Kech, rule number one in existence is to not fool oneself. Our great big brains were developed because the increasing ability to understand what's going on is of great benefit to humans.
One of the things people like to do is research on brain function of various insects and animals to see how their brains work.
It's pretty easy to fool animals. You just figure out how their tiny brains work, then use that against them. They will repeat behaviour over and over because the same prompts cause them to mindlessly do the same things.
One of the main problems for humans is to figure things out even BEFORE getting it wrong first time. Fooling oneself is one of the big mistakes people make. It's to do with ego. Because humans feel pretty good when they get what seems like a good idea they overvalue it. They have an instinctive NIH attitude to other people and their ideas, unless they have formed a Stockholm Syndrome, or idolizing alpha male relationship with them, in which case they'll mindlessly follow the leader's thinking. It's easy for humans to get into trouble, which they do all the time, forming false or overvalued ideas, fooling themselves.
You have fallen into the trap of believing the falsehoods others with big egos have fed you: <The irony though is that then you attack the US for using Jihadi's to attack the Soviet Union. If this had even a small contribution to showing the underlying weakness of the Soviet Union system and ushering in the decline of the cold war, it seems like a good deal to me. Would China be able to embrace capitalism and globalization if there was still a cold war underway? Would New Zealand's checkbook defense be possible without these changes? No it would not, yet you denigrate the actor and tactics that have made it possible. >
I expect the attacks from Islamic Jihad on the USSR made things problematic and might even have helped in the collapse. Gorby didn't want to be a mass killer and it showed early on, namely, immediately. Since the USSR invaded Afghanistan years before he took over, he was given a hard situation to deal with.
But you have been fooled if you think the Cold War is over. In fact, the USA euphemistically says that China is their main strategic competitor, and keeps a lot of hardware parked around the Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, area. They aren't there for the fishing and not for North Korea either, other than incidentally.
China threatens war against Taiwan.
Putin and Russia haven't gone away either and I can be the first to inform you that contrary to those who fantasize that the end of the Cold War has happened, the USSR and China have got big heap nucular bombs and big heap rockets with which to launch them. They are not planning to attack New Zealand, surprising though that might be to you, even though they could wipe us out in a big way in a short time.
It might also surprise you to know that Russia and China like to conduct military manoeuvres together, and again, it'll be a surprise to you, but that isn't in preparation for taking over New Zealand. Despite our weakness.
The USA is still in the thick of the cold war. Not much at all has changed. There are still more than enough nukes in Russia ready to land on the USA, [or in the atmosphere to maximize damage], to badly affect my CDMA sales and profits.
Again, surprising though it obviously is to you, there was a LOT of trade with China and USSR before the cold war "ended" and Gorby was turfed out. Capitalism is under way in China, but with Chinese characteristics, which means it is only partly underway, same as in the USA. Same as in Russia. Same as here. Mostly China and Russia's bosses are still very much the boss and the USA is not their main friend.
The USA had nothing to do with the USSR collapse. Osama and co got the USSR out of Afghanistan because Gorby was too civilized to conduct such a ridiculous and barbaric military campaign. Now the USA and the COW have decided they want to take over where Gorby left off. So far, things are not going all that geat. I will NOT be surprised if in 10 years time, the COW has wandered off to greener pastures from both Iraq and Afghanistan, with a long list of dead and maimed to take home as a souveneir.
The collapse of the USSR was because of internal nationalistic circumstances, not because the USA spent a lot of money on armaments.
Americans fooling themselves about what they'd find in Iraq has led to the current carnage; Mqurice the Great's excellent and free advice being ignored way back in 2002.
As King George II said, "Fool me once, shame on you. If I fool myself, you can't fool me again". Or words to that effect.
You don't even need to think about what I've written. A quick scan, confirm it doesn't fit with what you have been told by your superiors. Hit the reject button. Call for a rallying cry to redouble the efforts to maybe THIS time get the result you want. That will confirm what I've just written.
You are in good company. I've been running my personal Globalstar war for a dozen years now, and any day now, I expect victory. Why, in May I will be launching another 4 satellites. Then another 4 later in the year. Then a whole new constellation in 2010. THIS time I'll win the battle. All the naysayers are clueless. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me, fool me the third time, I reckon it's your turn to feel shame again. Meanwhile, I'll pay the bill.
Mqurice
PS: Note that if Russia nukes USA, Globalstar will still be working but terrestrial phones in the area of the strikes will fail. So, buy a phone today. They are reasonably priced now and you can talk all you like for only $50 month. Very special price and cheaper still next year. See globalstarusa.com |
