Misplaced comparisons with the past

Europe experienced its most intense historical memories about 80 years ago. That was a long time ago for most of us, and it is natural that the new generations treat the nightmares of yesterday as something very distant, sometimes even embellished. This is a very serious issue in Europe today, for its people but also for its leadership.

We often hear the cliche that “there are no solid leaders in the EU today.” It is true. Mainly because the leaders-legends we have in mind had experienced history first-hand. They had not fallen into the trap of believing that history could magically end, nor were they under the illusion that each year would necessarily be better than the last. As for the citizens, too often they ignore their own history. It’s something that’s been going on for a long time but is intensifying as the years go by.

However, something very dangerous is also happening, especially in Greece. In the toxic fury of political confrontation you often hear some people shouting “but here we have a junta.” This is very dangerous, not to mention ahistorical. It numbs us to the nightmare of a real junta and provides all sorts of extremists the excuse they need to fight their own imaginary wars.

So what is the fear: that a combination of unimaginable pressure on society, ignorance of history and endless political polarization will produce something very problematic in the end. It already seems logical to us that the extreme right won in Italy or Sweden. The excesses of political correctness lead many to defend the rise of these political forces or the election of Donald Trump as “reasonable.” The pressure on society is such that it is “reasonable” to care about who will bring cheaper bread to the table, not about the quality of institutions and democracy.

Before the advent of fascism we had the Weimar Republic. Today we have much in common with that fateful period: an inflation that is decimating the already shrinking middle class, extreme rhetoric and deadly ideological opponents who, instead of killing each other in the streets are assassinating each other on social media, and – of course – the collapse of trust in key institutional pillars.

But we also have a war in Europe, for the first time, after decades, which inflates the problems and the sense of uncertainty. After all, every big war led to the destruction of old and/or the rise of new empires, the overthrow of established leaderships and new world balances. None of us can predict what will arise in five or 10 years.

However, it is good, while not forgetting history, to make some concessions in the public debate and to be very careful when making inappropriate comparisons with the past. Because it’s a surefire way to legitimize the nightmares that a repetition of history can bring.