BrotherJack

2,573 reputation

428

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	location	Orlando, FL; USA
	age	29
visits	member for	1 year, 3 months
	seen	2 days ago
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I'm a socialist (of the council-communist current promoted by the likes of Anton Luxemburg, Pannekoek and other Dutch German leftists, NOT state-socialism) with an avid interest in history and economics. I am currently studying computer science at the University of Central Florida and hope to graduate with my Bachelors degree by the end of the year.

	2,573 reputation	bio	website		visits	member for	1 year, 3 months
428 badges		location	Orlando, FL; USA		seen	2 days ago

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May 2	revised	What was the religion of the Arabic people before conversion to Islam? Added relevant tag
May 2	revised	What was the status of Arab Christians during the crusades? Added relevant tags
May 2	revised	What was the response of the general Iranian public to the modernization policies of Reza Shah? Added relevant tag
May 2	comment	Why Europe became more developed although metal was first discovered and used in Asia/Africa? Related question: history.stackexchange.com/questions/651/…
May 2	revised	added 431 characters in body
May 1	suggested	suggested edit on
May 1	wiki
May 1	revised	What can be considered to be the single most important reason for the decline of muslim Golden Age? edited tags
May 1	revised	Why Did the US Drop Nuclear Weapons on a Weakened Japan Added relevant tags, made the title more specific, and fixed several grammatical errors
May 1	answered	Why Did the US Drop Nuclear Weapons on a Weakened Japan
Apr 30	comment	When did navies stop giving out a drink ration to their sailors? The Wikipedia entry on Grog appears to be pretty credible (I haven't fully checked out the sources though). The article concurs with mgb's assessment that the main reason for instituting the drink ration was to better keep stagnant water fresh and algae free. The interesting thing about the article is the suggestion that temperance movements had some roll in curbing and eventually ending the practice. Also apparently the US merchant marine avoided drink rations entirely. It is possible that by the late nineteenth century methods of storing water improved thus relying less on alcohol.
Apr 30	accepted	What Was the State of German Tank Design In Between the World Wars?
Apr 29	answered	What can be considered to be the single most important reason for the decline of muslim Golden Age?
Apr 29	comment	What can be considered to be the single most important reason for the decline of muslim Golden Age? @jfrankcarr The point is that the Abbasid caliphate was already well into its decline. Prior to the siege the caliph had already been a figurehead for Mamluk and Turkic warlords for well over a century. The siege was not the reason for the decline, but rather an accelerating factor.
Apr 29	asked	What Was the State of German Tank Design In Between the World Wars?
Apr 29	comment	How Successful Were the International Brigades? Another unfortunate circumstance for Republican Spain was in the fact that their most important ally (the Soviet Union) was only half heartedly supporting them. From "The Battle for Spain" by Antony Beevor, "Hitler evidently did not realize that Stalin was afraid of provoking him and that he was unwilling to let Spanish affairs embarrass Soviet foreign policy".
Apr 28	accepted	How Successful Were the International Brigades?
Apr 28	answered	How Successful Were the International Brigades?
Apr 27	comment	What can be considered to be the single most important reason for the decline of muslim Golden Age? I don't think this answer is entirely correct. From my understanding the decline was already underway prior to the Mongol invasion. There was a great deal of internal strife between various actors, such as the Shia Muslims and the Mamluks. The way I see it the initial conquest and development of the Muslim empire was due to a powerful uniting force of Islam and a credible leadership in the "rightly guided caliphs". Over time the authority of the caliphs was weakened due to the distance from Muhammad and the development of regional power centers and movements to fill the vacuum.
Apr 27	comment	Tolstoy's view of history @Shahab, I agree with T.E.D. here. A large part of communist/socialist theory on history derives from the doctrine of historical materialism. While I think many modern proponents of HM would disagree with the Soviet assertion that individuals play no roll in shaping events, I think the counter argument would be that individuals are themselves shaped by larger impersonal forces that keep them from being "independent actors". The beliefs and actions of Napoleon are thus reflective less of "Napoleon" and more of the environment that derived Napoleon.