“Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.” George Orwell, 1984
As William Faulkner observed “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” It’s tempting to think the past is no longer relevant now that we’re supposedly at the end of history. This makes history more important than ever, as turning a blind eye allows unexamined ideas to fester beneath the surface.
Those telling you to ignore the humanities are all students of philosophy, history, and political science. Ever wonder why? Throughout history, it’s because those who wish to rule they want to use the strategies of how to create authoritarianism while hiding from the masses the strategies to identify and fight against it.
Everything that hides history, from defunding the humanities to weaponizing cancel culture to erase past heroes to demonizing universities are all tried and true strategies.
And this time around, they are better at it. Social media and AI allow for the control of information and narratives that provides erasure without consent. You don’t have to burn the books if you convince people to not read them.
The fix is easy, at least now when we aren’t in the endgame. Read. Learn. Think. Do not trust anyone who has studied history to tell you you don’t know it. As history proves, they lie.
And keep reading the Chicago Commons – our number one goal is to show these strategies to help people remember.