General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forumswe've heard so often that horrific events of the past can't happen again if we remember.
but what happens when people remember and it doesn't seem so bad?
what happens if a group of people refuses to believe in the horrific acts because it doesn't fit into their nice tidy belief system?
what happens when time dulls the memory and the conditions become fine for a repeat?
what happens when an exact horror doesn't happen, but plenty that are equally horrific does?
what happens when the horrific acts are distant and taking issue could get in the way of a national interest?
what happens when a group of people are frothed up with lies, or when a leader essentially sanctions the bad behavior?
what happens when the line is so blurred between freedom of speech and hatred that anything goes - and the horrors return?
Well folks - welcome to our life here on earth - the history of humanity - which marches on. And for some of the above...welcome to where we are today.
My heart breaks.
WhiskeyGrinder
(22,431 posts)What happens if white people can identify exactly what they would do if they were in Germany in 1932, but can do little more than say, "Ugh, America 2017" when they see the latest?
What happens if we pretend racists are outliers and extremists, when we know Uncle Art is just as awful, he just keeps it under wrap at Thanksgiving?
What happens if our hearts haven't broken until today?
NRaleighLiberal
(60,019 posts)hlthe2b
(102,357 posts)repeat it.
That doesn't mean that those who DO remember can not willingly CHOOSE to repeat the mistakes of the past. In this age when history and intellectualism and education are so disdained, Santayana's admonishment is brought to life. But, the problem is not ALL ignorance. It is that so many CHOOSE to ignore history's lessons.