The Teachings of History are all Around Us
9-28-25
Over the years I have always been an advocate of studying History. As described before, “Technology changes, human behavior does not.” This is echoed daily in reports of humans committing atrocities against fellow humans, just as they did in every century leading up to this one.
For those glomming onto the lessons we can learn by studying the past, you need not log on to your computer or read your favorite newspaper or view your news service of choice. The lessons we can learn can be accessed anywhere; in your neighborhood, at the store, even within your own family.
When an interviewer is covering a battle in war, its most likely he or she would include those who participated in the battle. Likewise, if we want to know what might happen in the future when those in government do one thing or another, why not talk to those from years past who experienced and lived through a likewise action being proposed today.
That’s right; want to know what might happen when many people are put out of work? Why not talk to someone that lived through the Great Depression?
There are literally stores of History in the minds of the older generation.
Would you like to know what it was like when World War II started? There are still enough people living, military and civilian, that could share that experience with you. Better hurry, though, their numbers are dwindling.
Would you find any interest when we celebrated Dwight D. Eisenhower’s election? Many people living today can tell you.
Were you affected by the Kent State shootings by the National Guard, like I was? Ask me about it. If you wonder what it was like to be drafted into the military during war and sent 10,000 miles away from home; ask me.
When Ronald Reagan got elected, he had to fix the economy and reinstate the United States as a military power to be reckoned with. If you are a teen or in your twenties, ask Grandma and Grandpa what happened during those years.
If you didn’t participate in the Vietnam War, there are many still alive to relay the horrors of war. Visit a VFW in your area and you can get the low down.
If you were just a child during the height of the Covid Reign of Terror, ask Mom or Dad how it affected their lives.
Would the younger generation wonder just how we survived before television, cell phones and the Internet? It’s a wonder we survived! Ask Grandma and Grandpa just how they performed this miracle.
It is a matter of curiosity for me to wonder what the experience of the Crusades, the Civil War, or the storming of the Normandy beaches in WW2. I cannot experience those events but the ones that are most recently affecting our lives over the last fifty years, can be listened to as told by the generations preceding us.
Want to predict the future? Listen to those who lived in the past, and ignore the empty promises of leaders trying to paint things differently for your future. Remember one man elected President who talked about “fundamentally changing our country?” Want the truth? Get it from the ones middle-aged and elderly. That’s information from those who experienced it.
