Galt's Gulch
11

Bye, Bye, American History

Posted by jceockwood 9 years, 5 months ago to News
26 comments | Share | Flag

They will try to change the past to change the future.
SOURCE URL: http://www.wsj.com/articles/bye-bye-american-history-1433978690?mod=trending_now_5

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  • Posted by $ rockymountainpirate 9 years, 5 months ago
    +1. Do these answer your question?

    "By educating the young generation along the right lines, the People's State will have to see that a generation of mankind is formed which will be adequate to this supreme combat that will decide the destinies of the world."
    Adolf Hitler quotes http://www.searchquotes.com/Adolf_Hitler...

    "Give me four years to teach the children and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted."
    Vladimir Lenin

    Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes...
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    • Posted by $ jlc 9 years, 5 months ago
      But Lenin was not right - that seed uprooted itself: for bluejeans and walkmans.

      Jan
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      • Posted by $ jdg 9 years, 5 months ago
        Not really. The system collapsed for economic reasons, but most people in the former Soviet Union still believe what they were taught, both about history and about capitalism.

        The Soviets taught that a capitalist and a gangster are the same thing. So they now have a state in which it's true.
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      • Posted by $ rockymountainpirate 9 years, 5 months ago
        And bootlegged Beatles albums. Still they weren't totally unsuccessful either. Some will always choose freedom, many chose safety and conformity.
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        • Posted by $ jlc 9 years, 5 months ago
          Which are all things the Communists thought too trivial to worry about...strange how history actually works.

          I think that >= of the human race would freely choose to live in a socialism. Any comprehensive political plan that does not take this into account is doomed to revision and reversion.

          Jan
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          • Posted by $ rockymountainpirate 9 years, 5 months ago
            I agree. Not everyone wants to be free, which requires thinking to survive.
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            • Posted by $ jlc 9 years, 5 months ago
              I am surprised at your answer. I expected that most of the people on this list would consider that if the people were 'raised right' they would be Randists.

              Jan
              (My prior comment was supposed to say >=50% of the human race.)
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              • Posted by strugatsky 9 years, 5 months ago
                Why are you surprised? Is it not expected that humans will look for an easier way out of any situation? Socialism provides relaxation for the brain, as the responsibility for almost everything except following direct orders is removed. And as any other organ, when the brain is not used, it atrophies, making any occasional use that much more difficult.
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                • Posted by $ jlc 9 years, 5 months ago
                  I am not surprised at the results of my estimate, strugatsky - I am surprised that folks are agreeing with me.

                  Jan
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                  • Posted by johnpe1 9 years, 5 months ago
                    it's a sad "fact" these days that so many people
                    take modern comfort for granted, wanting to watch
                    reality shows and avoid thinking, that more than
                    half are just satisfied to roll along like sheep.

                    makes me sick, but it could very well be true. -- j
                    .
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                    • Posted by $ jlc 9 years, 5 months ago
                      I do not know if it is a fact, it is just mine own observation. But to whatever percentage of people it applies, I too feel it is sad. (But they probably don't...which is sad too!)

                      Jan
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  • Posted by DrZarkov99 9 years, 5 months ago
    As has often been stated, it's the winners who write history. Academia in this country, and in many other developed nations, has become a haven for utopian ideologues espousing Communist or Socialist systems. They have become the "winners".
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  • Posted by ObjectiveAnalyst 9 years, 5 months ago
    New History! An oxymoron you say?
    "Newspeak is the fictional language in the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, written by George Orwell. It is a controlled language created by the totalitarian state Oceania as a tool to limit freedom of thought, and concepts that pose a threat to the regime such as freedom, self-expression, individuality, and peace."
    The revision of history is just another tool of the totalitarian.
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  • Posted by $ Olduglycarl 9 years, 5 months ago
    One can not change the past, one can only change the present if the outcome is not known which becomes the past in the future. For far to many of us, the past is known and because the present outcome is not known, we can study and learn which in turn,change the future in our favor...they lose, we win!
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  • Posted by CircuitGuy 9 years, 5 months ago
    From just the WSJ the article and the Wasington Post article jceockwood posted, it's hard to tell of there's a real problem or if the critics have an ideological ax to grind.

    I know the group-identity view is a real problem, but are they really teaching that? It doesn't ring true. It sounds like the critics are just rightwingers frustrated that reality doesn't agree with their ideology.

    Here's a link to the WSJ article:
    http://commentators.com/bye-bye-american...
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    • Posted by Temlakos 9 years, 5 months ago
      I assure you: they are. The College Board have turned United States History on its head with their new version of the Advanced Placement Examination in that discipline. Every petty gripe of every identifiable constituency of the looters' state now is all that gets you top credit on that test.
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    • Posted by $ MichaelAarethun 9 years, 5 months ago
      Washington Post is the DC version of the NY Times and are leftists supporting government control of the population. I had thought of WSJ differently but then I suppose they are left wing corporatist along with the WP left wing statists.
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