++> On Mar.7,98 Day Brown wrote to D. Martorana
 ++> on "HISTORY"
 
 DM>> ...You have a fine revewrse optimism that stretches back...
 
 DB> Goes to show what Machiavelli can do for you....  :-}
 
     Yes for such a kind and reasoned man, he does speak for
     so many across so much history.....
 
 DM>> Would you ...could you, think beyond your "now-life" presence.
 DM>> It might be easy to say yes, but history is not fat with those
 DM>> in power to do so (with any clarity of benefit). Even with Alexander,
 DM>> we have no way of knowing if the world might have been better off had
 DM>> he been a farmer or even never born. We still might entertain ...
 
 DB> Actually, now that you mention it, my life seems to be constantly
 DB> switching between a Zen be-here-now, and various versions of the
 DB> past and future.  Machiavelli, for instance, provides a lotta good
 DB> insight into the current global political situation.
 
     Having the ~biggest baddest~ humanist  ~guardian angel~  on
     the block helps (tough love)...!
 
 DB> Take his comment that the only time the Italian city states had
 DB> any peace was when the French king threatened to invade...  and
 DB> extend that into some proposal to use US military might...
 
     Nature's testosterone goad seems preconditioned to sex and war!
     She "LOVES" a good birth and a good killing!!! (with some peascful
     lip service in between). BUT I do enjoy the phantasy that we are
     (mostly) captains of our own fate ........at least you and I, as
     grand exceptions!
 
 DB> None of which relates to the question of whether it is time to put
 DB> potatos into the ground because the global warming and El Nino has
 DB> moved the season up, or whether the forcasters are no better now
 DB> than they were when they worked with chicken entrails.
 
     If you mix "chicken entrails" with seed potatoes, El Nino
     will smile (warmly) at your harvest, regardless of WHEN set.
 
 DB> Although I may expound on the motivations of Alexander or Marcus
 DB> Aurelius, I have to admit that they too, lived and worked within
 DB> a fog of uncertainty, and the reasons I put forth are but a small
 DB> part of what was going on.
 
     Now that I know you are a "relativist", I won't be so prone to
     question your "shared" musings, especially since you do so well
     at mixing in some "quiet" humor......
 
                             /0 ... Dave
 
     What would Alexander, Machiavelli and Marcus do if given another
     life to live (WITH all past remembering of personal experiences
     and a full knowledge of how history recorded their adventures
     through life). .
     It is a silly inquiry .....yes?
 
--- Maximus/2 3.01
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