The Perils of Forgetting American History

Immigrants, Flooding, Epstein, and the Dust Bowl?

My Jewish great-grandfather, Michael Cohen, immigrated from Poland in the 1890s and opened a grocery store in the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

One of the things that is both good and hard about writing a history book is that it forces me to learn…history! In the past week, I watched the Ken Burns documentary on the Dust Bowl and a History Channel documentary on Teddy Roosevelt. Eight or so hours lying on the couch is a decent way to spend some hot summer afternoons and evenings, in my humble opinion. Without air conditioning in my house, lying still in the shade is a good survival strategy.

In between episodes, I would check my phone and see the latest on the offensive Gestapo ICE raids, the desperate search for bodies in the Texas flood, the OBVIOUS coverups of the Epstein files, and the usual frenzies about AI, taxes, bitcoin, and ceasefires that will never come true. I couldn’t help but see parallels between history and today. And, I learned some new stuff.

For instance, did you know that immigrants who came to America were completely legal without any constraints until 1924? EVERY single person in America is either a Native American (California was Mexico until 1850), an immigrant, or a (former) slave. The US didn’t start restricting immigration until 1924 with the Johnson-Reed Act. (Notice that if you click on that link that the US Government is no longer maintaining its history websites.) Just this morning, some guy on Facebook was defending the current raids by saying but his ancestors came here legally. Most of the people that are being tackled in the streets, or Walmart aisles, or farm fields ARE here following the rules to be legal immigrants. Many are even citizens. Their crime? Brown skin. Unfamiliar accents. In truth, we white people are more illegal than they are because we STOLE the land. But this is why history is so important to learn and keep learning. And why “certain” people want to control and erase it.

And did you know that the region of the Texas floods is called “Flash Flood Alley?” And that FEMA removed zoning regulations to allow Camp Mystic to build on floodplains in 2011, 2019, and 2020? Whether you believe in climate change or not, Nature doesn’t care, and if you don’t learn your history, you are more likely to get swept away. All those guys who were eager to build on riverfront property and didn’t want to be regulated (good ol’ boy Texans) forgot to remember that their children and grandchildren might be going to camp there one day. The more we build and develop the land, reducing its ability to absorb rainfall, the more likely we are to experience catastrophic floods, making historic flooding areas even worse. And by the way, Flash Flood Alley is made worse by the fact that there isn’t a lot of soil there in the first place, since it’s mostly limestone. It’s good to understand a bit of Geography.

Speaking of guys (and soil), while I was watching the Dust Bowl documentary about how “suitcase-farmers” came from the city to cash in on the tractor-fueled wheat growing frenzy of the 1920s, it felt familiar. It’s the same opportunistic, greedy, get-rich energy flowing into the bitcoin and AI free-for-alls right now. Only the resource being exploited isn’t soil, but water, energy, and intellectual property. Like I said, Nature doesn’t care and will fight back when cornered. In fact, just this morning I read that a new report shows that dust storms are affecting over 330 million people due to climate change. For those of you who don’t like the phrase climate change, I would say it’s even more likely to be caused by chemical farming practices that deplete the soil and deforestation, which removes the plants that cover the soil. I highly recommend watching the Dust Bowl documentary because the images and learnings are a horrific reminder that there but for the grace of god go we. Or, if we don’t learn from history, we are doomed to repeat it. Every great boom is followed by a crash. It’s physics. And protecting our soil is essential to our survival.

What got us out of the Dust Bowl was FDR’s genius and persistence. Creating things like the Soil Conservation Corps, the Civilian Conservation Corps, and the Works Progress Administration, which put young men (and a few women) to work helping to clean up the mess, plant trees, build roads and bridges and basically return humanity to the land and people who depend on it for survival. Republicans may loathe efforts to support the American people and keep them from starving, but it works.

Both Teddy Roosevelt and FDR had to deal with the same thing we are dealing with now, too many billionaires (Robber Barons), and too many people who were taken advantage of by them. It’s worth revisiting to understand how they got us through those challenges, which are not unlike today’s troubles. It’s also a good reminder that even the worst off of us today is better off than the poor people of those times. Unless you live in Gaza. Or other places where we are assisting in genocides, usually for some sort of economic profit.

But the other thing that I learned from delving into these topics is that the cure for all the male problems of today: the alleged male loneliness epidemic, the greedy grasping for wealth, and the dystopian gun culture of ignorance, is that men need a purpose, a job, and a focus. They also need sexual release to defang their violent nature. Men enjoy war (and ICE raids) because it’s an outlet for their natural aggression, and gives them permission to rape and pillage other people. If men have too much money or time and aren’t willing to fight in wars because they are too self-important, people like Epstein can capitalize on the manly need for sexual conquest, especially of young girls and boys. Let’s stare this ugly truth in the face and unmask it for once. We already know who is on Epstein’s list. It’s been circulating on the internet for years. There are also plenty of documentaries about it. (In fact, Pam Bondi was the Attorney General of Florida, where Epstein lived when he committed those crimes. Trump lived nearby. She knows what they did, and she is still covering up for both of them.) Sexual predation does not have a political party. Just like we know that the worst sexual predators and pedophiles are in churches and schools, and are more likely to be Republican than Trans. Unfortunately for Fox News watchers, they’ve been censored from seeing it. So they have a hard time believing it.

So…what’s the solution?

First, we need to teach young men how to use their sexual energy with respect and love, and take away the shame of masturbation, which is a healthy, natural, and important thing for all people, whatever their gender. This will immediately make them more reasonable humans, and hopefully protect all the young girls — the sisters and daughters—who are most likely to be sexually abused and trafficked.

Second, we need to make sure our young men have a purpose and focus that uses their bodies and engages their natural urges: Working on farms, hunting for food, building things they can be proud of, sports, and protecting and exploring nature. Hard work is not only good, but it’s essential for health and happiness. The satisfaction of a job well done, right?

Third, and not last, is that we need to teach our young boys to feel their feelings and not be ashamed of them, learn how to communicate clearly, and treat people different from them with respect. And oh, women need to learn all this stuff too. For example, learning a trade is good, but learning how to communicate effectively with customers and coworkers is what makes someone successful. Being strong and powerful is great, but learning how to communicate and collaborate with others is what leads to peace and partnership, not war. Learning to hunt deer (preferably with bow and arrow rather than guns) will get the deer population under control, feed families, and also reduce tick populations and lower Lyme disease rates. It’s all connected. And communicating in relationships? Don’t get me started. I’m in my We Do Not Care era.

There are many, many lessons for us in our history. But once we are out of school it’s up to us to delve deeper into it. Fortunately, thanks to the internet and streaming services, we have every tool at our fingertips. DO NOT rely on ChatGPT, Grok, or other AI to tell you what is true or real. To quote a famous saying from the earliest days of computing: Garbage in, garbage out. Find your trusted sources. Fact-check through multiple avenues. And don’t be afraid to change your mind and learn something new.

It’s what our ancestors would want.