Karl Popper! Yes! Me Too!

Nobody asked but …

Karl Popper wrote:

“How despotism destroys the human sense of duty and responsibility, together with the people who try to fulfill them, may be seen from the unforgettable example of the White Rose in Munich, that close circle of students and one teacher who in the winter of 1942-43 put up posters calling for resistance to Hitler’s war. Hans Scholl and his sister Sophie were executed along with Christoph Probst on 22 February 1943; Alexander Schmorell and Professor Kurt Huber on 13 July 1943; Willie Graf on 12 October 1943. Hans Scholl was 24 years old and Sophie 21; the other students were the same age. Some of their comrades are still alive today.

Heroes who can be examples to us have become a rarity in our generation. Those people were heroes: they initiated a struggle that was almost hopeless for them, in the hope that others would take it over. And they are examples: they fought for freedom and responsibility and for their and our humanity. The monstrous inhuman force of despotism reduced them to silence. We should not forget them. And we must speak and act for them.

Political freedom is a prerequisite of our personal responsibility, our humanity. Any attempt to take a step towards a better world, a better future, must be guided by the basic value of freedom.”

-Karl Popper, ‘All Life is Problem Solving’.

These people were killed the same year I was born, some before and some after. I like to think that my anti-war sentiments and my anti-authoritarian bent is a memorial to them. I hope that someone will carry these ideas forward from me.

— Kilgore Forelle

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