Today is the 61st anniversary of an event that changed forever the course of American history and the world as we knew it. As far as I know, no mention of it has been made on the news network we watch at our house. I'm talking about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas by Lee Harvey Oswald on November 22, 1963.
George Santayana (1863-1952) wrote that those who don't remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Winston Churchill (1874-1965) said something similar in a 1948 speech in the House of Commons, that those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
Unfortunately, it is all too true.
On July 13 earlier this year at an outdoor rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, presidential candidate (now president-elect) Donald J. Trump survived an assassination attempt by a 20-year-old named Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was himself killed by a Secret Service sniper.
On June 28, 1914, what turned out to be World War I began when Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wide Sophie were assassinated by a Serbian sniper in Sarajevo, Bosnia. Today, people are beginning to say that World War III is not far away.
The more things change, the more they remain the same. Somebody said that, too, in French as I recall.
It was reported recently that when someone googled "what happened on July 13, 2024?" the AI-generated response contained no mention of the incident in Butler, Pennsylvania.
If history is being ignored or (even worse) erased by the programmers of the algorithms behind AI (artificial intelligence), no one at all will remember history and we will be in (no pun intended) a world of hurt.
Österreich (Austria) played a part in the start of World War I. I sincerely hope that Ostrich-like thinking (uninformed citizens with our heads buried in the sand) does not play a part in the start of World War III.
Ever since I was old enough to notice people have talked about WW3 and it always terrified me. Now, I remember enough to realise that it may not happen. I hope all of our worst imaginings are wrong
ReplyDeleteI hope they are too, but war with a capital W seems more possible now than ever before, what with armed conflicts going on in several different parts of the world simultaneously. I know it is already Nov 23rd where you are, but through the magic of modern technology your comment says Nov. 22nd nonetheless! Thank you, kylie.
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