Charlie Chaplin Called Upon Humanity & Democracy

"The Great Dictator" was a movie produced, directed and written by Charlie Chaplin and filmed during the early months of World War Two. Chaplin also starred in the movie, his first major sound movie, which offered a satirical look at fascism, and thus, it had an anti-fascist message, the bluntest part of which came in a dramatic speech delivered by Chaplin near the end of the picture. Today, WE should not dare ignore Chaplin's words, lest we continue on this path to the destruction of democracy and of hope. America has long been a beacon of light to many around the world. We have NEVER been a perfect country. We have things for which we must atone. But in spite of our flaws, peoples of the world have looked in our direction for hope in the face of tragedies, persecution and tyranny, because the good news is, while we are often slow to respond to our failings and shortcomings, including that of horrendous racism, Americans gradually gather the courage to do that which terrifies pompous, self absorbed dictators; that is, we look at ourselves and we then try to correct the negatives we see. We reach for our ideals after periodic retreats into the perceived comfort of the past. 

Here is the link to both the video of Chaplin's speech from "The Great Dictator" and the text of that speech.

https://www.charliechaplin.com/en/articles/29-the-final-speech-from-the-great-dictator-

 Photo is of the Warner Home Video 2003 DVD

WORD HISTORY:
Atone-This is simply the combination of the words "at" and "one," two words from the Germanic roots of English, and with the idea being, "to come to one," with the further meaning of, "to come to one in agreement;" thus also, "to make amends for, to reconcile, to return things to a state of being whole" (it once could also convey a sense of "to repair"). The "one" part of the compound "atone" has kept the old pronunciation for "one." "Atone" seems to have started in the 1300s (mid?), but it didn't really become widespread in usage until the second half of the 1500s. For the history of the word "at," here is the link to the article with that "Word History:" https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-third-man-one-of-greats.html
For the history of the word "one," here is the link to the article with that "Word History:" https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2017/12/the-former-confederacy-modern-american_30.html