The Hundred Year History Lesson

- jim Young

“To remain ignorant of history is to remain forever a child.” - Cicero

History often repeats itself. 

In its simplest form, it’s one of our first lessons in life.  As a young child we do something that displeases our parents and we get punished for it (or praised for not doing it) and we quickly learn what we should and shouldn’t do under the same circumstances next time.

So why does this so often seem to be such a hard concept for people to grasp once they become adults?

When it was all over in 1920, the "Spanish" Flu had killed 50 million people worldwide. 
675,000 were dead in the U.S and 55,000 people died in Canada.
Covid-19's current death toll is 137 million people worldwide.
563,000 have died in the U.S and 23,000 people have died in Canada.

The world will recover from Covid-19 and we’ll get through it again just as we did 100 years ago. 

At least I believe that. Why?

Because when I look back at what happened I see a lot more similarities than I do differences. I would like to see more differences, because you’d think that people might have learned from the mistakes we made back then, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

During the Spanish Flu Pandemic, just as today, many turned a blind eye to it all, refusing to acknowledge the magnitude of what was happening around them. Today, these same types of people are often quick to label those of us following recommended protocols as “sheep” while they, themselves, are acting like an “ostrich with its head stuck in the sand.” 

It seems the biggest fear of the protesters of today is their concern of a “government plot” to take away our freedoms and rights. I don’t understand how enforcing the public to do things like social distance or wear a face mask for their protection until the pandemic is under control is any different than requiring one to wear a seat belt in their own car for their own safety.  

The "Anti-Mask League" was formed as a protest during the Spanish Flu Pandemic. “The Anti-Maskers” of today were called “Mask Slackers” back then.

They protested and found excuses not to wear masks. Like today, there were even some doctors and so-called "health" experts  who criticized the recommended protocols of the day.

But as far as I can tell, it turned out that it WASN'T some big government plot to "control" the people or take away their rights after all and life eventually went back to normal without people losing any of their freedoms.

I wonder if those who are resisting efforts to fight Covid-19 today will apologize to the rest of us when it's all over, as loudly as they are protesting now?

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