History is a remarkable thing
We do not study history to know things and recite dates. We study history to learn the lessons of history.
Just as in the arc of our lives, we can learn from the mistakes we made. Do not walk barefoot on sharp rocks. Do not touch the hot stove.
History has us ask how a whole nation supported the death of 6 million people.
History wants us to ask how we walked our way into the seventh mass bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef, which is occurring right now.
History gets us to consider a remark – let them eat cake, and consider it against a recent comment made by the CEO of Kellogg’s that people who cannot afford to buy food should eat cereal for dinner.
History wants us to learn the lessons of colonisation. Slavery. Erasure. To confront the truth of the blood-soaked wealth of so many, the advantage gained off the whipped backs of humans.
History teaches us about revolution. How it starts. Keep suppressing the people. Cripple them financially. Reduce them, or keep them as cogs in a machine.
History teaches us about how autocracies rise—one little atrocity at a time—into a field where social services and support have been hollowed out. Autocracy does not thrive when the citizens are thriving.
History is a remarkable thing. Shame that we do not study it for the richness of its lessons. If we did, we might make wiser choices.
Photo Taken March 12th 2024
