Lean on Me, Sampson...

Sampson in the Treadmill by Carl Bloch

• Public Domain
• File:Samson hos filistrene.jpg

As I ask of all viewers of all my musical story adaptations, please listen along to my inspiration, the original song (in this case made famous by the wonderful Bill Withers), whilst reading my updated lyrics.  Enjoy.

Lean on Me by Bill Withers

"Lean on Me," Per the Story of Sampson... 

The setting is just after Sampson's capture, and Delilah's departure, as Sampson is just getting to know his merry captors...

Sampson, whilst being led in front of a large fireplace, disgruntled:  Well, what's gonna happen?  

Guard #1 (Gripping his chains):  Come, come, Sampson!  Aren't you being just a little paranoid?

Sampson:  With reason.

Guard #1:  Look, Sampson, we're all jocks here, and we're just starting to bond; consider this just a hazing ritual.

Sampson, nonplussed:  Uh-huh.

Guard #2:  We have a lot in common, all of us—don't be so glum!

Sampson:  As one jock to another, spare me the shtick—I've given it out myself.

Guard #1:  So you have, so you have. (Motions with his head back to the fireplace, and guard #3, STIRRING THE FIRE with a poker--smirking.)

Guard #2:  In any case, it's best we got along—for your sake.  ( He whacks him way too hard on the shoulder—making him wince.)  In any case, you're our job, bringing you back to Gaza, and if you made it easier on us, you'd be making it easier on yourself.  

Sampson: Hmph.

Guard #1:  (Shrugs)  have it your way, Sampson--you know, this experience just might be the best for you know, seeing how the other half lives—or not (he shrugs)—that sorta thing.

Sampson:  Lucky me.

Guard #1: Now we're talking! 

At this the music sets in and all the Philistines begin to hum as Guard #3 still stirs the fire.

Guard #3, still stirring the flame:  Sometimes in our lives we all have pain 

Guards as Chorus: We all have sorrow 

Guard #3:  But if we are wise 

Sampson’s frowning POV notes them shoves a sword into the flames.

Chorus:  We know that there's always tomorrow.

The sword starts to sizzle, and Guard #3 pulls the sword back, playfully pointing it his way, compelling Sampson to draw back, as Guards #1 & 2 wraps their arms around him, steadying him.

Guard #1:  So lean on me

Guard #2 gives Sammy a squeeze.

Guard #2:  Now you're not strong... 

Sampson gives Guard #2 a dirty look.

Sampson:  You know this is wrong.

Guard #1:  And we'll be your friends...

Sampson now gives Guard #1 a dirty look as all the guards close in on him, with Guard #3 and his glowing sword foremost.

Chorus: We'll help you carry on! 

Guard #1, to his men:  Come, hold him down.

Sampson just looks on defiant.

Guard #1 to Sampson, smiling way too much:  This won't take long.

Sampson simply glares back.

Guard #1, still overselling his”kindness:  'Til he’ll need…

He starts to grin evilly.

Chorus:  Somebody to lean on!

All the guards start evilly grinning too whilst pressing further in on their prey, and Sampson (for the last time) simply rolls his eyes.

With his eyes now gouged and his arms shackled behind his back, Sampson is forced to stumble ahead of his captors, past a donkey’s jawbone, past the gates he ripped out, and down the hill into Gaza. He bumps his head on Gaza's new gates, pausing until they open for him, allowing his shame-march to attain its natural destination.

Now toiling away at the prison millwheel, an exhausted Sampson is offered a ladle of water from Guard #3, which he turns down with a contemptuous snort. 

Guard #3:  Please—swallow your pride…

Samson just turns away, and resumes grinding.

Guard #2:  If you have faith, you need to use it.

Sampson:  Ugh.

Guard #3:  For just yourself can't fill all your needs...

Sampson again just grunts, to which Guard #3 just trips him up, leading to Sammy’s toppling. 

Guard #3, standing over Sampson, hands on hips:  And, if you try, you’ll simply just lose it!

Guard #2 happily walks up to Guard #3, and winks to him.  

Guard #2:  You just call on me brother, when you need a hand!

