LaRouche Remarks on Immortality
As the report arrived to Lyndon LaRouche about Marianna Wertz's death, he was giving a public address in Germany. Although LaRouche had not yet learned of Marianna's death, he knew of her illness, and was, at that very moment, speaking about immortality. LaRouche asked that what he said be conveyed, as a message from Helga Zepp-LaRouche and himself to Will Wertz, Marianna's husband and to everyone.
Question: Despite all of its development as an industrial power, as a great nation, how could it happen, that America has come to this point, to want to be an imperial power?
LaRouche: It happened because the American people became totally corrupt. The point is, that people believe too much in democracy. I believe in the purpose of the government; I do not have any faith in democracy. The history of mankind is tragedy, history as tragedy, typified by the Classical Greek tragedy, or European tragedyShakespeare, Schiller. Every tragedy, Classical tragedy, is the result of the corruption of the people, not the result of the corruption of this or that leader, but because people become corrupt.
This goes back to Solon of Athens' letter to the Athenians at the end of his life, on how they had became corrupt, after he had earlier saved them. It is cultural corruption. When you do not produce the leaders, who can lead the people away from corruption, when you reject them, after you have produced them, you are going to pay the penalty. For example, the case of Hamlet; the case of Hamlet is typical.
For example, Schiller's treatment of Jeanne d'Arc, which happens to be historically precise; there is one dramatic change in the play. Jeanne d'Arc made possible modern European civilization. Without her action, it would not have occurred. She was a simple farm girl, who went to her stupid king. She said: "Stupid king, God sent me to you, to tell you: Become a real king!" She said, "God wants you to become a king." So she went out, and commanded troops, won battles, and then was betrayed by the king.
She lost the fight, because she was betrayed, but she refused to submit, at the point of being burned alive.
As a result of her courage, and death by the Inquisition, she inspired France to throw the British out of France, successfully, and also inspired and contributed to the Renaissance.
On the other side, take Shakespeare's case of Hamlet. Look at the third act, the soliloquy of Hamlet. Why has Hamlet failed? How has he failed? What was demonstrated by the play by Shakespeare? He failed because he said, "Shuffle off this mortal coil." He was not afraid of death, he was afraid of immortality. He was afraid of what he would face, after he died. This is true, and this becomes a practical political question, of leadership. You have to have the dedication: All great leaders have the commitment to immortality. Not immortality in the sense of the flesh, but to say, I have only one life, how shall I spend that which is limited anyway?
In the simple way, a familythey sacrifice for their children and grandchildren. They say, I am doing something for humanity: I produced good children, good grandchildren. We make the society better, therefore, I achieve a certain kind of immortality.
The typical politician lacks that. He wants his satisfaction, now. He wants the success of his party faction. He wants good for his nation, but he wants to have it without having to give up his success. That is Clinton's problem. Clinton is a perfect Hamlet. He is bright, one of the brightest to occupy the Presidency during this past century. Yet, when it came to a certain crisis, he could never stand up and say, I will do the right thing. When you don't have that, how do you expect the people, who are tied up in their concerns for their immediate family interests, their insecurities, their concern for this and that, their income problems, how do you expect them to come out of their littleness, if the leaders of society act like little people themselves? Act like little mannequins?
What you need are true heroes, not the heroes of the sword, but the heroes of the spirit. You need a combination of courage, like that of Jeanne d'Arc, but you also need the wisdom that goes with it, the wisdom of the soul.
Now, let us come back to the United States, and our crazy culture, that we destroyed.
I saw it happen, because when I came back in April 1946, the majority of American soldiers in India, were fully in support of U.S. support for Indian independence. One year later, two years later, back in the States, of those I knew, 95% had gone over to the other side. That is how it happened. The point is, what had made the Americans moral, was that FDR provided them with a program for recovery from the Depression, and with the task of war, and gave them a sense of mission, that they had to do something good for the world. He brought them out of the Depression. When he died, I began to see this.
The first thing, was with the soldiers in Canchapara. I was there on my way to Burma, and a bunch of soldiers came to me, on April 12, 1945, and they wanted to talk about what it meant for us, that the President had died. I answered first off the top of my head, but I came to the right answer. I said, I am worried, we had a great man, who led the nation, but the war is not completed. I am afraid of the effect, when a little man, replaced a great man.
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