[hanamizu]

Well... He *finished* the book as an old man. He started the book *at minimum* 15-20 years before it was finished.

---

I just picture him as an old man who has lived an incredibly interesting life putting pen to paper. But I also like the idea of his book taking decades to finish. Imagine the conversations he and comrades in arms had. By the time he finished it, his and his comrades’ deeds were almost beyond living memory. What they accomplished approaches the mythological. No wonder people of the 16th & 17th centuries feared the Spanish.

[ckilmer]

they were also very wealthy. they pulled an enormous amount of gold and silver from mines in mexico and peru from 1550- 1750. Then the mines ran out. Spain then fell back into poverty. All the money they brought back to europe went north to pay for their two centuries of extravagance.

that’s what happens to mere resource economies.

[ckilmer]

they were also very wealthy. they pulled an enormous amount of gold and silver from mines in mexico and peru from 1550- 1750. Then the mines ran out. Spain then fell back into poverty. All the money they brought back to europe went north to pay for their two centuries of extravagance.

that’s what happens to mere resource economies.