Review of Rubenstein’s “The Cunning of History” in Light of Current Events

Rubenstein’s book was an emotionally difficult read. While I agree with his warnings that the crimes committed against humanity during the Holocaust could easily happen again in civilized society (1975:95), and I see the warning signs in America’s current political climate, his causality arguments are a stretch. The arc of the Holocaust (and even of slavery in the Americas and the horrible working conditions in early industrial Manchester) is long and starts, according to Rubenstein, in the Judeo-Christian faith tradition (1975:30,42). I question his conclusion but do not have the time to do the background work required to compose an educated rebuttal. His claims that slavery in the Americas offered the slaves more protection than the Jews experienced during the operation of the death camps (1975:43-44) set my teeth on edge. Acknowledging the brutality of slavery yet claiming “strong bonds of affection often developed (1975:44)” between slave masters and the enslaved African women they raped whitewashes things almost beyond recognition. I do, however, agree “one mistake often made by those who appeal to the humanistic ideals of the Judeo-Christian tradition is the failure to distinguish between the manifest values a tradition asserts to be binding and the ethos generated by that same tradition (Rubenstein 1975:31).” I have first hand experience with that as a member of the LGBT community on the receiving end of “love the sinner, hate the sin” from evangelical Christians. They assert to be loving, but their view of same-sex relationships and transgender identities as being “less than God’s ideal” as one family member stated to me is exclusionary and off-putting: the very antithesis of love. Rubenstein succinctly characterizes that problem in his simple statement. Causality stretches and whitewashing aside, Rubenstein gives us a sound warning about what can happen in the future if we are not careful. His warnings are especially pertinent in light of our president-elect, the backgrounds of the cabinet members he is appointing, and the willingness of a large part of the American populace to ignore (or support) his racism et al to vote him into office. Right now the “surplus population (Rubenstein 1975:83)” being created by the president-elect’s rhetoric is immigrants. But just like Hitler started with the Jews and would have exterminated everyone who was not German given the time and resources, who knows how far-reaching actions which support Trump’s rhetoric will go? References Rubenstein, Richard L. 1975. The Cunning of History: The Holocaust and the American Future. New York: Harper & Row.