Another thing is that to think about history one has to do more than basic survival, and world's in a bad shape for most people to do more than simply exist.
@corrupt: The reason we as species don't learn from history is because history is many times longer than a lifespan of a single human. Anything at that scale is beyond comprehension of most people.
I hope I never become so cynical and say "eff everything, I dont care anymore". But sadly I'm seeing many friends that, even though we share the same values, simply do not want to engage with current events in any way.
I like to believe most people want the same thing (food, health, education, stability, order, etc) and belong to the first group. Desperation is one hell of a drug.
The way I see it: One thing is being misguided. Thinking that doing X would benefit them (at the cost of something they hold dear). Another, different, thing is sincere malice towards others.