Absolutely! Santayana's observation that "those who forget history are doomed to repeat it" is too often applied to societies as a whole--the mistake of waging a land war in Russia being a classic example. On a community and individual level, though, forgetting history means that past achievements, milestones, resolutions, are diminished; time and effort are thus expended in reaching conclusions or outcomes already established by previous generations, often under far more hostile and uncertain conditions. Learning about past achievements, basing our actions on received knowledge and understanding, is the only means by which an individual, if not a community, can grow and advance intellectually. No contributions to society based on self-centered and ignorant notions of innovation, disruption, or censorship will ever be truly positive.
I could not have said it better. The way towards a better future is remembrance of the best from our past. To the extent we denigrate the past, we degrade past wisdom for a stronger tomorrow.
I’ve come across some interesting 1839-1840 legislative documentation on the slavery question in the US sponsored by Lester Filley, of Otis Mass, whose office likely employed William Babbitt Haynes,son of Lemuel Haynes who you know well. I’ll send along separately.
Absolutely! Santayana's observation that "those who forget history are doomed to repeat it" is too often applied to societies as a whole--the mistake of waging a land war in Russia being a classic example. On a community and individual level, though, forgetting history means that past achievements, milestones, resolutions, are diminished; time and effort are thus expended in reaching conclusions or outcomes already established by previous generations, often under far more hostile and uncertain conditions. Learning about past achievements, basing our actions on received knowledge and understanding, is the only means by which an individual, if not a community, can grow and advance intellectually. No contributions to society based on self-centered and ignorant notions of innovation, disruption, or censorship will ever be truly positive.
I could not have said it better. The way towards a better future is remembrance of the best from our past. To the extent we denigrate the past, we degrade past wisdom for a stronger tomorrow.
I might have something to contribute here later.
What could it be???
I’ve come across some interesting 1839-1840 legislative documentation on the slavery question in the US sponsored by Lester Filley, of Otis Mass, whose office likely employed William Babbitt Haynes,son of Lemuel Haynes who you know well. I’ll send along separately.