People and history

"To know history is to know the future". I don't know if I heard that somewhere, have paraphrased it or made it up myself, but I like it.
It's something you come across in lots of literature and philosophical discussions. Usually in references to the "wheel of time" and other various circular analogies. Yet it still seems largely ignored as everyone busily races forward in their own little world of experience.
I think people confuse culture and society being different with people being different. Sure there have been great strides towards a more cooperative and peaceful global society yada yada, but I think individual fundamental motivations and resulting actions haven't changed. Only the way they are realised. Sex, food, physical comfort and status. It all boils down to trying to obtain some combination of these on greater or lesser scales.
On the greatest scale;
The US trying to bring peace, democracy and a steady cash-flow to the rest of the world. Sorry guys, Alexander (the Great) of Macedon's already had a shot at that, at least he admitted to seeking glory along the way while stopping inter-tribal conflict by making them part of a bigger whole. It worked for a while...
Rome sought to bring the best back to it, to achieve the great roman dream. Turning it into a great consumer, less and less able to provide it's own needs while creating more layers of bereaucracy, social divides and civil unrest before collapsing in upon itself. With a range of suppressed and opportunistic societies waiting for the sign of weakness before swooping in to gobble choice pieces and desecrate the symbols of previous greatness to achieve some petty greatness themselves.
On smaller scales;
People with a common interest gather together and a leader emerges. The community grows as more people are drawn to it and inevitably more leaders emerge. This results in tension as some leaders tussle for status and assume that the other leaders must have the same motivation. Conflict arises and people or groups are split off. Some going a short way, others going far. After which there is a lull as people come to grips with the new situation and then the groups start to grow again to a point where the process repeats. This is how the world was populated across its whole face by many species, not just we pans-narrans. (ie: story tellingmonkey. Read Pratchett's "Science of discworld 2").

By the way, watch out for that asteroid.