Recent content by KingOfSpades

Right, I'm well aware of that. But he didn't mention Italy or the Balkans in Mein Kampf. As the wiki article I cited pointed out, the intention to invade Russia was written down at least a decade before it was initiated. Maybe we'll just have to agree to disagree -- or maybe we just differ...

Agreed that it was propaganda; however, I would still contend that the propaganda influenced international relations. This is why Russia was targeted at all, as opposed to, say, Italy or the Balkans. Hitler was convinced in his mind that Russians were subhumans, so he planned their...

Saying Hitler was a good strategist and recognized the strategic gains of taking over the oil fields of Baku is very different than saying that the Nazi state acted rationally in international relations. I agree that Baku had strategic influence. However, it's also true that HIlter was talking...

I think, though, that states DO have ideology. Nazi Germany is a prime example. The only reason it went to war with Russia (a doomed enterprise) was becaue of the ideology that the slavs were lesser humans than Aryans, and that the Bolsheviks had to be wiped out. Hitler intended to go to war...

Wow, well put. I enjoyed reading this. The power of ideas is really unrivaled. If 100 people believe *anything* and share a common purpose, they can really change the world. If 100 people all agree that they fear the same thing, I agree that is a bad sign that a war might be imminent. I...

Agreed. people are people -- they are flawed, and selfish, but also capable of great connection and at times compassion. I didn't make good friends until I was around 19 and went to college. And even then I was continually disappointed by my friends b/c they never lived up to my expectations...

It's logically consistent, but I woudl worry about the social consequences of this writ large. It seems it would cultivate a very self-interested attitude about what to do with your life. The parental bond is strong, and suggesting that a parent has no obligation to provide for the kid might...

Actually what inspired this thread was a job experience working at a very wealthy non profit a few years back, which was a mixed experience, but I really got the impression that the non profit was not at all concerned with actual, systemic change. So, when I would point out something that we...

im' first born and definitely introvertd. dunno if there's any correlation tho! be interested to see the results. i've read elsewhere that first borns are light sleepers for some reason.

I like this. Science concerns itself with what can be measured. But it can't do much with things that can't be measured. Current physics seeks new ways to measure things (which is why they build those billion dollar particle accellerators) but I think there are things you can't measure...

I thoguht this was maybe derived frmo the story of Onan, who was struck down by God after he spilt a lil seed?? :m051:

Yea, that was my original point. The needs that people have, and which charity seeks to meet, have to be comprehended in a larger context. Why is the baby starving? I think maybe we live in a world where people like having starving children around so that they can feel good when they send...

Yea I like this. Seems like a lot of charity is just about strokin' strokin' the ego. if you help others anonymously and without any expectation of result, maybe the effects work themselves out better.

Agreed...this is empowerment. Witholding knowledge to alter someone's decision is a form of thought control, and a form of slavery in the end. AIDS itself is a very mysterious. Humans have been having sex for a long time, but the virus is (maybe?) 100 years old -- extremely recent. Maybe it...

I have a weird view of charity, in that I don't think very highly of it. I think charity does a lot of bad in the world. By "bad," I mean the consequences often keep people in conditions of servitude or destitution, even when the intent is (allegedly) to better others. Some of the threads...