Dalton Trumbo "[February 1940] If they say to us, "We must fight this war to preserve democracy", let us say to them, "There is no such thing as democracy in time of war. It is a lie, a deliberate deception to lead us to our own destruction. We will not die in order that our children may inherit a permanent military dictatorship".
The recently out showing movie "Trumbo." was a very good story of our past culture and embarrassment in our news coverage for fear mongering during the 1940's and 50's, As I watch it from the cozy comfort of my movie theater chair with a hard pear cider in hand in warm darkness sprinkled out among a few other movie goers I thought to myself "Is this our nation's past? Are we watching a story of one man's bravery or are we watching our very own lives in a reflective way? Because the news coverage and the fear has grown saying the very same things against whatever new threat is out there. TODAY" I was truly impressed by this film, I was moved by the hope it gave me.
I loved the idea of fighting for a cause that allows sharing and kindness to be the focus....It's not my first time learning about Socialism, Communism and Capitalism from this film, when I was 24 shortly after I was married I went on a huge quest to find out why going to College cost so much money and going to high school is free......?
Having been home schooled and sheltered I thought education cost nothing at first. I remember when my first friends went off to college their bill was mind blowing to me and I knew at 17 years old I didn't want that kind of debt in my life!
Then after I was married surrounded by the push for college and with the whole world before me of books and of classes I went forward into the system thinking "Shouldn't this be free for us to learn, to gain a career that betters our lives and community?......
While watching "Trumbo" it brought back old memories of those days for me in how I felt education should be free once again, those who are good at it will get those high grades and those who don't (Like myself) would still be learning something from at least trying, without going into debt.
This movie is powerfully impressive to see how being smart goes farther then being hateful or afraid......When "The war on Terror" first appeared in our society I was only 21 so I protested and complained "Why can't it be "War on Haters" or maybe "War on Fear" like how about a slogan "we will put fear in it's place and bring about world peace"?"
The people around me just looked on kindly like I didn't get it.....I remember thinking if we are afraid of another 9-11 attack then that fear will grow and we will hire body guards, more soldiers and the military will become more important then our public schools. I kept asking why would someone want to hurt us if we do no harm as a nation? Maybe we have been a bully and now we created a problem that the rest of the world is going to fight back.
These are the questions I use to ask and sometimes my husband had to warn me that it's the wrong crowd for all my questions in demanding a better system that helps us all equally. I was making people so uncomfortable back then and maybe I always will, sticking out like a sore thumb has been the stories of my whole life, being older now to realize how I communicate and how I can still ask these questions all the rest of my life is more powerful then feeling so helpless like in my youth!
and I know IF I could go back in time I would be friends with Dalton Trumbo in a heart beat!
There is always going to be an underline hidden greed we will battle, it can also be the "In your face I am better then you." kind of greed too. I will keep on learning something new about how this world works, about how I can play a part in it Just like in this movie when I learned you can be jailed for being the change you wish to see in the world. I smiled to myself thinking "To be Brave often comes with such judgement too."
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