Difference between revisions of "Radicals"

Revision as of 21:37, 28 August 2013

Background

Written by the Winners

Mia Guien Radicalism is said to have started with Karl Marx during the 18th century. The theory of "history being written by the winners" took flight as society began to realize that history only spoke of the 1% that were prosperous, and the other parts of society had nothing recorded about their lives. History only records the lives of the most interesting or the most great: the successful people in life. Marx attempted to answer the questions of : "Why do people separate themselves? Why are the lives of the great only recorded?". People have appeared to separate themselves into the groups of being successful or unsuccessful. Success in the terms of Radicalism is having political power. "History is the history of the winners".The small group of people who hold the political power in life decide what is written into the history books, and fill them with all of the "wins" or accomplishments. Truly the information recorded is that of the politically prosperous in life.

History is the History of Victors

The theory that history is the history of victors is a common theory among radicals. This theory is usually misattributed to being a quote of Winston Churchill, but this idea's origins date back to an unknown time period earlier than Churchill. Many historians quote think that this theory may have originated from Hermann Göring's quote, "We will go down in history either as the world's greatest statesmen or its worst villains." The historian who thought of this idea most likely was searching for the answer to the question, "Why is history about wealthier and more powerful people, yet there is no history of the lower classes. This theory describes that when you open a history book you will find history of the upper classes, but there will be no history of the lower classes; therefore, history must be written by the social upper class (victors) because they are the main topic of history.

Daily Desenberg: Winners Write the History

The theory that winners write history was brought about by radicals. Some people pay tribute to Winston Churchill for creating this theory, because in the 1930s he said, "Victors write the History," when in fact it was around way before that. The strong and wealthy almost always come out victorious, therefore, they are able to write their history while the lower classes are left out of it. Almost 90% of the world's population was poor for most of history, so we almost never hear the missing 90% of the history of our people. Recently, historians have started to research what it was like to be poor at certain times in history. Historians are doing this so that we can write the history of the lower classes into history books. We will never be able to obtain all the information we need to know in order to fully explain and understand their history, but we can attempt to understand as much as possible.

Olivia Zhang: History is Written by the Winners

The saying "History is written by the winners" is most famously attributed to Winston Churchill; however the the underlying concept of this theory has been around since the earliest records and documents. A theory supported by radicals, it states that the more successful, educated, and politically high-ranked people are the winners. These winners determine and write history as they want others to remember. The people of low-status and insignificance, or "losers" are often not included in history books or are portrayed as the malignant opposers who were beaten by the champions, the winners who wrote those books. As historians and radicals developed this theory, they wondered why history books only talked about the powerful, the wealthy, and the successful. They came to the conclusion that we should go back and learn about those who weren't the winners, the majority of the human population. Only by doing this can we come close to understanding what actually happened in the past.

Examples

The American Revolution

 Mia Guien  The American Revolution is an excellent example of Radicalism due to the fact that children's American history book authors compose a minimum of 5 chapters about America's win against the British; while in Great Britain there is perhaps half a chapter in their history books. The American Revolution took place during the years 1775 through 1783 in the 13 original colonies. Americans were tired of dealing with Britain's taxes and trade restrictions, leading them to strive for independence and set up their own government. The first battle took place on American soil, and led to a full out war. In the end of the bloodshed that lasted a horrid eight years, the Americans came out victorious. The theory that " History is written by the winners" is evident in this war. The American people won the war and published their accomplishments and strategies. They filled up tons of books about the win and every battle they won. On the contrary, Great Britain lost the war and did not write as many books about their loss. Children in Great Britain might not be as knowledgable about the American Revolution as American children would be, showing that history is indeed written and taught by the winners.

The Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

John Boom- The Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is a great example of Radicalism because most American history books view the bombings as a necessary means to end a bloody conflict, whereas in Japan, the country where the massive bombings took place, the attacks are viewed as inhuman unnecessary catastrophes. more to come tomorrow