Alexander the Great...Some Thoughts
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- by Shadowy Embrace
- © All rights reserved.
There was a man who once lived, a king who ruled justly and mercifully, a conqueror who decided it best to unite all peoples and give everything he took back to the people.
Alexander the Great, we call him now, an almost mythological figure who rose above the petty differences of people and through his wars and ever-reaching ambition sought to unite all, none above or better than another. We look up to people like this, in awe and aspiration, yet we as a human race have sat idly by while our world continues to crumble before our eyes. We blame one people group or another, never ceasing to cast blame on someone else. After all, we're perfect, aren't we? We can't do wrong, neither can we be wrong, hell, how would that look?
Is this what people need for the future? A conqueror to forcefully unite the world through war and death? A peace sought throughout the world by instilling fear through the most powerful force ever known? What sense does that make? Like Alexander, whoever would do that would most definitely find himself hated by many of those closest to him. For those surrounding him, it was a matter of pride, national or personal (I don't believe in true national pride, I only believe in personal pride manifesting itself through a mask of such stupidity. But that's just me), the Greeks and Macedonians believing that they were so much better than those being conquered.
And that's it, isn't it? We're arrogant enough to honestly think we're so much better than everyone else, aren't we? I'm not talking just Americans here, I'm talking about us as humans. I know of other peoples who hate American government because of the decisions they make that impact the world, and yet, even with the arrogance of the American government so prominently shown throughout the world as a storefront display, those governments of other countries are equally as arrogant. This isn't national pride, my dear people.
Americans and Russians know all too well the problems that came from nuclear power, and yet the Russians have sold such knowledge in order to make a buck and have proliferated even with the Non-Proliferation Treaty being signed by them, as has America. China, India, and Pakistan all have nuclear power, attained through various means and a stand-off between India and Pakistan didn't help anything all the while North Korea was experimenting and coming up with there own nuclear abilities. Iran is now looking to garner the same power, hiding their reactors deep under mountains in an effort to elude any attempts at sabotage; they're also building multiple ones. When does it end? Iran is arrogant enough to say that we can do whatever we want, while the rest of the world is pleading with them not to. Ahmadinijad is right in this, though...they are autonomous and need not answer to the world for their actions. However, his government does need to answer to his people, but they won't. The United States, alone, has the ability to destroy the world 6 times over...Russia about the same, although many of theirs are in severe disrepair, which could cause a whole other slew of problems.
We live in a world governed by the few while all the people are “allowed” to sit by and watch, many times without the ability to say anything for fear of being silenced...America, in many ways, is no different. It's the arrogance, people. And it's an ignorant arrogance. One that will end up with all of us dead. From where I'm sitting, it's only a matter of time. The Mayans predicted the end of the current age to be December 21, 2012, the reason why it's such a big deal to those who study this is that there's no continuation of a following age according to their calendar, which leads people to believe that the prophetical nature of this is the end of the world. We should be so lucky.
Alexander, the great Macedonian king, lost his life shortly before his 33rd birthday. He had assumed the throne at the age of 20, immediately following the death of his father, Phillip. In 13 years he expanded his kingdom beyond the reaches of the known world and took over the immensely powerful Persian empire from Darius. For the most part, he was a man who resisted excesses, believing self-control to be too important to lose himself to anything. In some ways he lost this self-control to alcohol and his ever-expanding ambitions. However, when all was said and done, he had united the land he conquered, while he ruled, and brought those “barbarian” people the gift of education, among other aspects the Greeks were known for. Upon his death, however, all those who were close to him squabbled and squandered as they pillaged Alexander's kingdom. It ended up divided four ways, into four kingdoms, which all eventually fell.
So, with this small history lesson of our forgotten past, can there be peace? If one were to reach back through the annals of history, one would find that the greatest peace possibly ever known to man was under the Ottoman Empire, which was a Muslim empire. They employed those of different religions or races very graciously. Christianity was rather prominent during this time throughout much of Europe, and Greek Christians often held high office. This is of extreme importance while we take into consideration our current time, conflicts and perceptions of our fellow men and women across the ocean and Mediterranean. It's also of extreme importance when we consider Christianity's past. Do you remember the Crusades? An idea given to the king from the pope which resulted in needless deaths? Its sickening to think that someone who would call themselves a Christian or a follower of Christ in any way would come up with an idea that ludicrous. And yet the Pope himself came up with this idea, and almost forced the king to go with it, citing it to be what God wanted. So they did, trying to wrest control of the Holy Land from the Muslims who had controlled it for so long. And they do, for a while, losing it again over time. Now for those who don't know, the Crusades didn't just happen once. They occurred over a period of time and there were 13 Crusades in all. Apparently, stupidity likes to repeat itself.
