THE THEMES OF HISTORY

     Most of us had classrooms plastered with the sayings warning us that to forget history is to relive it, mostly not a good reliving either. So true. Need we learn from history if we are to avoid repetitive errors - oh yes! Needs we must to learn from went before us, the themes of history.
     Over and over again the world refuses to see what is in front of their eyes. How many times have there been empires that amassed many countries under its umbrella and how many times did that empire reach the saturation point, go over and disintegrate. The Greeks, the Romans, Austro- Hungarian Empire, The English Empire, the Soviet Union, the Nazi empire, and the EU. Every single time one country, often, though not always, under a dictator, tried to bite off more than it could chew than BOOM! nationalism arose, the populace rebelled, tired of the oligarchy that had formed. There always seemed to be a 1% that developed along with the concurrent resentment of the rest of the populace towards them. It is no mystery, no hidden theme of history but right there in the open Even in Great Britain, it was not always Great Britain but rather England which proceeded thru conquest and kingships to unite the countries of this island. Sometimes it was peaceful; most times not and the modern day Great Britain now faces a great deal of uncertainty in the face of Brexit. Not much of a surprise to any historian or thinking person. It happens again and again.
     So why, one might ask, why does the USA not split into its various parts, either statewide or region wide. The answer is - it has tried to do so since its inception. Not all states or colonies were so eager to join in. Shay's Rebellion. The Free State of Jones - and yes, it is a true story - The Civil War, the whole state vs federal and now the water issues, land issues and trade and economy and one has more of statewide looks than national ones. And do not forget those militias that hide out there in the western states running their own de facto mini nations which we basically ignore until they pop up on the radar for one reason or another. Think of the Balkanization of the USA that is happening right now.
     When will rulers ever learn. The squelching of people, the threat to shut down their voices - it all does not work. People are often tired of the same old and demand more. Remember the 60's and 70's? That was one expression of the same theme. That does not mean that a popular uprising is always correct and in many cases, most cases, it simply leads to a reshuffling of society, the bottom rising to the top and the whole cycle plays out again. Disheartening, is it not?
     And yet, people keep trying. People keep shocking the world with some unforeseen outcomes of their deeds.  Henry VIII wanted a male heir and often would think with the wrong head and the religious revolution of Luther spread throughout the world, upending the Church from its position as basically the arbiter of the world.
Katherine of Aragon with her simple statement that she would obey her husband in all things other than "that which touches my conscience" set the stage for rebels of conscience for the rest of eternity.
     In fact, a great principle learned from this whole sequence of events is that nothing can be truly hidden for in doing so, the very act of trying to do so, actually caused the "King's Private Matter" to turn into "The Great Matter" and the world was never the same. I have said it before and will say it again - the truth will always out, no matter the effort to keep it hidden, no matter the words used to try to obfuscate the truth.
     And now let us go from the world to the village, our Village. Once again we have the use of the supposed Village paper being used as a propaganda rag. Two articles pushing "Broadband" are rife with lies and half truths. Even more serious is the attempt to brush over the fact, the threat, that "they" will have to cancel what associations have already done or cancel associations out of the picture if they do not get all their owners to agree and go along with this. Really?! So suddenly this UCO whose constant plaint is "oh, we cannot tell an association what to do" suddenly they change their tune?! Suddenly they are the boss? Read through the articles and see the mights and the mays of what they are saying. Read the articles and wonder why we are planning to enmesh ourselves into a multi million dollar contract - AGAIN!! (How'd that work out for us on the roads?) - when all is a fairy tale - a huge ditch from Miami to here. Truly? Are we supposed to trust on that. Does anyone understand the permits, the inspections, the road building that interferes, the weather situations, companies biting off more than they can chew, shortage of materials, unexpected delays and in three years we will not have anything! They talk of a generous payment to the Village? Right now it is around $250 to each association - truly piddling an amount. Especially for something we do not need. Fiber optics is not this startling new thing - we already have that or companies are planning to put it in in the Village. Companies know they must keep up to what is happening or they lose out.And yes, while we commit ourselves to this uncertainty, more things will change and Lanny, this whole air business, trust me, there will be more and greater steps so short term or staying as we have it with most people satisfied is the way to go. No one stays still and no one is G-d's gift to the Village. We can move ahead very carefully, with the Villagers' informed consent.
     I, for one, have a great deal on my phone, TV, cable and Internet and am very pleased with it. Comcast has greatly improved and if they need to find or educate more technicians then they will do so, of free will or necessity. Does anyone think where this Atlantic will get them from? Are they growing a farm crop of technicians? They will have the same thing happen to them. In fact, it is happening to every tech or repair company. Just call an air conditioner repairman. And for pudding head who keeps repeating the same nonsense how I should get with the program and get internet - Doofus! what do you think enables me to write a blog? How do I communicate with people round the world and here in the States? Seriously, girl, you need help and soon.
     So we in the populace here in the Village need to take a lesson from history and stand up with our consciences tingling and root out the truth from this UCO and WPRF. Where has our money gone? Why do we persist in signing harmful contracts that empty our pockets? Why does it take a whole lot of hootin' and hollerin' in order to get anything going? Why did it take a whole bunch of shouting to get some work started on the waterways? Too little too late and please, this whole idea of being happy that there are alligators in our lakes - do you truly think we are all idiots and robots trained to react at your whistle?
     And a funny thing happened yesterday while reading a book called Code Warriors: NSA's Codebreakers and the Secret Intelligence War Against the Soviet Union". Ooohhh, does anyone find this reminding them of something, for there is a person here who boasts of his work for the NSA, of his being in charge of gathering and analyzing intelligence about the Soviet Union and yet, and yet, there is not one mention of this man in the entire book! I checked and read it through. There are other names connected to Soviet Union intelligence but somehow, this man was omitted. Could it be that he kinda' upgraded his job? The same man that the government made a special call to come back ten years after he retired so he could save us from the terrorists after 9/11? Not even his supposed area and he was a decade out of date so think about it.
     Private Matter/Great Matter.
In the world, in the nation, in the state and in the Village, the truth will out. Rulers change. Rulers die and the world resets itself, sometimes peacefully and sometimes not.  Are we not yet tired of this dictator, one who promises much and delivers little. One who supposedly talks of the future, but allows our Village to sink into the muck and mire of disrepair. And just let me clue you in that though he says he knows it all in the world of tech - he does not! I have first hand knowledge of some of his lacks and gaps so a little cooling off of the boasting might be in order. Just sayin' and in the meanwhile, come out, come out, wherever you are. Mingle with the people. That is what makes life worth living.
     Just had a funny thought and asked Siri who I should vote for , Clinton or Trump, and her answer: the one with the better hair usually wins. Now what the hell does that mean and what does it mean for the next election here in CV. Just a thought to ponder.