The Other End

For most of us, it’s hard to be in a positive state of mind right now. World events feel like they’re spiralling out of control, and where we end up might be a very dark place.

I wish I could tell you this wasn’t the case, but I honestly don’t know.

But here’s the thing: I still have hope.

I think that, no matter how bad things get, humanity will come out on the other side, and learn from the mistakes we’re making.

In fact, many of these mistakes are repeats of ones made less than a century ago. And that’s part of the difference, I think.

See… if you were to compare the 1830s to the 1930s, well, they aren’t just in separate centuries, they’re in separate realities.

But today? Media has preserved history in an unprecedented way, and for many, while the 1930s is another century, it is not another reality. In a way, it was yesterday. History has been documented and available to rewatch whenever we like.

You’d think that would mean we wouldn’t make the same mistakes, but clearly that’s not the case.

But this time, when the dust settles, it’s my hope that we really see things clearly.

Last time, people said, “Never again.”

This time, we will mean it.

If you need more of a reason to believe this, then I can point you in the right direction: history.

Yeah, I know, I just talked about us making the same mistakes over and over, but it turns out there is a lot more in our history that proves we’re better than we think.

For your home reading assignment, I suggest you check out Humankind: A Hopeful History, by Rutger Bregman.

I’ll be doing a proper review of this book later, but this was an eye opener for me. Well researched and documented, I really can’t recommend it enough. Trust me, and find yourself a copy!