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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
(5 pp) 'Don't confuse me with facts!' is a cry
heard throughout the world when it comes to
governmental decisions. Barbara
Tuchman, the winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, and one
of the best American historians, wrote in her book
The March of Folly (1984) that 'a phenomenon
noticeable throughout history regardless of place
or period is the pursuit by governments of policies
contrary to their own interests' . According to
her, 'self-interest is whatever conduces to the
welfare or advantage of the body being governed;
folly is a policy that in these terms is
counter-productive'. Tuchman considered folly to
be the most dangerous act of mis-government and
saw it as a 'self-destructive act carried out
despite the availability of a recognized and
feasible alternative'.
Bibliography lists 3 sources.
Page Count:
5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_BBtuchmn.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
one of the best American historians, wrote in her book The March of Folly (1984) that "a phenomenon noticeable throughout history regardless of place or period is the pursuit by
governments of policies contrary to their own interests" . According to her, "self-interest is whatever conduces to the welfare or advantage of the body being governed; folly is a policy
that in these terms is counter-productive". Tuchman considered folly to be the most dangerous act of misgovernment and saw it as a "self-destructive act carried out despite the availability of
a recognized and feasible alternative". Relevance of history What is the place of popular history in todays society? Is it merely a form of entertainment for a reading public who
enjoy a vivid and meticulously accurate description of Picketts Charge or of Victorias blossoming love for Albert? Is it a harmless supplement to the visual recreation of the past, from
the fiction of Trollope or of Henry James, in recent television and film productions? Or is there some danger to be apprehended if, as seems the case, the good majority
of reasonably well-educated Americans draw their understanding of the past, recent as well as distant, from what is, after all, a sophisticated entertainment medium? How does popular history influence todays
politics, if at all? (Happ ppg). Folly Tuchman indicated in her book that one of the criteria for the misgovernment to be classified as folly is the necessity of the
policy in question "to be that of a group, not an individual ruler, and it should persist beyond any one political lifetime." Woodenheadedness A certain type of thinking according to
Tuchman, is a clear exercise in perversion, a simple wooden-headedness,that she describes in the following way:"Wooden-headedness, the source of self-deception, is a factor that plays a remarkably large role in
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