We do not own, nor are we owned by history.

I have just read an article written by Farish A. Noor which bears the title
"We do not own, nor are we owned by history"
(http://www.othermalaysia.org/content/view/105/1/)

This article could serve as a good wake up call for those who have had a 'nostalgia of past glory' and become too obsessed with it.

Dr Farish notices that people of different ethnicities and religions always being 'brainwashed' since young to embrace the "greatness" of their ancestors and civilizationsas if 'somehow the accumulated credit for human labour can be passed down from one generation to another like capital gaining interest in the bank'. At the same time, he cynically points out that the same group of people who "have no problems whatsoever taking credit for what was done ancestors hundreds of years ago" miraculously, as if they are being affected by some sort of selective amnesia, "would not want to take responsibility for the mistakes and outrages committed by their very same ancestors long ago".

Also, Dr Farish has, though indirectly, pointed out that people today, no matter she's a Chinese, European, Indian, Arabian or Malay has been living (on average) a much better life than her ancestors who allegedly lived in 'the age of glory'. From the economic perspective, this couldn't be more true. Before 19th century, no country in the world has ever achieved a GDP per capita higher than USD 1 200. But today, a country with GDP per capita of USD 1 200 is considered 'relatively poor', and some countries like Luxomberg has GDP per capita as high as USD 70 000. But still, many people (I must admit, at one time in my life, I was one of the herd) seem to be too fond of the 'past glory' that they choose to overlook this fact. As Dr Farish aptly put it:

"Furthermore it is almost comical to note how this recourse to nostalgia often harps back on the achievements of singular individuals who may not have acted with the interests of others or posterity in mind. Muslim apologists talk about the greatness of Muslim Sultans and Emperors, oblivious to the fact that if they were living in the days of the great Muslim empires of the past they would probably be playing the lowly role of serfs and peasants, to be stepped on and exploited by the very same Great Sultans they so admire today. Likewise apologists for China’s great imperial past forget that the greatness of China was meant primarily for the Emperor and the ruling elite, and not for the ordinary Chinese masses: Some may look to the Forbidden Palace in Peking as proof of China’s past grandeur, but the Forbidden Palace was precisely that – an elite enclave that was forbidden to millions of ordinary Chinese. The same applies for the great temples, forts and castles of the Christian West and Hindu India. So why this love of great rulers and greatness in general?"

Finally, I think Dr Farish's profound insight can readily be extended to other 'orthodox establishments' like 'tradition' and 'nationalism'. All these are sobering and perhaps even provocative and radical to some, enough for many people to chew on for a long time.