Re: I do hope so RG Archived Message Posted by dovetailjoint on June 25, 2019, 8:15 pm, in reply to "I do hope so RG" The unintended consequences of war are myriad and frightening. Over a century ago a big chunk of my family were doing very well indeed and had been for a long time, embedded in the heart of really powerful, wealthy, strong, sophisticated, influential, big, multi-national, liberal state at the heart of the European power structure. A state to be reckoned with. That state was Austria/Hungary. Whatever happened to Austria? WW1 destroyed Austria. A powerful state that had existed for almost a thousand years. A very stable state, with the last Emporer ruling for over sixty years. Austria was wiped off the map and dismembered and where a lot of my family lived, Vienna was a great imperial city that was suddenly marooned and the state had lost more than half its territory and population. The economic foundation was gone and tens of thousands of refugees were flooding in. Austria was in political, economic and cultural meltdown, great for extremists because the political class was in a state of chock too, as the monarchy was gone and a fragile republic installed. In this environment Adolf Hitler looked around and began to formulate his strange nationalist narrative. So WW1 started a terrible cascade of events that destroyed entire states and led to even greater madness and carnage going forward. Given that wars are so incredibly destructive and so dangerous, it's fascinating and frightening that we still allow them to happen. Why? Why don't people protest more? Where are the deomonstrations against war with Iran? Where's the debate? Shouldn't one be arguing for the imposition of economic sanctions on the United States too and not just Iran? Are we really, if we're honest, just jumped-up apes with way too much technology at our disposal? Isn't it too easy to blame capitalism for all our failures and violence? What if the desease lies deeper within us? Message Thread: DmitryO still doesn't think there'll be wars in any of the Swamp's failed regime-change fantasies - - Rhisiart Gwilym June 25, 2019, 3:39 pm Great one by Orlov - made me laugh Thx for posting nm - MikeD June 25, 2019, 4:22 pm I do hope so RG - Sherwoodian June 25, 2019, 5:31 pm Re: I do hope so RG - dovetailjoint June 25, 2019, 8:15 pm A little something to cheer you up .. - Shyaku June 26, 2019, 6:45 am (Waltzer der Schwalbenschwanzverbindung!) - Shyaku June 26, 2019, 6:48 am Brilliant! I LOVE the sound of Shostakovich in the morning! NOM - Rhisiart Gwilym June 26, 2019, 7:00 am Re: I do hope so RG - Si June 26, 2019, 11:55 am   Searching