A wise man on this site told me that Republicans are war-mongers (not his exact words, I'm paraphrasing, lol), and I have to admit, he seems to be quite right. He argued that almost every war has been started by a republican and has had to be cleaned up by the democrat that follows him. Again, wise words spoken. However, wasn't it Reagan, a republican, along with Mikhail Gorbachev working together that ended the cold war? I think many Americans hate politics because of the finger-pointing that goes on while they sit around, congratulating each other on a job well done while accomplishing nothing. If that sounded paradoxical, it was supposed to. I hate politics because there is never a balance and the people suffer for it (although all the people seem to do is complain and point fingers themselves...monkey see, monkey do).
You know, both sides have had their fair share of follies in recent history, almost everything I'll be speaking about within my lifetime or close to it. When Carter was president, he passed into law a bill that would allow the average citizen to buy and own their own house, thinking it to be good for the economy. None of the banks really did this at the time, so there wasn't much change.
Then when Reagan took office, he started what has become either famously or infamously known as “Reaganomics.” Now, I must interject a quick side-note in here to make sure you understand that no matter the president we've had, it takes at least 8 years to see the fruition of any policies they enact and to see the fruit of that labor, whether good or bad.
This being said, the first president Bush continued the “Reaganomics” and when president Clinton was in the prime of his terms he saw the fruit of that labor...a surplus in our treasury. He took all the credit, of course. He also decided to do something about that Carter bill that never really took, and so imposed penalties on banks that didn't do this, thus forcing banks to invent the ARM (Adjustable Rate Mortgage) in order to be able to compensate their money.
Well, we all know how well that ended, don't we? It's quite hard to reconcile money from those who don't have it to begin with. Was that the banks' faults or the people's fault? Well, our people weren't educated on this stuff in the first place and so were blindsided, but they didn't exactly seek to learn either (I'm speaking of the people of America here as a general populace, not everyone made these decisions) and it was the government's fault for putting the banks in a situation where they had to come up with something. For years we thought it was helping until 2008 when everything blew up in our faces. 2009 was a time of serious economic turmoil within the United States and felt throughout the world. We live in a global economy, what affects one nation will inexorably affect others.
The government decided to step in and dish out 700 billion dollars immediately from the taxpayers to bail out the big companies in an effort to save jobs. I haven't seen a dime of that money, have you? Economic stimulus packages to the people are a joke, let's be real about, that and so won't even be mentioned...a whopping 250 dollars is awesome, thank you Mr. President for a gift of money that I need to try and catch up on an utility bill that I can't pay because of a lack of job... I have no idea what I'd have done without it. Because, you know, that really fixes the root of the problem, doesn't it? Idiots.
Well, now we're in 2010 and the unemployment rate is still near 10%. President Obama has donated another 700 billion dollars in taxpayer funds to bailing out companies who are undeserving of our money and we've still yet to see any of it. Seems like all we're doing doing is pissing in the wind right now, and we haven't turned around yet, so its all over us. Pure genius. You know, it's funny, but I saw this coming from a long way off...sadly, no one of any “importance” saw it coming so we all now see ourselves as the victims. Figures, right? In many ways I blame the materialistic nature and greed of the American people for the current state of things in our country. It's nice to see how many people have learned what necessities actually entail.
I learned some stuff myself. I learned that I need to put a roof over the head of my family and food on the table. I learned that I need to be able to provide the electricity for lights and gas for the heater, water heater and stove to be able to cook. And I learned that a phone or tv or internet are not necessary. My wife and I also learned how to be grateful for the fact that we even have jobs, even if they aren't what we want or think we deserve...as long as we can pay our necessities. We've learned to count our blessings in all things, being grateful for each other, a healthy baby and jobs that are able to sustain us for the time being. Perhaps we all need to do this.
