Since the positivism of Auguste Comte, we tend to think of humanity as in perpetual progress, moving away from barbaric roots to tend towards a civilization that is if not perfect, at least more harmonious. Since the 1980s revival, we realize that we are only doing the same things over and over again. And in fact, if the Internet had existed in the Middle Ages, we could play the game of 7 differences on certain aspects of our society and the world in general.
Hackers do exist
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Buccaneers, buccaneers, Vikings: pirates have existed since antiquity. 406 incidents of piracy also took place in 2009, including 217 off the coast of Somalia (I recommend the brilliant film Captain Philips which narrates a super creepy assault). But piracy is super cool, because it’s the first object of universal jurisdiction and we still haven’t really managed to make a second one since that is also respected.
We burn witches
Like epileptics near the Niger River or albinos in Tanzania. Epilepsy and albinism are simply considered to be diseases of the devil. And the devil, we don’t like him, but then not at all. Like in the Middle Ages, when witches were burned.
The plague still exists
Plif plouf: 3 people are affected by the plague each year in the United States. Except that in 2015, they were 11, including 3 dead. Plop plop. It makes you want to fight. In 1347, it was still half of the European population who went there.
The religious wars
Well, one can argue that many of the wars presented as religious wars are actually political. But overall, what the Islamic State is doing is very similar to the Crusades and the massacres of minorities in China or the latent anti-Semitism in certain European countries are not very far from what we experienced 1000 years ago.
There is still a nobility today
Whether it is Republican, with the ranks of the Legion of Honor in France, or still corresponds to archaic things, with the Sirs and the British Lords, we continue to distribute honorary decorations which no longer correspond to anything. But it must be cool to be called commander. Right, Johnny?
There are still lords
For your information, the Anglo-Norman lord of the island of Sark died a few years ago. On the island, the lords continue to pay a tax to the King of England, the amount of which has not changed since the Middle Ages. The. 10 terminals from our shores.
We celebrate Christmas
It is to Clovis and more generally to the francs that we owe the fixing of the date of Christmas. Since the High Middle Ages, therefore, a celebration has been perpetuated which, however secular it may be, perpetuates an intrinsically religious model of penance, guilt and turkey with chestnuts.
Women can still be corrected by their husbands
It took until 2013 for Saudi Arabia to legislate prohibiting domestic violence. Otherwise, in Sudan and Yemen, women are half-persons. It’s almost worse than before. In the 10th century, in France, certain women managed to emancipate themselves completely. And it wasn’t just nobles.
We drink stupid games
We don’t redo the entire history of tournaments in the Middle Ages, which did not necessarily lead, contrary to what is often said, to the death of one of the protagonists with a big spear. But it is clear that we perpetuate the tradition; we just televised it all to reach more people. When the world stops for 1 month on the occasion of the World Cup, you can’t help but think of the Beijings gathered around an arena to see knights throwing themselves at each other.