Guards #s 2 & 3 hi-fi, as the rest of the guards happily form a bucket line from the prison floor’s well to the fallen fool..

All the Guards, in Chorus:  We all need somebody to lean on! 

Guard #3 is handed a very large bucket, by which he uses by soundly splashing Sampson before starting to clap their hands.

Chorus:  You just might have a problem that we’'ll understand!

All the guards form a hand-clapping circle ‘round the soaking "strong" man.

Chorus:  We all need somebody to lean on…

Smirking, Guard #3 helps pull Sampson up.

Guard #3:  So just lean on me, now you're not strong.

As he leads Sampson back to cell, he tapes a KICK ME sign to his rear, inciting stifled giggles from the rest of the guards.

Guard #3:  And I'll be your friend.. 

Guard #3 shoves Sampson through his cell door.

Chorus:  We’'ll help you carry on! 

Sampson sulkily crawls up to the side of a wall in his cell as Guard #3 and the rest of the Guards gloat from the doorway.

Guard #3:  And so, please heed this song!

Guard #2: Now that you need—

Chorus:  Somebody to lean on!

Guard #3:  So call me…

Guard #3 walks off.  

Guard #2:  So call me…

He walks off.

God (VO):  Call me…

Random Guard:  So call me…

He walks off.

God (VO):  Call me…

Random Guard:  So call me…

He walks off.

God (VO):  Call me…

Random Guard:  So call me…

He walks off.

God (VO):  Call me…

We linger on the image of Sampson slumped over, face obscured, the light coming from the open cell door slowly  being diminished as the door swings shut, before we cut abruptly to black, the only sound now that of the guards locking the door behind them.

God (VO):  Call me…

There is only silence.

God (VO):  Call me…

The Dark Knight Rises...Like a Bat Outta Hell

Originally posted on Jul 27, 2012 at 3:47 PM.

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I altered this primarily for spelling, punctuation, and SEO.

What the Dark Knight Rises Is Actually About

Well, I've been told that I focus too much on the darkness in life, but I disagree.  The darkness is there to begin with, so how do you cope?  A lot of folks find tales, like The Dark Knight Rises, to be dangerous, inspiring the worst, but it can, and does inspire the best, like it was meant to. 

It seems this movie franchise inspired someone to go out and make a massacre, but most don't go that way.  I like to think that those three men who sacrificed themselves for their dates at least a little bit inspired by the same wellspring as their killer to go in the opposite direction, and in doing so, made the right choice.

Just look at its two protagonists, Bane and Batman, both having to cope with severe childhood trauma.  Batman's, you should know, but Bane was born in prison, with no chance of release.  Faced with nothing but darkness and despair, rather than knuckling under, Bane endures, and eventually attains freedom. 

But Bane believes that enduring darkness and despair alone is true strength, and by exporting darkness and despair to the greater world, and Gotham, in particular, he is doing them a favor.  (Most would call turning a whole island filled with twelve million citizens into a  hellhole patterned after the one you left evil, but telling that to Bane.)

Hardened survivor that he is, Bane breaks Batman's back, and surreptitiously tosses him into the pit of a prison that only one has ever escaped, allowing him just enough hope and resources for him to try to escape...and fail.  "Only then," he warns, "Do you have permission to die."

Well, Batman tries, and ultimately succeeds, becoming only the second soul to climb out, but you know what?  Bane wasn't the first.  Bane was strong enough to survive until he was eventually freed, but not climb out.  Why?  Because Batman had hope, and Bane didn't, which ultimately leads to Batman beating Bane in the end. 

The Dark Knight Becomes the Light Knight

Upon reflection, I think Christopher Nolan is discreetly implying in The Dark Knight Rises that our titular character may be misnamed.  Those that live in caves and come to the conclusion that darkness beats light, and therefore belittle it have dwelled there too long.  Yes, the saga of the Batman and such tales of light over night, have those who've misread them, such as the Movie Massacre killer did, but most read them aright, and in them, many inspiration, especially those who had to deal with significant darkness themselves.

As an artist, I've been accused of morbidity in my art from those closest to me.  "You've got a dark side," they say, and I do.  After watching Bane in the theater, I must say I kinda like him, always waxing poetic about pain suffering, and proceeding to teach others hard truths through, but that doesn't make me a monster.

