Highly Entropic Mind

Juries in DC have refused to indite the guy who threw the sandwich and a woman who threatened to kill public officials. It seems these juries wouldn't indite anyone for any reason, for any reason

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 17

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Highly Entropic Mind

The collapse of the Tang dynasty is fascinating. It failed not because it was weak or poor, but because its people didn't consider it worth saving

There was a rebel called Huang Chao, and in any other time his rebellion would have been a side note hardly worth recording, but something strange happened: All the generals simply refused to stop him

The generals wouldn't engage him in battle, they wouldn't stop his advance, they wouldn't cut his supplies... The few times the government managed to convince someone to engage Hang's army he was defeated, at that point complete victory was at hand, they just had to pursue him, prevent his forces from regrouping, but over and over they just let him ran away and recover from his loses

As a result Huang Chao eventually took the capital and even tried to start his own dynasty

He was eventually defeated, but not by generals loyal to the Tang, but by turkic mercenaries. Regardless, the damage was already done, the Tang would survive a few more decades, but it would never recover

I find this fascinating, a nation that failed their people so completely they refused to stop its collapse, and as a result, millions died and suffered in the wars that followed the collapse of the Tang

This serves to teach us that a nation doesn't just have function, it must be something its people consider worth fighting force

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 32

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Highly Entropic Mind

When Qin Shi Huang Di – the first emperor of China – died while touring a province, his officials kept it a secret for days, making the royal procession carry fish to mask the smell, and they didn't reveal his death until they had secured the succession of power

This was necessary because in authoritarian regimes the law is weak and someone with enough influence can seize power if there is a power vacuum. Nations with strong laws on the other hand never struggle with successions, because everyone knows the law will be followed, even in the temporary absence of a leader

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 37

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