Evolution Versus Revolution by Melvyn L. Fein

Author:Melvyn L. Fein [Fein, Melvyn L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Sociology, General
ISBN: 9781351521345
Google: gCIxDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2017-07-05T03:26:01+00:00

The Historical Imperative

History matters.109 But history is more than tradition.110 It is also more than what happened in the past. History is alive within us. It is recorded in the memories of what we experienced. It leaves traces in the beliefs we hold, the values we support, the languages we speak, the tools we use, the rituals in which we engage, the families into which we are born, the hierarchical arrangements in which we participate, the ways we earn a living, and the social roles available to us. All are shaped by the past even though we may not recognize it. As such, the past influences the decisions we make, including those regarding social change.

The world into which we are born is a going concern. Nonetheless, social activists assume it is the equivalent of a tabula rasa. They perceive a blank slate upon which to work their will. Either they can introduce whatever improvements strike their fancy or they can wipe prevailing institutions clean. That people possess cultures and structures to which they are devoted impresses them not at all. With the wave of a radical hand, they aim to wash these away. As they see it, the past cannot be allowed to impede a bright new future.

Nor do committed reformers pay attention to our personal histories.111 These too are regarded as pliable. They are convinced that all that is necessary is to reeducate people. Of course, if individuals prove resistant, the preferred expedient is often their elimination. The trouble is that we humans are very un-egg-like. We may be fragile, but we are alive, cognizant, and capable of injury. On top of this, we carry emotional and intellectual baggage, and are entangled in particular relationships. These things are difficult to alter. We may imagine that they are subject to rational replacement, but this misunderstands the ways we think, feel, and behave. Nor does it recognize the mechanisms that must be activated to reorganize who we are.112

Anyone who has endured a broken heart or struggled with a crushed dream is aware that what has happened in the past makes a difference. As U. B. Phillips observed, “We do not live in the past, but the past is in us.” By the same token, we may loathe the traditions we inherit, but these too are part of us.113 Hence although the past can be overcome, this almost never occurs without difficulty. Those who clamor for change may pioneer a better future, but they do so on a foundation of a preexisting world. While they may build on tradition, or surmount it, they ignore it at their peril.

How potent the past can be in resisting change, especially revolutionary change, is illustrated in the confrontation between the Islamic world and the West.114 The terrorism that led to 9/11 and the fanaticism that keeps the Israeli-Palestinian conflict alive owes to centuries of discord. When Muhammad and his disciples broke out of their homeland, their progress was so irresistible that they attributed it to divine favor.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.