In the old days there were things that we just didn't talk about. You didn't speak ill of the dead or bring up old wrongdoings. The saying was, let sleeping dogs lie. The reason for doing so was obvious enough. If you startle a sleeping dog he just might bite you! That was all part of a mindset of getting along with each other. Minding your own business was another popular pastime too. But today, today the trend is to dig up the past, especially if there was wrongdoing, and use that past to batter the present. We claim we do so in the interest of history being told, we need to know the truth of it. A reasonable argument that contains sound logic but misused does little more than foster hate, anger and more division. There are times when it is best to let sleeping dogs lie. I'd say that was so when there is no benefit to be gained by waking that dog up.
I'm seeing a pattern develop. We have started examining the past for the most unjust, unsound, and downright terrible acts or decisions made, and bringing them into the present. No one would or could offer a reasonable justification for these acts, no one would support them, but yet we feel compelled to wake them up! I question the true motive for doing so. It's a question of, do I need to know that? Is that knowledge going to be of any benefit? Or, is the sole purpose to illicit sympathy or compassion for present day peoples for what occurred a hundred years or more ago? The real question is, should we benefit from the past? What I mean to say is, if my great grandfather were cheated should reparations be paid to me? Is that justice? It is if you subscribe to the theory that justice is measured in dollars and cents, a common belief these days it would appear. The benefit we should receive from the past is knowledge. We should have learned from those acts to never allow them to happen again. And that's the thing. The " history " I see being brought up is well known to be wrong, we knew it was wrong at the time we first did it! But those actions were enabled by what? Mostly greed would be my answer. If it is profitable we will find a way to justify it. That's man's nature, always has been, and continues to be so. And that leads us to the situation we find ourselves in today. One group of people saying we correct that by just giving everyone the same thing, and the other group saying we need to hold people accountable for their choices.
The first group has taken to using the past as a weapon. They present unjust actions from the past as a weapon to prevent holding people accountable for present day actions. Your great grandparents or other ancestors were wronged a hundred years ago or more, therefore you should be compensated today. By presenting a set of " facts " that are indisputable and as unjust as possible, we can justify the injustice of the present time. When the second group protests that, they are just labeled racists or a plethora of other equally unsavory names.
Now the second group preaches about just actions. Just actions will lead to just results. I place myself in that group. I do believe in personal accountability and responsibilty for my choices. Nothing that happened to my parents or any other ancestors has prevented me from accomplishing anything. I am also not entitled to anything due to their efforts, or lack of those efforts. I'm certain in the course of human history I could find some horrific injustice that was perpetrated against my ancestors. That still doesn't make me entitled to anything!
But I began by talking about letting sleeping dogs lie. The old folks practiced that and in some cases it was to our detriment. Much information was lost, mostly personal stuff though. History wasn't lost. The things man did were recorded and the things society did as well. The ancients sacrificed human beings in an effort to gain favor with their Gods. Peoples conquered other peoples to gain land or other valuable commodities. People have enslaved other peoples. The list of injustice and downright cruelty is an unending string throughout the history of mankind. There were those that knew it was wrong at the time, mostly the ones it was being done to pointing that out, but inherently we always knew. So my point is what benefit does it do to bring that up today? It may only benefit those that can make some claim, no matter how tenuous, to that injustice. And then only if you can get the majority to agree. It is not a benefit, but a weapon. It is an attempt to correct past injustice by allowing injustice today. It does more harm than good. And for that reason I say, let sleeping dogs lie, not to hide the past but to brighten the future. You can't change the past, you can't correct that, all you can do is improve in the future.
I am fully aware that this isn't a popular view or opinion today. I expect to hear a bunch of arguments about how we need to expose the injustice of the past. We all need to know about who was wronged by whom and when that happened. I expect there are those that will accuse me of sticking my head in the sand. As I said, I'm fully aware. My point is simply that we all know that inherently! No one needs to be taught about that stuff. Unfortunately many do whatever they are allowed to do, whatever they can get away with. Doesn't make any difference if it is an individual or an entire nation. That's why we have laws, customs and traditions to delineate that. It was those laws, customs and traditions that allowed the injustices of the past to take place. Hopefully man has put the majority of these injustices to bed, maybe, just maybe, we should leave them there. If we don't, they might all come back to bite us.
