Back in October I posted a piece about how the story that the coming of steam railways caused the death of England’s canal system is taught in our schools and widely believed. Long story short, the railways did not kill off the canals, the two systems were part of one (privately run) transport network for a century. Increased road use in the post war period did undermine the canals but the death blow being dealt by nationalisation.
This story is one example of the leftist ideological bent of the history establishment. Another which has long been taught as fact and which I have long doubted (not got around to researching) is the story of private fire brigades. Today I saw a video that did the job for me.
Again briefly, the accepted story is that in the late 17th, 18th, and early 19th centuries private insurance
companies maintained their own fire brigades. The houses and businesses that they insured had lead plaques (fire marks) on them letting people know who they were insured by. If a company’s firemen turned up, they would simply stand there and watch the house burn if it was not insured by their company. This bizarre image fits with whole “private companies are heartless and evil” narrative, and in turn feeds that narrative and gives it validity.
Today I saw a video by the excellent YouTuber, Tom Scott, who clearly has great integrity. It is indeed true about private insurance companies and their fire brigades, but the stuff about leaving houses to burn is not. The video debunks the story, and apologises for having misled people.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wif1EAgEQKI
I don’t know how much this “misinterpretation” of history is deliberate. I doubt that there is an overarching organised conspiracy, but I don’t doubt leftism is a factor. I’m guessing that it’s a mixture, the ideological prejudices of Marxist inspired historians would tend to make them accept such a story at face value and not question it. It may be that some have questioned it over the years but have kept quiet as the story helps their narrative. I’m delighted Tom Scott has had the integrity and courage to correct his video. I hope the many places where this lie is repeated will now follow suit.