The Japanese government, on December 16, decided to update three security and defense-related documents, including the National Security Strategy. According to the documents, Japan will acquire the capability to directly attack another country’s territory in an emergency, so-called “enemy base strike capabilities.” Hundreds of Japanese residents protested against the government’s intentions to increase defense spending and against constitutional amendments and wars.
They do say that history is prone to repeating itself.
They sound wise. Do they say it repeats itself in the same way or is there something distinct about events the second time round?
Now this, I’m unaware of. Probably the former? Though I believe that whenever history repeats itself, at least something - be it minor or major - is different.
More wise words.
I was also thinking of the phrase, ‘first as tragedy, second as farce’.
I like “it doesn’t repeat but it rhymes” which I interpret as a scientific Marxist to mean humans are evolved creatures and we share weaknesses and vices which are exploited again and again by the powerful in fundamentally the same way resulting in fundamentally the same outcomes, colored only slightly by historical circumstances.