Our Middle Ages and the dark ages of yesteryear and today

A few months ago while I was listening to the radio in the car, when asked to the listeners: "What was your favorite historical period" a young student surprised me (and indeed the hosts too) by answering the Middle Ages.

In fact, almost everyone considers the #Middle Ages a period of obscurantism, often referred to as the "dark ages", but as in almost all things, even in the Middle Ages there is something that can be a stimulus..."The knights" do not let's forget about the knights, wonderful heroic figures capable of any feat in the collective imagination. Speaking more seriously, the Middle Ages however brought an increase in the population resulting from technological and agricultural innovations, saw the birth of the first universities and then continued with wars and plagues, better remembered by most.

Immediately afterwards we did not miss the succulent possibility of hunting down the "witches" or of condemning Galileo Galilei for heresy because in fact he had this fixation of the earth revolving on itself and around the sun... what should we do today to the "flat earthers"?

We could continue to mention dozens and dozens of names and historical facts, those mentioned can help us understand (perhaps) that unfortunately man has bad habits that are difficult to overcome, such as that of demonizing something or someone that is inconvenient to most people... powerful.

We know that we like to talk about topics that concern #cannabis and therefore, remaining firm to the principle according to which even in dark times there is something good, I cannot fail to mention the 1930s in America, a historical period in which hemp/demon was considered the beginning of all evil, fought in a repressive and violent way from a political, media and executive point of view (the FBI in particular), repression by those in power is always the easiest way but the stroke of genius was to call systematically and in a planned way the cannabis "Marijuana"... was something different!

Years pass and the miniskirt returns, perhaps not all over the world but it happens. It happens that while the advanced world moves at a smartphome pace, someone in Italy progresses by moving from carrier pigeons to the telegraph.

Someone in Italy still hunts witches, someone thinks that the sun revolves around the earth and a plant, as old as man, which in Italy we have always called cannabis is instead called Marijuana.

History will see them with the right point of view, just as today we look at the US propaganda comics of the 1930s with laughter.

After all, Hitler and Stalin also have a place in history.