NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather forecasts

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
    • The Great NZ Road Trip
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
    • Cooking the Books
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • What the Actual
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Leighton Smith: What use is history if we do not learn from it

By Leighton Smith
NZ Herald·
8 Mar, 2019 04:00 PM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Bill Gates on CNN last month encouraged raising the American CGT. Photo / AP

Bill Gates on CNN last month encouraged raising the American CGT. Photo / AP

Opinion

COMMENT:

An email to me this last week included a historical quote. So unsure was I as to its alleged source, I did a word search. Confirmation came readily from a number of sites including the BBC.

The quote was "when an opponent declares, I will not come over to your side, I calmly say, Your child belongs to us already. You will pass on. Your descendants however, now stand in the new camp. In a short time they will know nothing else but this new community".

In short, you are irrelevant, we own your kids.

Who was the author and does it really matter? What concerns more is what propaganda was adrift? But even more important is how did it eventuate that someone could control the lives and families of so many?.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

It's all a matter of history, or maybe lack of history. How to explain that so many lessons from the past are irrelevant today?

Could it be the absence of history teaching in education, and what little is taught mainly skates the surface.

A new analysis published by "Perspectives on History" reveals disturbing figures.

From the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, of 49 majors of all disciplines since 2008, majors in history have suffered the steepest decline. In the change in degrees 2011-2017 history is ranked 49, down 33 per cent.

Topping the rankings is Exercise Science, up by almost 60 per cent. It has been suggested that for millennials "history began the day they were born and if not then, then yesterday".

Discover more

Opinion

Listen: Leighton Smith talks Eden Park, tourism and climate change

19 Feb 09:00 PM
Opinion

A current obsession with leadership

22 Feb 04:00 PM
Opinion

Listen: Leighton Smith talks capital gains tax and Isis brides

26 Feb 10:07 PM
Opinion

Leighton Smith: Auckland Transport an 'administrative state'

01 Mar 04:00 PM

Throw it all together and you get headlines like, "Socialism's Millennial fans don't even know what it is", New York Post 4 March 2019. "Millennials - ignorant of socialism's appalling economic and human rights history - increasingly embrace socialism and its naively unrealistic prescriptions for ending all human want".

There is likely a contributing factor to history's demise.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

A British study questioned the cost of a Masters versus the income value for job applicants.

History, along with other humanities has little to no value over a Bachelor's Degree.

But costs run into tens of thousands, particularly for foreign students. The answer is to go on to a Doctorate, which is enough to put the average graduate in debt for life.

What has this got to do with New Zealand? Well, it's a global society, don't you know.

So, education, employment, technology, social media, housing, politics and trade, just for a start. Have you noticed a reduction in the humour quotient in your life - it's world over.

Far too many intersections to have humour as a black mark on your employment record.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Every day, every single day, there are attempts to destroy the culture and life that most of us grew up with.

Dr Seuss is the latest to be assaulted. Theodore Seuss Geisel published books for kids "highlighting the absurdity of human nature and calling on people to be better versions of themselves".

Seuss died in 1991. Now, according to a couple of "critical race scholar-activists" his works were racist, sexist, and unrepresentative. Most startling is the complete invisibility of women and girls of color across Seuss' entire children's book collection.

I missed out on Dr Seuss. Don't know why, but I did read all the Enid Blyton books in the Famous Five series along with the Secret Seven.

The Five were a bunch of kids, smart for their years, including a girl who didn't want to be a girl and was called George. Enid Blyton books have had some PC challenges in recent times.

But every day it goes on. Diana Soriana, a political science student of three years changed to Boston University.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

During a recent meeting with the Department she suggested more intellectual diversity, "more debates in the classroom as opposed to the assumption during class that everyone agrees.

She was turned on. One student said debate was too aggressive a word and discussion would be more suitable. Another compared her to another student regarded as a neo-Nazi.

Neither of the two academic staff present spoke out in her defense as she was mocked.

The young Socialists in the American Congress are excitedly pushing for major tax changes.

The CGT proposed for this country, is it a Socialist tax? By default, yes. While we could argue around the fringes, by its addition to the Government armoury it provides further ability to drain the taxpayer's pocket.

Bill Gates, multi-billionaire, on CNN last month encouraged raising the American CGT. The idea is to "soak the rich". That would make Michael Cullen giggle.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

In New Zealand a CGT would do most damage to the ever threatened middle class, such as it is. Those who have strived to establish financial independence and personal responsibility.

The Gates of this world along with the top 1 per cent in this country will take care of themselves, thank you.

The statement at the top of the column was made by Hitler, Adolf Hitler. Is there a warning in it?

Look to history.

PS: This column was approved by a millennial. Truly.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand|crime

'Feared she'd lost half of her face': Mother's distress at dog attack on young girl

10 May 05:00 AM
New Zealand

Serious crash closes northbound lanes on Auckland motorway

10 May 03:52 AM
New Zealand

Tragic end to search for missing Masterton man

10 May 03:42 AM

One tiny baby’s fight to survive

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

'Feared she'd lost half of her face': Mother's distress at dog attack on young girl

'Feared she'd lost half of her face': Mother's distress at dog attack on young girl

10 May 05:00 AM

A pair of former dog breeders have been sentenced after their sire attacked a 5-year-old.

Serious crash closes northbound lanes on Auckland motorway

Serious crash closes northbound lanes on Auckland motorway

10 May 03:52 AM
Tragic end to search for missing Masterton man

Tragic end to search for missing Masterton man

10 May 03:42 AM
Afternoon quiz: Singapore gained its independence in which year?

Afternoon quiz: Singapore gained its independence in which year?

10 May 03:00 AM
Connected workers are safer workers 
sponsored

Connected workers are safer workers 

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP