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Quotes

The Dialectic of Domination and Development

Important for any non-naive and non-idealistic understanding of human history:

"Conquest has been central to human history, and it has been an important motor for human economic and moral development, providing the foundation for empires and civilizations. Conquest provided the conquering power with the economic and human resources that enabled the development of a class liberated from food gathering or food production, freed to pursue not only advances in the art of war, but also advances in commerce, science, technology, philosophy, literature, and art. A conquering empire, once it attains political control over an extended territory, builds infrastructure and maintains peace, providing the conditions for commercial expansion and technological development, standing in contrast to the limited possibilities of local tribes.

I call this historic central human tendency “the dialectic of domination and development.” It is a dialectic that unfolds in the real world. The conquest and domination by an empire or nation of other societies constitutes the thesis. The resistance of the conquered expresses its antithesis. And the synthesis involves the construction of progress and development, drawing upon human and material resources and knowledge and technologies that pertain to both worlds of the conquerors and the conquered."

- Charles McKelvey [1]

Key articles

• Introduction to the current geopolitical conflicts in a context of declining empire: [ https://johnmenadue.com/russophobia-and-sinophobia-projection-narcissism-and-denial/ Russophobia and Sinophobia]: projection, narcissism and denial. By Kari McKern.

• Chor Pharn: Electro States vs Petro States: = "we’re heading into an energy-tech cold war defined by electrification vs. hydrocarbons, with China trying to win the load (electrons, motors, grids) while a loose petro-alignment (US–Saudi–Russia) tries to keep price, molecules, and chokepoints on its side".