The Lessons of History - Observed: Change Your Context - Change Your Life

By Jim Giombetti

Do you ever stop to think about how we may be living the same life over and over?

What can current political leaders learn from a time travel into lessons of history?

How can we find truths in hist

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jim Giombetti
• Release date: May 2, 2022
• ISBN: 9798985887624

Jim Giombetti

James Giombetti, Author of The Lessons of History - ObservedJames Giombetti, known to his friends as Jim or Babe, was raised in the hills of beautiful northeastern Pennsylvania in the small town of Jessup. As an international business executive, Jim developed an insatiable desire to understand complex systems with a passion and vision for resolving global supply-chain issues. His unique skills typically apply new ideas and approaches to complex problems using simplicity in design. In The Lessons of History - Observed, Jim explores historical events and how these seemingly unrelated historical events are the root cause of today’s unresolved complex problems. He uses Will and Ariel Durant’s seminal work, The Lessons of History, as a framework to share his observations.Jim considers his wife Barbara and family to be most important to him. If he isn’t spending time with Barb or their family, you can bet he is with Beane, his loyal companion: a dead grass Chesapeake Bay retriever.The Lessons of History - Observed is Jim’s first book.Keep in touch with Jim via the web:Website: https://www.JimGiombetti.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jim-giombetti/

Book preview

The Lessons

of History

d

Observed

Change Your Context

Change Your Life

Jim GioMbetti

The Lessons of History—Observed

Copyright © 2022 by Jim Giombetti,

All Rights Reserved.

All rights reserved, except for those granted under copyright law and fair use provisions.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review. 

Some names and identifying details have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals. Although the author and publisher have made every effort to ensure that the information in this book was correct at press time, the author and publisher do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause.

Printed in the United States of America.

Hardcover ISBN: 979-8-9858876-1-7

Paperback ISBN: 979-8-9858876-0-0

Ebook ISBN: 979-8-9858876-2-4

Audiobook ISBN: 979-8-9858876-3-1

Cover design and Cover art Dragan Bilic.

Typesetting and Formatting by Fabio Laniado.

Narrator Kevin Cragwell.

Dedication

To my parents, Shirley and James, who instilled a love of life and gave me the foundation to be the person I am. To my wife, Barb, you are my soulmate. To my daughters Ana and Gina, I could not be prouder of you. I hope my being your father has not been too much of a burden in your lives. AJ, you will always be in my heart and mind; you shall not be forgotten. To Jordan and Kevin, May we live to learn well and learn to live well. To Leo, AJ, and Georgie, my grandchildren, you are my inspiration to write this book. I hope its insights and observations will serve as your guide through life.

Preface

Today, as a society, we suffer from a chronic short attention span. The information age we live in has reduced the vast amount of information presented to the public to brief superficial sound bites. As a result, the majority of people lead uninformed lives. I suggest that to be lazy with one’s mind is to be a lazy thinker. It takes time and effort to assimilate information and assess its objective truth. Like most things in life, knowledge comes down to will and capacity. While most people have the capacity, we lack the time and desire to pursue knowledge. It is a time-consuming and mentally exhausting effort. Many are content to live by the old saying, Where ignorance is bliss, Tis folly to be wise. This idiom may apply to the giving, content nature of childhood innocence as demonstrated by the trust children freely give to others. Today, our trust as a society has been violated by our leaders and authority figures. People don’t know who to believe or where to turn for truth. Children express love and trust freely throughout their days. My greatest wish is for us to become more childlike, more creative, more imaginative, more innovative, and open to our world of possibilities. This culture shift requires us to trust once again.

Dear Reader

The next thirty years mean everything. My purpose for writing this book was to distill many complex related issues down into a more digestible form, in hopes of providing a more holistic understanding to the reader, especially around issues of economic class and race in this post-industrial age in which we find ourselves.

I may have done the reader a disservice, however, as this book represents my knowledge, interpretation, and biases associated with past events. Even worse, it is a summary, and as such, it is an incomplete representation of the little I know. In my foolishness and arrogance, I am attempting to use my observations and personal experience to expand upon Will and Ariel Durant’s 1968 historical interpretation of the last 5,000 years, The Lessons of History, their seminal work.

