TxTiger82

If Trump wants tariffs, why doesn't he go about it the right way and pass a law in Congress? Why is he trying to run the global economy by executive fiat?

In the Middle Ages, Islamic societies were much more advanced scientifically and technologically than Christian European civilizations (see, e.g., Toledo in Spain). Others have noted this point earlier in the thread, and the OP has subsequently dismissed it or written it off.

But this example poses a big problem for the OP's argument nonetheless, because it disproves one of the core assumptions of the post: That Islam is inherently limiting to technological and societal advancement. With such an obvious counterpoint in the centuries after the emergence and spread of Islam, it should be clear that this assumption is wrong.

With that reasoning in mind, the more interesting counterfactual question is not about the early spread of Islam, but rather : Why did subsequent Islamic civilizations turn their backs on European advancements, specifically during the Age of Exploration and the Enlightenment?


Many have mentioned the Turks -- they actually did adopt European technology, but failed to keep innovating after the Second Siege of Vienna.

Perhaps more recently, we could consider efforts by Islamic societies to modernize, and ask questions like : Why did the post-War Arab modernization programs of Nasser and the Ba'athists ultimately fail?

Clearly, this failure has a lot to do with the Luddite/anti-modern tendency in Islamic extremism, which emerged as a backlash to the Ba'athist approach.

Or, if you really want to get philosophical about it, you could consider the current popularity of modern Islam among the poorest segments of Asian societies, then ask : Does Islam make people poor? Or are poor people attracted to Islam for some reason?


There are all sorts of questions that are much better and more historically informed than the one you posed, which is laced with flawed assumptions about the nature of the religion itself (or perhaps its adherents, that part isn't clear, either).

The Republic
Meditations
The Prince
Critique of Pure Reason
Thus Spoke Zarathustra

All pretty old at this point. Should we not read them?

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Yeah. I feel there are better courses suited for life than English literature.

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If I had to draw it up from scratch, I would put engineering in trade school, and business schools would be split off into stand-alone institutions.

That would leave universities to do what they should have been doing from the beginning: Developing thought-leaders rather than workers and middle managers.

And yea, that shite SHOULD be expensive. Not just anyone can be a thought leader.

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Not at the moment, I appreciate your consistency

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The problem is that his perception of who is freeloading and who is not is completely backwards. :lol:

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Gotta clean the wounds before they can heal. That usually stings a bit.

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We've always been at war with Eurasia.

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.Gov spends 30 billion per day. Cut that back, and the subsidies are nothing.

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So you think paying farmers to grow nothing is a good use of taxpayer dollars? Agree to disagree on that one, buddy.

The 10yr yield is down from the local peak, but up since liberation day.

Apr 2 close was 4.19.
Current is 4.33.

Thus, the 10yr yield is not “down.” Moreover, one bad move in negotiations sends the thing over 4.50 again.

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Explain this to me like I'm a 4-year-old girl with pigtails who just fell off my bicycle and hurt my knee while holding a sucker.

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Businesses got more for their money in March than they did in February.

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S & P 500 Forward P/E Ratio at great buy levels

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Might want to wait and see where the "E" portion of that ratio is at in the coming weeks. Financials kick off earnings season on Friday.