The end of a fourth year of “Condemned to Repeat It” brings the opportunity to reflect back over what was on my mind this past year.
The start and surprises of the election campaign show up regularly in the blog this year, overcoming my usual reluctance to be “news” commenter. Whether in terms of domestic politics or more broadly or philosophically, I have tried to invoke historical connections and analogies in order to contextualize and complicate the facile references which characterize most general discussions. Particular historical subjects, issues, and angles have shown up throughout the year, including: the future, coins, polling, 20C wars, drugs, AT&T, the battle of Stalingrad, the Declaration of Independence, and demographics.
Indeed, whether from ordinary human laziness/lack of attention or political expediency or the ominous looming of AI capabilities, it seems that the commitment to truth that has characterized modern Western culture over the past few centuries is facing distinctive challenges. My historian friends will recognize this as the core of their job description. Alas, as my own situation attests, part of the current challenge is the abandonment of this stance on the part of those who fund and administer education in America. It’s a particularly bad time to defund the humanities, history, and critical thinking.
History as a discipline/practice/frame of mind was much in my mind, of course. We historians are way too stuck in our own history. If the broader society needs us more, we need to change both our attitudes and practices (and rather more radically than is our nature).
Personally, a 70th birthday and a (likely) career change were landmarks during the year and occasions for reflection and attempts at self-candor.
A full year of (I hope) interesting facts, arguments, observations, and ideas. Many were ephemeral, some seem to be prescient (so far) and all helpful to write and (I hope) to read. (Btw, they’re all easy to get to. Go to the column to the right, click on the appropriate month and scroll to the entry you want.)
Stick around for a fifth year! Please comment frequently and don’t forget that topic suggestions are always welcome!
Thx, smh
Date Title Topic
091523 Journal of A Blog Year.3 Review of the prior year
092223 Days of Future Past Even the Future has a history
092923 Change You Can Believe In The past and future of money
100623 Election Time The charade of the primaries
101323 The End of History The precariousness of a second career
102023 Modern Truth Reality isn’t what it seems
102723 Terrorism The distractive nature of labels
110323 Out of Control A self-delusion
111023 Ma Non Troppo A plea for moderation
111723 Timeframes History depends on how you frame it
112423 Vox Populi The (minimal) value of polling
120123 Going Deep Figuring out deep fakes
120823 All the Causes We Cannot See The futility of historical analysis
121523 Global Wars of the 20C Recasting recent geopolitical history
122223 Moral Hazard The illusion of idealism
122923 Hostages The plight of the Palestinians (too)
010524 Central Bankers The power of money
011224 The Break-Up Blowing up America’s largest corporation
011924 Alternatives Other than Joe, other than Donald
012624 Reprieve Back in action in the classroom
020224 Unspoken Assumptions Why are historians afraid of psychology?
020924 Hard Choices Pushing students to see themselves
021624 These Revolutions Were Not Televised Don’t forget about ’48! (1848, that is)
022324 The World is Too Much With Us Wordsworth and the modern plight
030124 Alias Changing names doesn’t change feelings
030824 Froth and Fundamentals Parsing social change real time
031524 Moral High Ground The precariousness of self-righteousness
032224 No Straight Lines Historical Progress is not linear
032924 Suffer the Children Who actually cares about kids?
040524 Non Poll Tax How to promote voting
041224 Drugs in History A brief survey
041924 Mission for America Thinking boldly about our future
042624 Nature of the State How and why do we organize our societies
050324 Life, The Universe, and Everything A condensed version
051024 Stalingrad Lessons from a great battle and great story
051724 Wants and Needs Telling the difference
052424 The Meaning of Truth It’s not simple
053124 A Crook The courage of his conviction
060724 Cleaning Up A duty and a compulsion
061424 The Struggle of the 20C A different framework for three recent wars
062124 Tapestry Weaving a life
062824 Fences and Neighbors The benefits of boundaries
070524 The Pursuit of Happiness What Jefferson meant
071224 Eulogy Commemorating a life (so far)
071924 Labouring Away The new British government
072124 A Whole New Ballgame Joe steps back
072624 Depowering History How the discipline needs to change
080224 Courting Trouble The inadequacy of piecemeal reform
080924 Deck Chairs The challenge of group decision making
081624 Money, Babies, and the Flag A demographic trilemma
082324 Why Fight The rationales for war
083024 Linguistic Empire The triumph of English
090624 When Does History Become Ancient The limits to analogy
091324 Price and Productivity Economic nonsense
The start and surprises of the election campaign show up regularly in the blog this year, overcoming my usual reluctance to be “news” commenter. Whether in terms of domestic politics or more broadly or philosophically, I have tried to invoke historical connections and analogies in order to contextualize and complicate the facile references which characterize most general discussions. Particular historical subjects, issues, and angles have shown up throughout the year, including: the future, coins, polling, 20C wars, drugs, AT&T, the battle of Stalingrad, the Declaration of Independence, and demographics.
