How can a person determine if he is on the right side of history?
Asked by
PhiNotPi (
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August 18th, 2013
Whenever an argument occurs (hopefully a high quality debate), there are two groups of people, both with the same goal of “doing what’s right,” but both with different ideas as to what is “right.”
For example, consider the classic fight:
Conservatives VS Liberals
On the topic of the (fill-in-the-blank).
Have both people write up their respective platforms, and then ask the following question:
Do you believe that your platform is better than the other platform?
Both people will almost undoubtedly say “Yes.”
There can, however, be only one winner in the eyes of history. No matter what issue is at hand, eventually (far into the future) one opinion will be accepted by the majority of being “correct.”
This leads to the conclusion that simply believing an opinion is not enough to guarantee that you end up on the right side of history.
How can I know if I am on the right side of history?
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8 Answers
How would you define “the right side of history”? That seems too big a goal to aspire to. Ask yourself instead if your opinions and actions are in line with your moral beliefs.
A Nazi would have said he was on the right side of history up until about 1942. But we all know now that was the wrong side. A Soviet Communist would have said the same thing even onto the ‘70s, despite how awful life under the Communist Kremlin was.
There is no “right side”; there is a prevailing side, and one can’t really tell for a full century. By then, you’re dead and gone, and on the same side as everyone alive in your life.
History being what it is, I don’t think one can know; at least until we live to be 150 years old. When does today’s news become history?
They can’t. For dozens, if not hundreds of years. History is written WELL AFTER the events took place when the perspective of time and and analysis has occurred.
For someone to say NOW that they are on teh right side of history is pretentious and simply wrong.
History is, as they say, written by the winners. This leads me to believe that if your side wins whatever debate is being had, you’re a shoo-in for right-sidedness.
The wrong side teaches the right, both are equally important.
Liberals and conservatives have been sniping at each other throughout history. Oversimplifying a bit, liberals favor change and conservatives oppose it. The solution is generally somewhere in between. Change is invertible but not all changes are for the best. Under the best of circumstances, compromises are worked out. Under less favorable circumstances, resolution may be more violent.
Check where the Zeitgeist was 100, 200, 500 and 1,000 years ago. It is abundantly clear in that perspective where it is heading. As Martin Luther King said, “The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.”
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