Fighting for History

[applegrove]

Fighting for History

by Paul Krugman at the NY Times

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/05/13/fighting-for-history/?_r=0

"SNIP................


These are, I think, related stories. Progressives tend to focus on the future, on what we do now; they are also, by inclination, open-minded and if anything eager to show their flexibility by changing their doctrine in the face of evidence. Conservatives cling to what they imagine to be eternal verities, and fiercely defend their legends.

In policy terms the progressive instinct is surely superior. It’s actually quite horrifying, if you think about it, to hear Republican contenders for president unveil their big ideas, which are to slash taxes on rich people, deregulate banks, and bomb or invade countries we don’t like. What could go wrong?

But I’m with Wren-Lewis here: progressives are much too willing to cede history to the other side. Legends about the past matter. Really bad economics flourishes in part because Republicans constantly extol the Reagan record, while Democrats rarely mention how shabby that record was compared with the growth in jobs and incomes under Clinton. The combination of lies, incompetence, and corruption that made the Iraq venture the moral and policy disaster it was should not be allowed to slip into the mists.

.......

There’s a reason conservatives constantly publish books and articles glorifying Harding and Coolidge while sliming FDR; there’s a reason they’re still running against Jimmy Carter; and there’s a reason they’re doing their best to rehabilitate W. And progressives need to fight back.



..................SNIP"

[jwirr]

1. There are a lot of reasons to love this guy.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

2. "History supplies little more than a list of people who have helped themselves to the property of

"History supplies little more than a list of people who have helped themselves to the property of others." - Voltaire