Presentism and the Unpopular Opinions I Hold

One of my "middle of the night epiphanies" is about presentism. In case you don't know what that is, here is the Webster's:

presentism noun
pres·​ent·​ism | \ ˈpre-zᵊn-ˌti-zəm \
Definition of presentism
: an attitude toward the past dominated by present-day attitudes and experiences

There is quite a lot of this going on and I've basically had enough. From stay at home moms being judged as "old fashioned" to the whole slavery issue, a great number of people are judging the past based on the morals of today--which may or may not be even good ones.

The latest case in point? Michael Jackson. People are pulling his products, likenesses, etc based on the new HBO documentary where Wade Robson and James Safechuck claim he was a molested them. Now, I'm not saying that MJ is completely innocent of this charge. I personally believed he behaved inappropriately with children. But the backstory here is problematic. CNN says, "Robson made statements in support of Jackson to investigators first in the '90s and testified in support of Jackson at his 2005 trial, where he was acquitted of child molestation and related charges. Safechuck at one point also denied he was molested by Jackson to investigators." In short, been there, done that. The man has been dead almost ten years. I can't see how this helps anyone in any way except maybe the 15 minutes of fame. Additionally, HBO breached a contract with the Jackson estate that specifically said they would not say anything that could be damaging to MJ.

I see this as part of the current trend of presentism. We judge Michael on behavior from when he was in his early 30's even after recognizing that there may have been a problem and that he had a really rotten time of "growing up". I'm not condoning pedophilia or any other sort of abuse. I simply think there are some issues that need to be let go of rather than revisited with modern minds.

Another example is the Kavanaugh inquiry. While I personally think he's a big dump asshat, I object to his appointment based on other factors than him drinking in high school and possibly attempting to rape someone. Sure, if a 17 year old behavior that way today, he would be drawn and quartered. Hopefully. But the reality is, times were different in 1980 and he is different now. Judging an adult man for behaviors occurring 30 years ago is absurd. Especially since one can easily judge him on his behavior during testimony, his racist leanings, and his blind love of tRump. Again, not saying his teenage behavior was right, or a good thing, I'm simply saying there are some issues that need to be let go of rather than revisited with modern minds.

Probably my biggest pet peeve is presentism around the Civil War. People of that era honestly believed that "negroes" were genetically predisposed to being lesser human beings. People of that era saw their livelihoods being legislated away. Southerners, for the most part, believed that Abe Lincoln was pandering to a select group while ignoring the very real needs of southern plantation owners. Remember, there were no factories in the south. Farming was all they had, really. Farming for food, clothing, smoking,turpentine, and booze mostly. Outlawing the use of lesser valued persons meant ruin. Again, not saying that slavery is right--just that society wasn't what we are calling "woke" back then. And just like now, the political machine blew up the evils of slavery to win the war. Not so much different than tRumps immigration policy. Northern slave holders (and yes there were many, including politicians) usually had something they could fall back on like transportation, shipping, and factory incomes. They could take the "hit" of losing labor much better than the plantations. Then it started all over again when the KKK adopted a Confederate Flag. By then we were "woke" enough to understand that white supremacy was bad, but not "woke" enough to understand that the symbols were being bastardized. Today we accept the KKK's symbol as racist and bad when its original use was not at all about bigotry--everyone (pretty much) believed that persons of color were lesser human beings back then, even in the 1950's when the KKK and the Dixiecrat Party adopted the flag and it became a symbol of segregation rather than a symbol of resistance to the government. I find it really ironic that the latest "woke" movement embraces resistance by citing the battle flag as an evil.

I think presentism is rooted in our general lack of empathy. We have become a society where we are too poor, too stressed, too busy, too whatever to take the time to see things from someone else's point of view. We don't make an effort to view things in context. It's much easier to read a headline and not the story. I might be just getting old, but "kids today" seem to not have a clue about empathy. Many of my generation did not teach it to our children. I'm very proud to say that my own kids are very empathetic. Perhaps too empathetic. Now the challenge is to raise our grandkids having no working knowledge of how vitally important empathy is. Gone are the days of close families, home economics classes, and honest patriotism. Those are the things that taught us old folks to think of others and to respect their choices.

Presentism in reverse is also shown in the anti-LGBTQ2+ folks. They are judging "behaviors" that are fine in today's culture based on what they "knew" in their childhood. Worse yet, they are continuing to teach their children these outdated notions; not because they are bad people, but because like the Southerners of the 1800's they feel the very core of their way of life is threatened. This, in one form or another, is the root of bullying and bigotry.

People talk about the future like it's a Bacharach song ("What the world needs now, is love, sweet love"). I don't think that's fair. It's unreasonable and unattainable for various reasons. Most of us can't simply love everyone. In my opinion, what the world needs is empathy. We need to step outside ourselves, our comfort zones, and our nationalism and see others through their own culture. We don't have to agree or accept another's opinions, but we damn sure don't have the right to demand they change them. We can only make and support laws that govern. We don't have the right to accost someone because they are different from us or from what we think the world should be. Someone's sexuality or religion is nobody else's business. Not even pedophiles, frat boys, or bigots. We can and must regulate their public behavior, but we don't have the right or even the responsibility to change their thinking. All we can and should do is model behaviors and beliefs we think are valid and be open to people learning a new way of life. If we don't--if we shut them down and refuse to see things as they see them, we are behaving just like the bullies. That only proves to divide us further.

On the bloody morning after, one tin soldier rides away

Links I drew from:

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/presentism
https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/21/entertainment/leaving-neverland-hbo-suit/index.html
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/8-things-didnt-know-confederate-flag
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSBrn6wTZSA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTBx-hHf4BE
https://face2faceafrica.com/article/how-michael-jackson-struggled-with-vitiligo-and-turned-white
http://inthesetimes.com/article/21475/brett-kavanaugh-rape-culture-christine-blasey-ford-sexual-assault
https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/563372234611976058/?lp=true
https://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/e/empathy.asp