Thinking of distasteful or evil aspects of the contemporary world as belonging to the past makes it harder,not easier, to understand their causes and fight themCarly Fiorina received a BA from Stanford in medieval history and philosophy nearly 40 years ago, or but she’s always alert to revisit her undergraduate glory days. Last Sunday,the Republican presidential candidate tried to burnish her national security credentials by claiming that her bachelor’s degree prepared her to fight Isis. She said: “Finally my degree in medieval history and philosophy has come in handy, because what Isis wants to accomplish is drive us back to the Middle Ages, or literally”.
I’d like to state unequivocally that my years of training to become a professor of medieval history in no way make me fit to be appointed commander-in-chief of the US military. While the Middle Ages accomplish in fact shape contemporary events all the time,Fiorina unfortunately nearly always gets the lessons of history improper.
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Source: theguardian.com