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Issue48:
The study of history places too much emphasis on individuals. The most significant events and trends in history were made possible not by the famous few, but by groups of people whose identities have long been forgotten.
正文
Who has made the most significant events and trends in history, the famous few, or groups of nameless people, so nameless that their identities have long been forgotten? The speaker prefers the former. I generally agree with the speaker's broad assertion that it is contribution made by the famous few that makes the society to progress. However, judging from several aspects of human beings' experiences, we should not underestimate the power of groups of nameless people in history, as illustrated by the following discussion.
To begin with, the importance of the famous few is not allowed to be neglected. In history, compared with the majority, the famous few, most of whom had received a relatively high education at his time, is more able to grasp the situation thus could make a proper decision which could necessarily contribute to the progress of the society. And this is the reason why a considerable amount of famous person comes from the upper class in ancient times. E.g., Karl Marx, one of the authors of the famous Communist Manifesto, greatly promotes the development of the history of the world. His immortal work Theory of capitalism, in which he devoted almost his whole life, is of so great importance that even nowadays' socialists consider it a work which needs deep investigations. As a result, if the study put relatively more emphasis on such great figures, of course it will benefit a lot.
Secondly, the famous few are given more opportunities to present their perspectives, which would be recorded by books. It is hard to imagine that a nameless farmer said something of great significance and then be recorded by historians in order that we can know how he was thinking at that time. It is also nearly impossible for us to known ideas concerning how a housewife thought about the authority's decision. To the contrary, however, the decision made by the upper class could sometimes reflect more or less the thoughts of groups of normal people. Therefore, the famous few are more worth to study, and it is easy to access the idea of them to some degrees.
Admittedly, the importance of groups of nameless people should not be underestimated. No matter how important and proper decisions the great individuals had made, it can hardly carried out if there are no supports given by groups of people whose identities have not been recorded in history books. People’s participation, which plays a vital role in the famous few’s plans, realizes the great men’s dreams, thus put such individuals to higher status. Without his brave army, Napoleon, the empire of France, was doubt to gain his success, though he could present wonderful performances in conducting wars. The famous Chinese leader Chairman Mao, Who is the first leader of China PR, could hardly sit on his seat if no helps coming from all over the nation. How many of such groups of people are we aware of?
To draw a conclusion, we are so fortunate to sit here to assess the contributions of people in history, which include not only the few great individuals praised by us today, but also people whose name most of us do not know. The famous few presented important decisions while the nameless majority executed them. They together promote the development of human society. History is base on contributions coming both from the tow types of people. |
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