On the contrary, I look upon serial profilers and their airs of superiority aghast!  If not for the grace of God there go you, kind kind sir, and don't you forget it.  After all, are not all soul potential monsters, and is not Batman, in his way, a monster himself?

Unless mistaken, I laugh at Bane's inhumane acts not in sadistic thrill, but rather in empathetic humility.  Like all sane folks, I fight the night, but not with fear and pretensions of superiority (or at least I think I am). 

Faith and hope is enough, folks, and if you've you've stumbled  around long enough to come to the conclusion that hope is enough to keep you from morphing into a monster (like the "Dark" Knight), then you're that much further ahead of the most who aren't that certain, and rebuke the few that are.

Hope has to be.

Lena Dunham, Feminism, & the Feminist Attitude

Originally posted on March 4, 2013 at 2:00 PM.

Photo by Claudio Schwarz on Unsplash

I altered this primarily for spelling, punctuation, and SEO.

What Lena Dunham Annoys Me Over...

Recently, I read an article where Lena Dunham, the creator of Girls, said she was annoyed when she heard some women weren't feminist.  To her, feminism was essentially about social equality, and if you didn't believe you should serve your man just because he was a man, well, you were a feminist, in her book.

Defining Feminism Too Broadly...

Well, I wish I still had access to the article, to quote it verbatim, but it got me thinking, because under it, even I, a socially conservative male, could argued to be a feminist, mainly because I think that we are, and should be, equal under the law, that women can get jobs if they want, that if women wanna wear pants, I'm not gonna make a federal case out of it, and stuff like that.

Lena Dunham believes in "feminism," but sweet Lena, in my estimation, is not a feminist, because of her attitude, which a lot of genuine feminists decry, and for good reason.  A true believer starts not with belief, but with attitude, and that attitude, more than specific beliefs, are what give a movement its vibe.  As a result, the genuine feminists are more than a little concerned about their movement--and they should be.

The feminists (not that I like feminists) see their movement being handed over to a bunch of silly, frivolous, tattoo-donning post-feminists, dames which claim to be feminists, but aren't namely because they don't see things in terms of gender struggle, like they do.

Beyond the apostate post-feminists, the feminists have to contend with the large numbers of women who don't deem themselves feminist, but pretty much share the beliefs of  Lena Dunham, and certainly don't want the right to an abortion to vanish.

Feminist Sensibilities vs. Feminist Instincts

To wit, feminist sensibilities have permeated the culture; feminist instincts, on the other hand, have not; get it?

As such, people have pondered the meaning that Lena Dunham and her series has on popular culture, and I think it's pretty obvious.  Namely, I think the forces of political correctness are fraying internally, and the initial forces that brought feminism to the fore are an increasingly spent force, and while I'm sure I'd hate Girls, it seems to be furthering certain causes--and attitudes--that I find conducive....

What I Hate About Feminist Fiction

Originally posted on Mar 9, 2013 at 12:51 PM.

Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

I altered this primarily for spelling, punctuation, and SEO.

Feminists Tend to Frame Masculinity as Their Enemy

The main problem I have with feminist fiction, mainly, is that it puts masculinity in a bad light.  Femininsts, or at least the post-femininsts, argue that feminism is about equality, but in fiction, an idea usually has to be touted at the expense of another idea, making it look weak in the process.  In the case of feminism, it has two enemies—traditional masculinity, and traditional femininity.

Feminists as Ideological Authorial Bullies

Over and over again in feminist-themed fiction, I see a ton of bullying, making ideas I like, or am at least sympathetic to, look weak--and the storytelling isn't even that good, to boot, and there go the left-wing critics, fawning over it, applauding the cleverness and ignoring its moral preachiness simply because it's singing their song.

I've done the same thing too, folks, applauding bullying, namely, because I agreed with the animating idea, and not examined the full scope of my actions.  I've loathed superheroes' obsession with nonviolence, finding it lame, and then came across a comic where the Punisher forced Daredevil to violate his values by forcing him to violate his values.  I was enthralled, or was until somebody told me he hated seeing people written out of character, and then I reconsidered.

