One of the most important uses of history is to use it to work ourselves out of predicaments we are facing RIGHT NOW. It’s easy to assume that because history is about what happened in the past, we can set it aside. That it has nothing to say to us now because conditions were different in the past. Except that humanity seems to cycle through the same sorts of challenges even when presented with what…
I saw a bumper sticker recently that I could see slapping on my car if I were the type to use bumper stickers: “Make Orwell Fiction Again” Right on! Let’s get rid of the Big Lie, up is down, over is under, right-wing politicians making up a bunch of nonsensical propaganda so they can keep their fascist dreams alive and distract the rest of us from their criminal activities. And then I looked closely at…
In Central Minnesota, we had been having an incredibly mild winter after a couple of serious fall blizzards, after which the temps got so warm that the snow quickly melted. Very little snow fell in December and January. I’d say we only have about a foot of snow on the ground today (February 22, 2021). Our mild winter became bitterly cold for about two weeks in February, with the temps being in the teens and…