READ THIS and blow yer fuckin' mind...
In college, they tell you that history doesn't really repeat itself.. but from where I sit, it sure seems to "sample" itself pretty damn often. For instance;
In the 7th century, the Sassanians (Persians from Iran) were fighting with the Byzantines (remnants of the Roman Empire) over... YOU GUESSED IT, IRAQ! They had been battling for quite some time and both sides were exhausted and nearly broke.
Now the Sassanians were in control of southern and eastern Iraq but they had been spending all their money on their military and neglecting infrastructure LIKE LEVEES! One big flood in 627-28 CE and the Tigris river burst the dilapidated levees and poured into the Euphrates. The Euphrates in turn spilled over and detroyed much valuable land, causing an ecological and financial catastrophie which further devastated the Sassanian economy and led to their ruin.
And who should pour into Iraq to destroy them? "Foreign fighters" from Arabia... all fired up by a new religion started by a guy named Mohammed!
That's right people, soak it in... A tottering empire wasting its money on the military... neglects its infrastucture and has a levee break causing ecological and financial ruin... and is whooped in Iraq by Islamic extremists from what is now Saudi Arabia.
The only thing that happened then that hasn't happened now? The Sassanian emperor Khosro II was assassinated the very next year.
Here's to hoping the parallel continues!
In college, they tell you that history doesn't really repeat itself.. but from where I sit, it sure seems to "sample" itself pretty damn often. For instance;
In the 7th century, the Sassanians (Persians from Iran) were fighting with the Byzantines (remnants of the Roman Empire) over... YOU GUESSED IT, IRAQ! They had been battling for quite some time and both sides were exhausted and nearly broke.
Now the Sassanians were in control of southern and eastern Iraq but they had been spending all their money on their military and neglecting infrastructure LIKE LEVEES! One big flood in 627-28 CE and the Tigris river burst the dilapidated levees and poured into the Euphrates. The Euphrates in turn spilled over and detroyed much valuable land, causing an ecological and financial catastrophie which further devastated the Sassanian economy and led to their ruin.
And who should pour into Iraq to destroy them? "Foreign fighters" from Arabia... all fired up by a new religion started by a guy named Mohammed!
That's right people, soak it in... A tottering empire wasting its money on the military... neglects its infrastucture and has a levee break causing ecological and financial ruin... and is whooped in Iraq by Islamic extremists from what is now Saudi Arabia.
The only thing that happened then that hasn't happened now? The Sassanian emperor Khosro II was assassinated the very next year.
Here's to hoping the parallel continues!
thanks for the comment on my set