LESSONS FROM THE HISTORY OF THE COLD WAR

A speech by John B. Donovan, founder, Donovan-Fitzgerald Speaker Services, delivered at the Lake Placid Institute, Lake Placid, NY, Jul 19, 2014, is presented. It's matters pertaining to culture and states of mind that make the critical difference in the world. It's somewhat like those great political figures of England from the early 19th century, Edmund Burke and William Wilberforce, who said that what they called "manners" were more important than legislation. One might begin the debate about values right there, and the two values that could be debated -- R&R -- responsibility and reality. There's something that goes to the heart of a great deal of what happens in contemporary culture, and that's placing a low value on objective reality. Some people think an emphasis on reality in matters of warfare or geopolitics means an emphasis on military hardware. But that's exactly the illusion that landed all in so much trouble during the Cold War.