There is this unanimous agreement that humanity must never forget the horrors of its past and that it is essential to come to a deep understanding of our past so that we "may never do the same mistakes again".
But you see that is the problem really, not that the horrors should be forgotten but that the continuous "remembering" of our past presupposes that the past we have been taught is correct to begin with. In remembering and repeating that version of history which we have been taught we make it impossible to ever find out whether that historical narrative has been altered in any way or whether it is a complete fabrication, so massive and grand in scope that we can not even imagine it to be fake when we try to gauge it today.
A lot of focus is going into recurring holiday-celebrations that few people question, forgetting that all those holidays may not have always been a regular part of society and that many have more than questionable origins. It's the same with things "everybody knows" like the ideas widely cited as "scientific concensus" or even alleged history of the last centuries. We may not even have HALF the story right yet we pretend we basically know our past as humanity and all the in's and out's that led to this point in time. We certainly do not.
Many people are familiar with the idea of "history is written by the victors" but I often find that most are too quick to belief what is reverberated in media, education facilities and even families for not knowing any better.
So yes, please, let us remember the past, let us learn from the crimes and atrocities carried out in the past. But let us never be fooled into believing that asking questions and wanting to see evidence for any alleged narrative is a faux-pas or even a crime. It is not a crime to investigate 9/11 and neither is it a disservice to the victims to ask tough questions about that day. There are no tough questions unless someone has a stake in covering up what actually happened.
Depending on where you live and grew up, other more pressing examples than 9/11 may come to mind, but I'll leave that up to you.
Navigating the social climate of today is certainly a challenge in itself, but with enough patience, compassion for humanity and love for the provable actual truth we can undo any of the greatest dogmas of our age, unless they are true in which case they don't have to fear an impartial investigation.
"Truth does not fear investigation."
It is in that spirit that I am looking forward to a mighty 2020 (if that is even the correct designation for the time we are in - it might not be). A 2020 full of opportunity to move beyond the bounds of what we have been forced to belief without question. Life is throwing questions our way and asks us to take a closer look. I sincerely belief that the majority of the people on the search for truth are ready to face whatever it is they will face, even if those discoveries and realizations might be the least comfortable of all the things we cherish.
As someone once out it: "The truth will piss you off, before it sets you free."
Let us not fall for new lies either, how about a thousand years of togetherness and non-coercion? We all want that vacation so much, I know it. And I think we have a great opportunity at hand in the coming years to finally make a shift to a society based on actual human values rather than the empty word shells of politics and media covering crime and atrocity in cuddly terms.
Let us investigate and always listen to the ideas of "the crazy dude at the bar" who is being ostrasized by the majority because they can't possibly give him the benefit of the doubt in light of the "obviously dangerous things he is claiming".
I say listen to the man, then make up your own mind. You never know whether he could be the last witness of how things actually went down...
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