The Power of Historical Honesty
Authoritarian states such as Russia and China want to write their own fictive accounts of the past in order to sustain their prejudices and power structures. But open, democratic societies that value freedom need to be brave and honest about their own histories.
LONDON – One of my favorite cartoons shows an elderly, professorial-looking man talking to a much younger fellow, possibly a student. “Those who don’t study history,” says the old guy, “are doomed to repeat it.” He then adds, “Yet those who do study history are doomed to stand by helplessly while everyone else repeats it.”