trump may also win because he is tough. He too is unafraid of arousing the ire of potential adversaries. Of course, they will not like what he demands. They will almost surely resist. But that is in the nature of negotiations.
Standing up for one’s own interests is frequently a gamble. It does not always pay off. Then again, capitulating at the slightest hint of opposition guarantees failure. But liberals don’t understand that. They don’t remember the past, therefore they don’t learn from it. At the very least, they refuse to learn from Republican successes.
Melvyn L. Fein, Ph.D.
Professor of Sociology
Kennesaw State University
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