According to the strategy outlined by the Irish Government, pupils in secondary schools across the country may no longer have to study history as a core subject for their Leaving Certs. The Irish case should make anybody concerned: in the aftermath of Brexit, policymakers should understand that History and its study across the world has got to be reinstated and even thoroughly reconsidered. While the Irish Education Minister Joe McHugh and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar claim that they want to “modernise” the Irish educational system, this should be taken with a pinch of salt. This article aligns with the view that we can better our lives only if we can learn from the past. As a PhD student in Philosophy, I want to commit myself to re-emphasising the necessity of History in scholastic and academic circles. The argument for the necessity of History will be substantiated by taking three main case studies into account: the circulation of fake news or alternative facts, the rise of the new right, and Brexit. I contend that the chronological order is not haphazard: Brexit is the direct consequence of the widespread circulation of fake news combined with a conservative agenda. After this analysis, conclusions will be drawn.
Historia Magistra Vitae, history as a life’s teacher. Repeating this phrase is maybe a truism, but never has this famous quote by Cicero been so important and vital. History is considered a useless and fruitless subject: you cannot make any money out of it and, as a result, the study of history is regularly downplayed. It goes without saying that the consequences of this phenomenon have been having a serious impact on our own lives: reports on people ignoring epoch-making historical evidence, like Columbus’s arrival in what would be hailed as a new continent or when Hitler became Chancellor in Germany or some Italians believing Mussolini’s repressive regime started in the 1960s are (unfortunately) part and parcel of everyday life.
A similar phrase was coined in 1725 by the Italian philosopher Giambattista Vico, who wrote about the emergence of ‘cycles’ and ‘counter-cycles’ in the development of history. History is there to remind us of the best behaviours we should rely on in order to avoid having to deal with most unpleasant occurrences. But like Cicero’s phrase, Vico’s is more likely to be used to show that you are knowledgeable rather than to re-emphasise the importance of history.
Nevertheless, ignoring history and its cycles and counter-cycles has proved to be increasingly dangerous and even worrying. The social phenomenon known as ‘fake news’ or ‘alternative facts’ is a direct consequence of the downplaying of History. Internet, in the last thirty years, has proved to be both a boon and a bane. Information can be easily retrieved, and even academics are very likely to resort to media like Wikipedia when they are not familiar with dates or events. On the other hand, though, Internet is also a bane. Making information available at one’s fingertips is undoubtedly positive. However, at the same time, this has caused a host of serious problems; those problems fall into the category of ‘fake news’.
By ‘fake news’ it is meant the deliberate circulation of pieces of news that are false or misinforming and which are spread via traditional information outlets (print or broadcast news media) or social media. Unfortunately, it is quite common to read headlines like “Exclusive: This is how the EU is damaging the UK” or “Pinochet was killed by left-wing extremists”.
Fake news appeals to both ignorance and confirmation bias. The general public are easily influenced by sensational headlines relying on supposedly exclusive material, and they also tend to be negatively slanted towards left-wing views, parties, or politicians, like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in the US. Thus, there is no doubt that many end up buying into such news.
The question one may want to raise is: why should people believe that Auschwitz never happened or that Pinochet was killed by left-wing extremists? This is due to the fact that the role of History as a core scholastic subject has been completely downplayed. Any secondary school pupil or university student should know that Auschwitz was one of the most terrible events in contemporary history and that a left-wing extremist did not kill Augusto Pinochet.
Facebook is very likely to amplify this phenomenon. Far-right groups can easily set up an account on Facebook and they can spread their lies freely because any reprimand is seen to violate their free speech rights. This is not the place where philosophical issues like free speech are going to be addressed, but it is worth the while to dwell on the educational component of such news; if people were educated and knew historical events in more depth, they would certainly be able to conclude that Holocaust is (unfortunately) a fact. But since History is not as important as Economics, then you end up having to deal with such egregious headlines online or even on TV.
The lack of proper historical training also helped the alternative right to peddle its lies by appealing to political nostalgia. And this is what happened with Brexit, too. The main cause for the exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union was, ironically, a historical one.
The conservative and even far-right groups that stoked resentment against immigrants and the European Union managed to appeal to the history of the United Kingdom. Many people cherished (and still do) the glory of the British Empire and role the UK played between the 19th and the 20th centuries in shaping the world. For these people being part of supranational institution like the EU is unthinkable, as it undermines the (supposedly) civilising role of the UK. At the same time, conservative politicians see their status threatened and it goes without saying that adversarial propaganda against the EU was unavoidable.
As it has been put forward by Peter Ammon, the former UK ambassador in Germany, the Brexit vote was informed by a “melancholic longing for a glorious past, the era it sought to relive was less the second world war than the longer, less distinguished or openly celebrated period of empire. For if memories of the war made some feel more defiant, recollections of empire made them deluded. Our colonial past, and the inability to come to terms with its demise, gave many the impression that we are far bigger, stronger and more influential than we really are. At some point they convinced themselves that the reason we are at the centre of most world maps is because the Earth revolves around us, not because it was us who drew the maps”.
What is at stake here is national identity and the pride of one’s national history. What is objectionable, though, is the way Brexiteers capitalised on such feelings to pursue their agendas. And they did so by capitalising on fake news, like the claim that the Queen was an adamant Brexiteer, as The Sun falsely reported. This is how you can easily convince people to vote for something or to make a strong case for it: claim that influential political figures back this very cause.
What follows could be (maybe) an over-the-top defence of History and the teaching of History, but it is of import to shape future generations and the ways they will conceive of the world. History should be prioritised. I know subjects like maths or chemistry help develop one’s skills for the future, but History moulds the way we live and the way we make sense of the world. When you have little or no knowledge of history, then you can be easily tricked into believing that impossible things are the case.
Memory and History go hand in hand. If History is not properly taught in school or its role is de-emphasised, then even recollections of past events start to become questionable. You can even believe that documented and unfortunate historical evidence befell many innocent people due to their ethnic origin never happened, especially if far-right groups on social media wilfully spread doctored and convincing alternative reports on such terrible occurrences. If we want to avoid another Auschwitz, then we should start to teach history in a more appropriate way.
Should the Irish government drop History? The answer is simple: No. If the government intend to modernise the National Curriculum, they will have to remember we live in the age of Brexit. And Brexit spells out the end of the world as we have known it so far because it is based on false and doctored historical assumptions. And, in turns, such assumptions have earned wider currency in the public discourse because we live at a time when History is no longer relevant. We have started with Brexit, but the spectre of anti-Semitism is hanging above us, with the re-emergence of Nazi parties or anti-Semitic associations who are the clear result of what can happen when History is dismissed. Let’s Make History Great Again.
Andrea Di Carlo is a second-year PhD student in the Philosophy Department, University College Cork. He tutors first-year students on Political Philosophy, Ethics, Philosophy of Mind, and Metaphysics, and is Teaching Assistant in Political Philosophy. His main areas of expertise include early-modern literature and political thought (especially Machiavelli, Montaigne, Bacon, and Milton), political realism (Raymond Geuss), Latin literature (especially Tacitus and Lucretius), and Greek literature (Polybius).
SOURCES:
https://www.siliconrepublic.com/innovation/geography-history-education-policy-ireland
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/feb/03/imperial-fantasies-brexit-theresa-may