140

Why do we glorify horrible people from the distant past? (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 2 months ago by Konis@sh.itjust.works to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

122 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Julius Ceasar, Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan and many more...

These people had beliefs and worldviews that were so horribly, by today's standards, that calling them fascist would be huge understatement. And they followed through by committing a lot of evil.

Aren't we basically glorifying the Hitlers of centuries past?

I know, historians always say that one should not judge historical figures by contemporary moral standards. But there's a difference between objectively studying history and actually glorifying these figures.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] EveryMuffinIsNowEncrypted@lemmy.blahaj.zone 15 points 2 months ago

Because for centuries, western society has valued one thing above pretty all else: winning.

If someone's an asshole, but they've gotten on top in something, people may say, "They're an asshole, but hey you gotta admire that they're so good at [insert subject]."

That's why so many people admire Ray Kroc. Yeah, so what if he brought McDonald's to a position of national and international dominance? That doesn't mean he's worthy of our respect. If anything, the way he rose to the top, being as disgusting as it was, should mean he's anything but worthy of our respect.

Victory in something by itself shouldn't be respected; what you do to get to victory matters equally as much, if not more.

[-] thepreciousboar@lemm.ee 8 points 2 months ago

That's right. They are not glorified as being enlightened or particularly great at things in general. Those figures are idolized because of the power they managed to obtain and their skill in military tactis and strategy.

[-] EveryMuffinIsNowEncrypted@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 2 months ago

Exactly.

this post was submitted on 15 Aug 2024

140 points (87.6% liked)

Asklemmy

43781 readers

889 users here now

A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions

Search asklemmy 🔍

If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!

Open-ended question
Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
An actual topic of discussion

Looking for support?

Looking for a community?

Lemmyverse: community search
sub.rehab: maps old subreddits to fediverse options, marks official as such
!lemmy411@lemmy.ca: a community for finding communities

~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de~

founded 5 years ago

MODERATORS