In Defence of History

But Knowledge to their eyes her ample page

Rich with the spoils of time did ne'er unroll;

Chill Penury repressed their noble rage,

And froze the genial current of the soul.

 Gray’s Elegy

When I was a kid I liked History. It seemed more likes stories than any other subject. Very occasionally I would hear people wondering why we spent so much time on History. I don’t think I paid much attention. What is the point of History? I dunno.

It is a commonplace to hear that History teaches us nothing. But that is our fault. If we don’t learn from History, that is not because History has nothing to teach.

I suppose old people are more driven to think historically. Is this just because our personal lives stretch further back? Perhaps.

The Truth is that History has much to teach us – if we are prepared to listen.

Our current age has more to teach us than ever before. The twentieth century is the ghastliest century in History. Its lessons are clearer than ever. God forbid that the twenty-first should be worse. To avoid this we need to learn History.

We need to learn from the baddest of all time – the ideologies of the twentieth century. What did they have in common? Each and every one had a plan for the perfection of human society. Marx’s was the most obvious. It was cack. Every prediction Marx ever made failed. Every one.  Marx and Hitler (and Mao)  had their plans. They had a fantasy that in the fullness of time a new humanity would arise, with their help.  Dear God! How do you extirpate everything that prevents the inconvenient old humanity from interfering with our perfect word? Easy! Kill them whenever you find them – hundreds of millions of them.

The twentieth century had one solution – death. Islam has the same solution. One death century should have been enough!

We know what Marxist ideology has given us in the past. We know what it will mean to follow Hitler. We know! We have seen it happen.  Mohammedanism has given us what we see happening in the Middle East.

Embrace Life. The likes of Hamas explicitly reject this. They embrace Death – and proudly.

Whose side are you going to be on: the communists, who killed hundreds of millions, or the fascists, who killed tens of millions? The Islamic State kills hundreds a day. History hasn’t stopped.