History is not what historians write. It is, rather, all of the things that happened in the past, from the mundane to the most spectacular. It is impossible to capture everything in any single, coherent narrative, and the actual, factual occurrences that everyone faces, the real history as it unfolds every day, is exceedingly dull. There are certain items that stick out, like wars, famines, and revolutions, and they are indeed important and tend to change the course of history, but our view of the past is grossly distorted when that is all we know. History is about people, and a good perspective on what happened in the past can help to make sense of the present and to try to prepare for a better future.

Many people view the folks before modern times as primitive, ignorant, and unenlightened, but thousands of years ago, great cities flourished and great minds demonstrated that high-level thinking is nothing new. Long before their discovery by history writers, advanced societies existed in Africa, South America, and most regions around the globe. The only thing new about the modern world is the technology and the particular knowledge that goes along with it. The people of those times were the same as we are today, with all of the faults of the worst and all of the virtues of the best. They loved and hated, some were vain and power-hungry, while others were meek and submissive.

The more readable historians are story-tellers, and good stories exclude everything that does not make it exciting or interesting. Conquerors, tyrants, and blood spillers, as well as the heroes who opposed them, are what make stories fun and interesting, with good guys and bad guys, but the story tellers don’t necessarily use balance and often ignore nuance that occurs with any human situation.

Because they necessarily exclude a good portion of the story, all historians have to decide what is important. That decision is based on their biases and prejudices, and not all of them have the best of intentions. One of the most influential historians of modern times was, very unfortunately, a propagandist more than a recorder or re-interpreter of history. Howard Zinn’s “People’s History of the United States” is a reflection of his Marxist, anti-capitalist, anti-American background. He was a master of critical theory, a school of thought that implies that everything in modern, western, capitalist, market-oriented society is evil and wrong, and brutal criticism must be applied to every institution and every idea, not to improve on it, but rather to cause its ultimate collapse, so it can be replaced by the socialist utopia. He is, arguably, an important reason why there is a significant anti-American, anti-capitalist sentiment among younger Americans.

Works such as Zinn’s do provide an alternative view and do shine a spotlight on terrible crimes that were committed by Americans and Europeans, and it is certainly worthwhile acknowledging them to learn from the past. But western civilization is much more than death and destruction. When any society absorbs such “western” ideas, they begin to flourish, at least to the extent that political and economic freedom, markets, and limited arbitrary power of government are adopted. Over the last decade or two, extreme poverty in the world has been drastically reduced, not because of Millennial Development goals and their central-planning solutions, but rather because many more countries have embraced economic freedom, as measured and documented by various organizations.

Whenever you imbibe history of any sort, it is prudent to remember that, as with any writing, the writer promotes a particular vision of the past and of the future. An open mind is a good thing, but so is discernment, reasoning, and a healthy dose of skepticism.

Dan McLaughlin is the author of “Compassion and Truth-Why Good Intentions Don’t Equal Good Results.” Follow him at daniel-mclaughlin.com