Comments by "Zachary B" (@zacharyb2723) on "Understanding Orthodox Civilization." video.

  1. "Every major empire across history was formed by a multi-century trans-ethnic conflict that created the us vs them spirit that powers empires" - WOW what a broad, controversial statement. What counterarguments are there to this theory? What about religious upheaval within the same ethnic groups, or where ethnicity was seen as less significant than religions (or something else)? What about empires that took control through winning the loyalty of one ethnic group against its own local elites, drawing that group INTO the us? And don't you think that some Empires that offered services (ie education, supply lines) to their subjects maintained legitimacy thru the utility of the Imperial state, rather than us-vs-them conflict? Cyrus the Great, perhaps? We see what we expect to see. by definition, empires are large, so its easy to see them expand into 'other' ethnic areas and call that inter-ethnic conflict. But our view of history is deeply shaped by ethno-nationalists who came to power after WW1 and then later became historians. We are primed to see EVERYTHING as inter-ethnic conflict, even when it wasn't.
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