twoday posted:

a brief history lesson:

after the Netherlands became independent, the Dutch Republic soon emerged from being a feudal possession of the Spanish to becoming a flourishing wealthy empire. Free from the system of monarchy which burdened the rest of the countries in Europe, the country soon became an oligarchy run by wealthy merchants who also ran the government, and went to work building a mighty fleet that they used to enable their imperialist expansion to every continent and all corners of the world, ruthlessly exploiting every resource they came across for the sake of accumulating wealth. Not only did they invent the stock market and the concept of the corporation, but they also seamlessly integrated corporate and government interests into a single ruthless machine, and also established a global trade network which arguably played a massive part in establishing the basis for the current world order of international capitalist trade. In doing so, they rapidly accumulated unfathomable amounts of wealth, and the profits of the East India Company alone dwarf all modern ones when adjusted for inflation, and made it the most profitable company in the history of the world:



And that's just ignoring the West India Company and all of the other business which played a role in the economy. For a number of decades in the 17th century the Dutch Republic was by any measure the wealthiest nation on earth, and much of this money was invested into the armed forces and military technology, resulting in one of the most formidable armies and navies on earth, which was then used to build an exploitative global empire that drained the earth of its natural resources in the name of capital, and led to deaths of hundreds of thousands of people who stood in the way of this process. There was a period where the Dutch were pretty much the only global superpower, and not only dominated the world financially and militarily, but also created lots of scientific developments and beautiful artwork. So what happened? Why don't the Dutch still rule the world?

Well, all of this wheeling and dealing inevitably led to the Dutch becoming embroiled in numerous conflicts around the world with all of the other major powers of the day, and those decades of war (both cold and hot) drained a lot of resources and created a lot of enemies on the world stage. These wars were not only a financial burden on the nation, but also helped emphasize social divides which were already present, and generated a lot of problems in society. All of this came to a head in a single year which is now known as the 'Rampjaar' or "Disaster Year," when just about everything that could possibly go wrong went wrong. After years of conflict, the other major powers all grew to despise the Dutch Republic, and in 1672 the country was simultaneously attacked on all sides by an Alliance of the English, French, and Germans. At the same time there was a bitter civil war in the country between monarchists and Republicans which culminated in the head of state, who had ruled for almost 2 decades, and his brother who was the head of the navy (perhaps the most formidable military force on earth at that time) being dragged out into the streets, where they were lynched by a mob who ripped off their skin and ate their livers and other organs raw.



This mighty empire descended almost overnight into unimaginable chaos, with every element of society being ripped apart along its weakest seams. There is a phrase from this time which describes the state of the nation - "radeloos, redeloos, reddeloos," which translates into something like "without leadership, without reason, and without possibility of salvation." Though they were able to fight off the armies which threatened to wipe them off the map, the economy was hopelessly devastated and would remain so for centuries. A leadership crisis emerged, and for the next hundred years the country was ruled by the nephews and cousins of previous rulers, who had grown up fat and wealthy and had no idea how to govern what remained of the country. While the average citizen became horribly poor and hopeless, the ineffective leaders continued to live in mansions and eat off of silver plates, and they turned to increasingly nefarious tactics to prop up their economy. They magnified the slave trade a thousand fold, and started using increasingly brutal tactics to retain control over their colonies, which were taken away from them by their enemies one by one. They invested in pet projects and other tremendous wastes of money which did little to help the country or its economy. For instance, the remaining few Dutch of this period who still had some wealth spent a lot of it financing the rebels in America in the late 1700's, largely out of spite against their ancient enemies, the British. But it didn't help, of course. They were invaded by the French and Germans (and English and even Russian armies at some point), and the nation continued along its disastrous trajectory, leading to revolution, invasion, poverty, and death. Lots of death. Many such horrors. The reason why so many Dutch cities have charming 17th century buildings which attract tourists today is that they never recovered economically from the Disaster Year until relatively recently, and for hundreds of years there was little money around for new building projects, and everyone just had to continue living in the houses which were built way back when during "the Golden Age."

