Déjà Vu ~ Times II: July 2026

Sunday, July 26, 2026

Remembering Solzhenitsyn - Déjà Vu from 1978

Fifty years ago, in 1976, the exiled writer and political dissident, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn¹ moved to Vermont USA. Two years later, in 1978, he delivered a commencement speech at HARVARD that shocked his Western audience. This year, 2026, his son, Ignat Solzhenitsyn,² repeated the address at the ARC Conference 2026.³ The shock has long gone, but has there been sufficient recognition of the prophetic relevance?

Solzhenitsyn — The Greatest Speech in the History of the West (50 years later) | [ARC 2026]
(Alliance for Responsible Citizenship | June 23, 2026) | Time 12:43 min.) at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2QAxePQMhc&t=634s

For those interested, here is the original:

"A World Split Apart" -- Alexandr Solzhenitsyn's 1978 Commencement Address at Harvard
(Martyrius Smith | Aug 20, 2023 | Time 1:00:32 min.) at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SASoCrVYQo

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1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksandr_Solzhenitsyn
Background:
The Speech That Cost Solzhenitsyn Everything | Harvard Commencement Address 1978
(HistoryStoic Insights | Sep 19, 2024 | Time 5:29 min.) at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIHRUKuUK-I
2. "Ignat Solzhenitsyn is recognised as one of today's most gifted artists. Enjoying an active international career as both conductor and pianist, his lyrical and poignant interpretations have won him critical acclaim worldwide. He is a son of the renowned Russian writer and Nobel laureate Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2QAxePQMhc&t=634s (from notes)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignat_Solzhenitsyn
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliance_for_Responsible_Citizenship
ARC Conference addresses 2026: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4PgStjM9h4zCwvzFfR478nVwGccGunM_

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Revolving Accounts

"The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us." (Old Testament Ecclesiastes 1:9-10)

"Dwell in the past and you'll lose an eye. Forget the past and you'll lose both eyes." (Old Russian Proverb)

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This Déjà Vu ~ Times II blog is devoted to my religious / spiritual musings (sometimes political), mainly concerning the recycling of our follies since the world began.

Over time, it will contain:
thoughts
observations
poems
quotes

Déjà Vu ~ Times II blog © 2009 - 2020 by SMSmith (unless otherwise noted). Some Rights Reserved. See Creative Commons License at the end of this column/page.

Déjà Vu ~ Times II blog was established August 17, 2009 while the author was living in Canada helping caregive an aged mother.

“No Comments” Rationale

1) Time & more needful priorities;
2) Problems observed with many open-comment blogs as so bluntly expressed at http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/comment-policy/
3) People are free to post divergent or convergent views on their own blogs;
4) Learning from comments here would be preferable, but— (see 1, 2, & 3).

Brief note to the OFFENDED: Just because allowing "comments" is a blogger's option, it does not mean every blogger must conform to the "expectations" of others. Every soul can consult the Spirit and decide what is best and right in their circumstance. And if one has a blanket policy not to read another's work because there is no opportunity to comment, it seems one has closed oneself off to potential guidance of the Spirit. Besides, in this world of "overwhelm," the guidance of the Spirit is the best resource we have to lead us to things of importance in our unique life. So, if you have found your way here, perhaps there are a few things of import for you here. I try to trust the Spirit to lead me likewise to things of import within my purpose and priorities.

My World / TransWorld View

▪ Truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come; (Doctrine and Covenants Section 93:24)
▪ If we have the truth, it cannot be harmed by investigation. If we have not the truth, it ought to be harmed. (J. Reuben Clark)

▪ Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. (New Testament 1 Thessalonians 5:21)

▪ No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.(New Testament Matthew 6:24; Luke 16:13; 3 Nephi 13:24)
▪ See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.(New Testament 1 Thessalonians 5:15)
▪ For that which ye do send out shall return unto you again, and be restored; ... (Book of Mormon Alma 41:15)
▪ Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend. (Book of Mormon Mosiah 4:9, emphasis added)
▪ ... the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. (New Testament 1 Corinthians 1:25)
▪ For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Old Testament Isaiah 55:8 - 9)
▪ ... the Lord doth grant unto all nations, of their own nation and tongue, to teach his word, yea, in wisdom, all that he seeth fit that they should have; therefore we see that the Lord doth counsel in wisdom, according to that which is just and true. (Book of Mormon Alma 29:8)
▪ The Bible is true, as far as it is translated correctly. Some things are to be understood literally; others metaphorically or symbolically.
▪ God is neither a Republican nor a Democrat; a Liberal nor a Conservative, just as Christ was neither a Pharisee or Sadducee. [For God doth not walk in crooked paths, neither doth he turn to the right hand nor to the left, neither doth he vary from that which he hath said, therefore his paths are straight, and his course is one eternal round.(Doctrine and Covenants Section 3:2)]
▪ Life is an escalating series of tests.
▪ “...we will be asked again and again to release the parts of our lives that mean the most to us.” (Caroline Myss, Sacred Contracts, p. 76; also preview lives of the prophets and saints.)