That was what I learned, but something has changed...
A couple of years ago I took a class at the local community college. In the class I met a woman who came from a country that had been occupied by the Soviet Union when she was very young. She told us how her father had to listen to freedom radio in the basement for fear that anyone would find out he was listening. She told of a couple of times where she was kicked out of school because she had no interest in joining the Communist party.
About this same time my daughter was taking a history class in High School. She shared her opinion on an issue that was being debated by the then presidential candidates. Her teacher then encouraged her classmates to mock her for her beliefs. This I find disturbing. I see little difference in what happened to my daughter as compared to my classmate who lived under a communist regime.
How did we get to this point? We used to know what communism and socialism were. We saw what these systems of government did. But the history is being changed little by little by those who are further and further away from the actuality of the events and who seem hell bent on repeating history. Our historians gather evidence and make accusations against those who have no ability to defend their own good name.
It kind of reminds me of a children's book I once saw where archaeologists from the future looked back to our day and interpreted items they found. The comical interpretations were entertaining but more importantly showed how easily history can be manipulated or misunderstood when all the facts are no longer available.
We can not change history without very dire consequences.
We believed in a good heritage an America that was founded on principles of liberty and justice for all. Our history has not all been roses, but we have learned from our mistakes. We can not change what has happened, but we can learn from what has happened and we can change..
When we teach only the bad things we miss out on the fact that America is basically good. Compare our history to any other history through out the world and I think we might find that while not all was good, it is far better than any other. America was known as a blessed land. People envied what we had. And maybe in part some came here thinking that they could bring with them the things they liked about their country, not realizing that the things they liked came with the unintended consequences. Which reminds me of another childhood story I once heard. I believe it was called Stone Soup, but I am not sure. It was about a family who loved their mothers stone soup, but each child wished that she wouldn't but in one ingredient or another. Well their wish was their mothers command and when they sat down at the table to eat they found a pot of hot water with only the stone in it. That is what I see has happened in America we have said, "I like this thing that America offers, but could you leave out..." or "could you add..."I do believe that history repeats itself because we either become ungrateful, or ignorant, and then become arrogant. It cycles through tyrants and dictators because of their arrogance and because of our ignorance. What isn't taught in history doesn't just hurt us it often kills. When they say the devil is in the details, it is true. He is trying to hide them from us so that he can rewrite them. When the history of our past is changed that is the beginning of the end of progress.
