History to guard the present and future
On history class, industrialized memories, and the need for context to guide the future
In a time of big events -- a catastrophic hurricane in the southeast, a significant Presidential election just weeks away, wars underway involving both allies and foes -- it's easy to find commentary that leans heavily upon the notion that everything in view is unprecedented. This temperament is egged on by a media environment (both social and mass media) that rewards nothing more than it rewards engagement, whether it is of quality or not.
■ This leads some people to make outlandish claims in pursuit of that engagement. Some even do it in the public square, like the union boss who wants to inflict pain on everyone so that he can hold his industry in stasis rather than seeing it conform with the times. Dreams of past glories (like a certain hazy fondness for an industrialized past) are easy to romanticize.
■ Historical literacy is an indispensable guardian of future welfare. It's vital to recognize the fullness of history -- where we and our predecessors went wrong and where they went right. What mistakes were made and what was hidden from scrutiny. What developments were fruitful and which ones set us back.
■ That historical literacy takes work. It takes educators who know their stuff and have ideas for making the past relevant to students who might not be ready to care of their own volition. It takes public figures who can incorporate historical references honorably into what they say about the present. It takes a public willing to check the facts once in a while. It takes resources like Our World In Data that can serve as clearinghouses for what we need to see in perspective.
■ None of this is necessarily easy, and it's certainly not free. But the costs of historical illiteracy are huge. Human nature changes very little over time, and in many aspects it never changes at all. Thus, while the particular details may change, history truly does often rhyme. But unless we know how it went the first time around, we leave ourselves dreadfully vulnerable to the hazards of making bad judgments over and over again.
