“When I say history is a matter of life and death, I mean this: If you really don’t know history, you are a victim of whatever the authorities tell you. You have no way of checking up on them. You have no way of deciding whether there is any truth in what they are saying.”— Howard Zinn
Citizen Radio 898: Best of: One of Howard Zinn’s Last Interviews: History, Artists in Activism, and What Makes Him Happy
Originally released November 28, 2009 (via podquotes)#my favorite thing about history in any given situation is that there is no definitive static thing that can’t be argued over#we use history the way people used to use myths; to explain our present and to place ourselves in an evolving continuum#without it you don’t know who you are or what you are or why you are or how you are the way you are#and you have Facts but Facts are skewed by not-facts and how said Facts are presented and the immediate Facts before and after#its a faceted thing made up of main stories and substories and stories that aren’t told and the stories behind why the story isnt told#if there is no history there is no narrative and one thing humans can’t survive without is narrative (via ilvalentinos)
