The More things Change, the More they Stay the Same

Hi and Welcome to the A & J PEI Treasures E Jean Simpson Author Blog Post and Podcast. I’m your host, Jean coming to you from the beautiful Province of Prince Edward Island, Canada!! The blog post and podcast is an opinion piece and only reflects this author’s opinion and not that of any other entity. Today I talk about something I’ve observed from a historic and observational perspective. From time immemorial, we have had battles/disagreements rage over several different factors over time. I will just give an overview of some of the factors and some information you can start with if any of them pique your interest. If you want to find out more, then stay tuned…!

I have heard the old saying, “the more things change, the more they stay the same” which is suggested to have been said, but in French, by Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr in the 1800’s I had, as a young person, thought this couldn’t be true. We were becoming more educated and more advanced than our ancestors. Then, as I got older, I realized with some consternation that this does, in fact, have some basis in reality. When you have an interest in history, even if it is specific to a time or place, you get to see some repeating themes. They are generally in the realm of medical events (Ideological), religious events and riches for the taking. Many times they are intermingled or have added factors. Of course I don’t name all factors, but will focus on only a few. They seem to follow down the lineage of history and human endeavours.

As Edmund Burke (1729-1797) said "Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it." It does seem that this might be part of a larger problem. Things like the crusades were based on religious intolerance. Certainly, there was a bit more with it. There was the fact that some thought that their religion was the one and only religion and it went back and forth for a very long time. Then there was the Tudor age where there was a decision to break with the Catholic Church which resulted in blood shed on both sides of the religious line. It was dependent at the time who was in power. Eventually this subsided, but there has been issues between Ireland and England over time due to religious affiliation. Now, this is not to say that it was the only issue, it seldom is the only issue, but typical discourse points to religion along with other issues. If you are interested in this angle, Wikki is a place to begin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religio....

Religion is not the only place that intolerance results in blood shed. This is not necessarily war but invading countries in search of monetary gain. Of course this seemed to be given a mixed label. For example, the use of Africa to obtain slaves and the colonization and exploration of the Inca Nation and North America in general. There was gold to be had in the Inca Nation. Some of what they did was under the guise of teaching the people’s being used about Christianity but for the most part, it was used as justification for taking the riches that were there to be taken. This seems to have been accepted and the slavery and domination of these people began. If you are interested in this avenue, a place to start is https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-s.... In this case, there is some change in attitudes, but overall, the people of Africa and North America who were taken over have yet to retrieve their prior glory and still fight for equality.

The other thing that can be noted on wars is that often there is some payoff for the winners and often the losing side is made to pay the price. This is typical to war. For example, after WWII Germany had to pay restitution. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_W.... It isn’t the only time that the winning side took payment. Rome may not have been built in a day, but what they did build from conquest resulted in obtaining more riches and stronger grip on the regions they conquered. https://www.ukessays.com/essays/histo.... This is a tradition of wars and invasions. Someone has to lose and someone has to win. In actual fact, no one really wins as there are losses on both sides and ruin of some infrastructure and lives in many cases.

Now, when I say medical events this tends to be fought on the ideological level. For instance, there has been an ongoing battle against illegal drugs. It was termed the war on drugs. It is the attempt to stop the illegal drug trade. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_.... It has a long history and there has been varying levels of agreement and disagreement. Another ideological based war…was the Cold War https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides.... This was partly to separate Communism and Democratic society begun in around the 1950’s. This led to some threats of war and a lot of anxiety. People building bomb shelters and doing air raid practices in schools. https://www.history.com/news/duck-cov.... Often ideology is part of most wars for example, the earlier description of Tudor religious separation was about ideology as much as about wives and Henry VIII.

One thing most people can agree upon is the war costs far more than goods and time. They cost lives and lifestyles. They cost livelihoods and though there is a ‘winner’ of sorts, there is no real win when families lose members and children lose parents. There is no real win when people are invaded and their freedoms taken. People like to complain about their freedoms being taken, however, when you see the real and actual situation, it takes on a whole new understanding. We are all one planet. If we want to move forward as one planet, we need to learn more tolerance and caring. Even on the basis of the WW’s, there was an attempt to exterminate a whole people based on religion and based on the ideology that one group was more worthy than another or others. During the process a lot of people died and a lot more were never the same.

As G.K. Chesterton said, “The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.” As Jimmy Carter has said, “War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it is always an evil, never a good. We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other’s children.” I think people tend to forget the long term costs of war. The dead, the crippling of people, the children who have no parents, the parents without children. The schools, hospitals, libraries, homes, businesses and livelihoods all destroyed in a short time. The long term impacts of things like the Holocaust. None of it seems to make a dent in the minds of those intent on war/invasion. I had hoped in this day and age, we might find a better way to manage, yet there are still so many wars, invasions, and general intolerance. We cannot agree on whether or not to protect each other from a virus, I guess it is hoping for too much that we find ways to resolve differences, think more tolerantly and learn about others. It is still easier to fear and hate that which we do not understand. We can’t get agreement that people who are L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ are people like everyone else as some refuse to countenance it. Religious intolerance is still rampant. This is why the more things change, the more they stay the same (Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr).

I hope that this will get you to think about how things could change and how we could make the saying…”the more things change the more they stay the same” (Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr) a thing of the past. Enact actual change, actual tolerance and actual respect for each other. Thanks for listening to my podcast and/or reading my blog post and thanks for your interest in A & J PEI Treasures!

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