I'm seeing a pattern develop. We have started examining the past for the most unjust, unsound, and downright terrible acts or decisions made, and bringing them into the present. No one would or could offer a reasonable justification for these acts, no one would support them, but yet we feel compelled to wake them up! I question the true motive for doing so. It's a question of, do I need to know that? Is that knowledge going to be of any benefit? Or, is the sole purpose to illicit sympathy or compassion for present day peoples for what occurred a hundred years or more ago? The real question is, should we benefit from the past? What I mean to say is, if my great grandfather were cheated should reparations be paid to me? Is that justice? It is if you subscribe to the theory that justice is measured in dollars and cents, a common belief these days it would appear. The benefit we should receive from the past is knowledge. We should have learned from those acts to never allow them to happen again. And that's the thing. The " history " I see being brought up is well known to be wrong, we knew it was wrong at the time we first did it! But those actions were enabled by what? Mostly greed would be my answer. If it is profitable we will find a way to justify it. That's man's nature, always has been, and continues to be so. And that leads us to the situation we find ourselves in today. One group of people saying we correct that by just giving everyone the same thing, and the other group saying we need to hold people accountable for their choices.
The first group has taken to using the past as a weapon. They present unjust actions from the past as a weapon to prevent holding people accountable for present day actions. Your great grandparents or other ancestors were wronged a hundred years ago or more, therefore you should be compensated today. By presenting a set of " facts " that are indisputable and as unjust as possible, we can justify the injustice of the present time. When the second group protests that, they are just labeled racists or a plethora of other equally unsavory names.
Now the second group preaches about just actions. Just actions will lead to just results. I place myself in that group. I do believe in personal accountability and responsibilty for my choices. Nothing that happened to my parents or any other ancestors has prevented me from accomplishing anything. I am also not entitled to anything due to their efforts, or lack of those efforts. I'm certain in the course of human history I could find some horrific injustice that was perpetrated against my ancestors. That still doesn't make me entitled to anything!
But I began by talking about letting sleeping dogs lie. The old folks practiced that and in some cases it was to our detriment. Much information was lost, mostly personal stuff though. History wasn't lost. The things man did were recorded and the things society did as well. The ancients sacrificed human beings in an effort to gain favor with their Gods. Peoples conquered other peoples to gain land or other valuable commodities. People have enslaved other peoples. The list of injustice and downright cruelty is an unending string throughout the history of mankind. There were those that knew it was wrong at the time, mostly the ones it was being done to pointing that out, but inherently we always knew. So my point is what benefit does it do to bring that up today? It may only benefit those that can make some claim, no matter how tenuous, to that injustice. And then only if you can get the majority to agree. It is not a benefit, but a weapon. It is an attempt to correct past injustice by allowing injustice today. It does more harm than good. And for that reason I say, let sleeping dogs lie, not to hide the past but to brighten the future. You can't change the past, you can't correct that, all you can do is improve in the future.
I am fully aware that this isn't a popular view or opinion today. I expect to hear a bunch of arguments about how we need to expose the injustice of the past. We all need to know about who was wronged by whom and when that happened. I expect there are those that will accuse me of sticking my head in the sand. As I said, I'm fully aware. My point is simply that we all know that inherently! No one needs to be taught about that stuff. Unfortunately many do whatever they are allowed to do, whatever they can get away with. Doesn't make any difference if it is an individual or an entire nation. That's why we have laws, customs and traditions to delineate that. It was those laws, customs and traditions that allowed the injustices of the past to take place. Hopefully man has put the majority of these injustices to bed, maybe, just maybe, we should leave them there. If we don't, they might all come back to bite us.
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