Your logic would be considered sound by many professors. But I can't disagree more. War is a major factor on culture, IMHO.
"If you look at the 100 years war in Europe , nothing fundamentally changed. England was still England, France was still France."
England, through use of the longbow, skewering so many well armored French knights, gained a sense of self worth and began to value the common man. The concept of the right to bear arms was entirely the result of war. This is actually a great example of the opposite point. The 100 Year War, combined with all the other wars that England fought, ended the Feudal System in England. Wars involving gunpowder merely sped up the process the longbow had begun. England became a world leader, in part, because it was ahead of all the other European nations, culturally. And the Brits had a manifest destiny to be Europe's greatest empire, thanks to the battles the longbow was used in.
The importance of a strong navy began to slowly dawn upon them. The importance of unity was definitely thrust upon them, their lords seeing the need to empower their king with enough resources to keep a more competitive army out in the field.
"With the American Revolution nothing fundamentally changed. England's colonial strength was diminished but England didn't change. America still spoke English, still embraced a Western style culture and still considered England out cousins."
America's creativity was unleashed. The patent system generated 90% of the world's inventions. And, if we had remained a colony, England may have used military might to prolong slavery. The Brits tended to aid the Confederacy prior to Lincoln's Emancipation Proclomation, which might never have been made. Cheap labor tends to stunt innovation.
"The multitude of petty wars between the nations of Europe for 1000 years did not fundamentally change the society."
If Catholicism had won out in the wars of Europe, Christianity would have become more corrupt than ever. Religious monopoly is the root of corrupt governments. I would say the cultural differnces between Mexico and the US are stark.
And when you look at the culture shock of a place that turns Islamic, the transformation is abominable.
Well, that is as far as I've gotten so far. FReegards....
[Working my way down...]
"It took the influx of greater barbarians, the Mongols to sweep Western Europe clean of Islam."
Not in Spain. I think your point is that the Mongels helped weaken Islam. Or maybe you mean't "non-Moorish" Islamics. You mentioned the Moors up to the 1400s earlier. So, this is a typo of some kind.
[continuing....]
Aha! A good point, and well written:
"...The west is already imbedded by the advance forces of Islam through 50 years of immigration and cultural diversity. We look a lot like Rome before the fall, weakened from within, power hungry politicians more concerned with their own power than in the safety of the nation..."
And, I revert back to our opposing view of history. The outcome is largely affected by war. If we cower from Islam, then the muslims here in the US will be proud of their religion. Some of them will be emboldened. It would not take many. At the same time, a few anti-muslims would form militias or the ones already in militias would shift their focus from 'don't trust government' to 'don't trust muslims'. Combine that with Mexican nationalists, and we could see paramilitary groups slowly evolve.
On the other hand, if we strengthen our border defense with technology, punitive punishments, etc, then we return to the melting pot, rather than the fruitcake that the left seeks us to become.
I think you've nailed it. Best original essay I've read.
Excellence In Posting. The Unpleasantness we're involved in now is a solvable problem: Determine who most needs killing. Then kill enough of them.
You do make many good points.
One that caught my eye in particular was that fear of inferiority is one of the roots. Since one cannot earn his wife's love, he prefers total control. Since one cannot earn his own money he must get tribute from the earnings of others. Pyschologists call it an "inferiority complex", which is almost interchangable with a "superiority complex" that might result, and which has a lot to do with people who seek to control and manipulate others.
On another problem, this impending whirlwind is being stunted largely by mothers. Who raises the kids? Mom. How will Mom react to this war? I don't think she's very happy with Islam. The more she finds out, the more differing points of view she hears, the more success stories in Afghanistan and Iraq she learns about, the more she will quietly question her local dogma.
Curiosity will lead to seeking knowledge. Computer printouts, the internet, cell phones, rogue radio stations, etc will all erode her blind faith. When Mom mentions things subtly to her children, those children will not be as blindly loyal as their fathers.
If we can ride out this current whirlwind, if we continue to improve our intelligence assets, if we continue to undermine the UN, then the next whirl wind will, God willing, in time fade.
Then there is the next theory: the "Big" One. We think we've suffered a lot already. This is nothing compared to what could happen in the future. It's simply impossible to stop every possible mass terror attack imaginable. Therefore, as our enemies grow more desperate, it will one day happen.
When that happens, people will either get more determined or more fearful. I believe we will become more determined. And, God willing, we will have more diplomatic leverage than we ever thought we had before.
At that point, we will have a recognized 'ax to grind'. Other countries will expect us to get extreme. And we will. We will definitely cause more collateral damage. We will be criticized, but in some ways, there will be less criticm than we currently hear, partly because criticism will do nothing to deter us.
bttt
Ping me next time you write something! This is brilliant and you wrote it. Good stuff.
Only a nuke by the terrorists will change that, and thats iffy.. Stomping out fires on your neighbors porch(Iraq) could just be a diversion from the fire in our own kitchen.. At least thats the end result politically..
There's really nothing here to argue about. It is as you say.
Truer words have never been spoken[written], Red.
Only a fool would critize that speech.
But since there is an overabundance of those, get ready.
For what it is worth, I stand with you.
Still reading but I found this, which is confusing to me:
"It took the influx of greater barbarians, the Mongols to sweep Western Europe clean of Islam"
Do you mean Eastern Europe? I know the 3rd generation Mongols advanced as far west as Vienna and somewhere in Poland.
Verify the words "their" and "there" are used correctly. I found at least one "their" that should have been "there."
Other than that, it is very good.
Officials lay bricks in symbolic start for Muslim center
June 14, 2005
The Dallas Morning News
PLANO TEXAS – The Ismaili Muslim community announced Tuesday that it is building a $6.5 million worship and community center in Plano, where it has found a warm welcome.
Gov. Rick Perry flew in to lay the first ceremonial brick for the center's foundation. It was a symbolic gesture since the site for the new center will be a few miles northeast of the Gleneagles Country Club in Plano, where the foundation ceremony was held.
And I agree with others, very good post.