Comments by "Shorewall" (@shorewall) on "Whatifalthist" channel.

  1. 9/11 is where all that 90s optimism ended. Since then, we've been living in the age of fear. I think War will happen because people have become numb to fear.
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  2.  @ModFactory  The River still stands. Egypt has changed a lot, and the Nile and the desert is the only constant.
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  3. Probably has to do with the USA outstripping the UK in every aspect, and yet the UK wanting to call the shots. After WW2, the son had to sit the old man down and tell him his time was over.
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  4. The Germanic Tribes were not authoritarian. Kingdoms aren't inherently authoritarian. They are often led by charismatic leaders who can get different groups or vassals to work together. If not, they lose power. The Roman Empire was more authoritarian.
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  5. I don't know. Will the officers risk being lynched by their troops?
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  6.  @MrCrunch808  Space has a ton of resources. But the elites don't want surplus resources. They will hold back space exploration until they need it. Just like they are trying to hold back Nuclear Power and Fracking. Even now, we are constantly developing new technologies to allow us to access more resources. In medieval times, oil was just poisonous sludge. In ancient times, coal was just crappy rock. In modern times, sea water is worthless, until we develop a cost effective way of desalinization. Global Warming is a problem until we build enough solar satellites to absorb or reflect excess sunlight. (Or just put enough particles in the atmosphere to block out the right amount of sun.) I agree that we should be forward thinking, but that includes innovation and progress. We are seeing innovations in our time that are changing the equation, but you won't see that on the news. Doom and gloom, pessimism, everyone loves sucking down the Doomsday Kool-Aid. Existence is not a bad thing. Existence is a good thing. Without Mankind, there is no morality, so how can you have morality without man?
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  7. This was a great video. I think the quality has jumped greatly. The one thing I would say is the volume is too low. I could barely hear you, and I listened to this in the middle of the night. But it was worth it, because this video was very interesting. :D
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  8. Or move to America and assimilate. :D
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  9. The US's two front war capacity includes its allies. Why wouldn't it?
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  10. The gains and cultural revolution happened in the strong, young, fanatical phase of communism. No one is willing to die for the cause right now.
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  11. I really love that quote. It's almost Lovecraftian. :D
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  12. The major difference is that Spain relied on Resource Extraction Operations, whereas modern US is cutting edge in every tech field, and tech sharing in those it isn't. Spain was great because they got the gold and plantations of the New World. US is great because they used their head start to make friends with every major power it could, and subordinate them willingly into a cool kids club. Spain had to fight the other major powers in Europe. USA doesn't really have to fight anyone. Hell, they don't even have to fight China or Russia at all. Ukraine is fighting Russia pretty well right now, and a Naval blockade on China would be devastating. I always say, as an American, the US is a blessed country, we have crazy advantages, and we need to make sure we do the right thing. God blesses the righteous, but if we turn from Him, and our leaders and the Elites definitely have, but if the people turn from Him, then we will be blessed no more and suffer even more than others.
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  13. No armenian genocide? Constantinople again?
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  14.  @dream1430  That it naturally led to this. There was no world where this wouldn't have happened.
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  15. I think the demographics point is less relevant in the younger, angrier cohort. People like to talk about it, but a lot of conservative voices are hispanic, East Asians have no love for a system that penalizes them for their accomplishments, and both East Asians and Hispanics intermarry with whites at high rates. I think by the time you state, the definition of white will expand to include hispanics and east asias, just as it expanded from Anglos to Germans, Italians, Irish, etc.
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  16. Yeah, kinda like the China is broke again meme, the US goes through periods of intervention and isolation.
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  17. That hurt to read. :D Too real.
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  18. I got my Associate's Degree in Sociology, and I had to take a gender studies course. It was a trip. :D
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  19. Australia, Canada, and the UK will be in orbit around the US. The US is the middle point and strong lever between each of those countries, and the common culture makes things easier. US has stable geography, decent demography, great economy and military. Canada is already a free rider, and Aus and UK are the extensions of USA into SEA and Europe respectively. USA can't run the world anymore, but it can secure both the Pacific and Atlantic, which is a pretty good chunk of change.
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  20. Yeah, that section was a rapid fire of stereotypes. I think people don't think they will be balanced if they just talk to a Mormon to find out what we believe and our history. It's funny because I like that about these videos, that he is a bit irreverant and off the cuff, but it's gives you pause when he is really wrong on a topic you know well. Although it is true to what I've experienced in my life. People want to believe the worst about Mormon ideology and history, and I think it's because then they don't have to act. They don't want to believe that Mormons are vitalized, global, prosperous, and yet traditional, family oriented, Christian. They say we are good hard working people, and then deride or ignore our deeply held beliefs that are the reason we are that way. I think most people have no clue, and like it that way. :D I'm glad to see the return of traditional values for a lot of the younger generation, but we Mormons have been here the whole time, holding it down and taking heat for the team. We actually held to our traditional principles, whereas now the Millenial Generation are just discovering theirs.
