Does History Really Repeat Itself?

People always say, "History repeats itself." This isn't necessarily true though. I think that history repeats itself only when the people involved are ignorant of that particular history or when they don't prepare for prevention of the same thing from happening. People are very aware of what was involved in WWII, so, it is unlikely that it will happen like that again. Most everyone agrees that what Hitler did was evil and, hopefully, people will take that example of the defeat of evil and not attempt it again. By teaching people about the bad events in history they will be able to recognize what parts of those events are occuring in modern life and, if needed, prevent them. Take this recession for example. The people in charge remembered the circumstances leading up to the Great Depression and were prepared to prevent it from reoccuring. After 9/11, airport security increased dramatically. Because of these prevention measures hijacking has become very difficult in America. So, history is repeated only when it is unrecognized or unhindered by preventions. That's what I think anyway.Ttyl and something about an alligator :)