Does a study of history make you optimistic or pessimistic about the

future of the human race?

Studying about history make people feel negative about the future of
human beings. First of all, humans still repeat what they had done in
the past, they do not learn any lesson from their mistakes such as war
and genocide still exist. Another thing is the suffering of humanities
from the consequences of past events even though they have finished.

The human race’s historical events are repeated. Wars are the good
examples to illustrate the argument. World War II breaks out in 1939,
only a short time from the end of World War I which is in 1918. Worse,
the second World War is the most obscene experience that human
nature overcomes. More than 60 million people die, including 20
million soldiers and 40 million citizens compare to approximately 1
million in the previous war. Not only in the global scale, wars between
countries happen everyday, especially between America and other
nations. After the horrified lost from Vietnam War in the 70s,
Americans hope that no war will ever occur again. However, decades
later, the country begins a new battle against Afghanistan and Iraq at
the moment, make thousands of young people’s lives either lost or
deal with mental illnesseses. War again shatters the hearts of mothers
and fathers, who know well about the destruction of wars both
physically and mentally in Vietnam War. The authorities have not
learnt from the lesson in the past that war is the deadliest incident that
human beings shall not let it happen. It is confirmed why a study of
history makes the experts feel pessimistic of the future of human
beings.

Genocides, beside wars, are the occurences that happen again and
again. One of the earliest genocides that humans ever know is the
systematic massacre of Jewish people by the Nazis in World War II. It is
called the Holocaust. Nearly six million Jews are shot or poisoned in gas
chambers under the command of Adolf Hitler. People expect that this is
the only genocide in the 20th century. Yet another famous mass-
extermination with smaller affect is occurred in Cambodia. The Khmer
Rouge regime executes intellectuals, people related to the former
government and ethnic groups. 15 – 20% of Cambodia population is
killed. The world’s publicity says that they will not let another action of
humanities destruction happen again. Still, while these words are being
typed, a civil war is going on in Darfur, Sudan and 300,000 innocents
have already been eradicated according to the UN. The suffering of
civilians after these genocides should have been counted, too, since it
is a main factor contribute to the pessimism of the future of human
race.
 On the other hand, the torment that people have to face with after the
conflicts affect the future of human nature. After the war passes,
hundreds of Vietnamese youths are born with disfigured bodies. They
cannot live a normal life like other people. The Agent Orange chemical
is still existed in the water sources, the soil and the bloodstream of the
veterans and their succeeded generations. Who knows whether the
children of these young people will endure the fate like their parents or
not? The future of a whole nation are being spoiled although the war
has ended.

Overall, the studying of history makes me feel pessimistic about the

future of human race. Nations around the world continue to fight
against each other and massacre the innocents though they have
learnt from the past that wars and genocides will lead human beings
into miseries. The consequences of these conflicts will affect not only
civilians living in that time, but also influence their children and
grandchildren. The Agent Orange syndrome in Vietnam is the liveliest
illustration of this argument.
Thuy Vi – Yr 11.