Does history repeat itself? If so, why don’t we humans learn from mistakes and follow processes that were successful. It sometimes feels as though humans keep stumbling into the same kind of messes over and over again, like children needing to get burned by a hot stove before they comply with parental warnings meant to keep them free from harm. 

I suppose that our diverse ways of thinking can create brilliant responses to problems or drive  us into states of war. Neither philosophers nor historians have been able to keep us from arguing with each other over how best to live in harmony. Our darker natures seem to get us into trouble over and over again and as our inventiveness improves so do the horrors that we are capable of inflicting on one another. 

We all have an innate sense of what is morally right and what is very wrong and yet we find ways to wriggle around even our strongest beliefs. Most of us would agree that killing another human is immoral but we allow ourselves to kill in self defense. That seems to be a logical way of thinking and yet we have those who would die rather than take up arms against another person. We condone wars as a sometimes necessary evil while some among us conscientiously object. The lines begin to blur and the differing opinions about what actually constitutes murder multiply creating rancor between us. Our social contracts become strained as we attempt to sort out what should be acceptable and what should be only a matter of personal beliefs. 

Compromise in our political gatherings has become a dirty word of late. Those who attempt to find common ground are sometimes seen as being wishy washy flip floppers. The trend today is to stand firmly intrenched in our respective philosophies about what is right and what is wrong. There is no patience with those who suggest that we approach societal problems incrementally with small wins for as many people as possible. We live in an all or nothing political era that feels toxic and hateful while nothing is ever resolved. The two sides argue back and forth instead of settling for small victories and progress rather than none. 

The result of the obstinance is stagnation with a growing list of unsolved problems that only become worse as groups fight for dominance hoping to gain enough power to shove their ideas down everyone else’s throats. So many of our governmental systems are more concerned with winning the next election than doing their jobs in the intervening times. Only a few brave souls are willing to walk across the aisle to bridge differences and move forward rather than creating stagnation. The person who attempts to bridge the differences is all too often the pariah rather than the hero and so the tension between the groups grows and grows. 

We humans have found ourselves in the same kind of situations over and over again. Our obstinance leads to making poor choices in selecting those who lead us. We eschew the peace makers and cling to so called strong men who attract us by inflaming our anger and our fears. If we allow such people to gain too much power we risk becoming intrenched in a long cycle of bickering and sometimes of engaging in war. Nobody really comes out ahead in such environments. Everyone loses in one way or another. 

We need only look across the globe and across the years of history to witness the kind of behaviors that lead to horrific situations for innocent people who were tempted by bad actors to engage in tribal vengeance on perceived or imagined enemies. We become impatient and make bad decisions that may sate our own desires for a time but harm others in the process. We equate bravado and bullying with strength, believing that a quiet and rational option for solving our problems takes too long and requires us to give too much. 

Our present situation is not unique. Humankind has been here before. It is a sad and frightening time when we hold our breaths wondering if we will ever again feel safe and comfortable. We can’t even get along with each other within our own families and neighborhoods. We wonder why it has to be this way without realizing that we are wittingly or unwittingly creating the monsters that frighten us. We do so when we accept behaviors that we know are wrong rather than rejecting the people who display them. We are to blame for not having the will to stop the grumbling and the finger pointing so that we might sit down to discuss our worries without insulting or harming each other. Somehow that brand of cooperation seems to be totally out of style. 

I hear the voices of the suffering and I know that we are a world of many needs. Sometimes we gloriously rally in a spirit of kindness and unity and sometimes we bicker while harm continues to inflict innocent people. Surely we know that destroying each other has never led to good outcomes. Until we put ourselves into each other’s shoes how can we know what we need to do for the common good? Until we can accept that we do not have all of the answers how can we search for the solutions that lead to peace and good lives for most of us? 

I know that there is no pie in the sky, but surely there are ways to understand and even appreciate our common humanity. Life is short and we should all be working to make it as free of brutishness for everyone as possible. We need to at least attempt to understand different cultures, different ways of thinking without foisting a single way of living on the entire world. Governing is like parenting. We all know that too much permissiveness with children leads to bad behavior while guidance that is too strict and punishing leads to anger. We have to spend time communicating with each other without coming undone when our beliefs diverge. We might begin in small groups in which we find out what we have in common and why we feel the way that we do. 

The demonizing can be stopped if we refuse to support those who would have us engaged in a constant loop of fighting. We need to use our thinking rather than allow ourselves to be emotionally manipulated by men and women whose only accomplishments are raising our ire. Look behind the curtain to see how the rabble rousers treat people when nobody is looking. It will become very clear who is actually concerned about our society and who is only interested in stroking their own egos. These are the people who lead us to war with each other. Do not let them fool you. Look for the peacemakers and people of integrity. They are the true heroes and always have been.