I read a comment to a post this morning and it has been on my mind much of today
I don't remember the specific words, but it was in reference to a post on the Israel Hamas situation - the comment said something like "why do we have to pay attention to things like this that happen in other countries and have no direct effect on us" - that was the gist. I think the intent meant was it was creating much angst on DU, some division, and life is complicated enough for many of us without having to try to make sense out of something that is "so far away?.
I rolled that around in my head - it surprised me, but we are all different - some of us can handle complexity, horrors, death, wars better than others. But news and social media make this a much smaller world, of course. Some of us here will be directly and deeply impacted by what is going on.
But mostly I think it is important to try to understand history - it is important to understand empathy, it is important to understand how things in the world tie together and potential risks we may face from it. Curiosity, information, thinking beyond and outside of ourselves has to be a good thing. I think it is one of the things that signify liberals and Democrats, anyway.
Hope that wasn't too garbled - often I have a thought that is clear when it is in my noggin, but gets scrambled when I try to put it down to words.
= new reply since forum marked as read
1. We can learn from history, but don't.
Events are created by people, and human nature is about the same as it ever was.
That's how we can learn not only from history, but from great works of fiction, nonfiction, and art.
We are watching the fascist playbook being acted out
We are repeatedly watching "intelligence failures" when good intel is being presented and ignored because it doesn't support a leader's preconceived notions.
History is also (and this must be emphasized) the cause of almost all conflict.
History says what country or group you belong in, and is a record of achievements and most certainly of grievances.
"Getting even" is another matter, and it's not part of my spiritual beliefs. It only creates the conditions for more grievance. The devil's in the details.
2. What happens anywhere affects us.
Nothing happens in isolation.
Just as most history was written about wars and commerce, and mostly ignored culture, we are very connected these days. The real estate market in China affects us though we have no part of it. And as always, scientific discoveries and artistic works everywhere are part of a global culture. While there are diverse cultures, it is through interaction with and appreciation of them that we grow. Creativity is the application of ideas in one field to another. Closed thinking systems and monocultures devolve.
Your thoughts are fine. I have thoughts that are unclear in my noggin but get clarified when I have to write them down.
So, I write.
in notebooks 
