Aztecs knew better

❝ Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it ❞
– George Santayana

It was a beautiful warm Sunday morning. We went for a walk with our son to the nearby park. We found a nice spot where we could sit on a bench by the small lake and look at the ducks. A lady was feeding them with small pieces of toast bread. This upset our little guy as he knows that it is the ultimate junk food for birds. When I was a kid, I remember feeding the ducks every time we went to the countryside. Nowadays, kids are more informed. They care about nature. They learn.

History doesn’t always repeat itself, but it usually rhymes.

Anarchism, Socialism, Nationalism, Progressivism, Impressionism, Cubism, Buddhism, Sufiism, Vegetarianism, Veganism, Minimalism, Skeuomorphism, Racism, Sexism…

The fact that we don’t learn from History is one of the biggest problems of humanity and, as Santayana said, repeating it (especially that nasty parts) is our curse. Humans are dealing with a moment, a step in a trend. We forget the Spanish Flu of 1918, and we’re reinventing the wheel with the Coronavirus. We believe and share fake news and hoax. Then, burn down 5G towers. We have forgotten how to mourn our deads. We are becoming fools following fools.

Going back into History, even Aztecs (that flourished in central Mexico from 1300 to 1521) knew better than we do. Facing a plague, the king needed to respond with grace: “Do not be a fool. Do not rush your words, do not interrupt or confuse people. Make no one weep.” If a king did not follow this advice, if his rule caused more suffering than it abated, then the people prayed to Tezcatlipoca for any number of consequences, including his death. Obviously, I’m not asking for such extreme measures, but I find it meaningful to terminate from their leadership those who their citizens.

Leaders are not only politicians, of course. People follow and trust journalists, conspiracy theorists, CEOs, social influencers, and scientists. Many find stories vital because they’re trending on Twitter, not because they’re newsworthy. Some believe anything just because it’s on the Internet. Others would harm themselves following their President’s medical advice, taken from a charlatan doctor or scientist.

We no longer create things. Since the pandemic burst, we have turned into full-stack consumers. We are not just social-distancing but isolating from reality, and becoming unable to care about the destruction around us (and all the negative -isms that revive). Distracted or blindfolded from the vast amount of content to browse and consume, we are stressed to benefit from all our subscriptions. We are moving away from the innovation years. We are streaming ourselves to oblivion.

Let’s hope that our kids will find & spread the truth online, learn from the past and fix the future. Maybe they can take us into the renovation years. ☙