Yeah, Sure It Is
David Warsh makes a classic -ask-a-question-to-promote-what-I-do tactic here:
So, tell me, honestly David, what would historians tells us? And I say this as someone who enjoys the knowledge of history. But why is this academic classification of people not working here, and people dying over there necessary when the problem is people not working here and dying over there?
Why does economic history get such short shrift from the profession – in undergraduate and graduate education, in policymaking and public debate? What are the chances that the relationship will shift a little, in the historians’ favor, now that the importance of their craft has been demonstrated by the way it which the argument from history trumped theory?There are many Civil War historians as there are those willing to educate us on Vietnam. Yet, the Confederate Flag, of all things, was seen heftily last Sunday (9/11/11), and Iraq and Afghanistan are simply another Vietnam, which is funny because we didn't need to know about Vietnam considering the British and Russians were there right before us.
So, tell me, honestly David, what would historians tells us? And I say this as someone who enjoys the knowledge of history. But why is this academic classification of people not working here, and people dying over there necessary when the problem is people not working here and dying over there?
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