Be humble, look at history and acknowledge times change and history has proven again and again that no one has the right answer to everything. Dont hide our past mistakes so everyone can learn from them.
For example, Prohibition was a “conservative” movement because alcohol was originally permitted and then became disallowed. Later, it was restored. What is an example of something that was previously disallowed, became allowed and widely acceptable for a period of time, and then became disallowed again such that it is still disallowed or considered immoral today?
- Pederasty in ancient Greece
(Though I'm not sure to which extent those were disallowed before)
This makes no sense, by definition it was a progressive movement at the time: for as long as we know, people drank alcohol, and then you get these progressive people (many of them women) trying to change the society for the better. It was a failed progressive policy, that if it stuck we would have seen it as a good thing in retrospect and call it progressive - just like banning opium in cough medicine.
Conservative means keeping the old way, in this case: keep drinking alcohol freely.
The labels are often misused but really that's all it is. Progressivism wants things to change, conservatism wants them to stay the same. You need a balance of both.
As for examples of things that were forbidden, then allowed, then forbidden again there are already good examples in the other comments. Things around family, sexuality, forms of government. The postulat also assumes that all societies in the world are uniform and accepting/forbidding the same things.
I'm pretty sure nobody in History thought they were the ones living in the Dark Ages of History. The Dark Ages were always before us.
That's not at all to disagree with the article, I think changing art of the time is very misleading, if you don't want to read such things, just read newer books.
My argument is that we should not conceal history because our responses have generally improved over the course of history (and will continue to improve in the future). History serves as a reminder that we must remain humble and open to further progress.
I agree with you in the changing of art, I would not change them but rather label or restrict to adults, so they serve us as what they are: pieces of history to learn from.
Do we? It seems like racial tensions are higher than they've been during my lifetime because there's a grievance culture explicitly focused on race instead of treating people as individuals based on their merits. By the standards of today, MLK's request to treat people based not on the color of their skin but the content of their character is rejected as racist.
Civil rights movement -> equality under the law of all Americans (with later protections under affirmative action actually giving minorities a modest advantage in some situtions)
What hoped for outcome is being sought now? "Give me money because things aren't fair" isn't a change in law or status, it's grievance politics that has no logical end.
Disparate outcomes aren't proof of social injustice; disparate outcomes are proof of disparate behavior.
Some slaves who were teachers or artists were also probably happier and more respected than a lot of "free" people of today.
I'm obviously playing devils advocate here, but as I said in another comment: we always think we've figured things out better than the people before us.I just don't see bridge building taking place in the current approaches.