Published July 25. 2021 12:01AM
James Haught
Enormous human betterment has occurred since The Enlightenment, chiefly because crusading liberals overcame conservative resistance, time after time.
Modern democracy arose because America’s radical founders renounced the divine right of kings and took up arms against England and George III. They created government of the people, with no aristocracy.
Slavery ended because radical abolitionists hammered the entrenched institution until the horrible Civil War wiped it out.
Following the new knowledge given to humankind by Gandhi, many more gains in human rights started to be made with nonviolent struggle instead of war.
Women gained the right to vote because radical suffragettes fought for decades against their inferior status.