When I was younger there was a belief that we had learned the lessons of (then) quite recent history. We were turning our backs on the abuses of the past, where minorities were persecuted just because they were different; where state officials (officers and employees) abused arbitrary power to get vulnerable people to confess to things they didn't do - or beat them up. Where justice was denied, on an industrial scale. Never again. The UN had a charter for human rights. A European Convention on Human Rights was enacted, and made legally enforceable.
But, we don't seem to have progressed - in fact we are going backwards. This summer we went to Hamburg & were moved by a statue remembering the Kindertransport, which saved thousands from the gas chambers - and the many, many, many plaques in the pavement noting the site of homes From which real people were taken away - many to their deaths because they were Jews, homosexuals, political activists, or had just helped a neighbour or work colleague. Yet the report in today's paper records what happened this week, We see newspapers propagating lies and inciting hatred. People who will face Election in the days & months ahead will gain millions of votes despite the ugliness of the hateful rhetoric they use.
History can, does & will repeat itself. We need to recapture the optimism - and take the actions required - to stop it.
( The article which prompted this - https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/27/calais-camp-minors-children-abandoned-uk-france-human-rights?CMP=fb_gu )
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