It is rare to get a punch in the gut when reading a history book. But how would you react to this quote about the war between ancient Athens and Sparta, from Lewis Dartnell's "Origins, How the Earth's History Shaped Human History"? It was written 7 years before Trump-anyahu's War Against Iran:
"Ultimately it was Athens' dependence on grain imported along the sea lanes from the Black Sea that proved her fatal weakness.
Falling upon the Athenian navy right in the narrow strait of the Hellespont, the Spartans utterly destroyed it.
The Peloponnesian War is a good illustration of the central importance of the geography of the seas and the vulnerability of vital maritime routes at narrow straits. Commanding such naval chokepoints, and thus a rival’s access to overseas resources, is often as important as controlling territory on land, and can determine the outcome of wars and the fate of civilisations."
It is rare to see such a tangible and pithy example of 'those who don't learn the lessons of history...'
Do you think this quote would have any effect on the horse's ass of a president that we have? I wonder if he has ever read a history book in his life? Hell, has he read anything other than Playboy and comic books?
It is fascinating to go back and forth from the general, timeless, and classic to the contemporary and specific. It's like the brain is a pair of scissors, getting something done because of the two opposite motions.
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