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  21. Russia can definitely play a king maker role, and I agree that they wouldn't want China as World Hegemon.
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  22. I majored in Sociology, just for my 2 year degree (then went into the workforce), and it was a tough time. My first prof taught it as an objective way of looking at the world, and was funny and balanced, and that's what kept me going. But every other prof and course, while interesting, was full of the woke propaganda, to the point where I started feeling guilt and shame over being a white man. Ironically, that's what turned me away from the SJW cult, because I didn't want to embrace an ideology that made me feel bad just for being born. I think studying Sociology helped me a quite a bit though, because you see where the lefties are coming from, and you see the gaps in their logic. That's where I first was taught that stats can say anything you want them to, if you move the parameters around enough.
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  23. The best, the brightest, the most idealistic, cut down before their prime, and leaving the world to the shell shocked and weary. And then add another world war on top of that. Geesh, it was pretty terrible.
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  24.  @kylejamesdalzell2839  Why are you trying to track this guy down? :D
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  25. I think the reformation was more for the Catholic Church, which was becoming a political power, and therefore conflict of interest. From my research, Christianity turned the vikings and slavs into civilized peoples, so I think it has had a great positive effect on humanity.
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  26. Yep. I grew up in L.A. and was used to that, so when we moved to Utah, I was worried when I saw cow pastures and such. But now I love it so much that I even want to move to a more rural area. :D I don't want anyone to tell me what to do, and I don't want to tell anyone else what to do. And as long as I have the internet and nature, I have all the stimulation I need.
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  27. Yeah, I see China's downfall as not a matter of if, but when. They are only in the position of strength right now because previous Administrations in the US profited off the relationship. But after Bernie and Trump brought China's bad actions to the mainstream in the 2016 election (and people were complaining even before then, but it wasn't getting play in the mainstream), the American People have demanded accountability for China, and China's free ride is over.
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  28. Debate is worthless. The only debate should be in your heart. Weight the evidence. Two people arguing with each other proves nothing.
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  29. I love good borders. :)
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  30. Backfire, the competent soldiers will jump ship to the rebellion, and the incompetent by design army will not be able to restore order.
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  31.  @clamum9648  People need something to believe in, that is for sure. When I studied Sociology in college, they said one of the 5 features of any civilization we have ever discovered, was Religion. Because people need to explain the unexplainable. Science is great, but it cannot explain everything. There are things we do not know, or don't even know we don't know. And there are other things that are moral judgements, like what is happiness, what is the good life? Science cannot answer that, because Science is a tool, a method. We need to decide what we want, and what we want to be. Equality, justice, these things are not scientific. They are moral, ethical, religious in nature.
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  32. Once that happens, it changes the calculus. At that point, huge conventional forces aren't as useful. Delivery systems, defense systems, decentralized infrastructure, bunkers and shielded areas, all become more important. It is interesting that in a war with China, where the Chinese have a manpower and material advantage, nuclear weapons might be just what's needed. And if Russia falls apart and their nukes are not available to be used, the nuclear exchange might be fairly one sided.
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  33. :D It's funny, because irl, I'm for libertarianism and small government. But then in the video game, all I want is more, bigger, faster! :D
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  34. That's what I tend to think. The forms are metaphysical ways of thinking about the world. I always thought of it kind of like what the video said about the catholic church, in that God created the world, so if we learn more about the world, we learn more about God. If God is truth, or the forms, then as we pursue truth we will get closer to these forms, and vice versa. I also see a distinction between the forms and our real world as helpful in combating ideology. Things that work in pure theory, might not work in the real world, because the real world is not pure. Then again, I see the video's point, but I've always loved Plato. I am of a philosophical bent myself, so maybe I am Plato's target audience. 😀 I do differentiate in not wanting a centralized rule by philosophers or intellectuals. No matter how smart a person is, they are still dumb. The world is too vast and complex for humans to fully comprehend. And I think intellectuals suffer plenty from the pretense of knowledge. The smarter one is, the better they can defend their bad arguments.
