Have you served in your country's military?

[BVulgaris]

yeah, it does not need to be dressed up. Whether you join or not i guess its not that big a deal. The question i raised in relation to history was whether a soldier serves the institution for its own sake or the good of the citizens (some times its possible to do both, some times neither). (we could get into the issues discussed in the hindu texts... a military captain stands on a hill looking at the nation he was born in fighting with the nation he commands in. He discusses with his god what is the right way to think and act, etc.... often the thoughts we have now parallel the thoughts then).

As far as history goes, how about understanding the history of the israel-palestine conflict? There are many aspects to the conflict historical and modern. The fact that the major demographic were born during the conflict is one significant factor. Understanding who what when where and how in the context of the UN resolutions and the negotiations that occured in taba egypt that nearly led to a 2 state solution were it not for the negotiations being called off early (a road map to peace that could be revisited). Historically mistakes have been repeated such as the invasion of iraq by england and by the US. Both invaded and said the exact same thing verbatim. "we come not as conquerors but as liberators". I could also go on about East Timor etc. As for the links and references, if i was paid to write a paper on it fine... but you may have to wait till i have some free time to get a private posting with bibliography .

As far as ancient history i find the evolution and the governance of the persian empire to the ottoman empire very interesting, a history not well covered in the western schools until the ottoman incarnation in ww1 often. Before that, understanding early Sumerians casts light on why current theories of just warfare will never work. Its not a lab test...but its as close as you can get. Also comparing egypt to ancient Sumer may shed light on the idea that debt based economics tends to fail rather than the state taking that debt (also seen in the American Revolution, thx Alexander Hamilton!) and promoting public works during the downturn in the yearly economic cycles. (again this may sound like jibberish but understanding history plays a huge part in understanding long term human governance rather than the generational approach). If you look at what Alan Greenspan mentioned as the triumphs of capitalism you will find in his list, projects that were publicly funded for years and have evolved the way we work and think. Im not sure anyone could work the same way without the transistor.... or the internet for that matter (gotta love that internet).

He who forgets is destined to remember (quoting pearl jam... probably not the most authoritative source).

btw, i will not go further into the israel palestine conflict as enough research has been done on it and its easy enough to google. It seems that the education process though ends up causing more emotions to fly around than facts.

Thank you for your time in reading and responding btw.

[Iowatech]

yeah, it does not need to be dressed up. Whether you join or not i guess its not that big a deal. The question i raised in relation to history was whether a soldier serves the institution for its own sake or the good of the citizens (some times its possible to do both, some times neither). (we could get into the issues discussed in the hindu texts... a military captain stands on a hill looking at the nation he was born in fighting with the nation he commands in. He discusses with his god what is the right way to think and act, etc.... often the thoughts we have now parallel the thoughts then).

As far as history goes, how about understanding the history of the israel-palestine conflict? There are many aspects to the conflict historical and modern. The fact that the major demographic were born during the conflict is one significant factor. Understanding who what when where and how in the context of the UN resolutions and the negotiations that occured in taba egypt that nearly led to a 2 state solution were it not for the negotiations being called off early (a road map to peace that could be revisited). Historically mistakes have been repeated such as the invasion of iraq by england and by the US. Both invaded and said the exact same thing verbatim. "we come not as conquerors but as liberators". I could also go on about East Timor etc. As for the links and references, if i was paid to write a paper on it fine... but you may have to wait till i have some free time to get a private posting with bibliography .

As far as ancient history i find the evolution and the governance of the persian empire to the ottoman empire very interesting, a history not well covered in the western schools until the ottoman incarnation in ww1 often. Before that, understanding early Sumerians casts light on why current theories of just warfare will never work. Its not a lab test...but its as close as you can get. Also comparing egypt to ancient Sumer may shed light on the idea that debt based economics tends to fail rather than the state taking that debt (also seen in the American Revolution, thx Alexander Hamilton!) and promoting public works during the downturn in the yearly economic cycles. (again this may sound like jibberish but understanding history plays a huge part in understanding long term human governance rather than the generational approach). If you look at what Alan Greenspan mentioned as the triumphs of capitalism you will find in his list, projects that were publicly funded for years and have evolved the way we work and think. Im not sure anyone could work the same way without the transistor.... or the internet for that matter (gotta love that internet).

He who forgets is destined to remember (quoting pearl jam... probably not the most authoritative source).

btw, i will not go further into the israel palestine conflict as enough research has been done on it and its easy enough to google. It seems that the education process though ends up causing more emotions to fly around than facts.

Thank you for your time in reading and responding btw.

You do realize that if you don't actually live in the places you named here and have to deal with those situations you listed in real time, this actually has very little impact on you, ever, for any reason.
Still, thanks for the reply! It was quite educational, and exactly what I needed!

[neergish]

I almost joined the Army Reserve back in my Uni days for some extra cash. But they said I would have to cut my (then) very long hair and shave my beard (also very long), which of course would have gone against the uniform rules of being an art student, so I tried to sell tupperware instead.