Was Yogi Berra right? And what about George Santayana when he said “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”?
Is this really true? No, it is not. The present is always different from then past. History never repeats itself – for the most obvious of reasons: different facts on the ground, different personalities, different constellations of forces.
In last Saturday’s National Post (August 28), Conrad Black wrote a ferocious piece under the heading of “American Apocalypse” in which, among other things, he blasted Obama: “He should have taken FDR’s workfare programs to absorb unemployment by repairing infrastructure and advancing conservation, and Ronald Reagan’s tax cuts to revive the economy. Revenue could be raised by sales taxes on luxury goods and gasoline, and charges to purely elective financial transactions.”
One can be sure that Obama and his advisers knew all about FDR’s workfare programs and Reagan’s tax cuts but, for their own reasons, and for better or worse, chose other policies. Ignorance of the past was not a factor.
On the other hand, there is always a danger in remembering the past and mis-applying its lessons. George W. Bush was terrified of appeasing Saddam Hussein because he remembered Chamberlain and his umbrella. Saddam was no Hitler. The result was disaster.
If Yogi Berra and Santanyna had said “History teaches us to make sharp distinctions between the past and the present,” they would have earned posterity’s whole-hearted approval.
Eric Koch’s new book, The Weimar Triangle, is available at Indigo-Chapters and in your local bookstore. 
History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme. — Mark Twain
If anything has changed over the last 25 years, it is the shift away from gigantic, centrally planned gesture. However, many continue to fight today’s wars (actual AND metaphorical) using grandfather’s tactics. Hence, we have the saving of GM rather than encouraging innovation.
I find myself reminded of:
“My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!”
Thank youl You are now formally admitted to the blog-elite.
Santayana’s comment on the risk of not remembering the past is still valid. Merely being aware of it has encouraged students and professionals alike to seek knowledge of the path that led to the present in their respective specialties/interest. How useful! I found it reassuring to learn that China’s Bank regulator (Head of Legislation/Research if I recall correctly) did his Thesis at the University of Chicago on the Great Depression (a thesis topic shared with Ben Bernanke).
Whether we have drawn the correct lessons from the major events of history will always be contentious.
If we lose our capacity to study history, and forget the past, we likely will be condemned to repeat it (eventually), but how would we know – we’ve forgotten.
Finally, in reply to Michael Gundy, Finance Minister Flaherty recently spoke about how the taxpayer will profit from the GM “bailout”, (with the sale of its rising stock), as we were from Ontario’s promise of a “bailout” of Chrysler a generation ago. We received a new plant, numerous scholarships, and an important R+D Centre and University endowment in Windsor. What is long forgotten, is that the taxpayer of Ontario was never called upon to provide one cent of the pledged bailout. How is that for a return on investment!
Your are absoltuely right, of course. The study of the past is absolutely essential to an understanding to the present.