Without knowledge of history, and therefore context, it's easy for a population to be controlled.
This is understood. History (and the humanities) are being removed from the curriculum in many western high schools.
At it's most basic:
a/ "Hey Venezuela looks fucked, Socialism must be a fucked system."
b/ "Venezuela is still suffering from the effects of Imperialism, colonialism and foreign intervention in South America. Let's try socialism somewhere without interference"
One of these people learned some historical context.
The zoomers and the generation behind them are learning less than we did about history. That's gonna fuck up the future. A population like that is easily kept reactionary and conservative.
How do we popularize the teaching of the true full history of the 20th century, in and out of schools?
I know that, for me, Radio War Nerd was massively educational.
Part of the problem surely is history just being taught as a series of events which dates you have to remember, rather than bringing a bit of narrative into it, telling stories.
I'm always fascinated when I consciously think of the people living in this moment as humans and not just like abstracts or numbers. That always helped me with relating better to historical events.
I think this is due to capitalism always being equated with trade. One is as you say the mode of production, the other just the exchange of goods. But most people seem to be incapable to make even this distinction.
Agree that the way it's taught is crucial. It's by careful design that vast swathes of the historical of global colonialism are omitted.
We were generally presented with a historical narrative at school, it was just an extremely narrow neoliberal one designed to deter critical thinking.
If you're lucky and you got a teacher that knows how to convey history, like yours apparently did, that surely can be massively important in you developing an interest in the topic and lighting a spark to branch out into stories not told in class, which one otherwise probably won't do if you're taught in a manner that makes you hate everything about the subject.
But even those teachers as you say are bound by what they are told to teach and this always seems to center on the grand victories of the imperial core. Sad world we live in.
No, my history teachers did not convey anything apart from exactly what was in the curriculum. Everything I learned past that was through the help of comrades and my own interest.
So how do we go about popularizing history outside of schools?
Good question I don't really have an answer too, except maybe engaging in local mutual aid groups and trying to educate the people you come into contact with there bit by bit is an idea.
Just listened to the latest "history is a weapon" antifada pod and thought it was a entertaining and enjoyable double act. It would have been extremely educational if you were unaware of any of the history.
Am probably biased but I reckon those two could put that format on stage and tour it, or at least vlog it in an engaging style with an aesthetic as a hook. Something like contrapoints but for 20th century history.
https://hexbear.net/post/343