It’s no secret that I like history. I often find myself digging into my knowledge of history to make sense of events going on today. The old saying is “those who don’t know their history are doomed to repeat it.” I just take that a step further- since people choose to ignore history, we are destined to repeat it.

Therefore, know your history and you’ll know the future.

The problem we have today is that the internet has turned people into instant experts. They search the internet, find the first article that fits their agenda, and viola, instantaneously they are an expert on said subject.

Take Ukraine for example. Oh, how we have so-called experts declaring that Afghanistan caused the fall of the Soviet Empire. In reality, the Soviets were involved in conflicts around the world, including Central American conflicts. The arms race of the 1980s put a financial burden on the Soviet Union until it finally collapsed. The fall of the Soviet Union doesn’t happen because of one incident, it happened because of several incidents.

As for Putin turning Ukrainian cities into rubble, he should be mindful of his country’s own history. During WWII, Hitler and Stalin turned Stalingrad into a personal issue. It was an unnecessary fight but was the namesake of the Soviet’s leader. The city had been bombed into rubble and Stalingrad turned an unconquerable mess. Stalingrad was the turning point of WWII and the Germans were on the retreat due to the failed effort. Had Hitler not demanded the capture of Stalingrad, Germany may have very well defeated the Soviets. It’s very hard to win a city after it’s been turned into rubble.

I wish I could say it’s only on the international level.

In New Orleans, a 73-year-old woman was brutally killed by carjackers, having her arm ripped off during the jacking as she was dragged for more than a block. But don’t you folks in New Orleans worry, you’ve got a mayor who is very concerned about her 3 P’s. Her paycheck, her power, and her parties. Whatever you in New Orleans do, don’t place the blame of crime on the elected officials running the city. Try blaming Donald Trump, or better yet, white flight…. no wait, let’s blame Putin. Blame everybody else except the people elected to solve those New Orleans problems.

New Orleans seems to have their own Nero problem, “Rome burned while Nero fiddled.” Nero wanted certain land to be his property, but when the business owners refused to sell the property to Nero, their businesses just magically burned down. In order to deflect suspicion, he blamed the Christians for burning down the land, thus initiating the Roman persecution of Christians. Certain people have no intentions of solving problems, their goal is to use the problems to advance their agenda. As long as the people refuse to hold them accountable, the problems will increasingly  worsen.

It’s becoming self-evident that the mayor of New Orleans is not bothered by crime getting out of control. It’s self evident that making Nola a better place to live is just not her priority. Let’s not put the fault entirely on her though, she didn’t get into that office without help. There are plenty of people who are just as culpable as she is. Without their support, New Orleans might actually have a mayor who would stand up to the criminals who terrorize the streets of New Orleans. If the people of New Orleans want things to get better, they are going to have to hold their elected officials accountable for their inactions.

Don’t think Mayor LaToya is the only elected official in the country who can’t tell they have a serious crime problem on their hand. Sure she issued some statement condemning this horrible crime, but it will be right back to her 3ps tomorrow. Seems like city after city, crime is spiraling out of control, with criminals who laugh at the district attorneys. Perhaps the D.A.s are cutting favors with criminals to be called in at a later date. Whatever the reason is, too many of our cities burn while our leaders fiddle.

Democrats could turn this around if they weren’t so worried about superficial things. Look at Pendejoe’s administration. Many in the administration look more like clowns and don’t come in looking professional. They are more worried about being accepted for their appearance than they are about doing their assigned job. It’s hard to take them seriously from the get go, while at the same time, the only people they take seriously are people who agree with them. This is an administration that is more worried about you accepting them for their gender, their race, or their sexuality. The reality is, most people don’t care about those superficial things. What they are going to care about is your ability to do your job.

Throughout history, the worst atrocities always had people behind them who believed they knew what was best for society, that only they could solve the world’s ills. The road to hell is paved with good intentions, as the old saying goes. The way to combat it is to have a strong knowledge of history, and to share that history with others.