MISSOURI WATCH: A FEW REFLECTIONS ON THE LESSONS OF 1995

Harry Truman had a lifetime task of reminding Americans of the importance of history, accompanied by the caveat that what had occurred in the past was certain to recur in the future. As we start a new year, with its full calendar holding both promise and uncertainty, it certainly couldn't hurt if we reviewed some of the history of 1995, accompanied by the caveat that we dare not overlook some of the lessons learned from the previous 12 months.

Not only is it important to recall some of the past year's events, it is vital that we learn as many lessons as possible from the history of 1995, unless we are willing to suffer the same consequences we have endured when, in past times, America seemed to learn nothing from the past except to recognize our mistakes once again.

Among the events of the past 12 months that should give us pause, not to mention an incentive for further study and renewed pursuit of correction, are these:

1. Government can be changed. When freshmen Republicans elected to the U.S. House of Representatives took the oath of office one year ago their battle cry was repeated over and over again: We are here to change the government. Scores of critics scoffed at their singular mantra of securing a balanced budget, reducing federal waste and eliminating widespread abuses that had become so pervasive that they seemed part of all governmental programs.

Democrats, shocked by the large number of Republicans elected to fill seats previously held by Bill Clinton's party, were quick to declare that what these upstarts were pursuing would be impossible to achieve and demanded to know under what authority these inexperienced legislators intended to carry out their mandate. The once-majority party in Congress learned rather quickly that the new majority represented a large percentage of the electorate, with sufficient power to not only begin the task of realignment in Washington but to persuade others to join them.

A task that had once seemed impossible, namely to penetrate the politically antiquated federal system, became reality, and regardless of one's agreement or disagreement with the new contract with America, the long-standing, historically correct thesis that Washington was impervious to change and reform died in the past 12 months.

The danger is not that the new reformers will be judged intolerant or naive or arrogant -- qualities which they have certainly displayed on numerous occasions -- but that the remainder of the body politic in America will ignore the lesson that has been duly recorded. Governments can be changed, reforms can be instituted and outrageous acts against representative government can be vetoed -- this is important history that all of us must recognize from the chronology of the past 12 months.

2. Being the biggest on the block doesn't mean there's any world shortage of nations ready to challenge us in pursuit of their own interests, convictions or ambitions. For decades the U.S. had only one enemy that counted: world-wide communism that was sponsored and financed by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. When that enemy literally collapsed from the inside out, many in the United States concluded that there were no other enemies worthy of our attention or concern. We concluded that China was simply too big to challenge militarily, even if we were willing to accommodate her economically, but as for the other little pip-squeak nations in the world, we decided they weren't important enough -- and more importantly, big enough -- to be worthy of our opposition. These little countries looked downright comical with their tiny chips on their smaller-than-life shoulders.

We momentarily changed our minds when Iraq brazenly invaded Kuwait, but what attracted our attention was not blatant aggression but the potential ramifications to our own oil supply. We took care of Iraq, even to the point of over-preparing for what amounted to its puny defense, but we took pride in "saving" Kuwait, even if we were more interested in avoiding another gasoline crisis at our neighborhood service station.

When it came to genocide in Africa, we reverted once again to the comfortable feeling that all of our big enemies were gone and if we responded to African anarchists, it was only to be accomplished if Washington did not unduly alarm the voters back home. Throughout virtually all of the 1990s, we have believed that no power on earth was capable to challenging us the way the Soviet armies once did.

Now we find ourselves facing the latest crisis from this misreading of the importance of history. We have practiced the fine art of skillful neglect with regard to a serious problem in the former Yugoslavia, pretending that somehow deaths caused from religious strife were somehow different than those caused by political fanaticism. This is why we chose to abdicate our leadership in Somalia, Rwanda and numerous other regions that were so "unimportant" they didn't even merit our attention.

Small wars tend to expand in direct relation to the disinterest displayed by nations capable of stopping them. Wholesale slaughter of humankind is no less inhumane if its antecedents are religious rather than ideological. America cannot install democratic governments around the world, but it can -- and must -- be a leading force fighting policies designed to wipe out entire religious or ethnic groups.

History teaches us that anarchy will not disappear because our leaders assume an air of indifference to the outcome.

3. Still another important lesson of 1995 is one that comes from the realities of resolving the distribution of limited resources. Demands to balance the budget are too often followed by pleas of special consideration. Depending upon the time and situation, special interests include every citizen in America. All of us, at one time or another, have been flood victims, veterans, senior citizens, financially challenged, medically impaired. The human condition is such that as individuals we oppose aid for groups that exclude our requirements. History should instruct us on the need for tolerance for all of society, not the part to which we belong.

Paraphrasing HST: History isn't yesterday but tomorrow.

~Jack Stapleton of Kennett is the editor of the Missouri News and Editorial Service.