The Battle for the Past

Whoever defines the past controls the present and future.

By George Friedman July 16, 2019

We all live in the past. We were born in a certain place and time, to a certain family that believed certain things and shared those things with others in the community. Even when we reject our past, we cannot reject the joys and traumas that shaped us, nor the failures, successes, embarrassments and enemies that we and our families faced........

In “1984,” George Orwell wrote of the memory hole, a device through which records of things the regime did not want remembered were destroyed. But this wasn’t good enough for Big Brother. He demanded the destruction of not only the written record but also the memory of Winston Smith, an employee of the Ministry of Truth tasked with rewriting historical accounts. Big Brother tried to destroy Winston’s memory by finding the thing that frightened him the most, and using it to break his soul.............The battle over the past is the battle for the right to define the future. Honore de Balzac writes that all great fortunes are built on great crimes. It’s a truth that applies, to different degrees, to all of our lives. Some struggle to forget. Others struggle to remember and to forgive themselves. But as Orwell pointed out, whoever defines the past controls the present and future.............To Read More...