Monday, May 23rd, 2022

Hey,

I was listening to Prisoners of Geography.

https://youtu.be/-6-GjbGomF8

It's so amazing.

It's such a beautiful life when you can piece together interconnecting puzzle pieces in geopolitics. I love war, or maybe just the challenge of winning, where you examine the myriad of details that make for success.  

George Washington mastered the terrain because he used to work as a surveyor measuring the rise and fall of land.  

One of my favorite reads was The Journal of Lewis and Clark. They were sent by President Jefferson to find a waterway that stretched east/west across the United States. There is no such water way but their journey was amazing. They surveyed the land, documented the rivers, collected plant and animal samples, survived hostile Indians and treacherous weather. It was arduous and groundbreaking because they were scouts. After them Americans poured westward from the original thirteen colonies.  

Human beings are incredibly hardy. Their capacity on every front is jaw droppingly astounding.

Of course in war it's not all about terraine.

I remember the hardest thing that Alexander the Great had to do was the choice of a route to take to get back to Persia after his Indian campaign. He defeated the Asvayanas, captured their 40,000 men and 230,000 oxen then led his troops back through the Gedrosian Desert. It was the hugest mistake of all time because of the quantity of casualties due to lack of food and water.

I'm sorry that I'm such a nerd. I try to keep it under covers but on occasions, there's just no containment.

Have a beautiful day.

Betty