For many under 25-ers. the modern world sprang, fully-formed, ready-made, from the forehead of some computer whiz like Gates or Zuckerberg. There was nothing different before, ever. Hence, today’s young people’s great alienation from the past and from a more realistic, appreciative view and understanding of those words–context and process.
The facts, cognitive-dissonancely, are, of course, much different with civilizations and cultures stretching back to several thousand B.C. Hence, the phrase, “life was different back then”, which no longer matters to today’s umbilical-screen generation naively, blindly dreaming of some fantasy e-pipedream future. There have been zillions of contexts before the current-e-screen era, Things were different back then.
And it is easy and short-sighted to say so-and-so was a bigot or politically incorrect in a sense that has absolutely no meaning or consequence when viewed processly and long-term, with each age viewed in terms of its own values and beliefs, right or wrong today. Contextually speaking, that is just the way it was back then, and these perceived politically incorrect wrongdoers were often fine, upstanding folk who lived and abided with the prevailing cultural values of the day. They did not live in our time and it is preposterous and stupid to try to hold them to account, and make them the scapegoats and targets of politically-correct hate and criticism.
This topic comes down to perspective and whatever strait-jacketed agendas young moderns have about the past, ‘knowing better or best’. I would submit that young moderns have, in fact, a limited perspective and view of the world if they only judge others in terms of a standard–political correctness–which often only works one way and excludes others’ views and freedoms. ‘Playing God’ we used to call it, expecting others to kow-tow to whatever bigoted ignorance of the truly narrow-minded.
No, context is much larger than an individual’s computer screen, whatever limited info on the Internet, and screen life of the past 15 years. And perspective means a much larger view which may include additional knowledge, training, personal and others’ experiences, as well as an understanding that whatever happens in a context is limited by and to that time and culture.