I found a copy of a book I read waybackawhen,,, Like prepubescent age (I think I was 12 when I read it then, so 43 years ago,,,,) This book is no lightweight book either,,,, Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa no affiliate link there, I was reading Stephen King and many others for years and at that time, I was into the Japanese thing hardcore,,, James Clavells Shogun, among many others. (by the way, in re-reading this book, I was sort of shocked at the type face,,, something like 8 point microprint,,, and the book is still 970 pages in length,,,, I need my readers for this one and I don’t normally,,,Certainly did not as a kid,,,,)
But it got me to thinking about things, historical and what not. Look at Japan, centuries of being a Country, a set of ethics, A CULTURE for cripes sake. Look at Russia, A thousand years of history dating back to the collapse of The Holy Roman Empire and the breakup of the Church between Roman Catholic and the Orthodox church ( When Constantinople was a place, ‘Istanbul not Constantinople, its Istanbul not Constantinople’,,,, thats nobodies business but the Turks,,,,’ ). China,, same: thousands of years of history, going back as far as the Roman Empire, even so far back as to Alexander in some areas. India much the same. Maybe the borders have changed some over decades/centuries, but the Cultures are much the same,,,,
Its why I think China was so readily absorbed into communism of their own flavor and why the Soviet flavor didn’t sit well for very long. The cultures make it or break it. (and why Japan did not fall under Communism seeing how tiered their people have been for centuries,,, maybe it was the militant tiering that kept them safe,,, dunno)
But think about the time periods of those people. There were, ARE, towns in Russia that have history that goes all the way back to the Mongol Hordes, towns that didn’t collapse, but surrendered and paid the tithe to maintain a certain amount of sovereignty during that time. (You did know that Genghis offered that to every city/state, right? Refusal was a death sentence,,,). Doing so allowed them to survive and keep their culture. Culture that, yes, has evolved some over the decades/centuries, but is still very much a part of the people. Culture that transcends borders, culture that molds thought processes.
Think about the Samurai of Japan, the mindset that is still very much alive today in the way they deal in business (well, to some extent, it was much more prevalent in the 70’s and 80’s)
Thousands of years of culture,,, thats a force multiplier in some theaters. In some ways, its also an issue. Like that situation in the Kraine,,, Many on both sides of the front speak Russian, are Russian in thinking, and the problem really boils down to Government, not the people themselves. But I digress,,,, (and why the FUCK are we still playing these Cold War mind games? Seriously, that shit is DEAD DEAD DEAD!!!! )
Look at us though: Here we are, Fresh meat on the world stage in many ways. Canada is another such (as is pretty much any one country on the American Continents; north south or central.). Less than 500 years in the making. Our own country is only 248 years old. We have a culture, kind of, one that is the ODD of the children of the world, Some of European or Asian culture would even say we are the Autistic brats on the playground,,,,
Gotta say, I kinda take a certain amount of pride in that, seeing how I am a contrarian at my deepest core,,,, (Think about it, I was the wyrd kid in school that carried ‘Fun’ reading material around that wieghed more than my Textbooks did,,, and had a backpack that had all my AD&D books for when I wasn’t at school, that weighed even MORE,,,,)
And yet here we are,,,, Being torn apart from the inside by bad actors of our own making (so to speak,,) they look like us and talk like us, but they AIN’T AMERICAN in my humble opinion,,, They invite in ‘replacement peoples’ to displace those of us that were born here or came here to BE AmeriCAN’s, not drag those shitholes we fled with us (Keep that in mind, those fleeing the bluehives,,, You voted for that shit, and it drove you out; don’t bring it with you dammit!!!).
I go back and watch the Tucker/Putin Interview and I see that HISTORY, I see the,,, I want to say ‘contempt’ but I think that is too harsh a word, more like the Elder looking at the fumbling of the young and just shaking heads at the foolishness. That Putin has thrown in his ‘bid’ for Biden actually tells me he would rather see America Fail without a bullet fired than have to face a strong America,,, Can you blame the man? He is a ‘world leader’ and while maybe he does, or doesn’t have Empirical goals for his country, EMPIRE is the natural evolution of Government, and CENTRALIZED GOVERNMENT at that,,,, Russia definitely has that Centrailized thing going. Every Government out there does currently,,,
BUT
I see that trend dying as we watch. I think that is what is driving all of us just a little bit batty right now. We are a Young Country that grew way too damned fast, thanks to Technology and the timing of WW2, and the fact that we have one big landmass surrounded by LOTS of ocean to deter invasion.
UNLESS, we invite the invasion IN,,,, As our Current Shaminstration has been doing the last three years,,,
And the fact that we keep electing people that actually HATE the idea of Freedom of the People,,,, These people in office, both in front with names known and those behind the scenes that make the actual decisions; they despise people being autonomous and individual. THEY want widgets, slaves, cogs that pay; NOT PEOPLE because they are only interested in one thing
POWER. Power as explained by Orwell. “Power for powers sake, nothing else, ULTIMATE POWER.”
And they can feel it slipping from their grasp,,, That’s the point of all the talk of censorship across world nets. The continuing grab at the 2A, even now going through SCOTUS, yet again,,,, The ‘don’t give a damn’ spending that goes against 80% of the populace’s opinion, left and right combined,,, THEY WANT US DESTROYED because we are the ‘outlaw that shows the hole in their ideology’. THEY have to destroy America, or THEY will find they are the hunted when the rest of the world figures it out, AND THEY KNOW IT!!!! Even Putin is in on this in some way.
And this country is about to be made a laughing stock of the world yet again, very soon. Kraine and Russia are in talks with the House of Saud acting as mediator,,,, Maybe the characters involved are part of that Centralized Government thing that is taking a hit, but when its all said and done, the people will still see how fallible the Big Gov’s truly are,,, (Wanna know just how fragile they are? Look deep into the House of Saud and find out how much that group pays their people to NOT riot,,,, Eye opening that one was,,,,)
Ok, Had to get that stuff outta me head,,, may be I am overthinking shit again, (usually) but I look at current events and the insanity that is the ‘norm’ currently has me looking for solutions to a future that is decidedly “unclear, check back again soon”
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