History by Ricky

Writers and commentators often quote Edmund Burke’s famous line, “Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it.”  I was a teenager when I heard that phrase for the first time. Since then I have occasionally had flashes of insight (or maybe they were epiphanies) linking some aspects of world history to more recent events in a nearly unbroken chain of repeating history because the lessons were not learned. Unfortunately, my insights are linking the past to present trends, which I find distressing.

This past week was exceptionally depressing for me. Historically, it was this week exactly 11 years ago in 2001 that my wife entered the hospital the day after 9-11 and passed away on the following Saturday, 15 September.

Yesterday it was Saturday the 15th. So I finally recognized why I was feeling “down” and that helped a bit. I learned that lesson from history – death happens; nonetheless, I was living through it again.

Yesterday, I read an article in the October 2012 issue of Vanity Fair by Michael Lewis titled “Obama's Way.” It was a very interesting article and gave some historical background on world changing events from the perspective of how President Obama lives and makes decisions and how he keeps from becoming mentally ill from the stress of making decisions. It would be worth everyone's time to read it.

Yesterday, I also watched a history channel special presentation. It was a two part series about the Rise of the Third Reich and the second part was the Fall of the Third Reich. It was shown using “home movies” taken by several German citizens, which showed German society following WWI and the conditions, which led to the rise of the Nazi Party from the perspective of the average German. Letters from and movies taken by German soldiers told another view of the war.

I understand many of the causes of WWI and those factors that lead up to WWII, but it still appears that those in power and those who agitate for or initiate violence, still have not learned from history that the death and destruction that follow greatly exceed the instigator’s estimates. Even William Shakespeare seemed to understand the concept that “war is hell.” Of course his version was more poetic, “Cry havoc and let loose the dogs of war.”  (Or was that the Klingons who said that?  It makes no difference to reality.)

I suppose it should not be so strange to understand why humans keep failing to learn from history. My humble (but probably accurate) opinion is that over the course of human existence, from the earliest days of recorded history unto now, every generation believes that it knows more and knows better than their progenitors. Therefore, forgets that people are still people and human nature is still the same throughout all time and places. “We are superior to the ancients in wisdom, knowledge, and technology.” “We are superior to our previous generations.” “Our society is superior to other societies.” “Where others have failed we will succeed.” Therefore, every rising generation ends up making the same mistakes all over again with weapons increasingly more destructive and the death toll keeps rising.

I am reminded of Bobby Rydell's A World Without Love, one verse of which is, "Birds sing out of tune, and rain clouds hide the moon, I'm Ok, here I stay with my loneliness, I don't care what they say I won't stay in a world without love."

The sad thing is, I do not know how to change it and make it better; no one does and so it just keeps going on and on in one eternal round; like a nightmare play where every act has different actors, sets, backdrops, and costumes, but the action and dialogue remain consistently the same, scene to scene and from one act to another; yet the audience does not wake up so the nightmare can end.

Wake up you people! I am tired of crying myself to sleep over all this hatred and violence!

© 16 September 2012

About the Author

Ricky was born in 1948 in downtown Los Angeles. He lived first in Lawndale and then in Redondo Beach both suburbs of LA. Just days prior to turning 8 years old, he was sent to live with his grandparents on their farm in Isanti County, Minnesota for two years while (unknown to him) his parents obtained a divorce.

When reunited with his mother and new stepfather, he lived one summer at Emerald Bay and then at South Lake Tahoe, graduating from South Tahoe High School in 1966. After three tours of duty with the Air Force, he moved to Denver, Colorado where he lived with his wife of 27 years and their four children. His wife passed away from complications of breast cancer four days after 9-11.

He came out as a gay man in the summer of 2010. He says, “I find writing these memories to be very therapeutic.”

Ricky's story blog is “TheTahoeBoy.blogspot.com”