Have you ever heard the saying "history repeats itself?" Just kidding, I'm not going to start this post with a stupid ass unoriginal attention grabber that actually grabs nobody's attention. The following is about how people haven't really seemed to change that much in my opinion. A lot of people look at the past and say, "how did they live like that!?" But there is another perspective... Was it really that much different from now? Yes, technology, medicine, and science has grown significantly, but have people really changed that much? I'm going to compare history with modern America, mostly because that's where I live. I've never really blogged before, so hopefully you guys enjoy the content! If not, feel free to express how much you hate me in the comments! ;)
This may not be in order of history, but I want to start with the Feudalism Pyramid. So basically the kings are at the top, keeping as much wealth to themselves as they could, (there were times where the popes of the Roman Catholic Church declared themselves as God, giving them unlimited power -- but we're going to keep it relatively simple and just stick with kings), followed by his nobles, living very content lives and sharing a lot of the wealth, followed by the nights, who get special privileges for acting out the will of the king, then finally the peasants who live shitty lives. That is roughly how it went back then. Is this really that much different from now? We have the superclass, the richest of the rich. This includes the people who run the fed, other big bankers, corporate billionaires, and major stock holders. Below that, there are government big ballers and puppets (congress and such) getting paid off by corporate interest -- sharing the wealth like the nobles. Below that, we have the knights of today! Soldiers, cops, TSA agents, and other low ball government workers just doing the dirty work of the few in power for some privileges. Then we have the middle/lower class working their ass off (or maybe a bit more relaxed) to pay bills and keep up with inflation. Yeah, we have a lot more nice things than peasants, but this looks like the same idea to me. We have a rank even below this though. Its called the homeless, and these people are getting crushed by the entire weight of today's feudalism pyramid.
Look how far down on that pyramid you are (not you Zuckerberg). People like to strive for the middle or upper(ish) class. What they don't realize, is that its still just glorified lower class!
Here is a link to an interesting web page. This compares The US to the Roman Empire. Spoiler alert: the Roman Empire didn't work!! America is heading in the same direction. The content is important to the post as a whole, so at least skim through it if you don't read it. There are only 8 points.
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread913808/pg1
If there is one way humans have really changed, its that we do things a little bit more humanely. In ancient Rome, people would come from all over to a big Colosseum and watch men fight and kill each other. This really resembles American football. People come from all over to these giant stadiums to watch men engage in a more humane contact sport. We just don't kill each other on the field. You can honestly apply this to any big sport today (especially MMA -- humans still love their violence). They are just big events held in huge stadiums to watch their favorite team win at something. Romans picked their favorite gladiators too! To be a football player, or any professional athlete is seen as GLORIOUS, just like it was seen to be a gladiator. I found a web page on this topic too. check it out if you want:
America is a lot more like Nazi Germany than you may think. We may not have killed 6M jews, but its not like America hasn't had concentration camps... You learn a lot about American history in school, but when you are a kid, and teachers are telling you about American wars and nuking Japan like that's something normal, it doesn't seem so bad then... And people will still say that it was worth it... Anyways, Americans are very patriotic. This was one very essential aspect of Nazi propaganda. Germans loved Nazi Germany at the time! Another essential aspect of Nazi propaganda was the film industry. Nazis made several movies to gain the support of the masses. Do you not think America does this? How do you think that America can get people to volunteer to go to wars that they don't even understand? America has an abundance of movies, violent video games, and commercials that glorify being a soldier! We also have had many anti-war movies, but sometimes they end up having the opposite effect, and people don't get the real point sadly... The best example of US propaganda is the film "American Sniper." This film is about a man who signs up for combat and ends up being one of America's deadliest killers. The movie depicts him as an American hero... Instead of comparing this to an actual Nazi propaganda film, I'm going to compare it to a fake one (sorry, but this is just perfect -- you can research Nazi propaganda movies if you are interested). If you have ever seen "Inglorious Basterds," you may know where I'm getting at. If you haven't seen it, please do; its a great one! This movie takes place during the reign of Nazi Germany, and the Nazi's play their own version of "American Sniper." Here is the clip:
And here is a website comparing the two movies:
http://www.rawstory.com/2015/01/american-sniper-makes-tarantinos-over-the-top-movie-our-sad-reality/
On the 27th of February, 1933, a building called the Reichstag was set on fire. They are many theories about what caused the fire, but one thing is for certain, this event helped Hitler rise to power and enabled him to do many things against their constitution. On September 11, 2001, the World Trade Center and Pentagon was attacked, killing 2,996 people and wounding more than 6,000 others. What happened after this though? The US declared war on terrorism, enabling them to enact many unconstitutional actions. Our country has the power to kill people without proof or any more probable cause than suspicion of terrorist activities. Our country uses drone strikes on these "terrorists," and hundreds of children have died from collateral damage. They have even killed a US citizen on his visit to another country without any trial. Here is a short clip about the Reichstag compared to 9/11:
Here is a great web page comparing the US to Nazi Germany. It is amazing how there are this many similarities, yet Americans will reject this idea:
Our lifestyles compared to the past may have changed dramatically, but are we really just stuck in this old paradigm of a system? Don't leave change up to a politician. Do something for yourself, even something as simple as sharing a new perspective.
There is so much more I can talk about on this subject, but this post is long enough. If anyone would read a part 2, please comment! I hope you enjoyed my slightly unprofessional style, peace!