Solzhenitsyn Predicted America’s Current Plight in 1983 – IOTW Report

Solzhenitsyn Predicted America’s Current Plight in 1983

Tuesday, 9 May 2023, 13:00 MJA Uncategorized 46

The celebrated Russian writer’s speech at Templeton University warned the West of its coming communist collapse

Emerald Robinson:

Note: The Templeton Prize was awarded to Russian writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in 1983, and it provided an opportunity for the great author to address the problems of the West. What follows are portions of those remarks edited for brevity.

Over half a century ago, while I was still a child, I recall hearing a number of older people offer the following explanation for the great disasters that had befallen Russia: “Men have forgotten God; that’s why all this has happened.”

Since then I have spent well-nigh 50 years working on the history of our revolution; in the process I have read hundreds of books, collected hundreds of personal testimonies, and have already contributed eight volumes of my own toward the effort of clearing away the rubble left by that upheaval. But if I were asked today to formulate as concisely as possible the main cause of the ruinous revolution that swallowed up some 60 million of our people, I could not put it more accurately than to repeat: “Men have forgotten God; that’s why all this has happened.”

What is more, the events of the Russian revolution can only be understood now, at the end of the century, against the background of what has since occurred in the rest of the world. What emerges here is a process of universal significance. And if I were called upon to identify briefly the principal trait of the entire twentieth century, here too, I would be unable to find anything more precise and pithy than to  repeat once again: “Men have forgotten God.” The failings of human consciousness, deprived of its divine dimension, have been a determining factor in all the major crimes of this century. The first of these was World War I, and much of our present predicament can be traced back to it. It was a war (the memory of which seems to be fading) when Europe, bursting with health and abundance, fell into a rage of self-mutilation which could not but sap its strength for a century or more, and perhaps forever. The only possible explanation for this war is a mental eclipse among the leaders of Europe due to their lost awareness of a Supreme Power above them. Only a godless embitterment could have moved ostensibly Christian states to employ poison gas, a weapon so obviously beyond the limits of humanity. MORE

46 Comments on Solzhenitsyn Predicted America’s Current Plight in 1983

  1. “And how we burned in the camps later, thinking: What would things have been like if every Security operative, when he went out at night to make an arrest, had been uncertain whether he would return alive and had to say good-bye to his family? Or if, during periods of mass arrests, as for example in Leningrad, when they arrested a quarter of the entire city, people had not simply sat there in their lairs, paling with terror at every bang of the downstairs door and at every step on the staircase, but had understood they had nothing left to lose and had boldly set up in the downstairs hall an ambush of half a dozen people with axes, hammers, pokers, or whatever else was at hand?… The Organs would very quickly have suffered a shortage of officers and transport and, notwithstanding all of Stalin’s thirst, the cursed machine would have ground to a halt! If…if…We didn’t love freedom enough. And even more – we had no awareness of the real situation…. We purely and simply deserved everything that happened afterward.”

    ― Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn , “The Gulag Archipelago”

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  2. “The West has yet to experience a communist invasion;”

    Guess you haven’t looked at the border.

    Or Washington DC in the Halls of Government.

    “religion remains free.”

    Did you live through Covid? Because it kind of looks like you dindn’t from that statement. Plus, go try to teach kids that gay and transgender is wrong just like the Bible SAYS it is from even your own parochial schools and get back to me about how “free” your religion is once the Stasi and the Gay Mafia find out.

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  4. Says The Person Who Is Apparently Unaware The FBI Considers Attending Latin Mass To Be Grounds For Violating Their Civil Rights And Treating Them As Terrorists     Tuesday, 9 May 2023, 13:15 at 1:15 pm

    “religion remains free.”

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  5. Our founders predicted this 200 years earlier. We all know Adams’ quote about our Constitution being designed for moral and religious people. Madison was just as on point, saying,” Our Constitution requires sufficient virtue among men for self-government, otherwise, nothing less than the chains of despotism can restrain them from destroying and devouring one another.”

    A cogent argument could be made that “despotism” has already arrived, with the Deep State wielding power using the clubs of the legacy media, the judiciary, governmental intelligence apparati, academia, and Hollywood to beat us into submission.

    Since I do not expect a religious revival any time soon or any “come to Jesus” moments by our greatest offenders, we are left as bystanders, watching the predictable slow slide to total narcissistic paganist destruction. Either that or we come to grips with the fact that our current status is unsustainable and we go our separate ways.

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  6. Sad and true.
    There are so many similarities between the US today and failed and fallen civilizations of the past.
    God is still powerful but seeing as He gave us free will there are times like these.

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  10. Beachmom AT 1:42 PM
    “God is still powerful but seeing as He gave us free will there are times like these”

    If one were to look about themselves I believe it could be determined as ALL have their noses buried in a smart phone, table or even the flip phone; Original Thought and/or Free Will no longer exist. Having attended the funeral for common sense it was inevitable that this was to follow.

