I've often heard the saying 'learn from past mistakes' and each time, I have wondered: can this really be done? Could we really save ourselves if we listened to the mistakes and warnings of the past?
Because if we could indeed step out of this circle of repetition, then we would be free to set out in any other direction, to discover all sorts of new, potentially wonderful things.
And so with this in mind, I've decided to take a look at the world's largest and most constant epidemic – war.
In my opinion, there is one clear lesson – war is useless. I'm not talking about the First World War, or the 30 Year War or the War of the Roses; I'm talking about almost every war ever thought.
And the only reason I say 'almost' is that there have been a few wars fought for freedom, not for land or power, but for actual freedom.
And that, in my opinion, should be the only reason you fight a war. Not because some duplicitous bastard proclaims himself the “defender of the country” or the “the voice of the people”, who tells you, the honest citizen, to go to some foreign country and kill other honest citizens so that he can earn some land or petrol.
Let's take, as an example, the Anglo-french rivalry that has haunted the European continent for centuries. Some French guys would show up because they wanted some land, fight for it, get it and then, a few months after that, the English would show up and take it back. And so on and so forth. The matter, if you put it like that, doesn't seem that daunting, you know? Sounds banal. But if you were to think how many hundred thousand people died in these stupid battles, how many more in the fight for the throne? And of how many others die now, today, in countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq and Syria, and in other such places from which America desires resources?
Well, that's a whole different matter.
There's a lot of people (lots of Americans, too) who recognize America as a world leader, acting almost like an Empire. If you watch Trump's attitude towards Europe or towards most countries (and no, not just him, all the Presidents before him), you'll see the infinite air of superiority, of 'this is mine'. But history teaches us that all empires fall, does it not?
Obviously, no one wants to understand this, because every ruler in such a position tells himself he'll never be in that spot, that it won't happen to him. He's smarter than all those others, too powerful for his empire to fall. And yet, they all do.
The Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, the Ottoman Empire (which collapsed only after WW1)...They all fell. But maybe these rulers are right, maybe it won't happen to you, maybe you're safe. Maybe even your successors are safe. But there will come a day when the empire will crumble and fall, as it happens with all empires.
But this is not so much a lesson for the common man, but for the people in charge. You're but a simple slave to the empire, but worry not, because history has its own little lesson and it's just for you, the common Joe: don't let yourself get manipulated.
Sounds simple, huh?
But it's true. 'Cause the president, or the monarch or whoever's in charge – they won't show you their true interests, they'll coat them in a wonderful mantle, sewn with words like 'honor', 'democracy', 'justice', 'belief'...
And maybe instead of taking his words for granted, we should look around, try and see the big picture and try to see the issue through our own eyes, and not through the smoke created by others.
When I was doing some research for this piece, I stumbled upon the phrase:
And it got me thinking because at first glance, it seems easy enough to understand, but it's not. Who should know his past? Should I know my own?
No, it's about a collective past and you don't need it so as to avoid a mistake, but to be able to judge a situation well. For example, to each problem, there is a scapegoat: the burning of Rome – the fault of the Christians, between 1348 and 1350, Europe was shaken by a horrible bout of plague and they blamed the Jews (I'm not even gonna touch Hitler and the whole Nazi period). And now, America, along with most of Europe, points its finger to the east, to the Muslims, who are all clearly terrorists.
They don't know that 100 years ago the scapegoats were some others. OR that in 100 years, the scapegoat will be yet another nation/religion/race etc.
Let me make something clear, I am not pro-Muslim in any way. I think that like with anything, some are good, some are bad. But I'm definitely not part of the trend that's all lovey-dovey with the Muslims now. Come on, you know me.
History is a broken tape showing the same images over and over. And the most annoying part is that nobody seems to know it's broken, nobody notices the repeating images, because nobody is truly seeing the screen. They're all just looking through it.
I can't claim that if we did indeed learn from yesterday's mistakes, we'd live in an Utopia, in a perfect world. But at least, we'd be making different mistakes, from which we could learn new things and not just the same old thing.
To conclude, I think the history lesson we should all have in our heads is:
We will not be remembered for what we create, but for what we destroy.
- Chuck Palahniuk
This is not a new post. I wrote this when I was 14 for the school magazine. And I found it again today, in my laptop. Looking back, I realized I agreed with 14 year old me, so I figured I'd share it with you, guys.
Thank you for reading,
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Your 14-year-old self was already writing very well; no wonder your current self writes such amazing stuff! I have to agree with you. As my husband says, the only people who ever win at a war are the bankers.
Thank you!! I must admit I was kinda impressed too :D Your husband sounds like a wise man ;)
To the question in your title, my Magic 8-Ball says:
Hi! I'm a bot, and this answer was posted automatically. Check this post out for more information.
There is certainly some disparity between fighting for a great cause and fighting a useless war.
I suppose that it is all in perspective, because to one man a war is a worthy cause for liberation while to another it is an oppressive power grab.
We must each make our own decisions, because it truly seems that war is inevitable (whether physical war or the daily mental battles we face).
I agree diplomacy and compromise is ideal, but most importantly we must all understand our values thoroughly and only fight when we truly believe in the cause.
Great read from your 14 year old self! Thanks,
Humans have been throwing sticks and stones at each other since we first arrived to plague this planet. Greed, jealousy and hubris won't permit us to learn from our mistakes and failures of the past. Instead we perpetuate them.
Good article from the 14 year old you though. Nicely done.
You got a 43.09% upvote from @ocdb courtesy of @honeydue!