The Powerlessness of Positive Thinking – In These Times

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Rick Perlstein argues that it is a streak of optimism that is at the heart of the opposition to the new AP History guidelines. While his insight points to a significant driving force in the “history wars,” I think that it is misleading. Those who are optimistic look to the future and predict good things. By contrast those who oppose so-called “liberal” history are concerned with the controlling the past and see threats to their worldview lurking everywhere. It is about the identity of the U.S. and thereby their own. They equate perfection (as they define it) with exceptionalism. To admit mistakes or failures is to claim that America is not exceptional. And by association it is also a blow to their own self-esteem. This is why they react so viscerally to any challenge to their version of U.S. history. Anyone who dares challenge their “exceptional” version of history must be driven by malicious intent and is automatically un-American. What they fail to realize is that what makes the U.S. exceptional is the willingness to reflect on the past honestly so that we can become an even better America, one that is prosperous and just.

The Powerlessness of Positive Thinking – In These Times.

apush

The varieties of denialism

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Massimo Pigliucci writes about what he learned at an interdisciplinary conference on denialism. I highly recommend reading this blog post because, as Massimo points out, “denialism in its various forms is a pernicious social phenomenon, with potentially catastrophic consequences for our society.”

History News Network | Hero Marine Dad Will Unleash Hell Itself If Daughter’s World History Class Says Muslims Are Real

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This dad doesn’t actually say that he does not want his daughter to know that Muslims are real, but he did say that he doesn’t want his daughter to learn about Islam because it is “a faith he does ‘not believe in.’” He refuses to allow his daughter to do the assignments in her word history class even though she will receive zeros on those assignments (see Gazette.net). Wow! That’s just what we need: more ignorance!

History News Network | Hero Marine Dad Will Unleash Hell Itself If Daughter’s World History Class Says Muslims Are Real.

islamic history

History News Network | Review of Edmund Fawcett’s “Liberalism: The Life of an Idea”

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Walter G. Moss’s book review of Edmund Fawcett’s book Liberalism might be of interest to some of you. The word “liberal” continues to mean different things to different people. This is partly due the ever evolving meaning of the word. Fawcett uses a broad definition of liberalism that would include those who we would call “liberal” today (such as FDR, John Rawls, and Paul Krugman), but in addition he includes those who might be considered “liberal” in its classic meaning (such as Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher). Therefore, Moss thinks that the question we must ask is “whether today, we wish to use the narrower evolved definition that Safire suggests or the broader, more inclusive one Fawcett maintains.” Although Moss “prefers the former—referring to Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan as liberals, as Fawcett does, just seems wrong—I’ll grant the logical consistency of his treatment.”
I think that the term loses its usefulness if it becomes so broad as to include all of the above individuals. But we all need to know the history of this term if we are to avoid the current confusion about the meaning of the term.

History News Network | Review of Edmund Fawcett’s “Liberalism: The Life of an Idea”.

liberalism by Edmund Fawcett

Pressure in Japan to Forget Sins of War – NYTimes.com

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“Coming to terms with its militarist past has never been easy for Japan, which tried to set aside the issues raised by the war as it rebuilt itself into the peaceful, prosperous nation it is today. But pressure to erase the darker episodes of its wartime history has intensified recently with the rise of a small, aggressive online movement seeking to intimidate those like Mr. Mizuguchi who believe the country must never forget,” Martin Fackler wrote in The New York Times. Fackler recounts the successful attempt by a far by a far right nationalist group of “cyberactivists” known as Net Right to halt the erection of a memorial in the tiny village of Sarufutsu, where “[a]t least 80 Korean laborers died of abuse and malnutrition here as they built an airfield at the behest of the Japanese military during World War II.”  This group is using intimidation to stop what it sees as blights on the image of the nation.  Unfortunately, in this case they succeeded and work on the memorial came to a halt.

These nationalists believe that they are restoring honor to the Japanese nation but what is more honorable: Admitting your sins and trying to make amends or covering them up?

