Farewell to History

How many illusions have fallen from the face of civilization? The illusion that certain animals are good or evil, that demons exist, that witches have supernatural powers, that kings and queens are not selfish, that the Earth is the center of the universe, that we were created as we are now—as a complete species with no need to evolve, that we stand on solid bedrock and not on a thin crust afloat on magma, that the stars we see necessarily exist at the time we see them, that our bodies are made of more than constellations of atoms…

All these defunct illusions are largely supported by the Bible, but, among persons with a secular education, these illusions are now widely accepted as nothing more than illusions. So, it is with some curiosity that I note the biblical and dominant view of the history of civilization remains unchallenged. This biblical and dominant view sees civilization spanning some 4,000 years, possibly beginning in Egypt and spreading from there into the Mediterranean, the Tigris, and elsewhere, and continuing with Rome some 2000 years ago before plunging into 1000 years of darkness. Why does this historical illusion remain intact?

The New Chronologists, most notably Anatoly Fomenko, provides a rigorous exposition of the problems, deceptions and assumptions upon which the dominant view of history has gained a monopoly on the interpretation of history. A more scientific examination could not be dreamed of. The detail and thoroughness is mind boggling, even burdensome, and, yes, in the end, one may feel like an accountant wading through 2,000 years of government documents revealing an unbroken history of fraud.

Well, should we be surprised?

What shall we conclude from such a revision of history? Shall we take comfort from the belief that, thanks to the New Chronologists, we now stand on solid ground? What use is history, any version of history, in a world with an urgent responsibility to consider the future and to demonstrate heroism if any world is to flourish and even survive? If New Chronology teaches us anything useful it is negative: that governments and religions cannot be trusted, that different religions have a common origin, and that pride and interest in bloodlines, in dynasties and in history is the most utter waste of time.

The time for the future is long overdue!

The Use of History

Ah, history, you are written by the victors, and where victory is lacking, we flatter ourselves with Hebrew Bibles, some Hollywood spin on Vietnam and so on.

By far, the central function of history is egoistic and culture preserving. Histories rarely function to raise questions and learn lessons about how to forge a social, political and culture system that values comedy over tragedy, children over pride and tradition, and art over consumerism and greed… Until such transformations are made, no culture will ever avoid violence and corruption. But most historians are too meek for such grand ideals, and being mired in the language of war, history treats peace and freedom as ultimate goals. Peace, however, is not a not a goal, it is the state that follows the successful pursuit of the three (and possibly other) goals I mentioned. And freedom is a useless word unless it is married to the idea of absolute submission to sensible rules that obviously do not yet exist.

Well, but perhaps I am wrong. Who knows? At least, let us try something different and experiment a little. For, if history has any meaning at all, it is that experiments are needed to end the cycle of violence and the spread of hunger and environmental destruction.

Perhaps I wax too serious in speaking of history. Enough history has been written, and I can say, with utmost confidence, that thanks to the historians for constantly reminding us about the horrors of history we won’t have any more of that war nonsense!

And, thanks to the historians, next time Hitler flaunts his brazen face in Germany, we’re gonna tell him to sod off!

Ah, yes, but that’s just the trouble, isn’t it? History never repeats itself exactly, and people don’t recognize the billions of Hitlers and potential Hitlers walking among them. The whole art of recognizing patterns and similarities remains undeveloped, and the understanding that small domestic injustices are worth as much attention as the same injustices committed on the political or “historical” scale—this knowledge hardly exists, and Timothy Findley’s The Wars is one of the few books I know that hints at it.

The historian must reveal the universals in the particulars of history, but even then, without a scientifically grounded vision of how to attain a better future and how we can improve ourselves, history can only teach us to avoid history.

In the end, the past must be forgotten, for whatever enemies we faced in the past, one universal, immortal enemy awaits us, an enemy who we can only conquer by befriending, and if we fail at that we will never be rid of mortal enemies and irrational fears.

In the end, the past must be forgotten, for whatever mistakes we committed in the past, tomorrow we can commit better ones, funnier ones. Or will tragedy never be turned into comedy?