The US already paid for a LOT of the infrastructure in Vietnam…Da Nang, Tan Son Nhut, Cam Ran Bay, etc
In Vietnam, the Lefty government, brays on loud speakers, and everyone ignores it.
It’s NBC and CNN in the US.
Right at the end of WWII Ho Chi Minh approached OUR State Dept. for help in throwing off the French Colonialists but our “experts” in foreign relations knew best and ignored him. So he found the Russians more receptive.
Right at the end of the Great War Ho went to Versailles for help throwing off the yoke of French Colonialism. Rented a tux, went to the negotiations, and was told to go pound sand, because all that self-determination hoo-haw was just for Europeans. Then he helped create the French Communist Party, moved to Moscow, etc.
Of course he found the Soviets more receptive. I don’t think he expected much of the State Department, but regardless, they were busy keeping France from going communist, he had a pre-existing relationship with Moscow, and US support of Vietnamese independence was a non-starter.
I was in ‘Nam. It was something that will stick with me the rest of my life. [thousand yard stare]
Vietnam Sex Tour, 2003…those Vietnamese girls will do anything!.
A couple of the comments drew parallels with European history which I found interesting. Consider the situation in say, 1400. There were a bunch of competing European powers with no one on top. The world to Europeans was basically Europe plus neighboring parts of Africa and Asia. So if a particularly powerful group, such as the Hapsburgs, were to gain control of Europe, they would gain control of most of the known world at that time. A lot of the conflict of the next few centuries was over various attempts to consolidate enough power to control all of Europe.
I think we’re in a similar situation now. There’s no clearly dominant power in the world today. But we could see a number of ways that such a power could form in abstract theory (for example, the merger of India and China as in Heinlein’s 1949 story “Sixth Column”). The power of automation might create new, unusual superpowers through industrial might.
My take is that future global conflict will look a lot like those European power plays of the last 600 years. Everyone else tries to thwart the dominant power of the day.
I doubt that either China or India would subordinate themselves to the other…..
And then in 1492 everything changed. Suddenly it was a rush to conquer frontiers, and a struggle for dominance in the New World.
Elon Musk is in a race against time. He’s got to get materiel to Mars on the next Hohmann transfer, and people there on the next one, and himself and more people on the one after that. So December 2025, February 2027, March 2029. That’s a long six years.
But if it works, there’s a new frontier and a safety valve for the people.
The US already paid for a LOT of the infrastructure in Vietnam…Da Nang, Tan Son Nhut, Cam Ran Bay, etc
In Vietnam, the Lefty government, brays on loud speakers, and everyone ignores it.
It’s NBC and CNN in the US.
Right at the end of WWII Ho Chi Minh approached OUR State Dept. for help in throwing off the French Colonialists but our “experts” in foreign relations knew best and ignored him. So he found the Russians more receptive.
Right at the end of the Great War Ho went to Versailles for help throwing off the yoke of French Colonialism. Rented a tux, went to the negotiations, and was told to go pound sand, because all that self-determination hoo-haw was just for Europeans. Then he helped create the French Communist Party, moved to Moscow, etc.
Of course he found the Soviets more receptive. I don’t think he expected much of the State Department, but regardless, they were busy keeping France from going communist, he had a pre-existing relationship with Moscow, and US support of Vietnamese independence was a non-starter.
I was in ‘Nam. It was something that will stick with me the rest of my life. [thousand yard stare]
Vietnam Sex Tour, 2003…those Vietnamese girls will do anything!.
A couple of the comments drew parallels with European history which I found interesting. Consider the situation in say, 1400. There were a bunch of competing European powers with no one on top. The world to Europeans was basically Europe plus neighboring parts of Africa and Asia. So if a particularly powerful group, such as the Hapsburgs, were to gain control of Europe, they would gain control of most of the known world at that time. A lot of the conflict of the next few centuries was over various attempts to consolidate enough power to control all of Europe.
I think we’re in a similar situation now. There’s no clearly dominant power in the world today. But we could see a number of ways that such a power could form in abstract theory (for example, the merger of India and China as in Heinlein’s 1949 story “Sixth Column”). The power of automation might create new, unusual superpowers through industrial might.
My take is that future global conflict will look a lot like those European power plays of the last 600 years. Everyone else tries to thwart the dominant power of the day.
I doubt that either China or India would subordinate themselves to the other…..
Who want’s Luxemburg
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?&q=youtube+treaty+of+wesphalia+who+wants+luxemburg&qs=n&sp=-1&pq=youtube+treaty+of+wesphalia+who+wants+luxemburg&sc=10-47&cvid=4750B1F1698B4928A762D7A771457807&ghsh=0&ghacc=0&ru=%2fsearch%3fq%3dyoutube%2btreaty%2bof%2bwesphalia%2bwho%2bwants%2bluxemburg%26qs%3dn%26form%3dQBRE%26sp%3d-1%26pq%3dyoutube%2btreaty%2bof%2bwesphalia%2bwho%2bwants%2bluxemburg%26sc%3d10-47%26sk%3d%26cvid%3d4750B1F1698B4928A762D7A771457807%26ghsh%3d0%26ghacc%3d0%26ghpl%3d&view=detail&mmscn=vwrc&mid=E3E6FB511C4772FD2358E3E6FB511C4772FD2358&FORM=VDRVSR&rvsmid=85D5F1F2826915DA6BA885D5F1F2826915DA6BA8&ajaxhist=
And then in 1492 everything changed. Suddenly it was a rush to conquer frontiers, and a struggle for dominance in the New World.
Elon Musk is in a race against time. He’s got to get materiel to Mars on the next Hohmann transfer, and people there on the next one, and himself and more people on the one after that. So December 2025, February 2027, March 2029. That’s a long six years.
But if it works, there’s a new frontier and a safety valve for the people.