It’s All Been Said And Done Before
By Charles Karel Bouley
Sometimes I wonder, is there just not much more to say.
At least that’s how I feel as a writer these days; particularly one that has, for five decades, written about current events, Presidents, societal issues, superstars and major milestones, most of the time for publications and later, websites.
But of late, it seems I haven’t had the urge, the desire, the inspiration. Partly because I’ve been reading so many of my previous columns; columns that talked of the injustices of Reagan, the horrors of the Bushes (Daddy and Shrub) and Trump 1.0 and 2.0. I’ve also been archiving all my old podcasts and radio shows, dating back to KFI AM 640 Los Angeles both with Andrew (Howard) and then on my own, and then KGO AM 810 San Francisco (both stations now basically gone, KGO has changed call letters and is no longer talk and KFI might as well be gone as it’s MAGA light, no diversity, angry, sad).
And what have I been learning from all that nostalgia? That it’s all been said before, that none of this is a surprise, the chaos, the stratification, the division, the authoritarianism. The blueprint for all of it is old, and used by many a nation, many a country, many an empire (most of them now gone, too). And for some reason, enough people always fall for it to allow it to happen.
And by all markers, it’s happening globally again. It’s now 2026 and after one year of Trump the USA is in the saddest state it has ever been in, and so many saw it coming, warned the USA, warned the world. But not enough people listened and now the last year has radically reshaped America, it’s policies, laws, friends and allies.
And for many, this was the year where they finally got the answer to questions some ask when looking back on major historical atrocities, things like WWII, Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, hell, Caesar, or insert dictator name here…“How did the people let it happen? Why didn’t they stop (insert dictator name here)”?
The by product of these rise and falls is that every society before us as far back as there’s records established a blueprint for how someone, some entity, some profiteer or entitled family took over because despots aren’t knew, nor are those that support them and how they came to do so.
Those answers are easy to see as I watch corrupt politicians not exclusive to any party in the USA literally follow those blueprints, those forged almost 100 years ago in Germany, and 100 years before that somewhere else and 100 before that in another place and so on…as I watch killings on the streets of my country at the hands of government agents and people argue over whether or not it was deserved when the videos are painfully clear; as I sit in front of the BBC and see the world readying for a trade war with the USA because the Commander-in-Chief for some reason only he knows wants to take over a sovereign territory that is not interested in being taken over, as government agents are literally asking for people’s paper’s on the streets all I can hear is the voices of veterans that died in the atrocity that was WWII screaming “Wake up! It’s happening! We died to prevent this! DO SOMETHING!”
And then just look at Congress (not party specific because these days neither party is perfect), the body that could end this tomorrow, it has become completely useless thanks to them letting themselves be taken over by those that are not interested in governing, but in ruling. Congress, which allowed the Supreme Court to become an extension of the Executive, because they didn’t have the spine to not confirm those that don’t belong there (for as long as I can remember), or impeach those who have woefully lost their way and act more like partisans and less like jurors. Congress which has become the most useless, and destructive, body in the land through it’s inability to do its job, or losing the entire plot of what their job even entails.
Housing prices are going down; interest rates are too high. Groceries are unaffordable. Rents are out of control. Houses so expensive and cars so overpriced that they want to allow you to finance them for 50 years and 10 years respectively, paying up to four times the original purchase amount; great for banks, bad for buyers. Roads are falling apart. Jobs are getting scarce. Health care costs have skyrocketed again. Social Security is hanging on by a very fragile thread. Wars are raging.
And what is the President focused on, he and his followers? Not the Epstein files, now long overdo, where his name is already prominently featured; not the fact that Gaza is still suffering and as for the Board of Peace that was promised? Trump is charging nations that want a seat at the table to decide the Gazan’s future one billion dollars per nation, inviting 60 with only Hungary responding so far and France saying no. Where will that money go? Reconstruction efforts? This sounds like another grift. Where will the materials come from to rebuild, who will own the companies that will do the work…? There’s a lot we just don’t know.
