The Importance of History

When I went to school, certain classes had to be taken for a certain number of years. Math was 3 years, science was 3 and history was 4. I never understood that, why was history to be taken throughout my stay in high school. What did I care about what a bunch of dead people did, they were still dead. English and Science, heck even Natural Resources were much more relevant then History. This view is common I think among my class, and I would venture to guess that the feeling is even stronger among the kids today, maybe even among the adults.

Solomon was a wise king, the wisest man to ever live some would say. He said, "There is nothing new under the sun." As I've aged, I've come to learn this. Everything we have today, is new, but it's not. I liken history to sitcoms, you watch enough TV and you see the same story on different shows. Every show does it's "health scare" episode, it's flashbacks, it's "hilarious innocent mix up", and the "relationship breaking point" kind of episode. The show is different, the characters are different, but it's the same story told again and again. History is the same way, different time, different people, same story.

So, what's the point? The long story is this. In the 1930s and 1940s a war was fought that claimed many lives because one man had the grand desire to conquer the world. He conquered most of Europe and killed millions. At death camps they would be told to take a shower, and then they were gassed, they would die as they vomited, crapped and pissed themselves. I've stood in the chamber, I've stood in front of the ovens they cremated the prisoners in, I've stood at the exam table where they cut open the dead, and I looked down upon an ash pile that would fill up at least a couple dozen dump trucks. Whole cases full of shoes of people that came into the camp, and never left save for the wind blowing on the pile. I saw mass graves that the prisoners dug themselves before they were executed.

The people who saw those times are dying out, quickly. Soon there will be no one alive that saw those events, that can teach us about the lessons learned. And as they die, the reality of the holocaust will die with them, more as time goes on. Even now, history books are devoting less and less space to these horrors. And the death camps are so "clean" that the reality of what happened there is easy to miss. The thing is, everyone knows about the Holocaust, but very few know the reality of it. We can't lose that reality! It would be a grievous insult to all those that were tortured and died. Furthermore, Hitler was not a singular man. His type came before, and his type will come again. If we lose the reality of what happened, then history will repeat itself when another evil vile man like him comes again. If we lose that reality, we will forget the lessons learned, we will drop our guard, and in doing so, more will die.

The Holocaust is an example, but it is not the only one. 9-11, one of the most horrific events in our time, was a case in which we forgot history. Even in recent times, examples of terrorism is bountiful. But we let our guard down, we knew he was out there, but we forgot what evil men like that were capable of doing, we forgot how much hate they have and how potent that hate can be. The Roman Empire rose to glorious heights, and fell into ruin. Kingdoms before and after that fell for the same reasons. In the study of history, we could avoid a similar fate for our beloved country. Battlefield tactics can be used on the sports field. History is ripe with lessons and stories, knowing them gives you a new perspective on your present, and that can help you navigate into a better future.

English taught me how to communicate, science to solve problems, math to balance my checkbook, but history, that taught me how to live. And all others are pointless if you fail at life.

Ok, rant over, I'm feeling better now.