HISTORY REPEATING ITSELF
To some of our fellow citizens, the political ongoings in our country today may appear to be new, unfamiliar, or fresh. But to some of us, this is very familiar; it is not new or fresh. We have seen it before. It is actually a case of history repeating itself, and we are not drowning in the current euphoria or flowing with the wind.
And, it reminds me of the famous phrase: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” It is an enduring philosophical observation about how societies and individuals often make the same mistakes if they fail to learn from history.
Indeed, forgetting history leads to repeating destructive cycles, including devastating economic crises and social injustices. Without the memory of past mistakes, we become blind to human vulnerabilities, allowing tyrannies to rise and destructive patterns to persist.
When there’s historical amnesia and historical struggles minimised or ignored, hard-won social justice can easily erode.
Ignoring past timelines and records can ultimately lead us to repeating familiar errors with even worse consequences.
Additionally, forgetting the lessons of our history can be an irreversible tragedy.
What is sad, to me, is that some people who were very active in uncritically supporting the UPND and Hakainde Hichilema in 2021 are today uncritically doing exactly the same thing in seeking a similar change.
And no one should differ with their views and approach. We should all uncritically follow their guidance. If we don’t, these very vocal elements vilify us and call us all sorts of names. They are always very right, even when time has proved them wrong over their unbridled support for UPND and Hichilema.
Let’s seek change, but let’s be critical about it. Let’s seek change, but real change and not just any change. Let’s not repeat the mistake of replacing the PF and Edgar Lungu with a worse regime of UPND and Hichilema.
Today we have very crooked, corrupt, and ruthless elements seeking to replace UPND and Hichilema and come and steal more and met out their vengeance. Is this really what we are looking for?
Fred M’membe