penny for a thought

Its funny how history can sometimes (or infact, most times) unfold right in front of us and we seem to barely notice if at all. Take for example the declaration by Iran that it is indeed a nuclear nation now. That is monumental- but we've been hearing warnings about it for so long now, that the moment just passed without anyone actually pausing to think of the repurcussions.

Or how about the fact that the United States is actually working on revamping its whol nuclear arsenal; while the international cvommunity sees the US destroy some of its nuclear arms, they are silently building smaller, easier to use and deadlier nuclear weapons. That is truly historical. We are in fact, at a point when countries are making it easier to destroy entire populations. Instead of having the capability of destroying our earth seven times over, we are relaxing a bit and settling for derstroying it only once. History my friends has a funny way of creeping up on us. More specifically, the fact that we become history- a small part of something larger than us, be it great or devastating.

Another example is somewhat a positive one, the Queen is celebrating her 80th anniversary. Decades from now, someone will pop open an encyclopedia and note that Queen Elizabeth of England led a nation through the most frenzied period of war, anguish, misery and growth in its history. She did all this by managing to not be in power through half theat period. Remarkable.

Take the turn of another century. Sure, there were celebrations everywhere, there was even a special documentary by the Biography Channel on the most important people of the past millenium- but really, did we truly contemplate what happened there? A thousand years. a second passed.. and click- everything changed. Just for a second we had the chance to clean the slate, to consider a new paradigm. Thats history creeping forward.. inch by inch.. atom by atom.. the building blocks keep stacking up and we get higher and higher. Or is it that there is just a perception of betterment? Because some would argue that we are no better, still arguing over the same petty issues as cavemen or neandrathals- just with more complex means to our disposal like money, machines, language and weapons.

From Mongol warriors on steadfast steeds charging out of Central Asia to conquer Western lands to nuclear bunker busters being shot into underground caves, our world has failed to live up to its promise. There are great moments mind you, glimpses of our underlying humanity showing through. But we have sacrifised that humanity over the years for something far more important to our psyches- power. And that, is history repeating itself.