I felt somewhat comfortable writing this book because of the respect I have for the quality of Will and Ariel Durant’s body of work and their character as individuals. Our civilization will eventually die like all those before it. I believe our purpose is to ensure it’s not on our watch and that we leave this world a better place for our children.

I hope that in sharing my observations and insights, I can effect some modest change in people’s context for understanding our current state.

We live in historic times! The patterns of production, consumption, and employment will require proactive adaptation by individuals, corporations, and even the government. Climate change and population growth will require structural change economically and socially.

Can we learn from our forefathers’ mistakes without repeating them ourselves? This question may be rhetorical as people’s feelings run deep and tend to be rigid. Nevertheless, we have a chance to break away from the chronic short attention spans and indoctrinated ignorance that currently has a hold on our society. To rise and face the new and unprecedented challenges of unsustainable population growth and climate change, will require solidarity from us to address. Our form of government no longer serves the people, resulting in 40% of America being impoverished or close to it. An additional 500,000 are homeless, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The unavoidable truth in American society and culture is that many forms of inequality have fused race, economic class, and related social justice issues to divide us. We are in the middle of a historic transition. Not discussing inequality, class, and race as part of social justice is the failure of our elected leaders. We must empower others and ourselves to live a life of fulfillment. We must improve our daily lives by addressing issues for the greater good. Anyone who cares about our democracy and its institutions needs to pay attention to these integrated issues as they cannot be separated or discussed in isolation.

Introduction

Countries start out as Stoic, and they end up as Epicurean.

—Will Durant

My earliest memories include a spring event that went on for more than a decade. As a young child, I remember an older man coming to our family home in Jessup, Pennsylvania, each spring, to trim and tie the grapevines with pussy willows. Later, I found out this was the traditional way to prune grapevines to maximize fruit production. As I recall, this went on for years. Finally, when I was 12 years old or so, I remember asking my mother, Who is this guy?

She told me that he was Boccia Piccotti.

Why does he show up every year to trim these grapevines? I asked her.

It is his way of saying thank you to your father. Your father and grandfather helped him when he came from Italy, my mother responded.

That was the end of my questions. For years, whenever I ran into Boccia around town, I would see him staring at me and observing me. I thought this was strange until I realized he was looking at me with admiration. Boccia was old and walked with a cane and a limp. I never knew what injury caused him to limp. I knew his smile.

Fast forward to 1977; I was selected to play in the Pennsylvania Big 33 All-Star football game. I was downtown at the Club 100 with my father, and all the guys were congratulating me for being selected to the All-Star team. I was 17 years old at the time, young, strong, and confident.

This old man, who I later learned was 74, was leaning on his cane and reached out to congratulate me by shaking my hand. He spoke broken English with a strong Italian accent and called me Bambino. Italian for my nickname, which is Babe. I was given this nickname at birth, short for baby Jim.

I took his hand and he squeezed it like a mechanical vise. I immediately went to my knees. Then Boccia said to me, Here, pointing to his head and temple, no here, pointing to his arm and bicep.

In pain, I loudly said, I got it, Boccia, I got it! At which point, smiling, he released my hand. To this day, I am amazed by this memory and the wisdom of this old, crippled man and what he taught me. Brains over brawn—he was telling me to focus on education.

I learned the definition of Stoic that day, and its meaning has been with me ever since. Whenever I have heard that word, without hesitation, I think of Boccia and his bear-paw-like hands and the pain or hardship he must have endured without showing his feelings or complaining. His smile is forever with me.

What Is Stoicism?

Stoicism is a tool we can use in our life to direct our actions and thoughts in this unpredictable world. We cannot control what happens around us, but we can control what we think and how we react. Stoicism is keeping a clear and calm mind and acting rather than reacting to any given situation.

To accomplish this, a Stoic has ten principles:

A Stoic applies reason to their action.

They live by virtue.

They understand that all they can control are their actions and minds, so they focus on those and choose to accept things they cannot control.

A Stoic can distinguish between the good, bad, and indifferent. They ignore the indifferent as it doesn’t matter.

They live by their ideas, actually practicing them.

