How Can We Turn Charlie Chaplin’s Most Famous Speech Into Reality
A powerful lesson for generations to come
“Greed has poisoned men’s souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical. Our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery we need humanity. More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost…”
… Said a nameless Jewish barber when he climbed on the stage to face the entire army of Tomania. He wasn’t supposed to be there. The stage was set for the cruel dictator Hynkel and his fiery speech.
Initially, soldiers applauded him because they feared the wrath of who they believed to be their Commander-in-Chief. At the end of his address, they cheered his message of hope.
“Soldiers! don’t give yourselves to brutes — men who despise you — enslave you — who regiment your lives — tell you what to do — what to think and what to feel! Who drill you — diet you — treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder. Don’t give yourselves to these unnatural men — machine men with machine minds and machine hearts! You…
