Thursday, June 22, 2023
Athens, Sparta, America, and War
via AMAC
Contrary to conventional summaries, Greek city-states were neither purely democratic nor purely militaristic. They were, as we are, complex. Athens was a pseudo-democracy – but aggressive and expansionist, constantly waring with others for land.
Contrary to myth, Athens was not the “land of bread and honey,” especially for women, who had no rights, could not vote, and were effectively property of their husbands.
Novel in the way it pioneered self-rule, Athens was actually governed by a loosely defined upper class, with “lots” drawn – and favored retired military heroes as leaders.
By contrast, Sparta – which history despises more than Richard III, a likely victim of Tudor disinformation – was not a heathen, horrible, all-war-all-the-time sort of place.
An inland city-state with no real navy, it tended to be defensive, focused on domestic prosperity, non-expansionist, and notably gave women every right men had – no exceptions.
Sparta’s domestic life was hardly insufferable, and the most educated citizens were elected to bodies that served under a king. If the collective view disagreed with the king, he was overruled.
So, why did history trash Sparta and celebrate Athens? Why do historians see Sparta’s more gender-equitable, orderly lifestyle – not expansionist – as bad? Why is Athens the posterchild for “good” governance, Sparta all that is “bad?”
The reason is simple, but subtle. Athens tended toward democratic rule, higher education, encouraged philosophy, higher thinking, even poetry. Athens was a dualism, confident in intellectual and political innovation – but also aggressive.
The reverse image, Sparta was content with traditional norms, not big on innovation, hardly ready to abandon established social norms, individuality and freedom, including for women.
Sparta was also determined to be prepared for war, perhaps because of city-states like Athens, invariably at their gates. So – and here is the nub – Sparta took nothing for granted.
Sparta had mandatory military service, modest for the young and highly capable, no excuses, no lapses for men in their prime and older age. Notably, if the population had not wished this, they could have overruled the king – and they did not.
History is in the West heavily biased toward the developments in the "west" at the expense of teaching what was going on in the rest of the world.
It ignores other civilizations unless they poised a threat to Rome or Athens (other Greek city states).
But even in that bias you have to have noticed that Sparta is singled out for the most disparaging views of all of them.
I've always wondered why.
By today's standards they were forward thinking. By the standards of the time they were no better or worse than the other states.
So why the hate?
It's martial traits.
The author struggles to link the martial traits of Sparta with our Roman sensibilities.
That's flawed thinking. You can have one but not both. Apparently we're choosing to follow the examples of the Romans.
Iveco will supply the Swedish Armed Forces with multi-purpose vehicles
* A ready made "battle van"??? This thing would sell like hotcakes in the southern US! I've seen so many 4x4 vans that are conversions that it makes me wonder why no manufacturer has tried to corner the market.
via zbiam.pl
On June 16, Iveco Defense Vehicles (IDV) announced that it had signed a framework contract with the Swedish Defense Materiel Administration (Försvarets materielverk, FMV) for the supply of up to 3,000 light vehicles for the Swedish Armed Forces. The first order will cover 400 cars.The contract concluded by IDV is a framework agreement (FWA) for the supply of up to 3,000 light multi-purpose LMPV (Light Multi Purpose Vehicles) MUV 4×4 (Military Utility Vehicle) vehicles. The agreement is to run from 2023 to 2027, with an option to extend it for another five years. The MUV 4×4, selected as a model deemed to meet LMPV requirements, is available in 12 different variants, including: troop transport, medical, communications, logistics and dog transport. The car is structurally based on the militarized modular family of Iveco Daily 4x4 cars with several variants differing in the permissible total weight, chassis, cabin, engine and transmission system.
The true state of American politics. Democracy died long ago
Listen to Professor Jeffrey Sachs's damning indictment of the US political system:
— COMBATE |🇵🇷 (@upholdreality) June 19, 2023
"US politics is basically a plutocratic state where public policy has been taken over by several powerful lobbies, each one devoted to its specific area (...) Democrats and Republicans, by the… pic.twitter.com/kqExPiBuAT
Vid of Zelensky warning of terror attack
⚡️Zelensky claims that “Russia is considering a scenario of a terrorist attack on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.”
— War Monitor (@WarMonitors) June 22, 2023
reporting ≠ endorsing
pic.twitter.com/hZhVjfsRGC
Russian gas flows through Ukraine could stop next year, according to kyiv.
How many of you knew that Russian gas was still flowing to Europe thru Ukraine? I didn't. I assumed that because of the war the Russians would have long ago shut that off. Certainly after the attack on the pipeline. Now I know why Europe wasn't in a hurt locker this last winter. Weird war. After all the economic games in public apparently business is being conducted out of sight. We're all being played. This is not a normal war. I don't know what the objectives are but its becoming clear that even a Russian withdrawal won't turn it off now. Negotiations are needed. The longer this goes the worse its gonna get.Les flux de gaz russe à travers l'Ukraine pourraient s'arrêter l'année prochaine, selon Kiev.
— Ananke Group (@AnankeGroup) June 22, 2023
Le ministre ukrainien de l'énergie a déclaré que le renouvellement d'un contrat de transit de 5 ans était peu probable. https://t.co/LtwI5FslAc
Zelensky claims Russia considering terror attack at Zaporizhzhia nuke plant.
#BREAKING Ukraine's Zelensky claims Russia considering 'terror attack' at occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant pic.twitter.com/1Vz0EnUjt2
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) June 22, 2023
Zelensky is warning of a terror attack.
I'm in the land of mirrors and if you're being honest (and looking at this clearly) you are too.
If we had followed my counsel and stayed the hell outta this fight then this would simply be a quick talking point and we'd be on to the next episode.
As things stand I worry (AND YOU SHOULD TOO) that the Ukrainians will do anything to drag the West and most importantly the United States into this fight.
Having said that I don't put it past Zelensky and his cronies to launch an attack on that plant, blame it on the Russians and use the passions of the sheeple to drag us into their fight.
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