Should we feel guilty for history? - Page 2

May 31, 2008, 7:42 PM

I wouldn't be surprised if these same people that bitched and moaned about the past say we are an ignorant generation. It is ignorance to deny that the past happened and to learn nothing from it. But it is not ignorance to accept that the errors of the past happened, while knowing that nothing you do changes it.

People's emotions are impossible.

May 31, 2008, 7:48 PM

Hm, true. They most probably label us ignorant cos' we didn't experience what they went through during that age..
And well, ya, we are definitely not ignorant to know the fact that nothing we do now can ever changed what happened in the past.
Unfortunately, not many seem to understand that and just continue to cling on to this hatred they have against their country's past enemies..
We're already living in a modern world now, lols. Its time to pick up the pieces and move on, i guess.

May 31, 2008, 10:56 PM

I don't see why we should feel guilty for our ancestors, what's in the past is in the past and it's not like we have personally done any of these things.

It annoys me when poeple appologise for their ancestors wrong doings. What possible difference would it make really?

Times change and way back when was a different time to now. Meh

June 1, 2008, 9:14 AM

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So you're saying that because a lot of people did it, it's okay?

Sorry you missed my point, what I'm saying is that it was considered normal several generations ago, but is clearly NOT okay in western society by todays standards.

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Cool, what bout all dem dere Jews Hitler killed, there were lots of guys in the Einzatsgruppen. Must mean that killing all dem Jews was fine.

Incorrect, though the Einzatsgruppen believed that killing those Jews was fine, it is quite clear that the rest of the world disagree. Not to mention that modern Germany is disgusted by the Nazis (to the point of it being illegal to display a Swastika).

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Also people back in dem ole days still saw slavery as bad. John Calhoun, the most famous fire eating politician ever, saw slavery as an evil, albeit a necessary one.

Hmmm John Calhoun? Wasn't he the guy who claimed slavery was a "positive good" on the grounds of white supremacy and paternalism? Anyway, yes alot of politicians said slavery was a necessary evil (Calhoun being one of the few who didn't) however, the southern states of America generally saw slavery as a norm even if they thought it was evil.

You seemed to have misunderstood what I said, I meant that conventional views on whats right, whats wrong and whats normal, change across different cultures and generations.

June 1, 2008, 3:57 PM

No way. I don't feel guilty at all for anything that my ancestors did that was potentially offensive/atrocious. Everyone should be held accountable for their own actions. Unfortunately, I feel like many people still hold people today accountable for what their ancestors did. Case in point: Germany. People still call Germans Nazis, despite the fact it is HIGHLY illegal to bring any Nazi propaganda into the country or to possess any of it within Germany. There are currently more Nazis in America than in Germany. I *hate* when people call Germans Nazis. All it shows is that people are ignorant.

June 6, 2008, 5:39 AM

I don't think we should be ashamed of our past even though it's a dark past indeed. We have to learn from it and move on. The most important part of making a mistake is learning from it. Unfortunately we see things happen every day that tell us that we AREN'T learning from it.

JFK once said 'a country that does not know it's history may be destined to relive it.'
If we don't learn from the mistakes that our ancestors made, the same stuff is gonna happen again. And I believe that it will lead to America falling.

June 6, 2008, 1:35 PM

I think that over time, the human race has gradually matured. It's been a slow process but at this point in time, we've grown enough as a race to understand the fact that what our ancestors may or may not have done to one another would be deemed as completely unnacceptable in today's world.

Whether or not we should feel ashamed of what our ancestors did or not is one person's decision, not a whole race's. You see, one other thing we have developed over all these hundreds of years is a great sense of personal awareness, we have learned to think and feel for ourselves more. Though some would argue that we still have a lot more growing to do, I think we're a far cry away from mobbing up and burning someone tied to a stake because one person told us to.

June 6, 2008, 1:45 PM

What Karl said was enlightening.

Know the past, change the future.

If anything I am actually thankful that it was not us who committed those, shall we say, 'mistakes'.

We shouldn't feel burdened by what our previous generations did, because that was ultimately their choice. Nor should we hold grudges against the ancestors who wronged our ancestors.

I'm glad I live in this generation, where people are, not completely, but at least more respectful and open to different cultures without fear of inferiority complex. It just shows how much we learned and changed.

June 6, 2008, 1:55 PM

I don't really care what my ancestors did, or even what some of the main figures in history did, i may find somethings in history a bit disturbing but if you think about it, if some of the horrific parts in history didn't happen the world could be massively different, and we might never have been born like we were

June 7, 2008, 2:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Casanova

I think that over time, the human race has gradually matured. It's been a slow process but at this point in time, we've grown enough as a race to understand the fact that what our ancestors may or may not have done to one another would be deemed as completely unnacceptable in today's world.

Whether or not we should f