Off My Chest
RULES:
I am looking for mods!
1. The "good" part of our community means we are pro-empathy and anti-harassment. However, we don't intend to make this a "safe space" where everyone has to be a saint. Sh*t happens, and life is messy. That's why we get things off our chests.
2. Bigotry is not allowed. That includes racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, and religiophobia. (If you want to vent about religion, that's fine; but religion is not inherently evil.)
3. Frustrated, venting, or angry posts are still welcome.
4. Posts and comments that bait, threaten, or incite harassment are not allowed.
5. If anyone offers mental, medical, or professional advice here, please remember to take it with a grain of salt. Seek out real professionals if needed.
6. Please put NSFW behind NSFW tags.
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I agree on a lot of particulars there, but I feel compelled to quibble on behalf of historical contingency. We are separated from the past by an infinity of momentary possibilities, and just as people in the past did not know what was going to happen, we can never know what possibilities did not come to fruition. It seems impossible that there was ever such a thing as a foregone conclusion in light of the sheer amount of things that are left to chance every single day. Any historian worth the time of day will tell you that their subject is a litany of unintended consequences, and I am happier knowing that no fate is preordained, especially not war.
I see what you're saying about possibilities, but there are definitely patterns to history. Historians will be the first to say that "history rhymes." The pattern of events that we've been seeing unfold over the past few years has occurred countless times before, and surprise surprise, it's never ended peacefully.
As much as I wish that we, as a society, could have learned enough from the past not to keep falling into the same routines, I see no evidence that we've matured that far as a species yet. If the building of tensions has led to violent breaks over and over again throughout history, what makes "now" so special as to be immune from the same fate?