Who ya‘ gonna believe?

We grow up believing narratives about events. We accept prevailing mythologies. I use “mythology” with no derogatory connotation. The Myth of the valiant Confederate soldiers, fighting overwhelming odds defending their homes (and a morally reprehensible social order) is the postbellum theme for the New South. It’s why some sketchy characters had some beautiful art erected to honor them. At this point, getting rid of this art is like purging France of monuments to Napoleon Bonaparte, a war monger of the first order. Just ask the Germans or the Spanish or the Portuguese, for starters.

Consider the supporting narrative behind the Federal Reserve System. The Fed was created by Wall Street financiers after the Panic of 1907. The fiat currency, control of the banking system and money supply is supposed to stave off financial panic, until there is another financial panic. We still live with this one every day. We live with the belief in the necessity of a central bank. Maybe we do need the Federal Reserve System, but there is nothing wrong with challenging the system if we disagree, and can support our arguments with, uh, facts. Yeah facts.

So other narratives are imposed on us that we assume to be true. Russia before the Bolsheviks was backwards, needing Marxist economic theory, to usher in the full flower of industrial modernity. Historians with contrary evidence are ignored. Franklin D. Roosevelt and The New Deal are what ushered in Progress and economic recovery. Contrary evidence? Thanks, but no thanks.

We believe any narrative that incorporates a struggle between the forces of Progress (whatever that may be) and the forces of reaction. That notion pretty much sums every other movie made in Hollywood, some of them very good, by the way. Mr Smith Goes To Washington comes to mind. If one touches the base of Progress in an argument, one has eager adherents. We believe the Progressives are the winners.