King Arthur and the Mutability of the Past -- Crushed by Ingsoc

The past is a funny kingdom. People look at history as if it's an exact science. Of course, it isn't.
The past really is mutable, or has been up till now. Archaeology blends into history which blends into historical myth.

Even in the twentieth century, historical myths have been peddled. History has often been used to justify political concepts, indeed it is STILL used to justify political concepts. And it's not just in the case of Israel, which I think we've covered to death here, but even in concepts such as Welsh Nationalism. Political movements often use history to justify claims which are, in fact, fallacious.

A classic twentieth century case of historical myth concerns the ruined city of Great Zimbabwe in the country that now carries it's name. Under white rule, it was seriously maintained that the city actually was the Ophir of the bible, the legendary mines of King Solomon. It was taken as read that native Africans just couldn't have built it. And the white settlers used this concept to justify their claims that Rhodesia had belonged to a 'superior' people before the 'savages' had come in.

Historical myth as a political tool is as old as history itself. After all, the history of Herodotus starts with an allusion to the Trojan war as the first battle between Greece and Asia. We call Herodotus the father of History, but in truth, much of what he writes of events much over a century before his time, is wildly inaccurate, a mish mash of oral legends. His account of the Kings of Egypt, for example, has no real historical value whatsoever.

Continued here at Crushed by Ingsoc.

Thoughts from Crushed By Ingsoc on Blogpower

This is the comment Crushed By Ingsoc left at Nourishing Obscurity. I think it is good to have it in the open, rather than buried in comments.

Read the opening objectives of BP.

You want to stand there and pull the rug up from a blog organisation that helped you?
If it didn't fulfill your ideological needs, then go!.

BLOGPOWER IS THERE FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO BLOG AND BE PART OF SOMETHING.

We are not a politically slanted organisation.

I want to be part of BP. I think we have a great, positive role to play.
One beyond the role envisaged at the start.

A much greater thing.
Most of you can see what I mean.

The discussion that is happening now, is the discussion we all came here for.
The way we are all dealing with it it is the best bit of it.
Talking.
Discussing.
Without getting nasty.
None of us need to.
We all like and respect each other, but want to show each other the way we think.
And get some feedback.
So we can all move on and get the next level of discussion going.
To me, that's BLOGPOWER.

That's what I joined for.

We all came to talk.
Are we all selling that vision?
It's an amazing vision!

Open it up!

Every Voice Counts!'

I WILL FIGHT FOR THIS. What we are doing here is very important.

Everybody else, do you want to be heard?

Let's make the most of this.
Talk between people.

These are the thoughts of one Blogpower Member.

Crushed By Ingsoc

Hot on Guthrum's heels comes Crushed by Ingsoc, another very welcome addition to the Blogpower fold. Judging by the frequency with which I encounter CBI in the comments boxes of fellow Blogpowerers, it seems like a natural progression, but none the less pleasant for that, and I can even forgive the hijacking of my very own thread at Nourishing Obscurity... Now all we need to do is to sort out the music of the 1980s, and we'll have put the world to rights. Welcome aboard, CBI!