Are we repeating the past? Can you give an example?

Question

Santayana said, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
I've heard people compare the Iraq situation to Vietnam, so I'm wondering if there are any other things we're repeating?

Answer 1

Yes-Iraq to Vietnam to Korea; WWI to WWII; the fall of Rome and its democracy will probably repeat here eventually-most of us do similar activities each day, and our children despite resistance often emulate us, and even make similiar good or bad decisions.

Answer 2

Sure there are similarities between current war in Iraq, the Persian Gulf War and Vietnam but they are far from being a repeat of the other. Between reasons for entring, to funding, to homeland support, to the nature of the war, there are differences all over the place. And we didn't finish the first war because President Bush listened to the United Nations (who alot of people think has the right answers, atleast throughout the world), this alone separates and could be a good reason why this Bush doesn't listen completely to the UN.

I would see a comparison with the Roman empire (which was not a democracy) and that would be the fall from within itself. Rome didn't fall because of some outside source, it fell because all the people wanted to live in Rome itself. Noone wanted to work and the society became so immoral and corrupt it just eventually collapsed. If we don't get back to a more moral base (which starts with the family, not government, school, or some social program), our society in the US will fall. Maybe not for a long time, but eventually we will implode on each other.

Answer 3

Santayana made a good point -- if you don't learn
from your mistakes, you will continue to make them.

In terms of current events, no not everything is cyclical.
Similarities are not the same as identities.
The USA's participation and rapid winning of the Persian Gulf War in the same region and the current prolonged war against
the insurgents just proves that we should have done the whole
job ten years ago.

Answer 4

George W. Bush is the same as Saddam Hussein, Adolph Hitler, George H.W. Bush, Oliver Cromwell, Stongbow, Henry II, William the Conqueror, Richard the Lionheart, Pope Urban II, Pope Hadrian IV, Robert the Bruce, Bismark, Kaiser Wilhelm, LBJ, Harry Truman, Andrew Jackson, James Polk, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Napoleon, Louis XIV, Henry V, Napoleon III, Ferdinand and Isabella, Charles V, and every other leader who invaded a foreign country with God on his side or on his mind.

Answer 5

Of course Iraq = Vietnam = every other time we try to save people who haven't asked for our help.......

In addition I experience some major Deja Vu with the current gas price inflation....the 70's all over again. Sometime between then and now we forgot how much those big cars burn, and the SUV has come to rule the road.

Answer 6

We live in an age where materialist things have replaced good social values. It is characterized by a shift from a religion based set of social values to a me first, and screw everyone else mentality. Greed has become common. Slothfulness is the norm, not the exception. Envy has become a driving force to the point of denying someone else if you cannot have it. Gluttony is manifest in our society. This is not limited to food, but to all things material and perceived. Vengefullness is among the most destructive of human emotions become the goal of obtaining revenge becomes self destructive to the exclusion of all other things. True love has been replaced by conditional love. I love you as long as it is convenient for me, and not to my detriment. Tolerance has become conditional as long as it falls within a narrow range of norms. As long as you agree with me, then I can tolerate your beliefs.

Answer 7

As a costumer, my thoughts are often on material, literally, things. Just look at fashion and all the "retro" styles in clothing and home decorations. While we are not repeating the past, we are cyclic and relive many similar events over and over again.

Answer 8

Even a shorter span of memory is that people forgot the Gulf war that was in the same region and the same reasons in the 1990s'
Everything is cyclycal.

Answer 9

Yes, we dont learn from history and keep interfering in other countries to detrimental effects.
Look at Somalia, look what our funding of Bin Laden got us, etc.

We invaded Iraq twice after funding it and gving them arms.

Answer 10

yes in Darfur and in North Korea the same thing is happening that happend to the Jews during WW2....