The 19 year old Ekaterina Schmidt, and her 17 year old sister Elizaveta had just inherited a small fortune. Vladimir Lenin saw an opportunity and came up with a plan. Waging a revolution required vast amounts of money and Lenin would use any means necessary to acquire wealth, including bank robbery, in furtherance of his pursuit for power.
His plan, in this instance, was simple, he would use two party operatives to seduce and marry the girls and then have them donate all of the money to the party. He selected Nikolai Andrikanas and Victor Taratuta to run the scheme. Both successfully married their target. Ekaterina and Nikolai donated a small amount of money to the party before moving to France and keeping the vast majority of the inheritance.
Victor however successfully convinced Elizaveta to give a substantial amount of money to Lenin. Speaking of Taratuta Lenin remarked “There are no morals in politics; there is only expedience. A scoundrel may be of use to us just because he is a scoundrel.” Lenin knew what he needed in pursuit of power and he was willing to use whatever means necessary to get it.
Thomas Aquinas is credited as one of the greatest proponents of natural law. During his time in Cologne he was taught by Albertus Magnus. Magnus used the teachings of Aristotle in his mentorship of Thomas Aquinas.
Samuel Adams believed in American Independence from Great Britain. He is one of the most well know Son's of Liberty. On August 1, 1776 he gave a speech to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia.
This month this community will focus on Natural Law. What is Natural Law? How is it applied in real world situations? What are the alternatives to Natural Law? These are some of the issues that will be discussed this month.
“Opinions alter, manners change, creeds rise and fall, but the moral law is written on the tablets of eternity.”
Lord Acton
