A new way of looking at history, inspired by the CiF section of the Guardian online this morning...

[annwfyn]

I have realized now that one of my A levels, all of my degree, and a great deal of my academic reading has actually been a total waste of time.

All those essays could have been boiled down as follows:

The French Revolution

Once again, we see how generations of soft touch monarchs spoilt the youth of France, meaning that a bunch of entitled young yobs had no respect for law and order. The Comte de Mirabeau should have felt ashamed of himself for trying to make excuses for these thugs. Clearly the best solution would have been to send in the Musketeers.

(Maybe with an extra side essay on Marie Antoinette’s fabulous 1789 wardrobe, with a quick debate on whether or not it was showing a little too much cleavage, and an appendix on ‘Great Cake Recipes of the 1780s’)

The Russian Revolution

Frankly, there is no need to explain or understand the mindset of that bunch of Bolshevik thugs. Lots of people have their brothers executed and don’t decide to start communist revolutions. The Cossacks were doing their best under very difficult circumstances and should have received a great deal more public support.

(I could have added some extra pictures on those lovely lace frocks that the Grand Duchesses used to wear to balls, and maybe a little bit more on the 1916 Fabergé collection. It was filled with Must Haves that year, and no mistake!)

The New York Draft Riots

There was no psychology at play here at all. Instead, we simply see a bunch of criminals doing what criminals do. Lincoln should have drafted them all into the army.

Any more? I am now feeling inspired by the press to really get started on this new common sense, voice of the people, version of history. I really don’t know why I wasted my time on all this total nonsense about reaction, and reform, and economic pressures and wider social change in the past, when I could have been focusing instead on a simple Manichean struggle (with extra pictures of pretty dresses) all along.

Comments

[eniel]

I really don’t know why I wasted my time on all this total nonsense about reaction, and reform, and economic pressures and wider social change in the past, when I could have been focusing instead on a simple Manichean struggle (with extra pictures of pretty dresses) all along.

You forgot the Scarlett O'Hara style dresses for the New York Draft Riots! Very important! And swishy! *grins*

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

Good point! And Gone With The Wind does also have many other worthwhile things to teach us about history, and why change is bad, especially when it negatively impacts on big dresses and pretty houses.

[eniel]

Well... the book does make the point that economically-driven marriages are bound to bring you wealth if not happiness, and that really, forcing yourself on your wife when you're drunk is ok as long as she's in love with you...

PS: Is it bad that I still have a crush on Clark Gable? And that I devoured the Scarlett sequel?

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

Um…I can cope with the Clark Gable crush. I fear that actively enjoying the sequel may be going a little bit too far.

[eniel]

But it had horses! And more pretty dresses, and balls! And the wedding dress... *swoons*
I guess I should come clean and admit that I've also read Rhett Butler's people although wasn't taken in by it all that much.

[suave-steve.livejournal.com]

You can always look at the Tolpuddle Martyrs, or the Peasants War or even the Crusades using those methods, less pretty dresses I'll grant you though ;P

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

The Tolpuddle Martyrs? It’s men like that who crippled the 19th century economy, with their unreasonable demands on employers. Frankly, transportation was far too kind and just encouraged the entitlement complex of the 19th century working classes.

[suave-steve.livejournal.com]

Indeed, oh and let's forget Gandhi and the India Independence Movement while you're at it.

[jholloway.livejournal.com]

Coalition forces under Count Godfrey are being greeted as liberators!

[satyrica.livejournal.com]

there does seem to have been a deep-seated reluctance to give these riots any kind of political or social context by most people I've seen commenting on them

[purplecat]

Here via cairmen's FB rec.

I'm beginning to think that our political discourse has become so polarised that we find it impossible to imagine that someone might both condemn the violence and seek to understand why it happened (unless that understanding is cast in purely perjorative terms using words like "lazy" and "spoiled").

[cairmen.livejournal.com]

On which subject, would you mind if I link this on FB? Warning, you might get some idiots coming through.

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

Feel free. I welcome readers of all political flavours.:)

[cairmen.livejournal.com]

The press? If it was only the bloody press I'd be a lot happier. The level of assholery on display on Facebook has been astounding.

[headinclouds.livejournal.com]

Totally. I've seen comments from people who I really thought had more sense that are frankly a bit sickening. Am also confused by someone on my Fb friends list who seems to swing wildly between preaching compassion and understanding, and saying 'Bring on the water cannons!'.

