Those Who Do Not Remember History
Apr 24th, 2006 at 6:53 am by Susie
Howard Zinn points out the problem of citizens who are unaware of a long history of liars who rationalize taking us to war:
It seems to me there are two reasons, which go deep into our national culture, and which help explain the vulnerability of the press and of the citizenry to outrageous lies whose consequences bring death to tens of thousands of people. If we can understand those reasons, we can guard ourselves better against being deceived.
One is in the dimension of time, that is, an absence of historical perspective. The other is in the dimension of space, that is, an inability to think outside the boundaries of nationalism. We are penned in by the arrogant idea that this country is the center of the universe, exceptionally virtuous, admirable, superior.
If we don’t know history, then we are ready meat for carnivorous politicians and the intellectuals and journalists who supply the carving knives. I am not speaking of the history we learned in school, a history subservient to our political leaders, from the much-admired Founding Fathers to the Presidents of recent years. I mean a history which is honest about the past. If we don’t know that history, then any President can stand up to the battery of microphones, declare that we must go to war, and we will have no basis for challenging him. He will say that the nation is in danger, that democracy and liberty are at stake, and that we must therefore send ships and planes to destroy our new enemy, and we will have no reason to disbelieve him.
But if we know some history, if we know how many times Presidents have made similar declarations to the country, and how they turned out to be lies, we will not be fooled. Although some of us may pride ourselves that we were never fooled, we still might accept as our civic duty the responsibility to buttress our fellow citizens against the mendacity of our high officials.
The Wolf At Our Door…
Susie Madrak notes that Howard Zinn has written the all-too-predictable commentary about those who forget history are condemned to repeat it. “Now that most Americans no longer believe in the war”, Zinn asks, “now that they no longer trust Bush……
Do your children a favor and buy them this illustrated book:
http://www.addictedtowar.com
You know, back when I was a kid & first digested Goebbel’s quote that it is always easier to foist a big lie off on the people than a small one, I thought he was FOS.
Now, of course, I’ve seen the truth in his comments. I now think if Mr. Orwell had changed the title of his novel to ‘2024′, they’d be calling him the 2nd coming of Nostradamus.
The Mexican War, the Spanish-American War, The Gulf of Tonkin incident and a body count higher than the entire population, The War on Grenada, Iran Contra, numerous Central America incursions/coups, Kuwaiti babies dumped from incubators, WMDs.
What, them lie?