In my reckoning, good writing is pretty much the same as clever writing, but what keeps good from great, you see, is attention to detail, and tolerance for cheap shots, even if they don't fit the greater tapestry.  It's sometimes annoying, but at the least, it's given me  a pretty fair measuring stick to judge others, and hopefully steered me from hypocrisy.

Fictionalized Feminist Cheapshots

A great example of feminism making men look weak comes at the end of the fifth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, where Willow takes charge.  Joss Whedon, the series creator, was trying to make Willow into a leader, but what of Giles and Spike?  Well, in terms of what came before, neither Willow, nor Giles, nor Spike acted much in character, and while cleverly done, lubed by ideology, that neverthless ranks in my mind as a classic case of clever bullying.  Folks like Whedon believe in female empowerment, equality, but when that devolves, I take offense, because he's essentially what he thinks he's despising.

Feminists Need to Address Inequity in Their Criticism

Contrast  such characterization on Buffy with The Powerpuff Girls, where the namesake protagonists must contend with the most pathetic of patriarchs imaginable in a boss.  There's no sideswipes here, just a hapless old fudddy-duddy who can't even open a pickle jar unassisted.  As an individual, there's nothing to respect, but respect him the girls do out of courtesy to seniors, and also commitment to authority, a fine sight better than the arrogance of Buffy, in my mind.

Feminism is widely said to be about equality, and if they mean it as a means to promote merit, I wholeheartedly endorse it; some animals are just more equal than others, and man or woman, I appreciate the exceptionalist.  At its worst, though, if the drive for "equality" makes one tar a group for the other's expense, not only is it bad morality, it's also bad writing.

Quarreling in Mud Puddles: The US Political Divide

Originally posted on Dec 18, 2013 at 1:27 PM. 

Published on August 31, 2017; RICOH IMAGING COMPANY, LTD., PENTAX K-S2; free to use under the Unsplash License

I altered this primarily for spelling, punctuation, and SEO.

Optimism Over the US Political Divide

Well, a lot of of people fear and lament about what's happened to the culture, the political rifts, and where it's going.  Well, I ain't happy with all the changes to the culture, but I think I've a pretty good idea where we're heading, and it's a better place than where we are.  

What gives me optimism is looking at history, and observing what dynamics should be in play to affect change. I dare say, if you look at the past successes and the like, like this book here does, for instance, well, movement seems inevitable, socially, at least.

The left accuses the right as being reactionary, which it is.  And yet, for all the left's emphasis on diversity, it's left a good many feeling excluded, if the election results of the last twenty, thirty years are any indication.  The left does not appreciate this fact.

And why should they?  any political movement reacts first to its base than anything else, and it's culturally energized, if nothing else. Ah, but its economic underpinnings have slipped, and this tells an interesting story, primarily explaining recent Republican successes.

A Brief  Recent History Lesson of the Democratic Party

The current Democratic coalition more or less dates back to the New Deal Era, when unions were a rising economic force, composed of poor white immigrants, yet waiting to be enfranchised politically.  Unions crested in the early sixties, and so did the coalition's heyday, suffering twin beatings from both the Reagan Revolution, and the Gingrichian one in 1994.  

So what did it mean for the coalition?  It meant that key parts of their coalition felt more enfranchised, and thus were no longer voting like they used to.  As a result, to deal with the less radicalized electorate, leaders like Bill Clinton shifted tack accordingly.

But still, the key theme of the coalition is enfranchisement, and that leaves blacks, women, and Hispanics.  Still, I see that as capable of unraveling for them, too.  George Bush's Latino success in 2004 shows that if the GOP can ever get past their Tea Party period sans destructing, they possess appeal towards them.

Add that's where full enfranchisement occurs, I believe, with both parties competing for the same group, and not just writing it off.  Not all parts of the Republican Party are anti-immigrant, and where they aren't, they've had a pretty fair amount of success.  

The Leftist Voting Bloc Can't Hold Up Forever

The monolithic black bloc's 90% solidity has to crumble at some point for the same reasons I've cited; it's just not natural, and under the surface, things have changed a lot since 1964.  Back then, their middle class was around 20%, but now, it's more than double.  Even liberal pollsters expect hear from them at some point, and think Bill Cosby's Detroit speech is a harbinger, as was their lack of anger over Trayvon Martin, if you look at the polls.