Indeed, whether from ordinary human laziness/lack of attention or political expediency or the ominous looming of AI capabilities, it seems that the commitment to truth that has characterized modern Western culture over the past few centuries is facing distinctive challenges. My historian friends will recognize this as the core of their job description. Alas, as my own situation attests, part of the current challenge is the abandonment of this stance on the part of those who fund and administer education in America. It’s a particularly bad time to defund the humanities, history, and critical thinking.
History as a discipline/practice/frame of mind was much in my mind, of course. We historians are way too stuck in our own history. If the broader society needs us more, we need to change both our attitudes and practices (and rather more radically than is our nature).
Personally, a 70th birthday and a (likely) career change were landmarks during the year and occasions for reflection and attempts at self-candor.
A full year of (I hope) interesting facts, arguments, observations, and ideas. Many were ephemeral, some seem to be prescient (so far) and all helpful to write and (I hope) to read. (Btw, they’re all easy to get to. Go to the column to the right, click on the appropriate month and scroll to the entry you want.)
Stick around for a fifth year! Please comment frequently and don’t forget that topic suggestions are always welcome!
Thx, smh
Date Title Topic
091523 Journal of A Blog Year.3 Review of the prior year
092223 Days of Future Past Even the Future has a history
092923 Change You Can Believe In The past and future of money
100623 Election Time The charade of the primaries
101323 The End of History The precariousness of a second career
102023 Modern Truth Reality isn’t what it seems
102723 Terrorism The distractive nature of labels
110323 Out of Control A self-delusion
111023 Ma Non Troppo A plea for moderation
111723 Timeframes History depends on how you frame it
112423 Vox Populi The (minimal) value of polling
120123 Going Deep Figuring out deep fakes
120823 All the Causes We Cannot See The futility of historical analysis
121523 Global Wars of the 20C Recasting recent geopolitical history
122223 Moral Hazard The illusion of idealism
122923 Hostages The plight of the Palestinians (too)
010524 Central Bankers The power of money
011224 The Break-Up Blowing up America’s largest corporation
011924 Alternatives Other than Joe, other than Donald
012624 Reprieve Back in action in the classroom
020224 Unspoken Assumptions Why are historians afraid of psychology?
020924 Hard Choices Pushing students to see themselves
021624 These Revolutions Were Not Televised Don’t forget about ’48! (1848, that is)
022324 The World is Too Much With Us Wordsworth and the modern plight
030124 Alias Changing names doesn’t change feelings
030824 Froth and Fundamentals Parsing social change real time
031524 Moral High Ground The precariousness of self-righteousness
032224 No Straight Lines Historical Progress is not linear
032924 Suffer the Children Who actually cares about kids?
040524 Non Poll Tax How to promote voting
041224 Drugs in History A brief survey
041924 Mission for America Thinking boldly about our future
042624 Nature of the State How and why do we organize our societies
050324 Life, The Universe, and Everything A condensed version
051024 Stalingrad Lessons from a great battle and great story
051724 Wants and Needs Telling the difference
052424 The Meaning of Truth It’s not simple
053124 A Crook The courage of his conviction
060724 Cleaning Up A duty and a compulsion
061424 The Struggle of the 20C A different framework for three recent wars
062124 Tapestry Weaving a life
062824 Fences and Neighbors The benefits of boundaries
070524 The Pursuit of Happiness What Jefferson meant
071224 Eulogy Commemorating a life (so far)
071924 Labouring Away The new British government
072124 A Whole New Ballgame Joe steps back
072624 Depowering History How the discipline needs to change
080224 Courting Trouble The inadequacy of piecemeal reform
080924 Deck Chairs The challenge of group decision making
081624 Money, Babies, and the Flag A demographic trilemma
082324 Why Fight The rationales for war
083024 Linguistic Empire The triumph of English
090624 When Does History Become Ancient The limits to analogy
091324 Price and Productivity Economic nonsense
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