It is important to know history of ideas.
Another example. Right now, medieval studies is overrun with scholars learning about the history of deviant sexuality, stressing that it is important to know the history of ideas.
I see. Well, knowing history of ideas is important, and therefore will be used as justification for things that are not particularly important in themselves.
The link between stodgy buttoned-up marxism of the Stalin-Brezhnev eras, and neopagan hypersexualized multi-cult of today’s left, for example, is not obvious. I liked especially the first part of the article which explained the structural similarity of the two.
In fact, I would throw another consideration into that pot. The left would often point out that they are not marxist because they like pluralistic democracy. But what they do not say, is that the underlying principle is the same: majority rule. In the Soviet Union they never said that cultural pluralism was bad, and as regards political pluralism they would say that the USSR did not need competitive elections because the Communist party already reflected the will of the majority.