- Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?” For it is not from wisdom that you ask this. -
We like to pretend that the past events we have lived are better than our current circumstances. It’s a trick we play on ourselves.
Have you ever heard the parable that if every man placed their troubles in a large pile everyone would take back their own?
Why would we do that? Because the familiarity of our woes would be more attractive than dealing with someone else’s potentially easier predicament.
This same pattern exists when we think about the challenges in our past. When a truly difficult moment comes our way, we wish to have the trial we have already overcome!
We forget in our nostalgia that to truly face it again we must be the previous version of ourselves, the one who doesn’t have the wisdom yet to manage the dilemma.
That absolutely changes the calculus. I’d much rather deal with my taxes as a grown man than a child.
A child is given child size problems. They seem like the world to us in the moment and supposing our younger selves had it easy is only bought by passing through them.
That is not the only way we can perceive the past. We may gaze back at the past with rose-tinted glasses, imaging an era in our lives or before in a romantic sense.
We do this at times with the medieval age. Nothing is more gallant than a knight riding off to kill a dragon and save a princess.
Except for the dying when you are forty, the bubonic plague, and most people living in abject poverty. Did I mention the dental plan sucks?
It’s our imagination. Further, the period may contain the same difficulties we find in our own lives.
What’s my evidence for this? Stories. Stories are about protagonists overcoming problems. Guess what? Romeo and Juliet’s plot is still relatable.
If it meant something to them and it means something to us, then it would appear our joint sense of meaning is in common.
Did not ancient people fear wars, disease, political upheaval? What’s the lesson? Do not glorify the past.
If you haven’t considered it yet, allow me to uncover the political elephant in the room. There is a certain slogan that does not consider this wisdom.
The MAGA rallying cry is no doubt a bit of political genius by President Donald Trump and his campaign, though Solomon would have found issues with it.
Making America Great Again has an idea in it I think many of us can respect and desire. We look back into America’s past and dream. Wasn’t it better when Washington was in charge?
Maybe there were some particular events happening during the founding that make it truly remarkable, but are we not all handed our moment? Do we not all have the choice to strive and be great?
The real question? What period does MAGA refer to? Does it mean yesterday? The 20’s? The civil war? World War I? The 1700’s?
The answer? It doesn’t refer to any of those times; it references our wistfulness, a vision of the past that doesn’t see it for what it is, despite the great things America has done!
It’s why the phrase is both a rallying cry and divisive.
What can we do?
When any politician reminds us of the “good ole days,” remember there is nothing new under the sun.
Share this post