Right Revisionism

As you know, I like to steer clear of non-educational politics and while what follows is prompted by politically-driven positions, my point is educational. And what rang my bell? A right-wing commentator this morning who alleged multiple times that the US / Trump must do x,y,z to Iran because they have done bad things vis-a-vis nuclear weapons in the last few years, and other bad things in and since 1979. Separately, others have said Israel can do and should do x,y,z to Palestinians because they were brutally attacked on October 7. 

What all of these have in common is the apparent absence of any knowledge of historical context, or of what happened prior to any of those example events. Some have even labelled Iran's actions and the Israel attack as "unprovoked".

And yet ...

Iran in 1979 was the result of a democratically elected government being replaced with a quasi-dictator, Iran's actions in the last five years are the result of one side unilaterally tearing up a treaty which imposed onerous inspections and beneficial trading allowances for good behavior.

Israel on October 7 was the result of tos and fros from all sides from 1948, increasingly state-supported militant settlers, large-scale roundups of civilians and so on.

In other words, in neither case did anything occur in a vacuum. Whether A is right or B is wrong or justifiable or even acceptable is an appropriate argument; not what is being said. As I was wont to say to my students, you cannot poke a bear with a stick and then be angry with it for biting you. 

The problem with the commentators at the top of this piece is either their ignorance in asserting that the bee stings capriciously, or in relying on the ignorance of their target audience or the willingness of their target audience to believe incomplete or inaccurate assertions.

And the problem behind these problems is educational. People do not know history and people don't read. Who was it who said, "if you don't know history you are doomed to repeat it"? If you don't know the answer, you are proving my point.*

I am in favor of a skills or competency defined curriculum rather than content or knowledge, however there are some things one should know. One of the most important of these is cause and consequence, which is another way of saying "scientific thinking". Viz, you observe something, you ask a question as to what or why or how and you then investigate possible reasons.

In my town, someone cut down a beloved tree last year. Why? He is a horrible person who hates trees. He had a beef with the council. He was fed up with the council for not maintaining the tree so by removing it, problem solved. He thought it was dangerous and about to fall. 

None of these are correct, but by ignoring context and history and antecedents, you  end up with the kind of assertions above. His real reason? The tree obstructed his view of sunsets on the mountains so he just up-an-attem. The thought of any impact on anyone else reportedly never crossed his mind.

**Please leave comments and thoughts below.**

Further Reading

Another reason reading is important

* “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” - George Santayana in The Life of Reason (1905).