I sometimes find it depressing how in so many countries, even non-Communist ones, men I despise are widely and even officially revered:
United States: Thomas Paine (1737-1809), Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), and other "Founding Fathers"
France: the leaders of the French Revolution in general, though it's interesting that no individual is really singled out
Poland: Tadeusz Kościuszko (1746-1817)
Hungary: Lajos Kossuth (1802-1894)
Mexico: Benito Juarez (1806-1872)
Italy: Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882)
Czech Republic (whose very name is offensive): Tomáš Masaryk (1850-1937), Edvard Beneš (1884-1948)
Greece: Eleutherios Venizelos (1864-1936)
Ireland: Eamon de Valera (1882-1975)
Egypt: Gamal Abdel Nasser (1918-1970)
Even
in England, Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) still has a much better reputation than he
deserves, with that disgusting statue outside Parliament.
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The statue of Cromwell has always bemused me. As a strong believer in the role of parliament in the English Constitution (a role properly fulfilled in a very different manner than currently happens), it is a painful irony for a man who dissolved the (admittedly, perfidious and revolutionary) parliament at force of arms and instituted the only military dictatorship which this country has ever known to be honoured in such a manner.
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