Recently,
I was introduced through my reading to an amazing article entitled “There Is No
Right, Side of History” by cultural commentator William Deresiewicz. I have
read some of his earlier works on the dangers of multi-tasking (Leadership;
The West Point Lecture), on a critical review of Jane Austen’s works (A
Jane Austen Education), and on the failures of higher education (Excellent
Sheep). Thus, I was eager to read his views on history. And I was not disappointed.
Deresiewicz,
it should be noted, is a political progressive in a self-described Bernie
Sanders economic sense. In contrast, my perceptive blog readers will recall that
I am a limited-government libertarian and a social conservative in the pattern
of Edmund Birke. Yet, in this crazy contemporary political climate, we find
ourselves in basic agreement concerning history.
Deresiewicz
states that “…history is perfectly capable of slamming into reverse and backing
up at 50 miles an hour.” That is a descriptive of what I call the NCM theory of
history- in that history is nuanced, contradictory, and messy- to which I subscribe.
Historian Nial Ferguson agrees with us. In a recent interview, Ferguson
described history as non-linear, noisy, and t unpredictable often giving us
results that we often do not expect.
The Ferguson interview also introduced me to Godwin’s Law, a
term whose definition I am familiar with albeit not with the term’s name itself.
Godwin’s Law states that if any
online discussion continues long enough, someone will certainly compare someone
else to Hitler specifically or to Nazis generally. I do think that the definition is
limited in that the Hitler/Nazi analogy can include all political written,
oral, or virtual discuss
My expanded view of Godwin’s Law blends comfortably into Deresiewicz’s
assertion that “…history does not have sides (and) it does not take sides: By
denying this truth he states that there are several related factors:
o
“History will Judge”- the future will condemn those who are
unlike us
o
It makes for complacency assuming that we cannot lose could
lead to disappointment
o
We cannot predict the future based upon past events
o
It- makes for arrogance and condescension- we assume we possess
moral superiority and have hubris in our plans which means “…we have the right-
the duty- to teach others how to live.to speak, think, eat, spend, make love, raise
their children, vote.”
o
Finally, the right side attitude authorizes bad behavior. Be
it a crisis or an emergency, “…you give yourself permission to suspend the
rules: to bury a story, to suppress dissent, to betray the principles you’re supposed
to stand for.”
There are two additional points I will add that Deresiewicz did not expound
upon in his essay. The “right side of history” theory also has adherents among
conservatives although their voices are as loud as the progressive adherents at
the moment. Two examples readily come to mind. President Ronald Reagan during
the 1980s often denounced the Soviet Union as an evil empire and consigned it
to the “dustbin of history.” More recently political and cultural commentator
Ben Shapiro made the case that Western Civilization was made great by reason
and moral purpose in his 2019 book entitled (you guessed it) The Right Side
of History.
Second, Deresiewicz only in passing mention the apocalyptic Christian
view of history- that God will ultimately judge human history- a point which he
dismisses. Yet one can see this perspective ingrained in President Abraham
Lincoln. Once he was asked whether Gid was on the side of the Union or the Confederacy.
He replied that the better question would be if we were on God’s side during
our struggle. In addition, Lincoln’s Second
Inaugural Address in 1865 reminded his listeners of God’s judgment upon
Americans for allowing slavery to exist in our nation.
My own study of history as well as my Christian convictions compel me to
believe that the only “right side of history” is to be on God’s side as God is
revealed through the salvation history as recorded in the biblical canon of the
Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian New Testament. Thus, the right side is not
found in progressive, conservative, or libertarian politics because of their
transitory nature, albeit their ideals may be preferable to many. Only God can
judge human history and bring history as we know it presently to a close.
In closing, I concur with Deresiewicz that there is no “right side of
history” at least in the secular sense. Where I depart from his analysis is my
acknowledgement of a right side from God’s perspective.