No, he’s focused on taking over Greenland and Venezuela, taking one’s oil, putting profits from it in offshore accounts according to multiple news outlets; he’s busy destroying the world’s economy, alienating our allies and potentially crashing our economy by demanding to take over Greenland, of all places, for a reason he hasn’t made truly clear. He’s focused on the fact he didn’t really win the Nobel, not who should run Venezuela, the country he just broke although a woman set to be leader had to give up her Nobel Prize to appease his ego.
He’s not thinking of our plight, financially; Our struggles, our troubles, our lives. He’s not interested in MAGA or their lives, either, no matter what they tell themselves. His approval among MAGA is falling, so, if he’s not popular with you he doesn’t care about you.
But he’s not unique, he’s not a first, and sadly, he won’t be the last. He’s a rich White straight male, as are most of his trusted friends and advisors, and for centuries such men have built empires, and some ultimately destroyed them.
And the people? Let’s be real, in the USA today if you don’t have millions you simply are powerless. Sure you can vote. But will your Senator or Congressperson listen to you after the vote is cast? And even if they will, are the people elected to Congress even capable of getting any real progress for good going? They can do evil very quickly, but good? Help the people? That takes forever if its ever done at all. So in a Democratic Republic, we vote for, and relegate our power to, our representatives in government, trusting them to have our best interest permeate all they do. Well, it doesn’t. Their best interest, the best interest of their party, their President or their corporate overlords are all they consider today; they pander to us for votes, and that’s the last we really see of them or their interest in our lives.
And none of that is new, and people have been talking about it and warning about it and writing about it since the dawn of civilized, political societies (that includes religion as organized religion was the first form of government).
So why do the masses do it? Why do they always end up in a mess with their best interest last and the best interest of the upper class prominent; a society where they struggle and all of their time is spent working for, and giving money back to, the upper class?
And here’s why I haven’t been writing so much these days, because the truth has been there all along and no will really just say it.
Because as a whole humans are an ignorant, selfish, willful wretched species. Not all, out of almost eight billion people there is probably several billion that are wise, intelligent, compassionate, with common sense, a willingness to learn, a willingness to listen to others and care about what they say; a different kind of the human species, like a chihuahua is to a great dane, a human that evolved first, gets more right, puts self-preservation for the planet as well as its occupants first, wants a harmony with the natural world, knowing all species should be able to survive on it; a human that values science, prioritizes life over profits.
But let’s face it, if enlightened humans were the majority, the world wouldn’t be in the continued state of chaos that it’s been since humans evolved. The world has always been a battle between humans that get it and humans that don’t. What’s the “it”?
That we created everything humans use, believe, practice, every custom, every belief, every God, every system, every society, every law, every boundary…everything. Therefore, it’s within our power to change it if the people need it to be changed; we’re able to adapt, invent and create our way out problems. That every human is just that, a human, not Black, White, Brown, Gay, Trans, Immigrant, Liberal, Conservative…we’re all humans and each and every one entitled to the exact same as the other. And that we don’t own the planet, we inhabit it; we share it, it’s not our dominion, it’s our home, and home to countless other species that deserve to live here as well. In their own habitats. Our needs do not outweigh the needs of the planet, how we travel, heat our homes, create our factories, how we eat is not more important than how that effects the planet and each other. That everyone is deserving of love, kindness, respect, the same things that anyone would want for themselves. You know, “it”. And that Equality, honesty, compassion, empathy, wisdom, kindness, altruism…they are not weaknesses but strengths that should guide the entire species.
Every society ends up in a similar mess, under similar circumstances with similar personality types involved. And when it does, there are those that oppose, that fight, that dissent, that suffer; and those that dictate, rule, oppress, punish. And then, a world event happens and the tables turn and there is relative peace and sanity for a time. And then the cycle starts all over again.
Because humans, apparently, never learn and many don’t appear to want to…
And all along the way people like me write about it, comment, rant. And we have many of those tomes today from generations past.
They’re sitting, with some reading them, saying “Look! See! We’ve been warned! It’s happening again! DO SOMETHING!”
But most people are ignoring them and their message, and their authors.
I guess I’ve answered my own question about whether or not it’s all been said before so why bother saying more: Yes, authors have been opposing the wrong and cheering the right for centuries, because let’s face it, people like me just can’t shut up as this column proves. The problem isn’t that it’s all been said before, it’s that every single time it’s said, far too few people listen.
