History is a ledger

Time is is is a linear progression. History is not. History is what we have made of time. It's a ledger, which means that the past is always interacting with the present and influencing the future. It's true individually and it's true collectively.

Everything you do is a transaction. You purchase your deeds, your actions on credit, and the eventual payment is rendered in the currency of consequences. Again, is true for individuals and it's true for nations. And history is a record of all those transactions and how they get settled. It's an audit detailing the balancing of the books.

So at any given moment in the present, you're both settling some accounts and anticipating outstanding payments that will be coming due.