We Must Change the World or Be Left Behind

The world is ever changing. We must help to make it better.

History is one of my favorite topics. That should be obvious from the name of this blog. I love reading about history and how things have changed over time. Humanity has been here on Earth for hundreds of thousands of years. And yet it's only the last 10-15,000 years that have been interesting. It's almost as if our ancestors were complacent. They had plenty of food to eat. If they could not find enough then they wandered until they found a new home. What an idyllic life that must have been. And yet I would not trade the modern conveniences of my life for a single day in prehistoric Africa.

It is because of the courage of long-forgotten people that you and I live today. Sadly, the many wars mankind has waged have prevent many people from living. I sometimes wonder what I would be like, or who I would be, if I had different ancestors.

The past is a book with missing pages. We must read as much of it as we can. Learning about the great innovators and leaders of history teaches us something about what we can do as individuals. This article from Knowicles compares Julius Caesar with Genghis Khan and Abraham Lincoln. All three men fought great and terrible wars. Their wars changed the scope of history forever. We idolize them as heroes but were they so heroic in real life? Did Caesar really set out to conquer western Europe? Did Genghis Khan set out to conquer Asia.

The lesson to be learned from the warlords who conquered entire civilizations is that you may one day find yourself in a position to do great harm. I think the better people step back from the brink and say, "I will go no farther". The legend of Cincinattus, the Roman patrician who left his farm in 458 BCE to lead Rome in a war, and then returned to his farm, is a much better role model for all of us. Cincinattus was not an all-round great guy. He opposed the rise of the Plebeians (the poor people of Rome) and years later put down a Plebe rebellion. Even so, Cincinattus practiced restraint and curbed his ambitions. He was a better man than Caesar or Khan in that respect.

When we Americans think about medieval queens, we usually point to the Queens of England. We know their names better than most French queens. The only French queen most people can name is Marie Antoinette, who never said "let them eat cake". This article lists ten important English queens who had a great influence on history. My favorite in the list is Philippa of Hainault. She was a benevolent queen who restrained her husband's temper, successfully pleading for mercy on behalf of his captives. She was admired by many later western European queens.

The best ancient queen may have been part of this group of five famous African queens. You have no doubt heard of the Queen of Sheba because of the Bible story. But though she is famed for her beauty, it is said that Candace, empress of Ethiopia, was such a feared warrior and general that Alexander the Great decided not to invade her country. He was afraid he might lose a battle to a woman! Oh, the shame!

Alexander died soon afterward anyway. He was not a great man but a murderous, blood-thirst coward who selfishly slaughtered many innocent people. I say hooray for empress Candace! She saved her people from destruction without fighting a single battle!

There may be no throne in your future or mine but we can all change the world a little bit. We only need be better people tomorrow than we were yesterday.