Give History Back To The Nerds
Somewhat embarrassingly, in the last few years, I’ve turned into a bit of a history buff. It started with some good old-fashioned insomnia and a podcast, and two years later, I can confidently describe to you Custer’s downfall at Little Bighorn, the prominence of dragons in British folklore, or the life and legend of Evita. Now, I don’t say “embarrassingly” because there’s anything wrong with history as a subject — I love learning about the past, past thinkers, and people who lived in entirely different worlds from us (if I hadn't yet made that clear). Instead, I find the issue is that when I try to tell certain friends this, I become a stereotype in their eyes. As I go through the intricacies of the Seven Years' War, gone is the Saffron they used to know (standing at 5’5”, blue eyes, curly hair, very liberal, and with weirdly offbeat opinions). Instead, they are faced with an entirely different beast: I’m now a good 30 years older, nursing a beer belly; I flirt with young girls and casual homophobia, smoke in an un-sexy way, and wish I were born in the ‘good old days’ of rationing and beating one’s wife. He (I’ve changed gender as well) probably voted for Reform and Brexit; were I American, He would’ve entertained 2016 Trump because America deserves to be “first.”
I will admit there’s an understandable link there, behind the assuming eyes of my friends. The above campaigns relied heavily upon an idealised version of the past. The Brexit vote was founded on a nostalgia for when England made the rules — a desire for that time to exist now. Elsewhere, the Scottish ethnic nationalist group Siol Nan Gaidheal often articulate a longing for the Scottish Clan system, inherently based on blood relation, as opposed to citizenship or membership. Trump wants to keep immigrants out in order to Make America Great Again, and therefore calls upon imagery from whichever period of US history tickles his voters’ fancy.
There is a trend among populist politicians, to refer to and rely on moments of history in order to make a point. In doing so they create an idealised, almost imaginary version of the past. Their version of history is emotive and politicised, not based on fact, used to manipulate voter support — only they, the politician, hold the key to get back to the past.
Think of Farage describing WWII: the glory, dignity, and power that we held. Never mind the death that came along with it. The history presented is selective and overly-emotive, it serves a purpose rather than the truth. History is there to learn from and improve upon, not to pine over and grasp at, or kiss on the lips and break a rib trying to bring the poor thing back to life.
This trend in nationalist politics — in populist, extremist politics — is based on a concept of ”restorative nostalgia.” The idea that the past was better than the present suggests that everyone would be better off if we were living in it right now. This politics creates a Frankenstinian monster of our history: sewing the limb of the Empire onto the torso of grand old houses, traditional values, though maybe hacking off the wrist of a 35-year life expectancy. It tries to invent a better world — a world which is all too often one step, one vote, one war away.
This is, unfortunately, a very successful tactic. After all, we did leave the European Union, and then elect the man that told us to do so. Across the pond, a former realtor with no political experience and six bankruptcies was given the keys to the White House and might just grab them back soon. This tactic is so successful that often any love for history at all is assumed to be in itself a hatred for the present. This is just not true. History can represent a love of learning — it can be a base to improve upon. We ought to bring the subject back into the centre ground. Let's reclaim history — for nerds and nerds alone.
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