"There is more that binds us to Bolshevism than separates us from it. There is, above all, genuine, revolutionary feeling... I have always made allowance for this circumstance, and given orders that former Communists are to be admitted to the party at once."
(Quoted in Hermann Rauschning, Hitler Speaks, London, T. Butterworth, 1940)
"We are socialists, we are enemies of today's capitalistic economic system for the exploitation of the economically weak... we are all determined to destroy this system under all conditions".
(Speech of May 1, 1927. Quoted by Toland, 1976, p. 306)
"A declaration of war against the order of things which exist, against the state of things which exist, in a word, against the structure of the world which presently exists... revolutionary creative will which has no fixed aim, no permanency, only eternal change". - Mein Kampf
In a recent letter Jurgen Balzan asks ANR's Martin Degiorgio to decide whether to brand AD as a Nazi, Communist or Islamo-Fascist organisation.
Had Mr Balzan had some basic knowledge of political philosophy he would realise that the three are readily interchangeable. They all share the same core ideology and the same coercive methods. Space prevents me from going into detail here but I am sure discerning readers will not find it difficult to make the connection.
As for referring to conservatives as reactionary and fundamentalists he gets it wrong once again. Conservatives have throughout history not only embraced change but in many instances instigated it.
What conservatives are against is change for change's sake - a "core value" of the left which has more often than not, left a legacy of human misery and depravation.
Time usually makes most people wiser. Many of us move on from our teenage fascination for nostalgia and radical ideologies. Many of us realise that noble intentions when based simply on emotion rather than reason will invariably fail. Experience breeds insight and understanding; an understanding that "progressive" ideologies are inherently flawed and that human constructs and utopias will never replace natural law and plain common sense.
Liberals, relativists and egalitarians usually develop into conservatives. It seems that Mr Balzan has, perhaps, not reached that stage yet. One augurs that for Malta's sake, he and others of his ilk eventually will.
As regards pacifists, let it be recalled that both Nazism and Communism both portrayed themselves to be champions of "peace and equal rights" but as the Gospel says you can only judge something or someone by the fruits of its actions.