tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1885549900454136918.post6462330563712185085..comments2023-08-11T08:06:28.810-07:00Comments on Slobber And Spittle (Archive): Quote Of The DayCujo359http://www.blogger.com/profile/10385213658828021737noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1885549900454136918.post-73476876931426347782013-05-30T11:22:06.142-07:002013-05-30T11:22:06.142-07:00Having just listen to "King Leopold's Gho...Having just listen to "King Leopold's Ghosts" it does bring to the fore how brutal the colonization of the Congo was; truly the "Heart Of Darkness."Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07881103048419383597noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1885549900454136918.post-81386138498184790972013-05-30T10:40:45.052-07:002013-05-30T10:40:45.052-07:00OK, don't read what the historian had to offer...OK, don't read what the historian had to offer, no big problem. FinisExpatnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1885549900454136918.post-28072999873777655172013-05-29T14:14:44.098-07:002013-05-29T14:14:44.098-07:00I'm pretty sure my opinions on this haven'...I'm pretty sure my opinions on this haven't been set in stone. I do have to say I'm a bit skeptical about their downfall being due to Western finance, though. We get into a habit of mind of thinking that it's the lender who has the power. As with many personal analogies to nation states, this is almost completely wrong. Nations can default on loans, though most try not to do it. They hold as much power in that relationship as the lenders do.<br /><br />So, either the Islamic world made the mistake of choosing really dumb leaders, or something else was at least as problematic.<br /><br />When you have a vital economy that produces what you need, financing isn't much of a problem. Credit ratings are about ability to pay, after all. The story of the Muslim world starting in the 16th Century or so is at least partly about a failing economy. They couldn't keep up with Western technology, despite having had a substantial lead at one time.<br /><br />My guess is that a failing ecosystem in much of its domain, coupled with a determination to lock half its most valuable minds in the closet, may have had something to do with the end of the Muslim empires.<br /><br />Cujo359https://www.blogger.com/profile/10385213658828021737noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1885549900454136918.post-65185052030452082042013-05-27T11:02:21.209-07:002013-05-27T11:02:21.209-07:00Eugene Rogan "The Arabs, A History" ISBN...Eugene Rogan "The Arabs, A History" ISBN 978-0-141-02469-1 only begins to fill the vacuum of what is not known about MENA history of the modern era (from the 1500's or the discovery of New World). This book brings together not only Arabian history and that of the Ottoman empire, but the continuing contacts and conflicts with European culture and how finance and debt were used to defeat and subject the region to the hegemony of European great powers. The book is a profound look at that history and needs be read <b>before</b> opinions are set in stone.Expatnoreply@blogger.com