World War 1

This is an interesting video. Its about half an hour. If you have time do watch this. There is a Part 2 which you can get from the You Tube screen. You should watch Part 2 as well.

Link : https://youtu.be/tclAbWvBt70

A younger friend who is also a history buff wonders why my interest in the World Wars, both the first and second? Like many people of my generation (the 60s generation) I have had a great interest in both the World Wars and the Cold War that followed.  Perhaps It is the proximity. The Second World War ended just 15 years before I was born.  (For comparison I have held on to my really cool Mercedes CLK for about the same amount of time and am still keeping it).  

Why this video?

I have mentioned before about Tun Dr Mahathir's farewell address at the last UMNO General Assembly (2002 or 2003?)  Everyone was wondering what Dr Mahathir would say in his final address as the president of UMNO.  He spoke about the West. He said that we must study the West closely because they have such a great influence on everything that goes on in the world.  Dr Mahathir's observation is correct. 

In the video above the thesis is that in the closing years of the 19th century, British commercial and financial interests planned the dominance of the English speaking Anglo-Saxon race. They roped in the Americans as well - an effort to "regain" their lost colony.  Money, power and racial pride got the better of them.

You may agree or disagree.

These power plays have not stopped. Most certainly the Middle East is still easy picking for these types of shenanigans. Countries and human beings are manipulated and usually destroyed almost at will. Of course the people of the Middle East need little assistance to destroy themselves. 

The world will never change. The rich and the powerful will always manipulate the weaker and the less powerful. The only thing that has changed is the type of power. 

Some say the age of guns and bombs has come to an end. This is truer (but not 100%) among those countries that have become independent, free and are technologically, economically and socially advanced. This has held true in Western Europe for the past 73 years - perhaps the longest period in history where Western Europe has not seen any large scale wars. The Bosnian conflict, Chechnya and Ukraine   were "localised" conflicts - closer to a tribal conflict.  Despite the carnage they were "low intensity" - with no large battlefield type confrontations.  Much like Algeria (in the 90s), Syria, Iraq and Libya now - they massacre people one village at a time. 

For those countries that are not economically and socially advanced  (the Middle East and other Third World countries)  resorting to military and other violence to resolve differences is still an everyday item on the menu.  Looking at the foolish rhetoric going on now in Malaysia, we have not yet elevated ourselves above this threat.  We are not firm enough and do not seem to have resolve to curb these threats. (Also the arrest of so many foreign ISIS, Al Qaeda and other 'imported' terrorists in the country shows a prevailing ignorance and carelessness. The 'Takpe' and 'Tidak apa' attitude.)

Back to the world stage, to avoid becoming puppets and being manipulated by the powerful, it is vital that as many countries as possible become technologically, economically and socially advanced. I believe the last one is most important - social advancement. 

I take comfort that in our neighborhood our neighbours like Singapore, China, the Koreas, Taiwan, India (and hopefully Indonesia and the Philippines) are becoming advanced in all three areas (technological, economic and social) or in at least two out of three (like India).  

We really need to build our assets - real tangible things and spread it around as much as possible. And we must do it fast.  If we cannot do this it simply means that we are incompetent. 

The more assets our people have (businesses, factories, shops, jobs, houses, apartments, cars) not only will they be kept busy 'minding their assets' but a whole new attitude towards human beings will develop. You need human beings. 

You do not need "exclusive" race, religion, this or that cultural identity etc.  Those things come with pride, arrogance and ultimately lead towards conflict.

We just need human beings.