Sarah Gibbard Cook
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Does History Repeat Itself?

8/1/2016

2 Comments

 
 Of course not, at least not in detail. Every circumstance is unique. Britain’s vote in June to leave the European Union—with similar talk in other member states—wasn’t the fall of the Roman Empire, the breakup of the Hapsburg and Ottoman empires after World War I, or the collapse of the U.S.S.R. or Yugoslavia. But certain broad patterns seem to recur. Larger and larger territorial units fracture into smaller ones. Then the process reverses.

Economic and military advantages sustain a multi-ethnic empire or union for a time, but increasing diversity makes it hard to garner loyalty and a sense of belonging. Cultural unity in a small national state feels good until lack of resources starts to bite; then adjoining states find ways to join together. Another problem with cultural unity as a basis for statehood, besides creating states too small to go it alone, is the fact that ethnic groups live intermixed. Trying to draw neat borders between them can breed disaster; just ask the people of India and Pakistan in 1947, or Bosnia in 1992-95, or Palestine for decades.

History won’t repeat itself precisely, whether we learn from it or not. But its patterns are worth noticing as we chart a course through the tensions of globalization and reaction. We can acknowledge the human craving for a sense of belonging and shared culture. We can understand that this sense won’t come from building walls to maintain an imagined cultural purity. In the U.S. in this heated political season, I hope we can promote the values, symbols, and traditions that cut across boundaries of ancestry or religion to support a sense of one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
2 Comments
Beth Genne
8/1/2016 10:20:11 am

It seems to me that unfortunately we don't learn what we should from history -- at least in the case of Trump's nomination. So many demagogues have come and gone -- and yet people fall for them all the time! Interesting comment Sarah!

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Sarah link
8/1/2016 02:09:43 pm

So much we might learn about the dangers of falling for demagogues - and about some of the reasons people fall for them, besides ignorance. What are the felt needs that a demagogue addresses? What are safer, healthier ways of addressing those needs?

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    I'm a historian who writes novels and literary nonfiction. My home base is Madison, Wisconsin. 

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