So what's the point of this story? There was once a global superpower which was wealthier than any other in history, with a massive and powerful army which it used to terrorize the world, as well as form much of the global capitalist economic system which surrounds us today. But then one day disaster struck and the chickens came home to roost, and it all fell apart overnight. Poof. That's all it takes. And there's a good chance that anyone who is reading this post didn't know any of this. That entire empire so thoroughly destroyed and forgotten (and good riddance), that now, 350 years later very few people in the world know that it ever happened.

The moral of the story is that no matter how wealthy, how powerful the empire which you inhabit is, it is ultimately nothing within the grand scheme of history. Your entire world can just collapse one day, and then a few hundred years later barely anyone alive will know anything about it. Everything which surrounds you and all that you know is ultimately just an insignificant blip on the radar of human progress that can and will be forgotten. All it takes is one strong shock which tears everything apart. And that's what we are witnessing happening in much of the Western world right now. So good luck to everyone with all of that.

Zotix posted:

the gently caress is this.

Studio posted:

Studio posted:

Comfy Fleece Sweater posted:

I see people posting this meme and, do they realize the guy saying the unpopular thing is a mentally ill clown?

Not that I disagree in this case

Comfy Fleece Sweater posted:

I see people posting this meme and, do they realize the guy saying the unpopular thing is a mentally ill clown?

Not that I disagree in this case

twoday posted:

a brief history lesson:

after the Netherlands became independent, the Dutch Republic soon emerged from being a feudal possession of the Spanish to becoming a flourishing wealthy empire. Free from the system of monarchy which burdened the rest of the countries in Europe, the country soon became an oligarchy run by wealthy merchants who also ran the government, and went to work building a mighty fleet that they used to enable their imperialist expansion to every continent and all corners of the world, ruthlessly exploiting every resource they came across for the sake of accumulating wealth. Not only did they invent the stock market and the concept of the corporation, but they also seamlessly integrated corporate and government interests into a single ruthless machine, and also established a global trade network which arguably played a massive part in establishing the basis for the current world order of international capitalist trade. In doing so, they rapidly accumulated unfathomable amounts of wealth, and the profits of the East India Company alone dwarf all modern ones when adjusted for inflation, and made it the most profitable company in the history of the world:



And that's just ignoring the West India Company and all of the other business which played a role in the economy. For a number of decades in the 17th century the Dutch Republic was by any measure the wealthiest nation on earth, and much of this money was invested into the armed forces and military technology, resulting in one of the most formidable armies and navies on earth, which was then used to build an exploitative global empire that drained the earth of its natural resources in the name of capital, and led to deaths of hundreds of thousands of people who stood in the way of this process. There was a period where the Dutch were pretty much the only global superpower, and not only dominated the world financially and militarily, but also created lots of scientific developments and beautiful artwork. So what happened? Why don't the Dutch still rule the world?

Well, all of this wheeling and dealing inevitably led to the Dutch becoming embroiled in numerous conflicts around the world with all of the other major powers of the day, and those decades of war (both cold and hot) drained a lot of resources and created a lot of enemies on the world stage. These wars were not only a financial burden on the nation, but also helped emphasize social divides which were already present, and generated a lot of problems in society. All of this came to a head in a single year which is now known as the 'Rampjaar' or "Disaster Year," when just about everything that could possibly go wrong went wrong. After years of conflict, the other major powers all grew to despise the Dutch Republic, and in 1672 the country was simultaneously attacked on all sides by an Alliance of the English, French, and Germans. At the same time there was a bitter civil war in the country between monarchists and Republicans which culminated in the head of state, who had ruled for almost 2 decades, and his brother who was the head of the navy (perhaps the most formidable military force on earth at that time) being dragged out into the streets, where they were lynched by a mob who ripped off their skin and ate their livers and other organs raw.



