An Historical Framework for Understanding Global Events

I’ve been thinking a lot about what makes a great teacher this week—I’ll explain why in a second—and here’s what I came up with: 

A great teacher is someone who changes your life without trying to change who you are. 

Something really cool happened the other day—I got a notification in my Inbox that my all-time favorite teacher, Mrs. Voss, had signed up for the newsletter!  Talk about a vote of confidence.  I’ve been trying to impress her for 30-something years!  Seeing this brought me back to a time in life I hadn’t thought about in a long time.  It also sparked in me the idea for today’s article. 

Mrs. Voss was my history teacher in high school.  A remarkably talented and dedicated educator, she left an indelible mark on me and an entire generation of kids from my hometown.  In many ways, Mrs. Voss embodies the ideals we’ve been discussing here in Profit+.  She’s one of those people who has undoubtedly made the world a better place. 

Back in high school, I was one of those kids who was maybe outwardly confident—probably too much so—but really struggling with insecurities on the inside (like everyone else).  Mrs. Voss was the one who broke through that false outer skin and helped me to see how I could take something real about myself—my love for history and stories and reading—and turn that into a source for a lasting and genuine sense of self-confidence.  She helped me to see through the lies of my insecurities and realize the truth that I had my own dreams worth living.  So what if they were different.     

I’m not sure how things would’ve ended up had I not had Mrs. Voss as a teacher.  How long would I have stayed prisoner to my fears?  What false paths would I have walked down?  It’s impossible to say, I guess.  Looking back, I’m just incredibly grateful that I did.  The work I’m doing today is a testament to the profound role that teachers play in our lives.  For I feel like these words are animated by the spirit I first discovered all those years ago in Mrs. Voss’ class.   

While I usually reserve my praise for Mrs. Voss, I’d be remiss not to at least give Mr. Voss a shout-out as well.  For he also was a great educator, a phenomenal coach, and a genuine force for good in my life and those of countless others.     

Anyway, to honor all this, I’m dedicating this week’s issue to teachers and the very special role that they play in our lives.  When you are done reading this article, take a minute to let all the teachers who changed your life know how much they mean to you. 

Now on to the article…

In other words, even though the world seems rather crazy these days, we aren’t exactly operating in the blind here.  For we have the benefit of hindsight and the lessons of one our greatest teachers—history itself—always at our fingertips.   

The trouble with history, full of wisdom though it is, is that it isn’t a living, breathing, proactive teacher like Mrs. Voss.  It isn’t something that will intervene directly in our daily lives and help us along.  No, it’s something we have to work to know and understand.  It’s something we have to really study and be extra vigilant to keep in mind as we go about making big decisions in life.  But the lessons are there and they are powerful and helpful. 

In fact, we know enough about history that we have whole lists of lessons at our fingertips.  I’m going to introduce you to 20 of them today.  I’ll leave for another day a full examination of why we’re so prone to ignore these lessons and keep making the same mistakes.  For now, just know that it’s a problem generally related to our inability to accept when someone says “take my word for it.”  

One of the amazing things about our age is that technology has given us access to teachers all around the world.  About a 15-years ago, I came across a phenomenal history teacher, Professor J. Rufus Fears, a longtime history teacher at the University of Oklahoma.  He’s one of the best, most entertaining lecturers I’ve ever come across and I’ve spent hundreds of hours listening to his stuff.  I found his work through a company called The Great Courses.  You should listen to every single thing you can find from Professor Fears.  It’s that good. 

Anyway, in one of Professor Fears’ Great Courses classes, “The Wisdom of History,” he provides a really provocative and insightful list of the top 10 lessons of history:

1. We do not learn from history.

2. Science and technology do not make us immune to the laws of history.

3. Freedom is not a universal value.

4. Power is the universal value.

5. The Middle East is the crucible of conflict and the graveyard of empires.

6. The United States shares the destinies of the great democracies, the republics, and the superpowers of the past.

7. Along with the lust for power, religion and spirituality are the most profound motivators in human history.

8. Great nations rise and fall because of human decisions made by individual leaders.

9. The statesman is distinguished from a mere politician by four qualities: a bedrock of principles, a moral compass, a vision, and the ability to create a consensus to achieve that vision.

10. Throughout its history, the United States has charted a unique role in history.  

I found something similar in Will and Ariel Durant’s must-read masterpiece, “The Lessons of History.”   This little book is packed with insight on just about every page but here’s a top 10 list from my own notes:

1. Geography is the matrix of history.

2. History is a fragment of biology—therefore the laws of biology (e.g. evolution, natural selection) are the fundamental lessons of history.

3. Society is founded not on ideals but on the nature of humanity.  Understanding history means understanding human character.

4. Morals are the rules by which society exhorts (as laws are the rules by which it seeks to compel) its members to behave.

5. There is no significant example of a society successfully maintaining moral life without the aid of religion.

6. History is inflationary and money is the last thing a wise person will hoard.

7. People who can manage other people only manage things, while those who can manage money manage all.

8. The concentration of wealth is natural and inevitable and is periodically alleviated by violent or peaceable partial redistribution.

9. War is one of the constants of history.

10. The reason that government exists is that the first condition of freedom is its limitation.  If freedom is absolute, it dies in chaos.

These 20 lessons, when taken together, provide a great framework for understanding just about every single issue on the global menu today.  They also provide some warnings for how things might evolve and clues for how we might solve some of our most intractable problems.    

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