As political discourse resumes, the phrase we’re likely to hear is that staple of progressive rhetoric: “the right side of history.” We will be told that this is where progressives are, and anyone who disagrees with them is on the wrong side—backwards, obsolescent, headed for the dustbin.
The phrase embodies a specific view of history, the idea that the course of human events—with whatever stops and starts and temporary setbacks—traces an inevitable upward path. The notion dates back to the nineteenth century, if not earlier: to Hegel and Marx, to the liberal or “Whig” historians, to the Progressive movement itself. “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”
And those on the “wrong side” of history? “History will judge them”—will judge Donald Trump, will judge Bill Barr, will judge Dave Chappelle and J.K. Rowling, will judge all the bads.
But history does not have sides. It does not take sides. The progressive view of history is not an observation. It’s a theory. It’s a myth that takes its place alongside other, different, historical myths: the belief that history is cyclical; the belief that history represents a long decline from some imagined Golden Age; the belief that we are heading towards apocalypse, or Messiah, or both.
[The writer comes at this from the perspective of Bernie Sanders-esque progressivism, so he has somewhat different opinions of capitalism, Reagan, etc. His point about assuming how history will view issues and periods is solid, however, and hits on a pet peeve of mine about the use of “right side of history” in a contemporary sense. For instance, I’d argue that eugenicists in the early 20th century — progressives, in fact — thought themselves on the “right side of history,” much as those pushing a trans agenda on minors do today. It’s a trap. — Ed]
Join the conversation as a VIP Member