I sense a round of defriending coming on... :s

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

Y'know it's almost like that stuff I was saying about the poor having no way out - back when we were talking about education - is actually true, or something.

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

Grammer schools, you mean?

I shall be quiet about this as I'm still trying to figure out grammer schools in my brain. I keep going back and forth. And before you tell me I'm being an awful middle class hypocrite, I remind you that I was comprehensive educated but agree that you have a point about people who believe in the comprehensive system, but not for their kids.

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

I would observe that I wouldn't consider myself pro-Grammar school. I am, however, vehemently anti-Comprehensive in their current form as the system has manifestly failed.

If people have no visible way out, then it's no surprise they periodically smash stuff. Unfortunately, an education system designed to keep poor people where they are has been mainstream political ideology for forty years.

[emma7783.livejournal.com]

<3

What a wonderful piece of writing. Thanks for posting this. It very much sums up how I feel whenever I open facebook or buzz right now. I have retreated to twitter where I follow very few people I know in real life and have a nice self-selected group of wishy-washy-liberals that tend to have similar views to my own ;-)

[mannheimblack.livejournal.com]

It's deeply annoying that any attempt to analyse underlying problems or to comprehend the rioters' motivations is seen as being ill-informed at best, or at worst a fifth column for the rioters.

I can only surmise that people don't want to hear about treating the disease, because they're in pain right now and can't think beyond that. They just want to gulp down painkillers until they can't feel it any more, regardless of whether that will help or actually do further harm.

I find this less excusable in those who aren't even remotely affected by the riots.

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

I've found that many of my London friends, people who were affected by the riots, who were in the areas badly hit, have been considerably more compassionate than people who have NOTHING TO DO WITH IT AT ALL.

Some of the most gung ho comments I've read have been from people who's sole experience with the riots appears to be the Daily Mail.

[cairmen.livejournal.com]

I'm finding the same thing.

One friend actually had people trying to kick down his door on Monday, and has subsequently been loudly opposing the idiot counsellor who wants to throw rioters out of their homes.

Meanwhile, people I know in Scotland are advocating shooting rioters. We're so free of riots up here, so far, touch wood, that we're exporting police South.

[pmp.livejournal.com]

Isn't that for similar reasons to bullying on the internet, the "people" you are talking to or commenting on aren't real so you have far less empathy than if they were standing there in person.


I am torn though by your opening post, this is the second or thirs generation of riots the UK has seen that has started in the poorest areas of London, again during times of economic crisis. On the one hand there are reasons for some to have taken part, on the other though there was a lot of mindless me to'ers, reading summary's of some of those charged what stood out were the lawyer who knicked a bottle of wine and the homeless who stole food from a bakery. Neither of them had any agenda or ideas but wanted to satisfy an immidiate need.

[lanfykins.livejournal.com]

Neither of them had any agenda or ideas but wanted to satisfy an immidiate need.

Yes, but why. You or I wouldn't do that, so why do they? That's the question; what has made the rioters into the kind of people that do that kind of thing?

[pmp.livejournal.com]

I'm not so sure I agree with your assumption there. I'm not entirely convinced that I wouldn't join in with looting if the oppertunity was there. Particularly if I was part of a crowd of people also doing it. All it'd take I suspect is a friend going "oh come on then, what's the harm" and I'd join in.

It's a risk/reward situation, there's a chance of a reward, the risk seems minimal, so why not take the items?

That's the kind of on the spot psychology that I think took place. Undoubtedly there were ringleaders who started the trouble, and they may very well had an agenda that was used to justify starting this, but on the whole I think many of those arrested were simply being human.

[lanfykins.livejournal.com]

It's a risk/reward situation, there's a chance of a reward, the risk seems minimal, so why not take the items?

For all sorts of reasons, many of them having nothing to do with either risk or reward.

And I'd be fascinated to know why one person would while another wouldn't; though that's not something it's possible to figure out from here.

[seph-hazard.livejournal.com]

I can't bring myself to react negatively to the idea of homeless people stealing food.

[pmp.livejournal.com]

I can, if only for the want of a proper support program to stop it being necessary to steal food.

[seph-hazard.livejournal.com]

Okay, yes: I would much rather live in a society where nobody was so poor that they were forced to live on the streets and steal food to survive. As I don't, however, I am happy to support non-violent efforts to not die.

[melsner.livejournal.com]

How about Star Wars? Emperor Palpatine was simply trying to bring order to the Galaxy. And obviously all those non human races were just bogging down the system...

And he had to disband the old Republican Senate because it was just red tape beaucracy (sp).