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Iraq and Afghanistan were pretty big, even though no single event jumps out at you. Just like for the Soviet Union the war in Afghanistan wasn't characterized by decisive military engagements but rather a slow, painful death by a thousands cuts.
The war in Iraq lasted (if it indeed end last month, which it really didn't) 7 years.
The war in Afghanistan has been in progress 9 years and is still ticking.
Besides the direct military expenditures, we also spent tens or hundreds of billions in nation-building and reconstruction of these countries. Other than the real estate bubble and its subsequent crash, I can't name a more significant "event" in the past 10 years.
I'm not convinced we will even be writing history books in 2030. The few people left living in caves and chiping simple stone tools or trying to cure leather won't have the time for writing history books.
I stopped in a large Indian village in Bolivia a few years back, still no electricity or running water, time has stood still for centuries.
What will be in History books 20 years from now, after the nuclear holocaust?
In 20 years people will still be arguing abut current events and historian will not have seriously considered writting about present events because they will not have access to many documents then.But then we will proably be surprised. Many thought the hippie movewmewnt of the 60's would spawn alot of books about them but it really brought about more on what is referred to as the greatest generation previous to them. I a way it highlighted there achievemnets.
In 20 years people will still be arguing abut current events and historian will not have seriously considered writting about present events because they will not have access to many documents then.But then we will proably be surprised. Many thought the hippie movewmewnt of the 60's would spawn alot of books about them but it really brought about more on what is referred to as the greatest generation previous to them. I a way it highlighted there achievemnets.
That's because in twenty years the ramifications of a time still are in flux. What history writes about today will realy depend on what happens tomorrow. Yes, 9-11 and the wars and the Great Recession will be mentioned, but how and what is said will depend on how it plays out over time, especially the way the side effects effect things into the future.
One of the factos that make about fifty years meaningful is that things classified are released about that time. Sometimes events can take on a new perspective based on seeing the full picture And in time we get more information and we find small moments which turn out to be of momentous importance. But very few are recognized as such right away.
We have two kinds of history, the "see it now" kind, the gut feeling of being there which can ONLY be found in things from the moment, recollections and memiours and autobiographies written close enough the details aren't too fuzzy. This is an important kind of history because it connects us on the human level and reminds us that this was the experience of people and we can connect ourselves to them that way. Its also the "little" events that get lost when you look at the sweep of a time. It's just as important to understand how you average person lived, how they dressed, how they dealt with the daily trials of bugs and dirt, in an era as it is to see the big picture. It is incomplete without it.
So we come to recognize this when we find the survivors of a time are fading. We in this time have collected stories of the survivors of the first half of the 20th century and I bet we'll do it for the rest.
But there is the big picture. In twenty years there are still many holes. If its a war, then there are things classified which nobody will know for another thirty. If it's events, then only time will play out the more far reaching events. We don't know what of the last ten years will be the more persuasive events. How much the change is our society from 9-11 effects the future is not yet known since we haven't got there. IF the true history can be written that it has wrought we don't know. If its legacy is greater fears and controls and limits on what we say and what we allow then perhaps it won't be. If somehow we get past the idea that its a worthy cost to be "safe" then maybe, or many other possible variations.
All we know *now* is what is available and what we see and feel. It is valuable to the future because it is a perception that will change from a distance but the big picture isn't done yet, not even twenty years from now.
The hippy movement and the other related changes in our culture did just that, made us look back. We looked at where that generation came from and what made them because they made the world the postwar kids grew up in. We are ALL a bit of where we come from no matter how much we change.
That's because in twenty years the ramifications of a time still are in flux. What history writes about today will realy depend on what happens tomorrow. Yes, 9-11 and the wars and the Great Recession will be mentioned, but how and what is said will depend on how it plays out over time, especially the way the side effects effect things into the future.
Yup. Historically speaking, 20 years is still just an eye blink.
In the long run, the "war on terror" will merit a note, and the "whatever they are going to call this economic downturn".
I would hope that Obama being the first black president will be of no note because I hope the day will come when race just won't matter. And in the long run, I expect it won't be of great note. 20 years, 50 years, sure, kinda like Jackie Robinson breaking the race barrier in baseball.
As a new history teacher a hundred years ago (OK, maybe I exaggerate--it just feels like it), I noticed the world history textbook we used devoted maybe a paragraph or two to the Hittites, and a comment along the lines that for a tad more than 200 years they were the dominant power in what was called the "known world" back then. It mentioned this was due primarily because they were the first people in that region to develop iron weapons and this gave them a noted military edge.
200 years boiled down to a paragraph of two.
Made me wonder what the U.S. obit would look like and if we would even merit a mention in history classes a thousand years or so from now..."The U.S.--a dominant world power for XX years. A people that had an interesting experiment in representative democracy."
In that long a context, the last 10 years won't merit a mention.
A typical US high school history class a 100 years from now? War on Terror, recession, technological advances--and I'm a little soft on that last answer.
Patriot Act and Homeland Security-loss of freedom
Iraq War, "Shock and Awe"- first televised war attack-capture of Saddam
Enron catastrophe-
BP and the gasline explosion, results of damage in Gulf
New National Health Care system
The Evasive Bin Laden
Pluto no longer a planet
Gang Violence
Swine Flu-SARS
Legalization of Marijuana in certain states-medicinal value
It would be nice if the most truthful things would be told, but I clearly doubt that will be the case.
Even though it hasn't happened yet I believe it's a safe bet to say "The Legalization of Gay Marriage in all 50 states by the US Supreme Court".
Just like the 60's when inter-racial marriages were legal in some states but illegal in others, I am sure most everyone knew at the time regardless what side they were on that it would only be a matter of time before the supreme court says YES. It's the same with gay marriage.
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