The follies of youth: Trudeau, Grass and young Muslims

Canadians were recently jarred by a biography of former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, he of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, when it revealed he had been, in his youth, something of a fascist. Among other things, he blamed WWII on the British, expressed anti-Semitic views, approved of the Vichy regime in France, and dreamed of a revolution that would create an authoritarian, Catholic, independent Quebec.

Now, in his forthcoming autobiography, Gunter Grass, Nobel laureate and a man considered by many the conscience of modern Germany, confesses he spent his youth in the Waffen SS, a unit in Hitler's Nazi elite. The shock isn't so much that he was in the unit (he was drafted) but that he has in the past been so miserly with the truth.

What is most intriguing to me is not that these two men experienced these sordid pasts, but how incredibly successful they were in overcoming them and doing not only great service, but great service in the cause of human rights, for their countries. Unless one is a psychologist, which I am not, one can only conclude that passionate young men can get caught up in the passions of their times and act them out before they have had time to form the moral philosophy that is true to their nature. In effect, they betray themselves before they are themselves. Or perhaps they are simply betrayed by their times as most of us are to some extent.

This brings me to those young Muslims caught up in a mighty anger toward Western neo-imperialism. Some have been so captured by this passion, they have placed bombs in public places, or at least planned to. I cannot help but wonder how many are true zealots and how many are, like Pierre Trudeau or Gunter Grass, simply betraying themselves. As a confirmed optimist, I will simply hope there are Trudeaus or Grasses among them, that they do not fall prey to violence, and that ultimately they discover their true natures and develop their true philosophies, to their benefit and ours.