In 1905, George Santayana in The Life of Reason wrote, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Winston Churchill is credited with saying, “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” On the repetition of history, Karl Marx said, “History repeats itself, first as a tragedy, second as a farce.”
On September 9, 1776, the Second Continental Congress adopted a new name for the “United Colonies” – the United States of America. We have all probably seen the concept of unity shown by the segmented serpent popularized by Benjamin Franklin in a political cartoon in 1754 with the caption “Join, Or Die.” This strength of unity was recognized by George Washington in his 1796 Farewell Address: “The unity of government which constitutes you one people is a main pillar in the edifice of your real independence, the support of your tranquility at home, your peace abroad, of your safety, of your prosperity; of that very liberty which you so highly prize.” Today, we have a person occupying the White House who doesn’t recognize Americans as one people, who has abrogated our tranquility at home, our peace abroad, our safety, our prosperity, and the very liberty which we so highly prize.
But the recognition of unity as strength did not begin with our country’s birth. Confucius recognized the importance of order and unity and said, “The strength of a nation derives from the integrity of the home.” In Mohammed’s last sermon, he said, “All mankind is from Adam and Hawwa (Eve), an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a White has no superiority over a Black nor does a Black have any superiority over a White- except by piety and good action.” One teaching from Buddhism is, “Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else.” Matthew 12:25 states, “And Jesus knew their [the Pharisees] thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand.”
History is speaking to us and begging us to remember. Historians believe that the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed because of internal social issues, economic problems, and war. The Roman Empire fell and historians seem to agree that economic troubles, overexpansion and military overspending, the rise of other empires, government corruption and political instability were among the reasons leading to its downfall. Sparta fell and historians seem to agree that a decline in citizens, wealth gaps, an inability to fill its military ranks, and political collapse were among the reasons.
We are being led down the same rabbit hole that led to the destruction of other great civilizations. The current administration is not making us great again; it is destroying us.
