You know the old saw about how leaders always to learn the wrong lesson from history? So, WWI happens because everyone blindly stands by their treaty commitments, so 25 years later we get Munich, where they don't? That sort of thing? Reading about the Third Reich, and Lebanon, and Somalia, and Iraq, I'm starting to wonder, what if there are no lessons? What if these ethnic pressure differentials just build up until they're resolved? Speaking of Lebanon, it occured to me the other day, that if Iraq worked really well, better than we could possibly hope for, it might turn out like Lebanon, in a state of restless tension, with an army that's unable to do anything without collapsing back into civil war, leaving the countryside open for terrorists. That's sort of the best case with the current stategy, and even that isn't possible. Lebanon doesn't have oil. Oil, unlike tourism, doesn't need peace. The only reason Lebanon has held together at all these past 20 years is that there's nothing to fight over. That, and, apparently, a occupying foriegn army. If they don't have a occupying army, they go out and launch rockets until one comes back.

I need to learn more about the history of India and Pakistan, about the partition and the wars. At the moment partition and displacement seem like the route to peace, but I don't know much about how it turned out there. But do you move people forcibly? Or just wait until they're so terrified that they move themselves? Not good either.

This is why I tend to focus on things like abolishing the penny, when it comes to politics. I feel I understand the penny issue, and can take a firm stand on it. You can see why totalitarian governments abolish history. The whole problem comes down to history. Brainwash everyone, get them in the same churches speaking the same languages, and there are far fewer things to fight about. Of course, if people don't know history, they just make some up to get angry about. I may be depressed. It's a good thing I'm not in charge of the world, so don't actually need to decide what everyone should do. They just get on with it without me. _
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