It is quite strange when I think of it, we learn more from life lessons than all academic institutions combined. They all plant all forms of impractical theories in our heads but life lessons are raw and unhinged. The human mind is built in such a way that it keeps records of life related trauma in order to ensure we don't fall prey to the same cause of pain twice but then, this structure of the mind is not dominant in most people. While the mind can be an instrument of great importance, a source of significant knowledge, it is rendered useless by the effects of humans ignorance.
The most dangerous set of people in the world are not the wise but ignorant people, just few manipulative words can create flames of revolution among ignorant Men and women. They lack the ability to think for themselves, so they prefer others doing the thinking for them in order to absorb themselves of being held accountable for their own mistakes. Is it not convenient, to blame others for our own mistakes? To find somebody to be the sole aim of our hatred, this is a trait common among humans, most especially ignorant people.
Here is another fact, the world is dominated by ignorance, since larger percentage of the human population lacks proper education and even among the educated, some are still considered educated illiterates. From this, I drew my assumption and strongly believe the world is heavily plagued by ignorance which is the main reason why we find ourselves going through the same paths that once led us astray. Life isn't so merciful, it doesn't care how many times you have to go through lessons but as long as you keep failing to learn from past mistakes, the lessons will keep coming.
You must be wondering, what does ignorance have to do with history, well I would say everything. History is a collection of past events, either negative or positive. A record of where we have been, how we used to be and details of choices we have made. I wouldn't say I'm a fan of general history, the numbers makes my brain boil. Instead of referring to some political history whose record are already doctored to suit the preference of our rulers, I prefer to talk about the history I witnessed.
The most consistent issue in my country is economy hardship which has driven lot of citizens of my country to extreme end, forcing us to make choices that we know nothing about the consequences. I must say, poverty is really scary, it dominates people's ability to think and all there is, is just survival. In the aim to surviving amidst the struggle, citizens of my country get into lot of available opportunities hoping to be liberated from poverty but they all end up falling into a deeper pit of poverty with their faces covered in dirt of disappointment.
It all began about 10 years ago when I first heard about the platform, I was still in gateway Polytechnic, studying as hard as could to acquire national diploma in mass communication. Just like every other higher institution, there was a market in my school frequently visited by all categories of people in the institution, mostly students. At the center of it all was a container painted in yellow where a man offers printing services, being the kind of man that assist students in all kinds of academic endeavours, we student swamps around him like termites.
It was at this spot students gathered to discuss all kind of latest trends, especially platforms making waves on the internet. It was during one of this discussion a platform was mentioned and everyone seems to be cashing in on it except me. I'm sure most people have already heard of it, it is a platform called MMM global. I can remember how students were giving testimonies on the amount they have earned from the platform. In those days, Ponzi schemes were not as rampant as we have it now. I wouldn't say I wasn't tempted to join but I was just too occupied with my research writing business in those days, to divert my hard earned money into an online business was not really my thing.
Around late 2016, News about the platform not meeting with people's demands started spreading and just like that, gradually the platform disappeared with people's money. After the incident occurred, lot of people were pained and some nearly committed suicide because they couldn't cope with their new reality. It was a sad news that spreads across my country like wild fire. Lot of warnings were given by the government about platforms such as MMM to prevent people from falling victim again.
Years have passed, lot of Ponzi schemes have joined the game but among it all, there was one among these Ponzi schemes that crashed recently, having almost the same effect on people just like MMM did. The name of the platform was CBEX, though I didn't know about the platform till it crashed. All I saw was people's grievances on social media and how some people have chosen to take laws into their hands by vandalizing CBEX offices.
Seeing how these Ponzi schemes tends to disappear with people's money, it makes you wonder if we have learnt anything at all from our past experience. The history of Ponzi scheme in my country is filled with bitter tears and unimaginable pain but this has not stopped people from getting engaged in such fraudulent platforms. So, is this not a product of ignorance? what other better explanation can be given? If this isn't history repeating itself, I don't know what else is.
Is there something that can be done to stop this? Well, if I may ask, is there a cure for human ignorance? While some might learn from their past mistakes, others wouldn't. Even if i suggest that the government should create some sort of task force to hurt Ponzi schemes and also create awareness for the consequence of investing in it, I don't think it will happen because the source of this issue is the government, for being so insensitive towards to needs if the citizens. So it will be absurd to seek solution from the cause of a problem.
This write-up was inspired by weekly featured content titled History repeats in hive learners community.
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