BrotherJack

2,478 reputation

426

bio	website	orlandofoodnotbombs.org
	location	Orlando, FL; USA
	age	29
visits	member for	1 year, 2 months
	seen	6 hours 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 within the next year.

	2,478 reputation	bio	website	orlandofoodnotbombs.org	visits	member for	1 year, 2 months
426 badges		location	Orlando, FL; USA		seen	6 hours ago

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1d	comment	Did the American Founders Debate on the Relative Size of the Government? I apologize, but I noted that in my question that I continually referred to the U.S. "federal" government as opposed to U.S. governments in general. I edited the question because it made my purpose less clear (I'm still unclear as to why I did this in the first place). I'm more interested in whether there were debates on the size of governments (local, state, and federal) that might have been similar in character to modern American political debates on this topic at all levels. Jeffersonian Republicans seemed to favor localized governments, but did they ever worry that they could be too big?
2d	comment	What other pairs of wars have had a ~25 year interval? First, it is difficult to say that these wars had a ~25 year interval of peace between them. Many of the countries that fought in WWI and WWII fought in wars between that time, both in their colonies and within Europe (the Spanish Civil War, for example). In general, even when isolating by country it is difficult to make such clear cut delineations.
May 18	comment	Why Did the US Drop Nuclear Weapons on a Weakened Japan Discouraging an active insurgency is certainly a valid motivation for the US to have dropped the bomb (although I personally haven't seen it explicitly in the historical record). One interesting difference between modern US anti-insurgency campaigns and the WWII pacific campaign in regards to Japan, is the level of economic support provided to Japan. It is arguable that the advantages (see Chalmers, "Blowback") offered to Japan such as access to the American market & trade secrets, economic investment, etc. was a similarly powerful determent to a Japanese insurgency.
Feb 14	comment	Why are many African nations poor? @astabada No, both Jared Diamond and I are well aware of the African Elephant. As explained in [i]Guns, Germs, and Steel[/i] the African Elephant wasn't domesticated, it was tamed. A major distinction brought about by the problem of captive breeding. Furthermore, the whole point of the referenced material is that it points out [i]why[/i] European nations were able to occupy Africa. Africa was able to develop more quickly initially than Europe, but the natural lack of domesticated plant and animal life (not cultural or genetic differences) is what ultimately lead to European domination.
May 20	comment	What was more expensive to lose in a gladiatorial fight: a gladiator or a rare animal? Excellent first answer! Welcome to the site Alex, I'm sure you'll be a welcome addition.
May 15	comment	United States Incarceration Rate Well, 2011 is history. Very recent history, but history none the less.
May 14	comment	What precipitated the rise of social safety nets in the United States? This is largely true, although I would note that the Great Depression merely accelerated the trend towards more integration between the citizen and the government. As technology advances there is a natural trend towards specialization and thus individuals are less capable of the same level of "self-sufficiency" as say an American circa 1776 (while capable as a society of producing far more goods, knowledge, and services in higher quality). Given that modern capitalism tends not to acknowledge this, there is often a need for critical support of those who are considered surplus workers.
May 14	comment	Did the Chinese Develop Steam Engines Prior to the 17th Century? The Tiangong Kaiwu is apparently the masterwork of Song Yingxing, a Chinese scientist of the late 1587-1666 AD. The Tiangong Kaiwu is a broad technical encyclopedia and the picture listed here is related to Chinese coal mining.
May 4	comment	What was the response of the general Iranian public to the modernization policies of Reza Shah? @Anixx, I looked over my post and saw that I made a mistake in my wording. I made the edit to point out that it appeared there was obvious winners and losers (from an outside perspective). This may not have been apparent at the time of Reza Shah (and I'm guessing if this was the case it wasn't until the 60's and 70's did these concerns became apparent). Also, from what I can tell most of Reza Shah's attempts to eliminate class differences were similar to the Western techniques for doing so which only addressed trivial surface issues like dress.
May 4	comment	What was done to improve the safety of jousts after the death of Henry II? Actually it seems like it might have. Apparently the committee came to the conclusion, "mang it's really not smart to have people charge at each other with sharpened poles, we should probably not do it or something".
May 4	comment	Did Johnny Appleseed actually exist? Is there any reason to assume otherwise? The wikipedia article appears to have a good diversity of sources.
May 4	comment	Why Did the US Drop Nuclear Weapons on a Weakened Japan @Anixx, I apparently was using the word incorrectly. It simply means "to put into a position of readiness". So yes, technically deployment makes more sense in talking about how the US stationed nuclear weapons in Japan after the war. Often it is used to describe the use of weapons, and apparently that is an incorrect use of the word.
May 3	comment	Why Did the US Drop Nuclear Weapons on a Weakened Japan @Anixx, well the bombs were "deployed" by being "dropped" so either term is accurate here.
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/…
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 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	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 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.
Apr 25	comment	What do the modern Japanese people think about the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki? My understanding is that the Japanese citizenry (not just Okinawans) are much less tolerant of the American military presence than the government, but not necessarily anti-American per se. There were large scale demonstrations throughout the 1950's and 60's against the US presence and again following the rape of a Japanese school girl in the late 90's by American soldiers. In general though, the Japanese are in large part avid consumers of certain American cultural exports and seem to have put the war time animosity behind them.