“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” – George Santayana, The Life of Reason, 1905. This statement had proven true TOO many times throughout human history, even before Santayana wrote it.
There was one US President who learned from this statement and refused to let it happen on his watch. The first George Bush when Iraq invaded Kuwait. He refused to appease Sadam Hussein, and he sent in the US and allied troops to stop him.
Unfortunately, people today are so caught up in their hatred of President Trump, they are not seeing what they are doing to the country and how the extremists are repeating history with their idea of nullification and driving this country to the brink of another civil war. Only if it happens this time, it will be one drawn on political lines. You won’t have blue and grey uniforms to know who the enemy is and no one, military or civilian will be safe and the death toll will be in the MILLIONS.
I hope it isn’t, but the similarities between extreme political behavior today and past rebellions are too important to ignore. History shows that when any group believes moral certainty gives them the right to reject laws or democratic norms, serious consequences fallow.
1n the 1830s, South Carolina attempted to nullify federal law it disagreed with, claiming moral and local authority justified defiance. President Andrew Jackson made it clear: federal law is supreme. The state backed down then, but the belief that a government could ignore national law never fully disappeared.
By 1860, South Carolina seceded from the Union, leading other states to follow-and sparking the Civil War, in which more than 600 000 Americans died. The central issue was states’ rights -v- federal supremacy. Slavery became a second issue in September 1862 after the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation. The political party that most defended it in the South at that time was the Democratic Party. After the war, during Reconstruction, groups like the Ku Klux Klan, whose leaders were also overwhelmingly Southern Democrats, used violence and terror to maintain white supremacy and resist federal authority.
Fast forward to today. ln Minnesota, the governor and the mayor of Minneapolis have publicly stated they will not cooperate with federal immigration authorities, including ICE. Across the country, many sanctuary cities and states are attempting to pass laws blocking federal law enforcement. The causes are very different from secession and slavery, but the pattern of refusing to follow national law and framing it as morally right is a historical echo that deserves attention.
This is not an argument against compassion, reform, or protest, Students and citizens should care about their communities. But passion without knowledge is dangerous. Moral certainty is no substitute for understanding the Constitution, federal authority, or the consequences of ignoring the law.
If you are going to march, chant, or demand change, then do the hard part too: learn the history. Know how South Carolina’s defiance led to war. Know how political parties and violent groups used lawlessness to maintain oppression. Understand the Supremacy Clause, and why federal law exists above state and local preferences.
Real progress comes through Congress, legislation, debate, and democratic processes not selective obedience. History shows that when people assume they alone decide which laws to follow, unity fractures, institutions weaken, and lives are affected.
Passion is necessary, Knowledge is essential. And remembering history is the only way to channel both toward true progress, not repetition of past mistakes.