History is not a choice its a fact
I have had a list of books that I am currently reading on this blog for a while now, and it so happens that I am reading “Mein Kampf” right now. Note, it is a list of books that I AM READING, and NOT A RECOMMENDATION list. Aparently I have managed to touch a raw nerve somewhere. Wanna be PhD has been taking me to task over this. You can find a discussion on this in the comments section of the last post, and on her blog post where I have been classified persona non grata. I am absolutely fine with her actions, her blog, her rules, however I am not going to take the book off my list coz of it.
I do not think Hitler was anywhere even near the periphery of being right about his actions, ideas, and ideologies. I do not seek to justify them either. I am not fishing around for inspiration in his book. The violation of human rights and the brutal murder of millions under his rule is dispecable, and historians are absolutely right in portraying him as an evil man for the choices he made.
We are academics and it is our duty to question everything we see. Our one true ability is to be able to form our own opinions without bias. The teaching of history should convey only facts and be free from political motives, personal opinions, biases, propaganda, and other common tactics of distortion. Tragically history is written by victors and is inherently skewed. Think about it. 20 years from now history is going to claim Saddam Hussain as devil incarnate and G.W. Bush as the patron saint of peace and freedom. We how live in the currrent times know both the potrayals are flawed. Are we comfortable with the all of the humanity that is to follow us be mis-informed? So why is it acceptable that I go back to the orginal texts to form my own opinions on the people behind the actions?
The one thing that sets democracy apart from theocracies and dictatorships is the freedom of speech. If we had censored every book that was responsible for mayhem how different would we be, and wouldnt we come off as being hypocritic?
“Main Kampf” questionably has had the most impact on the happenings of the 1900′s than any other book from the era and was responsible for much of our history. Do we just neglect the book because of the consequences? Worse yet, should we actively avoid it?
To control anything we need to understand the source. If we dismiss these books, how will we understand where the hatred raises from? If we do not know why people hate each other, how are we going to solve the issue? Arent perpetual wars the only outcome then?