Stoics practice the bad situations before they arise.

They accept that they can do their best, but the results are outside their control.

They believe that all things happen for their good and accept them.

Stoics look for the opportunity in every situation—it’s an opportunity to practice virtue.

They are fully mindful.

What Is Epicureanism?

On the other end of the spectrum is Epicureanism. The Epicurean philosophy is based on the absence of all fear and pain and declares pleasure of the mind, body, and soul to be its sole intrinsic goal, arguing that pleasure is the most vital good in life.

True Epicureans emphasize the pleasure of the mind over physical pleasure. They believe the purpose of life is the pursuit of pleasure, claiming that our very nature demands that we avoid pain. These pleasures include pleasures of the mind and body.

Epicureans define pleasures of the body as eating delicious food, being free from pain, and existing in the moment. Pleasures of the mind include the right to experience joy, avoid fear, and live in an overall pleasant state of mind. The pleasures of the mind are considered to be more important.

Epicurean ideas of politics differ from those of the Stoics in many ways. They believe that no one person should dominate another. They also disagree with anyone participating in politics.

A Nation Is Born Stoic and Dies Epicurean

The United States is in a political and moral crisis that has been percolating since the 1960s. The Vietnam War and Watergate were the tipping points. During this era, instead of representing a broad swath of the country, the lower ranks of the military were increasingly staffed by people from low-income and disenfranchised sectors of the population. The shock of the 9/11 attacks allowed fear to be leveraged against our citizens, violating our rule of law.

Fundamentally, as imperfect as it is, you either believe in the rule of law or you don’t.

You either believe in being a good citizen, or you don’t.

So, when the subject of patriotism and service comes up, Dr. Almo Sebastinelli immediately comes to my mind. Dr. Sebastinelli was a dedicated patriot who gave himself tirelessly in time, mind, body, and soul to all veterans’ issues. He was a friend and mentor. Someone I deeply respect. Doc was active in the American Legion in both the Department of Pennsylvania and the National Organization, in addition to the Parade of Champions as drum corps contest chair for 43 years.

Doc was proud of his heritage. So, when he was asked to take over as the chairman of Saint Ubaldo in the 1980s, an Italian festival held only in two places in the world—Jessup, Pennsylvania, and Gubbio, Italy—he did not hesitate. Doc asked me to help him by serving as his treasurer. I was reluctant, but I could not refuse.

I often wonder what Doc would think of today’s military. We had brief discussions about the Vietnam War. The endings to these discussions were always the same: this war was messed up, and the poor kids lost their lives for little to nothing. I was only ten years old in 1969 when Michael Thomas Shuemaker and Robert Albert Wall, two kids from Jessup, were killed in action in Vietnam. I remember the somber feeling that permeated the town for many months.

The poor and disenfranchised (one-half of 1% of Americans) have fought in our modern wars since 9/11; this is a staggering fact!

Unfortunately, with President Joe Biden’s son being one of the few exceptions, the politicians making the decisions to send our youth to war have been disconnected from the consequences of their decisions for the past 70 years. This fact does not seem right!

Jessup, Pennsylvania, is a small town of about five thousand people, primarily Italian immigrants. Approximately six hundred of these citizens answered the call to fight in World War II. They are veterans, like 95-year-old Attilio Vergari, who graduated from Jessup High School in 1944, at the age of 18. Two weeks later, he was drafted with 17 weeks of basic training and sent to Germany. Attilio and his generation are an inspiration and an example for all of us to follow.

However, when the consequences of war are shared broadly across the general population, instead of just among the poor, disenfranchised, and non-citizens (approximately 35,000), politicians will find the motivation to find alternative peaceful solutions once again.

According to Will Durant in The Lessons of History, War is one of the constants of history and has not diminished with civilization or democracy. In the last 3,421 years of recorded history, only 268 have seen no war.

War, gun violence, poverty, race, abortion, pandemics, voting rights, political corruption, and declining public education have merged to reinforce the tribal differences driven by a broad-based fear of current and future conditions.

Duke political science professor Ashley Jardina finds that 30% to 40% of white Americans say white identity is important. Trump has made most white identifiers feel pretty secure in their identity.