Pressure in Japan to Forget Sins of War – NYTimes.com.

japanese memorial to korean laborers WWII

 

 

The global warming hoax – My Journal Courier – myjournalcourier.com

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“Who believes politicians paid by ExxonMobil instead of scientists, doctors and conservationists? Gullible people who want to believe. That’s what makes hoaxes work.” The historian Steve Hochstadt reviews the history of science hoaxes and compares them to the current “global warming hoax.” There is an important difference between the two: the previous hoaxes were debunked by scientists, whereas the current “hoax” is supposedly being perpetrated by the scientific community. This fact in and of itself should invite skepticism of the claims of those who cry “hoax.”

The global warming hoax – My Journal Courier – myjournalcourier.com.

Climate-Denial

History News Network | The Founding Fathers Would Be Appalled at the Government’s Declining Support of Science

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It is unfortunate that most Americans are unaware of how important government support of science and technology was to the Founding Fathers. I have not read Tom Shachtman’s book Gentleman Scientists but it’s on my list of must reads. At a minimum, I hope this book is successful in bringing attention to this important subject. If any of you have read it please let me know what you think.

History News Network | The Founding Fathers Would Be Appalled at the Government’s Declining Support of Science.

The Founders and the Enlightenment

History News Network | What Can We Learn from History?

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At the History News Network, Robert Zaretsky argues that the popular perception of history as “a how-to manual for avoiding past errors” is mistaken. In practice applying the “lessons of history” has rarely been successful. False analogies, faulty interpretations, and inadequate understanding of the past and present all contribute to the problem. Zaretsky points out, correctly I believe, that we turn “to the past for platitudes that parade as lessons.”

Despite his pessimism concerning history lessons Zaretsky still believes that history can be a useful guide in the present. Instead of turning to history as “a how-to manual,” Zaretsky believes that it is the stories offered by history that are valuable. Stories of the past, he insists, “offer, in effect, exercises in political and moral judgment.” As an example he turns to the lessons learned from Barbara Tuchman’s book The Guns of August by John F. Kennedy. According to Zaretsky, it taught Kennedy “that the greatest danger a political leader could run in time of crisis was ‘a mistake in judgment.’”

History News Network | What Can We Learn from History?.

The Guns of August

History News Network | Some in Japan want to deny “comfort women” were employed in WW II. They need to watch this.

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History is the tool of nationalists everywhere. They believe that greatness is perfection. Therefore, they must whitewash the past. The result is the creation of a mythic past that must be protected at all costs. As a result, they lash out at anyone who would taint their beautiful picture. Those who dare to do so are seen as enemies of the nation and deserve only contempt and hatred. Unfortunately, nationalism has been on the rise recently. Pride in one’s nation is only natural but when it turns to arrogance it becomes a divisive force that can turn violent if it is not checked.

The Japanese (as well as others) have never really confronted their past but they had been heading in a more honest direction until the recent rise in nationalism. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, has recently requested that the Education Ministry approve only patriotic textbooks (i.e. books that deny the crimes committed by the Japanese during WWII). (see The New York Times) The fact that “several members of Abe’s cabinet are gearing up for a demand that the [Kono] statement [that admits responsibility for the comfort women used by the Japanese soldiers during WWII] be withdrawn next year, the 70thanniversary of the end of World War II” (see article) is only the latest indication of a troubling trend. Unfortunately, this trend is not limited to Japan.

I believe that nationalists have it backwards. Whitewashing the past is not the path to greatness; confronting the past is. The real heroes in this story are those like Matsumoto Masayoshi (see video at link below) who are willing to speak out in order to bear witness to the atrocities that they witnessed. Japan can only be respected if it is willing to admit their mistakes. The nationalists are wrong to believe that erasing the past will restore honor to Japan.

History News Network | Some in Japan want to deny “comfort women” were employed in WW II. They need to watch this..