We Never Learn

 I had planned to post about something different this week, however with the events now happening in Europe, my thoughts have changed.

As I am a bit older, I come from a generations whose parents took part it the most horrific conflagration in human history. World War II left virtually no one in the world untouched by its reach. Even as events were discovered after the actual fighting stopped, the depths of human depravity were stunning. 

However when you get down to it all, WWII was about territory, greed and power, a thirst that somehow never seems to be quenched. In the wars since the mid-twentieth century, they have nearly all been skirmishes in comparison, but the underlying reach for power and territory still remains. With smaller, less prosperous countries with limited resources, I can almost understand the want, the need to expand territory for resources and the betterment of the country. 

But, this is 2022. The world is a different place than it was seventy years ago, fifty years ago and even twenty years ago. Have we not learned from our past, a past of war and greed? What is it that drives someone like Vladimir Putin to launch an invasion of a neighboring country? He is a lingering part of the old guard that clawed his way through the cold war and the fall of the Soviet Union, only to retain his power. He is a reflection of what was, what the world needs to leave behind. There is no reason in this century for a power such as Russia to bring Europe to the brink of another war. 

The world is more global than ever before. Whether we like it or not, we are tied to each other for good or bad. What affects one country often affects others in some manner. How have we not put blatant territorial grabs behind us as a species? How do the memories of atrocities of war not prevent futures wars? Apparently those memories are for others to lament and languish in and not for those who thumb their noses at the lesser inhabitants of the world who bear the brunt of such actions.

When will we learn? Will we ever learn?