I mean, while there’s certainly a bias towards the victor, there’s definitely some histories that have slipped through from people who were very much not the victors. Josephus comes to mind, even if he did so by surrendering to the victors; Thucydides and Athens lost the Peloponnesian War; for a more recent example, the American South’s narrative on the Civil War.
I realize he’s talking about “history is written by the victors” but I thought of this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Best_of_all_possible_worlds
If this is the best of all possible worlds then God must be pretty fucking terrible at making worlds.
I go with Schopenhauer:
Arthur Schopenhauer argued, contrary to Leibniz, that our world must be the worst of all possible worlds, because if it were only a little worse, it could not continue to exist.
You would need to be extremely racist to think the good guys won the Opium War or the wars of European conquest in the Americas or Africa, and even centuries of propaganda spin don’t change that. And there are cases like the Siege of Constantinople in the Fourth Crusade that was rightfully vilified even at the time.
You would have to lack a certain kind of thinking to take this quote that was posted in the memes community seriously
Are you familiar with the concept of sarcasm? Or contextual reading?
Indeed.
Also just naive to think that there are “good guys” and “bad guys”. When you dig into the nuance of any conflict its almost always complicated.
Did you guys just completely miss the joke or something? I mean it’s not subtle or anything…
The joke refers to the addage that history is written by the victor, but that just isn’t true.
Exactly. That is part of the joke.
Norm understands that it’s not true, he pokes fun at it because most people do tend to take it as fact. He ridiculizes how silly that thought is.
Ill have to take your word for it. As written, it doesn’t seem that way to me at all.
I can understand that. Norm was a guy that went heavy into sarcasm and irony in his jokes.
Reading the text as is would make you understand it differently if you didn’t know him.You’re right, I don’t know him, but I still think you’re making up a deeper level of humor that wasn’t intended.
“Luckily the good guys have won every single time” is a very direct jab at historians always casting themselves as the good guys.
You’re all up in here like “wull ackshually this is a post modern commentary on feminism because he’s used the gendered phrase ‘guys’ and you just wouldn’t get it because reasons”.
Everyone so damn defensive about history texts like they’re fucking gospel.
Norm was a funny guy. It was a joke.
How many Americans in this thread have every read or seen anything about the Vietnam war written by a Vietnamese person ?
I’ve searched and could find no books, no movies, no tv shows written or produced by a Vietnamese person available in English.
Why is that ? I thought history was written by the victors.
Movies all with english subs or dubs
“When the tenth month comes” “the abandoned field” “the little girl of Hanoi”
Books available in many languages including English.
“The sorrow of war” “Last night I dreamed of peace” “Mourning headband for Hue” “nothing ever dies”
Just to name a few. Ive seen 1 and read 2. Nobody won that war and it never should have happened.
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The oppressed, butchered and exterminated victims of the European colonial systems would like a word with you…
Are you under the impression this is a statement made genuinely? Who do you think Norm Macdonald was?
Yes, I know it’s a joke and sarcasm.
I also know you have the cognitive depth of an ai. Since you chose to be offended by my response.
“Offended” Lmfao
Why did they put a semicolon in the middle of this sentence?
It makes you sound smarter and well; read.
To bother you
One Piece, of all things, phrased this concept better
"Pirates are evil? The Marines are righteous? These terms have always changed throughout the course of history! Kids who have never seen peace and kids who have never seen war have different values! Those who stand at the top determine what’s wrong and what’s right! This very place is neutral ground! Justice will prevail, you say? But of course it will! Whoever wins this war becomes justice!"
da winors wrait da histoorie buks. I am weri smort.
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