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  12. Commenting used to be fun here. In fact it’s the only place I’ve ever commented. It feels like censorship to have posts that deserve comments but it’s not available. Oh well.

    3

  14. @joe6

    I don’t think it is anything nefarious going on. I’ve noticed 3 or 4 posts in the last few days where there is NO comments section. I think WordPress is just having a panic attack or some kind of manic episode.

    Maybe a quick email to The Boss alerting him of the problem might help.

  15. Where is that game show buzzer for Rich? EEeeennnch!
    Sad trombone… boob boob budoomph

    All the posts that don’t allow comments each have two things in common.
    Hmmmm…

    1

  16. Who the hell knows Rich, all I know is that it must be a helluva of difficult job to keep a site like this going! So my hats off to everyone involved, but I hope we are not being censored. Having a site with a free exchange of ides is critical, and the places that it happens are few and far between. Even when we completely disagree worthwhile thoughts are exchanged.

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  17. Loco, you think this is intentional?

    The Laura Loomer post
    The West Virginia post
    The Florida bill 7050 post

    All MJA posts, all posted within the last few days, have no comments section but all the other MJA posts do. I don’t see the pattern.

  18. I wouldn’t call it censorship joe6, and so far I haven’t had any posts removed.
    That said, there are specific threads we are no longer allowed to comment on.
    That is evident.
    They are pretty much read only, no dissent allowed there.

  20. It’s not no dissent allowed, it’s no discussion allowed. Maybe it’s WEF, Deep State, Big Tech shutting it down. I don’t know. Who the hell knows. Buy food, gold, silver, lead, and if there is anything left over a pallet of whiskey.

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  22. Alright, is this one of those,”Relax your eyes and look into this 3D picture, do you see the sailboat yet”?

    All three are about election fraud or election integrity, but many of MJA’s posts deal with this subject and they all have a comments section. Am I to glean that from now on any posts dealing with this subject will not have a comments section?

  29. Anonymous is a bit of a gutless wonder. Who the hell do you reply to when it could be anyone. And the reality is this was a going nowhere post until someone decided to say something. You’re a loser, anonymous. Pick an identity and stand behind what you say.

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  30. Exactly joe6!
    We are in a stagnant thread that is now effectively a three person chat room.
    Complaining about our comments being off-topic is ridiculous.
    There are some threads that garner only one or two comments.
    This was hardly a hostile takeover.

    1

  37. You are correct LocoBlancoSaltine. I haven’t commented for several weeks. I’ve just been a lurker and I read this site more infrequently because of toadstools like you.

    1

  38. Anon, please explain how someone commenting here ruins the experience for you?
    Especially when their comments aren’t in any way directed towards you.
    BTW, on this site, comments are a huge part of the experience.

    We were simply discussing some threads that did not allow comments.
    How did banter in an obscure thread ruin your experience here?
    Let’s face it, it did not.
    You are intentionally being a snowflake for whatever agenda you have.
    Feel free to create a site name and join in the conversations.

    1

  40. Well I just received an email from another pal alerting me of this thread. I am not commenting here. Anon is not me. MJA in my opinion made the correct decision. I’m not sure why you two assholes think everyone here craves your opinions or direction. But I think the vast majority just want to read the story with out the Ronda twist. WRSA currently doesn’t allow comments. And it was caused by two asshole taking over the place. Much like I see here. Big Fur Hat needs to grow a set and place some boundaries on you two assholes. Rich, get off the internet and go give that hot wife of yours an erection. Any grammatical errors here Rich? You fucking dick.

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  42. Oddly enough, the only time I’ve been personally insulted in the past two weeks on this site is when Brad pops in to raise hell.
    BTW, what is Ronda & WRSA?
    Never heard of it?

    4

  43. “Oddly enough, the only time I’ve been personally insulted in the past two weeks on this site is when Brad pops”

    You two idiots should keep you fucking mouths shut and I’ll stop showing up. Did I give you a boo boo?

    2

  45. I didn’t even mention you Brad.
    Not once on this thread, yet you call me an asshole, twice.
    Next time your pal e-mails you about a conversation on iotw, ignore them.
    They are not your friend.
    They hate you and simply want you to respond and make an absolute ass of yourself.
    I’m serious, this is honest advice.
    They aren’t your ally or friend.
    A real friend wouldn’t do this to you.
    You need an intervention for your anger.
    It is irrational.
    Rich nor I hate you, nor do we comment here for the sole purpose to bug you.
    Get over yourself.

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  46. Fuck off asshole. Like I say, neither one of yo are welcome in my foxhole. And that shits getting closer every day.

    “I didn’t even mention you Brad.”
    Rich made every attempt. I don’t appreciate it. Now he knows. When I post I use my name.

    I’ve been away from this place for about ten days. for the most part. My stress level is down dramatically.

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