This week I selected Beowulf. The story chronicles three major events in the life of Beowulf. From what I learned it was probably written sometime between 700 and 1000 AD.
In the story Beowulf defeats Grendel a monster in battle. Then he defeats Grendel’s mother. Then he rules for 50 years before he is killed in a battle against a dragon that also dies in the fight.
Beowulf was a warrior. He fought against powerful enemies and was able to prevail where others failed. It made me think about the types of battles encountered today. The average person today would not be as versed in weapons of war as in the days of Beowulf. What are the dragons of today?
Overall I found the story entertaining and am glad I selected it for this week.
William Wilberforce has been called an agitator for his commitment to ending the slave trade. One of his well known speeches on the subject was given on May 12, 1789.
Cardinal Richelieu has been hailed as a great statesman and as a subversive authoritarian. Depending on who you talk to he was a man needed to strengthen the monarchy in France, or he was a tyrant seeking personal power. Next week I will have a book review that may shed more light on Cardinal Richelieu.
When Lenin was working on his major writing projects he would often pace across the room formulating the ideas that he would write down by saying them out loud. Once he had the idea for what he wanted to write he would often repeat the idea to Nadezhda Krupskaya, who would provide feedback. Once this process was complete he would then write the ideas down.
Here is an AI rendering of what that might have looked like when he was drafting What is to be Done.
This month this community will focus on political subversion. What is subversion? When is it justified? What is the interplay between subversion and agitation? These are some of the topics to be discussed this month.
“You get used to the despot’s shortcomings, when they are not great vices, and the change of an autocratic ruler leads to involuntary fear.”
Sergei Trubetskoi
