Why we are part of a long history

"Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total; of all those acts will be written the history of this generation." Robert Kennedy

By Alex P. Vidal

WE are part of a long history and the present is what it is because of all that has gone before -- because forgotten empires rose and fell in antiquity; because unknown Greeks obeyed the Greek captains who defeated the Persians; because the Romans destroyed Carthage; because Mark Antony fell in love with Cleopatra; because the Western Christians grew tired of trying to drive the Arabs from Egypt; because the merchants of the west traded with India and China for profit; because Columbus discovered America; and Martin Luther preached against the pope, and Napoleon overran Europe.