Well, I believe it is simply because we learn so little from our own lives. Think of how many times you have made the same mistakes, yet fail to remind yourself that those mistakes are bad for you. The problem i think is that, history does not exist to teach lessons, it is just a record of what human beings have done and also we human beings have a huge persistent issue of taking everything for granted especially that we think does not immediately concern us, which automatically makes us less worried about our actions and its consequences(shortsightedness). History talks on our behalf, of all the deeds(right or wrong) and its consequences and how the entire story have been fading from the minds of the coming generation. Despite of all the catastrophes , we human beings, the dominant species in our planet, still keep relapsing into states of utter intentional confusion.
The example often being put forward or that has been put forward by the greed and self serving attitude to detriment of other countries of different nations to prove themselves as the supreme power of the planet by various ways is “WAR”. Historically mankind has experienced two WORLD WARS till date. Many believe the next “World War” is supposed probably going to be a Nuclear holocaust . In conclusion of every war, nations proclaim and celebrate triumph but, millions of soldiers and civilians lose their lives, to the extent that they justify this by calling it “collateral damagr”, thousands survive of which half are be handicapped, left with broken bodies and soul, overall making the merits look downgraded. More often than not if you ask the actual people that fought the war, i mean the soldiers and not the politicians if it was worth it?, the answer is almaost always in the negative, except of course in instances of self defence. An international body was formed later after the wars, in 1945, to maintain peace around the globe and to protect human rights, UNITED NATION (UN) organization. Despite of the international organization, people around the globe live in fear, and others brooding over the future cataclysm of the ongoing cold war like USA-China, India-Pakistan, USA-North Korea, USA-Iran. I believe a majority of us prefer to live in this planet peacefully and happily, but the cynical leaders, under their tyranny never let it happen and which is why i ask again why is peace so expensive.?
What more about the fact of history is when you take a real (look at your grandparents stories), their are always valuable lessons to be taught and learned from. It is also a good example and case studies to accelerate One growth based on someone past experience. You think about two quotes for a second, paraphrase a little bit but you get the gist and that is . “A man who read has countless stories has Lived a thousand lives” and “Those who failed to learn from their past are doomed to repeat themselves”.
If its difficult to imagine a situation like war, which happened in past and something to imagine for future, we can take the current scenario to prove how reluctant are we to learn from our past. The pandemic, COVID-19 has proved how unorganized and illiterate a person can be towards a pandemic in spite of a numerous outbreaks that happened way back in time like the Spanish flu, small pox etc. The greatest challenge to the health organizations were the uncooperative civilians who refused to follow the guidelines like wearing a mask, hand washing, maintain social distancing ,avoid public gatherings etc. Most of them believe it as a threat to their civil rights and few groups had initiated protest against lockdown and other guidelines. The famous Spanish flu pandemic was eradicated(not entirely) not by any vaccine but mostly by wearing mask, maintaining social distancing and lockdown. As I mentioned before, stories fade from the minds of the coming generations. Similar to all the above, their are numerous events that have made mankind realize all their mishaps and its negative outcome, like the ever increasing global warming, ozone layer depletion, glacier floods, increased rate of forest fire in recent years and adding a dozen of species in the extinct and endangered list every year, etc. The influential countries in our globe has taken major steps towards the worsening environmental situations and even hold summits and conferences around the world and some have even resulted in treaties like the USA-Paris agreement on improving the global environment and climate. But still, deforestation, poaching, improper sewage system and poor knowledge among the populations about the threat we are facing and why it is an utmost duty of each single individual to act on it, has been the obstacles to the treasure chest.
Everyday we fight the outcomes of the negligent acts of our past generation and are unenthusiastic on educating the future generation and making them cautious and prepared for the later events and I wholeheartedly believe that , What people fail to realise is that we are part of history in the making. Our own personal past experience is also a form of history. History is not just the studies of the past, it is encompassing and deliberating what, why and how has the contest of time over a period of time come to affect individuals, family and society as a whole.
P.S - IMAGES ARE A.I GENERATED