The Myth of Progress — Glen Scrivener
The atrocities of the 20th century leave us with a lump in our throat so large that it chokes all our praises of ‘human progress.’ 20 million died in ‘the Great War’ (1914-1918). 75 million died in its sequel (1939-1945). We’ve mentioned the millions dying for Lenin’s Marxist revolution in Russia. Stalin killed tens of millions more. During the three years of his great purge (1934-1936), the Russian dictator executed as many people each week as the Spanish Inquisition killed in three and a half centuries. (That’s 750,000 executions in 3 years versus the Inquisition’s 5,000 in 350 years). In China between 1958 and 1962, ‘at least 45 million people were worked, starved or beaten to death.’ The fact that Chairman Mao called this the ‘Great Leap Forward’ should make us forever dubious about claims to progress.”
Glen Scrivener, The Air We Breathe, pp.172-172