This mighty empire descended almost overnight into unimaginable chaos, with every element of society being ripped apart along its weakest seams. There is a phrase from this time which describes the state of the nation - "radeloos, redeloos, reddeloos," which translates into something like "without leadership, without reason, and without possibility of salvation." Though they were able to fight off the armies which threatened to wipe them off the map, the economy was hopelessly devastated and would remain so for centuries. A leadership crisis emerged, and for the next hundred years the country was ruled by the nephews and cousins of previous rulers, who had grown up fat and wealthy and had no idea how to govern what remained of the country. While the average citizen became horribly poor and hopeless, the ineffective leaders continued to live in mansions and eat off of silver plates, and they turned to increasingly nefarious tactics to prop up their economy. They magnified the slave trade a thousand fold, and started using increasingly brutal tactics to retain control over their colonies, which were taken away from them by their enemies one by one. They invested in pet projects and other tremendous wastes of money which did little to help the country or its economy. For instance, the remaining few Dutch of this period who still had some wealth spent a lot of it financing the rebels in America in the late 1700's, largely out of spite against their ancient enemies, the British. But it didn't help, of course. They were invaded by the French and Germans (and English and even Russian armies at some point), and the nation continued along its disastrous trajectory, leading to revolution, invasion, poverty, and death. Lots of death. Many such horrors. The reason why so many Dutch cities have charming 17th century buildings which attract tourists today is that they never recovered economically from the Disaster Year until relatively recently, and for hundreds of years there was little money around for new building projects, and everyone just had to continue living in the houses which were built way back when during "the Golden Age."

So what's the point of this story? There was once a global superpower which was wealthier than any other in history, with a massive and powerful army which it used to terrorize the world, as well as form much of the global capitalist economic system which surrounds us today. But then one day disaster struck and the chickens came home to roost, and it all fell apart overnight. Poof. That's all it takes. And there's a good chance that anyone who is reading this post didn't know any of this. That entire empire so thoroughly destroyed and forgotten (and good riddance), that now, 350 years later very few people in the world know that it ever happened.

The moral of the story is that no matter how wealthy, how powerful the empire which you inhabit is, it is ultimately nothing within the grand scheme of history. Your entire world can just collapse one day, and then a few hundred years later barely anyone alive will know anything about it. Everything which surrounds you and all that you know is ultimately just an insignificant blip on the radar of human progress that can and will be forgotten. All it takes is one strong shock which tears everything apart. And that's what we are witnessing happening in much of the Western world right now. So good luck to everyone with all of that.

friendly 2 da void posted:

New York City's medical examiner.

twoday posted:

Stairmaster posted:

I'm da joker baby

Telsa Cola posted:

AUGH DONT TEMPT ME THE CLOSEST ONE IS A TWO HOUR DRIVE AWAY

Hexigrammus posted:

That was a fascinating post. I was aware of some aspects but others don't agree with what I thought I knew about Dutch history so my backlogged reading list just took another spike. Good thing this shelter in place thing is going to last a while.

oxsnard posted:

In n out fries are loving DISGUSTING

Shipon posted:

as much as i love in n out burgs, i have to agree. the fries are shamefully bad. i usually grab the burg and go to the next door mcdonalds for fries

Judakel posted:

This dude sucks and most people cannot find masks.

Homeless Friend posted:

https://twitter.com/MaddowBlog/status/1247698364063518720

lol

Heartcatch posted:

Laoganma is what you use with french fries.

Siljmonster posted:

God I want a mound of French fries

Stairmaster posted:

I'm da joker baby

Trumps Baby Hands posted:

holy hell, the first five minutes of this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKmMRSTUeAs

BIG FLUFFY DOG posted:

https://twitter.com/TannerTweeting/status/1247718829481963525

Blessings upon John Prine, reborn in the realm of Gods with all those righteous.

Homeless Friend posted:

https://twitter.com/MaddowBlog/status/1247698364063518720

lol

snoo posted:

where's my loving money and my loving vaccine

Ruggan posted:

oxsnard posted:

In n out fries are loving DISGUSTING

Shipon posted:

as much as i love in n out burgs, i have to agree. the fries are shamefully bad. i usually grab the burg and go to the next door mcdonalds for fries

Funion posted:

their brains have been taken over by the disease and reprogrammed to destroy america and freedom

Crazypoops posted:

good

Yuli Ban posted:

fuckslappe

Zeroisanumber posted:

Planning to give my trumpbux to the local foodshelf.

I can''t imagine dealing with the anxiety of corona coupled with the anxiety of being hungry with no money.