That group of black ministers who were angered over Barack Obama's shifting stance on homosexuality, is yet another.  The Hispanics Bush attracted in 2004, you know, weren't Catholic, but rather evangelicals.  Were an Exodus of black middle class voters from the Democrats to occur, I would hazard a guess that it would begin with them as well.

That leaves the female bloc, or, should I place more accurate, the feminist one.  Out of the the whole population of women, only a hard core of ten, fifteen percent votes determinedly Democratic, yet possesses undue cultural influence.  Unlike blacks and Hispanics, whose blocs are far bigger, proportionally, I can't see how this one will dissipate.  

Feminism came from the middle class, so in that way, they're already enfranchised, but between abortion and the trouble these career women have raising a family while working, I just can't see this bloc going away, even if pay equality were achieved.  Shrinking, yes, but not beyond that.

Still, I think the evidence is clear that political shifts occur when the bases shift, and that usually occurs after economic shifts, though the exact triggers can be cultural, or whatever.  Overall, I think the social center of gravity is shifting in the conservatives' favor, and here's why.  

Liberals may groan about conservatives wanting to turn back the clock, but that's not practical, and through the force of liberal culture, conservatives themselves are far more liberal than even a generation before.  Still, conservatives feel disenfranchised, and as a result, they elect folks that represent them, namely angry and suspicious.  

Liberals themselves have gotten more conservative fiscally, following Reagan and Gingrich, but they'll never come to terms with their obsessive focus on race and the like until their bases starts to desert them, though.  Instead, they'll just keep on saying nothing's changed, until the day everyone wakes up, and realizes it has.  

Politics is dirty, and so is our culture, but you know why conservatism will prevail?  Lower center of gravity!

Well, that, and a more energized political base.  It'll show in the long.

Support or Oppose It, Feminism Is Almost All About Attitude

Originally posted on Dec 31, 2013 at 3:29 PM.

NIKON CORPORATION, NIKON D850; free to use under the Unsplash License.

I altered this primarily for spelling, punctuation, and SEO.

Feminism Is Known for Selling Gender Conflict for a Reason

Well, I just finished reading the novel Wicked by Gregory Maguire, and while it was brilliant, it pretty much demonstrates the worst cultural and intellectual trends blowing, namely filth, feminism, and just the whole all-around postmodern attitude.

Wish I could find brilliant novels going in my desired direction, but so be it.  I started reading Wicked because I've heard there was a  general consensus amongst feminists endorsing Wicked, as opposed to other feminist icons, like, say, Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

There's a Reason Feminism Has a Negative Rep Amongst Many Women

I remember reading an article about Taylor Swift, mentioning that when once asked if she was a feminist, and she said,  "I don't really think about things as guys versus girls."  The author then asked basically, why shouldn't she be given that feminism was about gender equality, and fairness in the workplace.

Newsflash, folks:  If feminism really is all about gender equality, and workplace fairness, then I guess that I, too, am a feminist.  (Har har.)  Thing is, feminism generally comes across with an attitude, a mindset that a a lot of women, no less, find distasteful.  Miss Swift may lambaste her exes to high Heaven, some feminists may even claim her as one of their own, but she doesn't buy what they're selling, and neither do I.

If there really is a general positive feminist consensus on Wicked, it just shows once again why feminism is widely seen as anti-man, and this is from someone who can duly appreciate Buffy in part, and the Powerpuff Girls in particular.  Some men are jerks, and just as long as they aren't set up as patriarchal punching bags, that's fine; the underlying anger isn't.

You know Buffy always struck me as a mite arrogant?  Then I read an article by Joss Whedon explaining that Buffy had a lot of anger, and suddenly things fell into place, because that's where I drew the line in the stories.

Feminists Need Greater Self-awareness

I just don't see the need for rage over issues concerning gender equality, but feminists feel it's justified, and therein lies the social tension.  You hear that, feminists?  I distrust you because I distrust your attitude, infecting all society and culture with your grievances, obsessing over them, and demanding that I do too.  That feminist was bothered by Swift's reply, but that feminist probably couldn't see feminism from outside the movement, and therein lies the disconnect.  I can see the reason for wrath in other groups (always did like Malcom X), but not here.

