History Beckons?

History (real or imagined) seems, to me, to be currently at the root of many of the problems afflicting diverse areas of our globe. Just to give a few examples. Firstly, we have what appears to be almost a 'deification' of the US Constitution. That Constitution and its associated legislative bodies, were designed for a time now almost 250 years in our past. That arrangement may have been necessary to create a working country by amalgamating an array of individual states of varied sizes, populations and characters. Indeed, the constitution may have been a requirement to persuade some states to join the collective. Times, however, have changed very substantially. There now appears to be some very real tensions between the democratic process (one person: one vote) and the constitution's operations. 'Freedoms' and responsibilities no longer seem to be in any state of balance. Whisper it softly. The constitution may have to change to restore a country to a state where it can work effectively in 2022. Secondly, we have the example of Putin's Russia. Putin's actions, including invading Ukraine, seem to stem from his nostalgia for a Greater Russia. Here, we have a situation, where one party wishes to force other countries back into 'his' collective. The majority of citizens of those countries, however, appear to want to retain their independence. Having a common language (like Russian) doesn't necessarily mean a it's a single country. Thirdly, we have the example of the UK. Its vote for 'Brexit' (leaving the European Union) appeared rooted in a nostalgia for the long-gone 'Empire' (when half the globe's map was coloured pink and the sun never set on the Empire). The actually relatively small majority for leaving the EU, was largely generated by older voters. A majority of younger folk, with little or no recollection of Empire, voted to remain. Far from having advantages, Brexit has clearly caused an economic 'hit' in the UK. The chances of the UK fragmenting into its constituent countries, also appears to be growing in the post-Brexit era. One can also point to other countries (e.g. Brazil, China, India and Turkey) where 'historical' factors are often cited as 'reasons' for making particular decisions. Nostalgia is all very good but it's not generally helpful for dealing with issues like climate change, loss of biodiversity, conflict resolution, dealing with pandemics and human rights. The world needs more recognition of what we need to do together, to benefit the planet and humanity. Sometimes, 'history' seems to simply get in the way.