The past four years have been a disaster and unfortunately answered “how did the Germans let Hitler come to power?” It took this long for “the Great American Experiment” to surprise us all with the rise of extreme nationalism and fascism within our borders. 

Initially, I was not surprised, since growing up I learned a quote from George Santayana, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Many in our nation recreated the past with new buzzwords and villains, while those knowledgeable of the past warned of the repercussions. 

However, this did not happen by accident. Those causing this change knew their history, actively made these decisions, and most importantly were in positions with the wealth and power to influence people. Those with this wealth and power could use it to build theme parks or revive bad move franchises, but they choose to do this instead. Understanding that I believe that Santayana’s quote should be updated to “Those who cannot remember the past will be forced to repeat it by those in control who remember.”

The knowledge of the past by those with influence is not always a tragedy waiting in the wings. By holding those in power accountable to act in preventing the repeating of the past failings of man, we can continue to move towards the future. Santayana’s quote can again be revised to “Those who cannot remember the past can be condemned to relive it if the powerful choose to recreate it.”

Ultimately, the common person will not have the power or influence to cause/stop history repeating. However, we as individuals have the ability to choose to know the history and prevent our actions from being scrutinized by future generations. 

Those with money, power, and influence have the ability and need to be held accountable to make these changes for the betterment of society. An example is executives at Fox should bring back Firefly. With the success of the Mandolorian, sci-fi westerns with a found family trope is a hot market and could revive your failing network. Don’t repeat the past mistakes of messing up the air order, bad marketing, helping the rise of fascism through your news network, and please retcon Wash’s death. These actions can help the future.