How would a reasonable person react if I said something to the effect of:
By the way, the premise of each statement is true. We can go on and on and make up very long and exciting lists.
Of course, attacking people today because of some beliefs (and practices) of people in the past who may have shared the same label as today’s folks is pathetic, weak and anti-scientific nonsense. It is incumbent upon us to deal with the ideas as they exist today (not to say that the history is not informative, but history does not permit us to ignore the argument).
So, how come we get to hear crap like this all the time:
That this is the baseline for “debate” today is not just depressing. It’s anti-scientific, and plain wrong.
UPDATE: a reader sent me this (apocryphal?) from a beloved progressive figure.
One of the most challenging I hear today is, “We should ignore everything the founding fathers created because they had slaves. And if you support the founding fathers you support slavery”
I think people say things like this because they have a narrative they want to believe, and then piecemeal history to support it. The unfortunate thing is that most people’s preferred narratives are created from conclusions molded by decades of inaccurate historical information.
And, at least as much as my lifetime, we are not taught accurate history. We have to go out and learn it ourselves. But this is rarely done. Most of society would prefer to be entertained, rather than lifelong learning. (the cause, and solutions to this would make great future discussion).
We just need to be aware of it and find ways to inform the masses.
BTW, I’ve been told I’m a climate change denier, so you can ignore everything else I say.
OK then. Jefferson owned slaves. Jefferson was a Democrat. So all Democrats support slavery. (I note that the Democratic Party actually fears this narrative because they now disown Jefferson).