I wouldn't say that attitude is everything (I ain't that shallow), but boy, does it matter.

The Epic Tale of Dave Ross: A Politically Partisan Parable

 Originally published on Jan 15, 2014 at 3:18 PM.

Posted from his Mynorthwest page.

I altered this post primarily for spelling, punctuation, and SEO.

How My Mother Introduced Me to Dave Ross of KIRO 

Growing up in the 80's my mother, conservative evangelical that she is, listened to a lot of J. Vernon McGee, and Focus on the Family.  In 1988, though, after her husband died, she moved, and then her preferences started changing.  Religiously faithful as ever, her tastes shifted.  She started listening to take more interest in current events, sports, and politics.  That impulse turned the dial over to KIRO 710 AM (http://kiroradio.com/), which did news, commentary, and Mariner games.

It also had three main talk shows, hosted by Jim French, Dave Ross, and Wayne Cody for sports.  Dave Ross, though, turned out to have huge resonance on my mom, and through her, on the whole household.  When I think of Dave Ross, I think of her, my teen years, and the political order.

Getting to Know Dave...& the Political Divide

In the run up to our hyper-politicized divide, here was a thoughtful, hyper-dedicated, middle-of-the-road moderate constantly harping on the national debt-threat.  Steering away from polarizing social issues, his focus was fiscal,  and to cap it, downright insightful.  He was also wonderfully eccentric, too,  a trait made manifest in pop and musical song parodies.  Hey--to a family of anglophone tastes, when you come across a fan of Gilbert & Sullivan, what's not to like?

Well, we always suspected he leaned Democrat, but that was, for some reason, okay.  Even as those on the right were discovering Rush Limbaugh & Company, we were finding something different.  Dave Ross was appealing to those seeking commonality, and not screeds, and to my devout, pro-life mum, that sounded pretty good.  She did a great job passing on her highest values to us kids, but at the same time, she taught us not to close our ears altogether to the dissenting opinion.  Remember Gandalf in the Mines of Moria, where he said to "bar the doors and wedge them," save for one, lest they be shut in?  Well, that was my mother, taking that counsel to heart.

Political moderation in a age of political intemperance is hard to maintain, though, and in the mid-90's he started saying he was broadcasting from "the Eastlake Avenue Crusaders for Common Sense."  His doing so at the time puzzled me, but looking back, I now realize how much pressure he must have felt, standing his ground versus the shock jocks that were drowning out all other voices but their own. 

By decade's end, I didn't have time for Dave, but my mother continued to listen, as well as other family members.  In an era of jihad, Dave continued his crusade, and for that I could only wish more power to that. 

How Dave Went SJW

And then Dave ran for congress.  Literally.

He'd mentioned his political aspirations on air over the years, and when he did, the family impulse was to wish him well. True, our suspicions proved correct when he ran as a donkey, and we'd never vote for him out of sheer principle, but that was not to we weren't emotionally sympathetic, just as we would to any other friend of the family, which is what Dave in effect was.  Dave lost, though, and was back for work at KIRO the next day, which is where we wanted him, in any case.

Except that it wasn't the same.

Instead of largely avoiding social issues, he started engaging them, and guess which way he leaned.  He he'd long been a budget hawk, but that ceased to be such a burning concern.  Instead of giving the elephants "a fair shake," as my mother put it, "he just mocks them."   It was hard for me to believe, but after years of avoidance, when I tuned back in, I sadly came to learn that it was all too true.

Dave Ross & the Death of Centrists

Dave Ross runs a morning show on KIRO, now, and as such, he's a bit more palatable.  On it, his leftish tilt's a bit less apparent, and when elections aren't upon us, such obnoxious things don't as often surface.  Mom's been listening a bit to him of late, if only more guardedly.  

Dear Dave's still insightful, but his open hostility to our side lost him much of his ability to influence us.  Mom thinks that election taught him who his friends really were, and if we're talking votes, he's got a point, I must admit. 