Alexander the Great, the Macedonian king who sought a better world, came before Christ, who would have known that about 250 years later another man would come who would change the world. Well, now our world is a lot bigger, and in order to change it, we all have to want it and work together to accomplish it.
Alexander the Great, we call him now, an almost mythological figure who rose above the petty differences of people and through his wars and ever-reaching ambition sought to unite all, none above or better than another. We look up to people like this, in awe and aspiration, yet we as a human race have sat idly by while our world continues to crumble before our eyes. We blame one people group or another, never ceasing to cast blame on someone else. After all, we're perfect, aren't we? We can't do wrong, neither can we be wrong, hell, how would that look?
Is this what people need for the future? A conqueror to forcefully unite the world through war and death? A peace sought throughout the world by instilling fear through the most powerful force ever known? What sense does that make? Like Alexander, whoever would do that would most definitely find himself hated by many of those closest to him. For those surrounding him, it was a matter of pride, national or personal (I don't believe in true national pride, I only believe in personal pride manifesting itself through a mask of such stupidity. But that's just me), the Greeks and Macedonians believing that they were so much better than those being conquered.
And that's it, isn't it? We're arrogant enough to honestly think we're so much better than everyone else, aren't we? I'm not talking just Americans here, I'm talking about us as humans. I know of other peoples who hate American government because of the decisions they make that impact the world, and yet, even with the arrogance of the American government so prominently shown throughout the world as a storefront display, those governments of other countries are equally as arrogant. This isn't national pride, my dear people.
Americans and Russians know all too well the problems that came from nuclear power, and yet the Russians have sold such knowledge in order to make a buck and have proliferated even with the Non-Proliferation Treaty being signed by them, as has America. China, India, and Pakistan all have nuclear power, attained through various means and a stand-off between India and Pakistan didn't help anything all the while North Korea was experimenting and coming up with there own nuclear abilities. Iran is now looking to garner the same power, hiding their reactors deep under mountains in an effort to elude any attempts at sabotage; they're also building multiple ones. When does it end? Iran is arrogant enough to say that we can do whatever we want, while the rest of the world is pleading with them not to. Ahmadinijad is right in this, though...they are autonomous and need not answer to the world for their actions. However, his government does need to answer to his people, but they won't. The United States, alone, has the ability to destroy the world 6 times over...Russia about the same, although many of theirs are in severe disrepair, which could cause a whole other slew of problems.
We live in a world governed by the few while all the people are “allowed” to sit by and watch, many times without the ability to say anything for fear of being silenced...America, in many ways, is no different. It's the arrogance, people. And it's an ignorant arrogance. One that will end up with all of us dead. From where I'm sitting, it's only a matter of time. The Mayans predicted the end of the current age to be December 21, 2012, the reason why it's such a big deal to those who study this is that there's no continuation of a following age according to their calendar, which leads people to believe that the prophetical nature of this is the end of the world. We should be so lucky.
Alexander, the great Macedonian king, lost his life shortly before his 33rd birthday. He had assumed the throne at the age of 20, immediately following the death of his father, Phillip. In 13 years he expanded his kingdom beyond the reaches of the known world and took over the immensely powerful Persian empire from Darius. For the most part, he was a man who resisted excesses, believing self-control to be too important to lose himself to anything. In some ways he lost this self-control to alcohol and his ever-expanding ambitions. However, when all was said and done, he had united the land he conquered, while he ruled, and brought those “barbarian” people the gift of education, among other aspects the Greeks were known for. Upon his death, however, all those who were close to him squabbled and squandered as they pillaged Alexander's kingdom. It ended up divided four ways, into four kingdoms, which all eventually fell.
So, with this small history lesson of our forgotten past, can there be peace? If one were to reach back through the annals of history, one would find that the greatest peace possibly ever known to man was under the Ottoman Empire, which was a Muslim empire. They employed those of different religions or races very graciously. Christianity was rather prominent during this time throughout much of Europe, and Greek Christians often held high office. This is of extreme importance while we take into consideration our current time, conflicts and perceptions of our fellow men and women across the ocean and Mediterranean. It's also of extreme importance when we consider Christianity's past. Do you remember the Crusades? An idea given to the king from the pope which resulted in needless deaths? Its sickening to think that someone who would call themselves a Christian or a follower of Christ in any way would come up with an idea that ludicrous. And yet the Pope himself came up with this idea, and almost forced the king to go with it, citing it to be what God wanted. So they did, trying to wrest control of the Holy Land from the Muslims who had controlled it for so long. And they do, for a while, losing it again over time. Now for those who don't know, the Crusades didn't just happen once. They occurred over a period of time and there were 13 Crusades in all. Apparently, stupidity likes to repeat itself.
