It was twenty years ago today

Okay, so it was actually 60 years. Okay, so it was actually 59 years and 10 months. Anyway, I found a paragraph that could be interpreted similarly to the intent of my blog, so I want to share it with you.

It must not be supposed that I expect every body to agree with what I say, still less that I only write what will be popular. I give my testimony according to the lights I follow. Every possible care has been taken to verify the facts; but much is constantly coming to light from the disclosure of captured documents or other revelations which may present a new aspect to the conclusions which I have drawn. This is why it is important to rely upon authentic contemporary records and the expressions of opinion set down when all was obscure. (Winston S. Churchill, March 1948)

I have just started The Gathering Storm, which is Churchill's first book in his trilogy about WWII. He starts off by explaining the circumstances after WWI which led up to WWII (in Japan, too, not just in Germany). It interested me, though, how some of his words can still be meaningful today. The current economic discussions, considered a "crisis" in the media and seized upon by politicians as something they think they can act upon to get votes in November, can be seen in Churchill's first chapter. "The multitudes remained plunged in ignorance of the simplest economic facts, and their leaders, seeking their votes, did not dare to undeceive them. The newspapers, after their fashion, reflected and emphasised the prevailing opinions. ... No one in great authority had the wit, ascendancy, or detachment from public folly to declare these fundamental, brutal facts to the electorates..."

If that's just the first chapter, I look forward to the rest of the book.