‘We must all study history.’ Do you agree?

“History is bunk!” said Henry Ford, the man who commercialised the use of the automobile. I totally agree with him; history is a waste of time and we should stop studying it and spend the time saved in studying subjects that help us to improve life globally. For one thing, history leaves the human race mired in the past. Many are the frosty and even hostile relationships between nations, which used to be at war decades and even centuries ago. Words of anger are still thrown about events, usually wars, whose veterans are all dead or in their last days. Being mired in the past keeps these countries from progressing forward, into new eras of friendships which would benefit their people and even the world.

China and Japan fought an unfortunate war which ended more than 70 years ago; yet they have not really mended fences between them. Every now and then all a politician has to do to gather some support, is say something nasty to remind them about the war, like the Nanking massacre or comfort women. Then there is the border conflict between China and India, over a piece of land which serves little actual purpose. Even people of the same race, like India and Pakistan, and North and South Korea are spoiling for a fight. Then there are the conflicts among the countries in the Middle East, which are devastating on the people. When we trace the reasons, we see that the culprit is history.

One justification preached by history believers, is that we learn from the past. Though perhaps there are some instances when we did learn from history, we see that most of the time we did not. Just 20 years after World War I, which killed a million people and destroyed so many homes

and cities, World War II; even more devastating than the first, broke out and cost even more lives.

Another justification is that history makes us proud of the past. Sad to say, this applies only to the victors, and sometimes not even that. Countries which won wars often celebrate their victories annually. Does it ever bother them that they are taunting those who had lost the war? It is

akin to keeping old wounds open and preventing natural healing.

Keeping countries always prepared for war too has been pointed out as another justification for history. Does it not occur to the leaders that being prepared for war, and spending vast amounts of the country’s wealth, could actually cause the wars? Neighbours remain suspicious at arms build-ups, though they smile and bow to each other. Is it not more probable that arms build-ups will lead to conflicts?

Self-help teachers, like Anthony Robbins, teach that individuals cannot progress in life if they stay stuck to their past errors. When studying the lives of successful people, we see that they succeeded mostly by letting the past go. Does it not make sense that this would apply to countries as well too?

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