With history evoked every week by politicians, often misusing and abusing history. What such misuses and abuses of history demonstrate is that our society needs more exposure to history. With STEMs championed by politicians and investors alike as the focus in national education, the humanities, including history, has been on the defensive. The humanities, some argue, are irrelevant, fiscally unjustifiable for their utility to society, and socially redundant. But without them outrageous and ignorant comments like those recently uttered by Sen. Cruz and Mr. Benmosche are frequently left unchallenged. They demonstrate clearly that history and the humanities are an essential element of good citizenship. Citizens knowledgeable about history would find such comments not only distasteful, but they would be able to marginalize people who utter them, instead of lionizing them for their courage to speak “until [they] can’t stand anymore.”
- History in public life
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/mteter/12/