The votes are in and properly counted. The Cappuccino shown at the top was voted the best looking – by a large majority. There was some disagreement of course, but nobody has screamed “Cheater!”, or threatened to go to the Mayor and sue for a recount. Everybody involved is still talking to each other – with the exception of an older man who stormed out of the cafe with his dog because he does not drink Cappuccinos and only drinks Espresso.. So, Fabio, the Barista Fabioloso, remains the champion for another year…and the beat goes on…Democracy can be a good thing.
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- Lately, I’ve been thinking about: The Studying of History. When I went to school much of “History” was about Dates: The Roman Empire (3rd century BCE to 476AD) Charlemagne (King of the Franks, 748-814) William the Conqueror (1028-1087), The Magna Carta (June, 1215), and, of course – The Battle of Gettysburg (U.S. Civil War, 1863). If you could remember dates such as these and mark them down on an exam, you most likely could get into a good college. As time went on, in my life, I have been told those of us who do not know our history are condemned to repeat it. What does that have to do with ‘Dates’?…and does ‘History’ repeat itself? Are there ‘cycles’ and what can I do about any of it, anyway? I’ve read some books which try to tell me ‘things’ were worse in the past than they are today. “Way worse”, they say. In the past we killed more of each other, there were more poor people, per capita, than in today’s world. So what? I say. If only you are starving today and two other people were starving yesterday – that does not make today much better. So. I have come up with a few thoughts on the matter: *History can warn us how bad we can be to each other. Recent history (maybe the past 200 years is all the far back you have to go) can show you parallels on what might be coming…i.e., Dictatorships forming, International Military conflicts, Economic disasters…you do not have to go back to William the Conquerer to see what is coming. *What you do not know about the major events in recent world History can hurt you; bigly. *I fear History may not only repeat itself in a few days; but it will also erupt with a big burp….despite my having ingested what happened in the past.
Enough from me on this. Here is what others have had to say on the subject:
- “We do not learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience.” -John Dewey
- “History repeats itself, first as Tragedy, second as Farce.” =Karl Marx
- “History is written by the Victors” -Winston Churchill (…”and, possibly, altered by those temporarily in office” – cem)
- “History is a set of lies agreed upon.” -Napoleon Bonaparte
- “We learn from History that we learn nothing from History.” -George Bernard Shaw (I hope he is wrong, but the polls show it’s a tight race.)
- “History is Bunk!” -Henry Ford (…and he did pretty well for himself with this attitude…just like some of our current Billionaires who treat the lessons of history as so much bunk.)
- “A generation which ignores History has no past – and no future.” -Richard A. Heinlein
- “History reports…that the men who can manage money, manage all” -Will Durant
- “The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their History.”
That’s enough for now…and good luck to Kamala, wherever you are.
