Erasing History ~ Image: Lance Page
Today’s news is tomorrow’s history. By studying events through time, many historians in the past have noticed trends of patterns that tend to repeat. By taking note of these patterns we can better prepare for what is likely to happen in the future.
One example would be economic history, as Jeffrey Bennett has so often spoken on and written upon at his webpage, Federal Observer. Lately he was speaking about how the currency devaluation in the Roman Empire led to the fall of that empire. He was comparing those events with the current impending economic crisis with the American dollar.
There are two views of history – the version presented for public consumption, and the truth, which is so often hidden. The web page of Heritage History has an excellent selection of titles related to this hidden history, for viewing and download.
Given many wise historians in the past, it is known that history follows cycles. Dr. E. Michael Jones has recently covered some of these historians in his book, Logos Rising. In it he develops his argument from the beginning, up to the 20th century. He covers some historians which I was previously unfamiliar with, but have been realizing the importance of. Some of these include St. Augustine and Giambattista Vico. Augustine’s City of God can be said to be the first work which developed the concept of time as we know it. Before that, the ancient Greeks believed that time was eternal. In the 18th century Vico revived the study of philology, and wrote a very interesting book of world history called The New Science. Jones makes the argument that this book was the inspiration for Hegel’s Philosophy of History. In Hegel’s work, he suggests that history is driven by God, and He is moving it toward ultimate perfection. Hegel calls this, spirit coming to know itself. Hegel left off with the Prussian state in the early 1800’s, but this was not the end of history.
In around the time of world war one there came Oswald Spengler, who wrote The Decline of the West. He was inspired to write it by Goethe and Nietzsche. This is a very interesting history because it presents the view that all civilizations follow a natural life cycle. Spengler provides many examples to prove his point. As the title states, he believed that the Western civilization was on the decline, and looking around today he is being proved correct.
During the same time as Spengler, the descendent of John Adams, Brooks Adams, wrote his important work, The Law of Civilization and Decay. It is a lot shorter than Spengler’s work, and more focused on European history. I find it a very interesting book, as it charts the rise and fall of European periods in civilization in accordance with the rise and fall in the value of money. This book is perhaps one of the most important to read to understand the current financial crisis.
Some other noteworthy historians of similar subject matter are Yockey’s Imperium, Quigley’s Tragedy and Hope, Voegelin’s Order and History, Toynbee’s A Study of History, and Mullins’ The Curse of Canaan. What these all share is the belief of the authors that there are definite patterns to long periods of historical events. They differ as to their beliefs in what these patterns mean, and what they will lead to. What sets these histories apart is that their authors attempt to derive meaning from the historical patterns they see, as opposed to simply recording historical events objectively. William Durant wrote many histories, and did a good job. What makes Durant different from the previous thinkers is Durant was attempting to summarize all of the history and philosophy which had come before his time. To be able to do what Durant did today would be a very difficult task. To try and do philosophical history, such as Vico, today would be an even greater challenge.
Considering all of the attempts to suppress news and history, this task is perhaps more important at the present time than it has been for many years. The more that people are better able to grasp historical trends, the more they will be prepared for what is coming. By all accounts, there will be a storm, and a very great one. One must take note of these histories and prepare.
Submitted to Kettle Moraine Publications by the author for republication.
Written by John Zibrem for Faith and Reason 451 ~ December 15, 2021