A Selfish Kind of Historical Relativism

The problem with imagining that the moment in which we live is somehow a chaotic historical aberration instead of fairly typical.

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Americans have been having a lot of trouble with historical relativism lately, and not just when it comes to the past.

It’s no secret that we are too prone to apply modern standards to historical figures and conduct. The most obvious examples relate to slavery and our heroic leaders of the past. George Washington did not have enlightened views on slavery and race by our standards, but for a Virginian who entered public life in the middle of the 18th century, he was morally advanced. 

I don’t bring this up to defend George Washington, because he does not need my defense. Indeed, it would be far harder for most politicians today to conform to Washington’s standards on everything else—e.g. ethics, service, duty, dignity, self-denial—than it would be for Washington to get in line with modern thinking on matters of race if he were plopped down in the 21st century. 

That’s why I bring up Washington and the giants of American history. We are suffering with a kind of inverted historical relativism. Like the now infamous San Francisco school board that tried to remove Abraham Lincoln from the name of a high school after 81 years carrying the banner of the great emancipator, Americans are getting very good at holding figures of the past to impossible standards of the present. But some of these same people have shown a real gift for excusing their own dubious conduct by imagining that the moment in which we live is somehow a chaotic historical aberration, rather than fairly typical of the human experience.

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  1. Avatar photo
    David Eggleston

    We’ve got way too many Gen-Xers and younger wanting their own Summer of ‘68, and too many Boomers wanting to relive theirs.

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    Ben Connelly

    “ Indeed, it would be far harder for most politicians today to conform to Washington’s standards on everything else—e.g. ethics, service, duty, dignity, self-denial—than it would be for Washington to get in line with modern thinking on matters of race if he were plopped down in the 21st century.”

    What a superb line! So true.

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  3. Kaybmorrow

    Excellent, excellent and why didn’t I get this in email?

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  4. Kaybmorrow

    Being part of the silent generation, I don’t feel panic about our world. I am nervous about BIDEN and HARRIS.

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    Matt Price

    Unexpected to see Cosi fan Tutte come up in a Dispatch article, heh. I played Don Alfonso once - though I have to say, with much less cynicism than you characterize him with. xD

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  6. Mark Vondersaar

    Great and important reading - thanks for also posting it at AEI! I'm old enough that I should know more about the Vietnam war, but what is meant by "the federal government perniciously lied to the American people about the nature of that conflict". Are you referring to the hypothetical domino effect of spreading communism? Or about false reports on progress and casualties? Or the Gulf of Tonkin thing? Or all of the above? Holy Crokono, you rock, buddy!

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    Frank Lee

    Beautiful essay. Someone once asked me if I could will the people around me one thing to make for a better world what would it be? I answered “historical perspective”. Throughout the existence of modern humans it has been those cultures that worked hard to constantly bring forward the lessons of their history that have lasted and thrived. We have lost that in pursuit of the next great thing. And thus will never really achieve the next great thing as we just repeat the great mistakes of history.

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    John D. Wright

    Chris, this is your best article yet on the Dispatch. Truly fantastic.

    There is one tiny typo which I hesitate to bring up but it is obvious you are pursuing perfection so why not ---
    and that first principles are way through.

    do you mean -- and that first principles are the way through
    OR - and that first principles our way through.

    I get the meaning either way which in fact may be the same but as is I think it breaks the train of thought.

    Again, very minor nit. The article is still your best in my opinion. Please read it world!!

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    Wilhelm

    The inclination to believe "It's never been THIS bad before" is a strong one, shaped by what we see with our own eyes, rather than the observations of dusty tomes. But historian Joanne Freeman does a fine job of reminding us just how dangerous Congress was in "The Field of Blood: Violence in Congress and the Road to Civil War," a fascinating tale of legislators armed to the teeth and constantly threatening each other's lives over policy. And as Chris aptly observes, there have been other times more recent when social upheaval was worse. But it does seem that some generations cope better than others, doesn't it?

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    James Spiller

    Mozart in 1790 was not writing about the great turbulence of the 1790s, but the considerably inferior turbulence of the 1780s. For the same reason Mr. Stirewalt is looking backwards when he talks about the scale of our problems, not forward to the unprecedented pain of paying down our debt, potentially in a compelled hurry. Hopefully our heads of state will fare better than French.

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