NationStates Jolt Archive

Preferably to be answered by those over 40 years old.

Since your youth, have you witnessed the accepted versions of historical facts change? How much influence does historical revisionism have?

I am over 40, but as I have moved from culture to culture, the accepted historical facts have changed. It would seem that cultural location is as important as anything else in how history is seen. As such I can not comment on revisionism, as there is too much other noise involved.

i can think of a few things that are sort of revisionism but more due to revelations of facts rather than rethinking

for example, the fall of the soviet union has revealed just how utterly vilely evil joseph stalin was. when i was young, it was possible to believe the cold war was really just 2 equal competing philosophies. now we know that stalin wasnt an ideologue at all, he was a meglomaniacal despot who killed millions not through the poor application of economic theory but because he wanted them dead. sure we had books like "the gulag archipelago" that outlined some of the worst abuses then known but the true extent of the evil was kept secret to everyone.

and

sometimes some kid on here will claim that the US won the vietnam war. that just makes me laugh.

sometimes some kid on here will claim that the US won the vietnam war. that just makes me laugh.
Come on, Eut isn't a kid. ;)

Come on, Eut isn't a kid. ;)
now now!

forgetting that we lost is not the same as thinking that we won.




uh ... <smiley face thing> so that eut doesnt kick my ass.

Things have been added. Information, previously hidden, has come out about the roles of minorities - women, Hispanics, Blacks, Native Americans - in American history. Histories of other countries have been expanded to include these. But, I have seen attempts at rewriting history in order to make groups look bad (white American and British males come to mind). It's too bad, but I guess we'll never have a balanced history of anything, some group or other will invariably be left out or treated negatively.

Come on, Eut isn't a kid. ;)
He sure sometimes acts like one.

sometimes some kid on here will claim that the US won the vietnam war. that just makes me laugh.
Hey, they cheated :mad:

Its not about histocal revisionism, its about upbringing. For example some British kids can be brought up to believe that the the Boer wars were won by the British. They wern't. Its a cultural thing. I'm sure you as an American that you think the French are your natural enemny. During the war of indepencence if they hadn't helped you, you would have lost. Like I say, its about history and perspective.

Its not about histocal revisionism, its about upbringing. For example some British kids can be brought up to believe that the the Boer wars were won by the British. They wern't.
Yes they were.

Things have been added. Information, previously hidden, has come out about the roles of minorities - women, Hispanics, Blacks, Native Americans - in American history. Histories of other countries have been expanded to include these. But, I have seen attempts at rewriting history in order to make groups look bad (white American and British males come to mind). It's too bad, but I guess we'll never have a balanced history of anything, some group or other will invariably be left out or treated negatively.
I don't look at accuracy in history as trying to make groups look bad. I think we'll be enslaved to our founding myths until we blow them up and are honest with ourselves. Hell, a big part of the reason we're in Iraq right now is because the average American doesn't know our history, so we keep repeating it.

There are times wher the pendulum swings too far. For instance, the common belief now is that white men were out for the genocide of the indians and the indians were the noble savages, blah blah blah. Fact is that most of the Indian wars started out as family feuds, and that intermarriage was so common that it was often difficult to tell who was on what side. But that's a complex story and offers no simple resolution, so what started out as manifest destiny has turned into the rape of the land, and neither story is accurate.

Things have been added. Information, previously hidden, has come out about the roles of minorities - women, Hispanics, Blacks, Native Americans - in American history. Histories of other countries have been expanded to include these. But, I have seen attempts at rewriting history in order to make groups look bad (white American and British males come to mind). It's too bad, but I guess we'll never have a balanced history of anything, some group or other will invariably be left out or treated negatively.
This is the same as my answer.

We didn't know about President's sex exploits. Most seem to have some.

The bigger shock isn't how history has changed but how attitudes have changed. It seems that few people today really watch, read, listen to, real news. (Rush Limbaugh and Sean Henady are NOT news) It is even more puzzling when considering CNN and other 24 hour channels are now available that weren't then. It is amazing how uninformed the average person is.

Back in the 60's it seemed everyone tried to stay informed. My guess is there was a draft that placed families at all levels on the front line of the war. Then there was the social changes coming from the equal rights movement. Since about 1975, nothing really big has happened that involved all of society. I really feel sorry for those that are too young to remember how fantastically good and how unbelievably evil society can be. We seem to be stuck at dead zero. Nothing really bad, but nothing really good either.

It just kills me when I have students that haven't seen a news report in their memory and they don't feel at all uninformed. As long as they know which celebrity is knocked up that's all that is important. Hard news is totally unimportant in their mind.

Preferably to be answered by those over 40 years old.

Since your youth, have you witnessed the accepted versions of historical facts change? How much influence does historical revisionism have?

Yes, however to be honest 40 years is a very short time frame for revisionists to be able to pull such stunts off and get away with it. When there are too many people alive that know the truth it is not a simple matter as it is when the witnessing generation and their offspring are alive.
The best example I can think of is WWII and the atomic bomb. Revisionists have been attempting to alter the historical facts and switch the blame for several years now, only to be written off as idiots and revisionists. This will not be the case in a couple more generations. Especially if our educational system is allowed to remain a tool for social change, and a toy for social engineers.

for example, the fall of the soviet union has revealed just how utterly vilely evil joseph stalin was. when i was young, it was possible to believe the cold war was really just 2 equal competing philosophies. now we know that stalin wasnt an ideologue at all, he was a meglomaniacal despot who killed millions not through the poor application of economic theory but because he wanted them dead. sure we had books like "the gulag archipelago" that outlined some of the worst abuses then known but the true extent of the evil was kept secret to everyone.

To quote Robert Conquest: 'I told you so, you fucking fools'.

Things have been added. Information, previously hidden, has come out about the roles of minorities - women, Hispanics, Blacks, Native Americans - in American history.

Women are a minority?

Women are a minority?
Politically they were until very recently, and in some ways, they still have fewer rights than men.

When I joined up to the Army of Virginny back in '61, I thought I was fightin to keep my slaves and pertect my white wimin from those savages. Evidintly, I was wrong. I found out much later that I was really fightin fer abstract constitutional issues.

When I joined up to the Army of Virginny back in '61, I thought I was fightin to keep my slaves and pertect my white wimin from those savages. Evidintly, I was wrong. I found out much later that I was really fightin fer abstract constitutional issues.
That deserves an internet 'lol'.

Women are a minority?

Not in numbers, only for special consideration in reverse discrimination, quotas, victim rights, hate crimes, divorce, criminal prosecutions, educational admissions, small business loans, so on and so forth.

Yes, however to be honest 40 years is a very short time frame for revisionists to be able to pull such stunts off and get away with it.
I know, ideally I would like to say 60 years, but I did aim for replies from people other than Eutrusca!