While Dave may have helped contribute to our Great Divide, he just as much succumbed, and did so only after great effort not to.  As I said earlier, it's not an era for moderation, and I daresay Dave fought against the undertow as hard as any mainline commentator could, and did so for over a decade; as such I feel more than a little sympathy.

Dave Ross believed in Common Sense, but very little in the last twenty years politically has vindicated that view, has there?  Folks like my CNN-preferring mother may want to believe in the existence of Dave Rosses, but the Dave Rosses seem to have a hard time believing in folks like my mother, ones who are willing to thoughtfully listen to to other than to same-caucus dittoheads.

Really, it's a a two-way cycle of disillusionment.

Shame.

Why Israel Matters: Location, Location, Location

Originally published on an 21, 2014 at 1:44 PM.

Credit:Popartic

I altered this primarily for spelling, punctuation, and SEO.

Why Does Israel Matter?

Ever wonder why Israel matters so much?  For that matter, why does Egyptian Civilization?  It's not the oldest, eclipsed by both the Sumerian and Indian ones, and yet Western Civilization, the heritage that transcends the globe, traces its origins to it.

The answer, I posit, is location, location, location.  It held good water routes to both the Mediterranean Sea and Pacific Ocean, as well as the land route twixt Africa and Eurasia.  Egypt's power faded, but its memory didn't.  It left a a big impression on the Greeks, who really got the ball rolling in in terms of The Western Way, and ironically, they did it head- quartered in Africa.

Yes, Africa; a truly dark continent, indeed, given that for all those thousands of years of dynamism of Eurasia, all those wandering ethnic groups fighting and influencing each other, leaving a rich historical legacy, Africa, by comparison, has little to report.  Yes, it had advanced cizilizations and cities, but they just came and went, not leaving much historical impact beyond their own existence.

You'd think that Eurasia would have influenced the subcontinent more than it has, or at least I do.  What happens in the Mediterranean does echo East, and the East echoes back (and vice versa), but it's like the Savannah just swallows the noise.  For the longest time, if you were a Western power, and wanted to trade laterally, you'd simply do it through the Mediterranean, and the Indian Ocean, and Africa was irrelevant.

Attempting to Explain Africa's Irrelevance

You'd still think Africa, along the Mediterranean's rim, would eventually be drawn into the spiral of trade, but no.  You'd think Africa might become more relevant after trade to the Far East was blocked by a nearer Eastern one, but no.  That momentary blockage in the Eurasian feedback loop led to the discovery of the New World, expanding Wertern power and prestige beyond all recognition.  The Horn route was always a secondary affair to Egyptian trade lanes, and Africa proper didn't even seem like much of a prize to Western empires until there wasn't anything left of more value to fight over, really.

I don't think anyone's gonna stone me when I say that Africa's the most backward place on the planet, and I would venture to say it could have used more colonization, and for a longer time, with South America as an example.  (Hey--Britain and America both started out as colonies, so please don't lambaste when I evoke the long view of history.)  Instead of participating in the long, epic melee that Eurasia started, Africa sat it out, and look what happened, which as history in silence reports, was in comparison very little.

Eurasia Overall, Matters:  Some Things Never Change

No, only Egypt, crossroads to all, is where Africa's value to world history lies, and it wasn't even of value to the native Africans, but rather to the Semitic traders of the Eurasian north who did, forming a kingdom.  I must say, though, that even so, Egypt's impact feels much more mystical than as a trade linchpin.

Egyptologists (or pyramidiots, depending on how high you value them) keep talking about how Giza is the geographic center of the world, but while that may not be true, it's  ground zero for something else, and that's monotheism.  While Egypt was the regional power, the tiny state formed by some of their escaped slaves on the opposite side of the Sinai land bridge  managed to export something of their culture to the world from the same basic pressure point, as well.

It remains a sore spot to the present day, doesn't it?  The world has changed a great deal, and flight among other things have much undermined the import of old sea lanes, but here we are, with the capitals of the world's mightiest nations hundreds and thousands of miles away on other continents, and yet, despite all that, despite not being a resource haven, it still matters.

Ah, sweet mysteries of the ages.