“And even if it is not true, you need to believe in ancient history.” —Léo Ferré
“History is a set of lies agreed upon.” —Napoleon Bonaparte
“History is who we are and why we are the way we are.” —David McCullough
“The only thing we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history.” —Georg Hegel
History happened… way back in the past. That’s pretty much the only thing historians universally agree upon. Everything else — from who was historically bad to who was historically good and what it means for the future — is subject to never-ending debates, name-calling, and finger-wagging from the wonks, profs, and policy nerds in academia.
Or in politics. Especially in politics.
Ideology drives our interpretation of history because that’s what gives it power. On its own, history is just a collection of old stories about dead people. But taken in context, history is our story — the cultural legacy that helps us make sense of our world today. They’re society’s lynchpin beliefs.
Large swaths of today’s political agenda — including affirmative action, hiring quotas, tax rates, sex crimes, #MeToo legislation, immigration, usury laws, and education — are directly tied to historical interpretations of previous wrongs. In essence, they represent modern man’s attempts to make amends for the mistakes of his forefathers.
We try to erase bad old history with good new legislation. […]
— Read More: pjmedia.com
