Timely Tales From the South Pacific

Who would have guessed that the unofficial school song for those madrassas turning out Taliban terrorists was written over half a century ago? By Rogers and Hammerstein, no less:

You've got to be taught
To hate and fear,
You've got to be taught
From year to year,
It's got to be drummed
In your dear little ear
You've got to be carefully taught.
You've got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made,
And people whose skin is a diff'rent shade,
You've got to be carefully taught.
You've got to be taught before it's too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate,
You've got to be carefully taught!

If you have never read a genuine, unadulterated RAVE REVIEW of a major American musical, read Ben Brantley on Lincoln Center's recreation of "South Pacific."

The 1900s lacked 32-to-1 leverage and derivatives derived from derivatives. GIs in WWII didn't even have iPods. But maybe we can still learn something from the old century.