Writes Howard Zinn in A People's History of the United States: "Ruling elites seem to have learned through generations--consciously or not--that war makes them more secure against internal trouble" (79).
Take the cold war as an example: McCarthy and other leaders of the red scare created rabid anti-communism, impairing the ability of unions the strike and reinforcing class distinctions. Walt Disney's fear of socialism certainly contributed to his "I will not negotiate with reds" attitude toward the strikers at his animation studios. Like many facts in Zinn, this is depressing but true. Johnson always glorifies the mythical figures in history, probably leaving readers all warm and patrotic inside. That comparison reminded of a quote from my statistics teacher, Anthony Becker,
"Facts make you cynical," which reminded of a quote from Stephen Lucas:
"In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries it [the word "fact"] was used most frequently to denote an evil deed or a crime" (The Stylistic Artistry of the Declaration of Independence).
Reading Zinn, it sometimes seems like most historical facts really are evil deeds or crimes.
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