Victor Davis Hanson explains why the lessons of history are so ill-used these days.
History is evoked more and more these days, even as fewer of us read it.Posted by Alan at July 29, 2005 06:22 AMThat apathy explains why when public figures turn to false historical analogies for political purposes, they're often given a free pass to exaggerate or distort. Take, for example, filmmaker Michael Moore, who once compared terrorists in Iraq to our own Minutemen; or Yasser Arafat, who implied that the taking of Jenin was as brutal as the battles for Leningrad and Stalingrad. Even Sen. Dick Durbin recently likened the conditions found in Guantánamo Bay to those in Nazi death camps.
So, the next time someone quotes philosopher George Santayana for the umpteenth time that "Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it," just assume that what follows will probably be wrong. Having a Rolodex of cocktail party quotes to beef up an argument is not the same as the hard work of learning about the past.
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In our confusion during this war, why do we often ignore history or twist its details to fit our own particular needs?
First, in our schools, formal study of the past has given way to the more ideological agenda of the social sciences. Mastery of historical facts is seen as passe, while the less educated instead "do theory" to prove preconceived notions.
Second, good intentions don't always equal good history. Being politically correct often makes us plain wrong, relegating history to melodrama and negating history's power to put tragedy into context.
Third, we're in thrall to the present affluent age, convinced that our own depressing experiences are unique, naturally dwarfing all prior calamities.
But history is not a parlor game used to prove a political point. Instead, at its best, history should offer us solace that we are never really alone.