4 ms·

Point awarded. Context: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_will_bury_you https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_will_bury_you "Whether you like it or not, history is

Point awarded. Context: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_will_bury_you https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_will_bury_you "Whether you like it or not, history is on our side. We will bury you!"

_delirium 10y ago
"History on our side" is a pretty common phrase, used by people of varying political stripes. A quick Google Books search turns up British MPs using it in the 1940s and George H.W. Bush using it in the 1990s, among others.
- elgabogringo 10y ago
  Backward looking as a proofpoint, yes. Forward looking as a justification, no, it's not that common until recently and - at least to me - has a marxist sound to it.
- B1FF_PSUVM 10y ago
  It's a bit of ideological poison, extracted from the root of the dialectical materialism tree (aka 'scientific socialism', as defined in the poems of Marx and Engels). The allegedly scientific basis is that there is an unstoppable march of historical progress, and you should cheer it on and actively lay waste to the obstacles that are going to be swept aside anyway. (Yes, it's a strange creed.)
  - _delirium 10y ago
    Isn't that more or less standard American ideology too? Manifest destiny, American exceptionalism, disruptive innovation... a whole cocktail of unstoppable onward marching. They disagree with the Marxists mostly in what is gloriously marching ever onwards, not that there is something doing so. There's even a popular patriotic song, The Battle Hymn of the Republic, about the onward marching.
    - elgabogringo 10y ago
      Look, this isn't an ideology. More of an approach (not sure of the academic term for it, sorry.) I think it's marxist, though others have had the "inevitability of history" at times. As for your examples... Manifest destiny = forward looking. Wasn't good justification for expansion, though good justfications did exist. American exceptionalism = backward looking disruptive innovation = Neither, more just an adjective.

Point awarded. Context: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_will_bury_you https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_will_bury_you "Whether you like it or not, history is on our side. We will bury you!"

_delirium 10y ago

"History on our side" is a pretty common phrase, used by people of varying political stripes. A quick Google Books search turns up British MPs using it in the 1940s and George H.W. Bush using it in the 1990s, among others.

elgabogringo 10y ago
Backward looking as a proofpoint, yes. Forward looking as a justification, no, it's not that common until recently and - at least to me - has a marxist sound to it.
B1FF_PSUVM 10y ago
It's a bit of ideological poison, extracted from the root of the dialectical materialism tree (aka 'scientific socialism', as defined in the poems of Marx and Engels). The allegedly scientific basis is that there is an unstoppable march of historical progress, and you should cheer it on and actively lay waste to the obstacles that are going to be swept aside anyway. (Yes, it's a strange creed.)
- _delirium 10y ago
  Isn't that more or less standard American ideology too? Manifest destiny, American exceptionalism, disruptive innovation... a whole cocktail of unstoppable onward marching. They disagree with the Marxists mostly in what is gloriously marching ever onwards, not that there is something doing so. There's even a popular patriotic song, The Battle Hymn of the Republic, about the onward marching.
  - elgabogringo 10y ago
    Look, this isn't an ideology. More of an approach (not sure of the academic term for it, sorry.) I think it's marxist, though others have had the "inevitability of history" at times. As for your examples... Manifest destiny = forward looking. Wasn't good justification for expansion, though good justfications did exist. American exceptionalism = backward looking disruptive innovation = Neither, more just an adjective.