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  35. The IRL Crusader States made much use of castles to hold territory, and since Utah would be surrounded by Goat herding raiders/tribals, and the Horse Tribes on the Steppes, it would make sense to use them here. Geopolitically, there appears to be little reason for the Mormons to expand into the Plains, causing conflicts with the hordes. They have a geographically secure location in the Rocky mountains, and are the only real overland route between the West Coast and Eastern America. Except for...Religion. The Mormons have many holy Cities in the Mid West. Far West Missouri, Liberty Jail Missouri, Carthage Jail Illinois (where Joseph Smith, the first Prophet, was martyred), Nauvoo Illinois, Kirtland Ohio, and even into New York state, where the Church was started and the site of the First Vision. Much like how the Crusades didn't make sense from a rational point of view, but were driven by religion, there isn't a real reason for the Mormons to fight the Steppe Tribes, except for religion. Hell, St. Louis or Chicago could send out a call for help, like the Byzantines did in our time. And if there is a surplus of young men in Deseret due to Polygamy, Crusades could become part of the religion. And if the Mormons are used to irrigating the deserted Salt Lake Valley, they might see the Steppes as a step up. (sorry) And these crusades, if successful, could then cause a problem for Eastern America, where they suddenly have a bunch of random heretics from the desert on their doorstep. The Mormons are big on Proselytizing as well, so they could swell their numbers and make allies from weaker powers. Looking west, they could also conflict with or cooperate with the West Coast trading empires. Once again, I think cooperation should win out. West coast specializes in water transport, and Deseret handles the overland routes, especially if they can conquer or treaty with the Plains Hordes. Then again, religion may queer the deal, if the West Coast is too godless. If Crusades become an accepted part of Church Doctrine, there may be a call to chasten the Heathens of the West Coast. People don't really know that the Mormon pioneers included a lot of British and German immigrants who were converted by missionaries in Europe, and then immigrated to the Promised Land. So Mormons are very Yankee, with a heretic religion thrown into the mix. Proselytizing and pioneering culture combine for a rough and ready travel culture. And Deseret is in the literal desert, so expansion into new territories would make sense from an economic standpoint. In Summary, Deseret is a cozy little place, that no one else wants, that would connect East and West (along with the horse tribes). It is defensible, and allows the Mormons to deal from a position of strength with their neighbors. On the other hand, religion and crusading could give plenty of reason for another path, and conflict with neighbors. But since the Church sees itself as peaceful, there would need to be some sort of organized Casus Belli for it to make sense. Reclaiming the Eastern Holy Lands, and Humbling the Western Infidels all make good sense. And this would be amplified by the Yankee industrious trader spirit. After all, the Protestant Work Eethic is strong in Mormon culture as well.
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  36. Look, I don't hate or fear Russia, but they are not an example for anyone to follow.
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  37. I've been thinking this since his videos about the coming famines in Middle East and Africa. Rather than just starve and die, they will move in mass, to the place where refugees go, Europe. And Europe will either be overrun, or they will defend themselves, and the politics will turn insular. Turkey and the Maghrebi nations will play a pivotal role in this. If Europe can appease them to hold the line, it may work out.
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  38. China is in the same position as Germany in WW2. They are surrounded by their enemies. They are an industrial powerhouse. They are reliant on outside supplies. They have weak and fickle allies. They are driven by ideology. (They have concentration camps.) And they are going to lose WW3.
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  39. Going along with that, I wonder if there are forces that we currently cannot or do not measure, that equate with some kinds of spiritualism. Maybe there are things that evade our attempts to quantify, and yet can be felt on some level.
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  40. It hurts me, but I see his point. 😀
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  41.  @islamisthetruth3402  Ideas are like pandemics, they spread freely. The only difference is that ideas may arise in different areas independently.
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  42. I dunno. I think everyone is lonely and depressed right now. :D
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  43. Science is a method, and does not compete with religion. He said it best in the video. There are tons of things in life that we can't understand with science, and plenty of logical things that are false. In my sociology courses, my professor said that in every society that's been studied, there have been some kind of religious institutions. And that's because there are always unanswered questions. As science advances, we find more and new unanswered questions in addition to the old questions that weren't answered.
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  44. I think it's the coming end of the technocratic corporate era. Everything has been set up to benefit the big dogs, and the small dogs must make do. But the era of plenty is ending, so people are getting fed up.
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  45. If Gen Z get drafted to fight in some stupid war, they'll probably just decide to fight here. And a lot of disaffected people will join them. So that is the hardline for the boogaloo to kick off.
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  46. I do think the things are speeding up. Communication is faster, travel is faster, the world is smaller than it once was. Trends happen much faster now.
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  47. Because the damage was already done.
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  48. My prediction is that infrastructure attacks and potentially attacking satellites will be the new upgrade to warfare.
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  49. That inertia is over. Times are changing, History has started again.
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  50. I generally see deflation as better than inflation. It empowers savers. It removes housing as an investment vehicle, which prices them out the reach of those who need them. (Houses should be like cars. They both inherently provide value, and everyone needs one. They should not be speculative and overpriced.) With inflation, debt gets smaller, so bad loans are often issued. With deflation, loans must be carefully considered with an path to profitability. You can save for a house, you can save to start a business. Inflation requires debt to do anything. And deflation is just more human. Normal people can understand a deflationary economy. Inflationary economies are anti-human, and require unnatural moves that the common person doesn't understand. Investment, debt, financial constructs, it's all a scheme. Normal people want to save, they need enough, not more than that, they want to work at one place for a long time.
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