A wise man on this site told me that Republicans are war-mongers (not his exact words, I'm paraphrasing, lol), and I have to admit, he seems to be quite right. He argued that almost every war has been started by a republican and has had to be cleaned up by the democrat that follows him. Again, wise words spoken. However, wasn't it Reagan, a republican, along with Mikhail Gorbachev working together that ended the cold war? I think many Americans hate politics because of the finger-pointing that goes on while they sit around, congratulating each other on a job well done while accomplishing nothing. If that sounded paradoxical, it was supposed to. I hate politics because there is never a balance and the people suffer for it (although all the people seem to do is complain and point fingers themselves...monkey see, monkey do).
You know, both sides have had their fair share of follies in recent history, almost everything I'll be speaking about within my lifetime or close to it. When Carter was president, he passed into law a bill that would allow the average citizen to buy and own their own house, thinking it to be good for the economy. None of the banks really did this at the time, so there wasn't much change.
Then when Reagan took office, he started what has become either famously or infamously known as “Reaganomics.” Now, I must interject a quick side-note in here to make sure you understand that no matter the president we've had, it takes at least 8 years to see the fruition of any policies they enact and to see the fruit of that labor, whether good or bad.
This being said, the first president Bush continued the “Reaganomics” and when president Clinton was in the prime of his terms he saw the fruit of that labor...a surplus in our treasury. He took all the credit, of course. He also decided to do something about that Carter bill that never really took, and so imposed penalties on banks that didn't do this, thus forcing banks to invent the ARM (Adjustable Rate Mortgage) in order to be able to compensate their money.
Well, we all know how well that ended, don't we? It's quite hard to reconcile money from those who don't have it to begin with. Was that the banks' faults or the people's fault? Well, our people weren't educated on this stuff in the first place and so were blindsided, but they didn't exactly seek to learn either (I'm speaking of the people of America here as a general populace, not everyone made these decisions) and it was the government's fault for putting the banks in a situation where they had to come up with something. For years we thought it was helping until 2008 when everything blew up in our faces. 2009 was a time of serious economic turmoil within the United States and felt throughout the world. We live in a global economy, what affects one nation will inexorably affect others.
The government decided to step in and dish out 700 billion dollars immediately from the taxpayers to bail out the big companies in an effort to save jobs. I haven't seen a dime of that money, have you? Economic stimulus packages to the people are a joke, let's be real about, that and so won't even be mentioned...a whopping 250 dollars is awesome, thank you Mr. President for a gift of money that I need to try and catch up on an utility bill that I can't pay because of a lack of job... I have no idea what I'd have done without it. Because, you know, that really fixes the root of the problem, doesn't it? Idiots.
Well, now we're in 2010 and the unemployment rate is still near 10%. President Obama has donated another 700 billion dollars in taxpayer funds to bailing out companies who are undeserving of our money and we've still yet to see any of it. Seems like all we're doing doing is pissing in the wind right now, and we haven't turned around yet, so its all over us. Pure genius. You know, it's funny, but I saw this coming from a long way off...sadly, no one of any “importance” saw it coming so we all now see ourselves as the victims. Figures, right? In many ways I blame the materialistic nature and greed of the American people for the current state of things in our country. It's nice to see how many people have learned what necessities actually entail.
I learned some stuff myself. I learned that I need to put a roof over the head of my family and food on the table. I learned that I need to be able to provide the electricity for lights and gas for the heater, water heater and stove to be able to cook. And I learned that a phone or tv or internet are not necessary. My wife and I also learned how to be grateful for the fact that we even have jobs, even if they aren't what we want or think we deserve...as long as we can pay our necessities. We've learned to count our blessings in all things, being grateful for each other, a healthy baby and jobs that are able to sustain us for the time being. Perhaps we all need to do this.
Alexander the Great, the Macedonian king who sought a better world, came before Christ, who would have known that about 250 years later another man would come who would change the world. Well, now our world is a lot bigger, and in order to change it, we all have to want it and work together to accomplish it.