The Golden One - August 17, 2021


Afghanistan. Central Asian History Month – Book Recommendations


Episode Stats

Length

5 minutes

Words per Minute

155.62744

Word Count

914

Sentence Count

56

Hate Speech Sentences

6


Summary


Transcript

00:00:00.880 Greetings, Laddingtons! I'm checking in with a recommendation.
00:00:04.560 I actually thought about making this video in September or October, but due to recent developments in Afghanistan
00:00:11.020 I thought to make it now instead, and I'm sure this will be of interest to many of you.
00:00:16.020 Now, first and foremost, a message to any liberal, to any
00:00:20.620 admirer, to any enjoyer of the current
00:00:24.160 Western regime, the American Empire, or whatever we shall call it, the
00:00:30.000 neoliberal empire.
00:00:32.560 You might wonder, why did the Taliban have so much success in retaking Afghanistan?
00:00:39.620 Why did many, most perhaps, of the Afghan people, why did they reject
00:00:46.880 Western liberal democracy?
00:00:49.420 Yes, I hate to break it to you. I don't really, but anyway.
00:00:53.020 Anyway, the Western culture, the Western modern culture, that is, is supremely unattractive.
00:01:02.300 If you truly believe that a people will want to have a rainbow flag and McDonald's as the ultimate sign of culture, you are wrong.
00:01:12.860 So, it's simply not the case.
00:01:14.860 Compare it to when the British were colonizing India, at least they brought something worthwhile with them.
00:01:21.500 Railroads and infrastructure.
00:01:23.500 When the French occupied and colonized certain countries, they brought with them
00:01:28.140 some nice architecture and some art, etc.
00:01:31.420 In this case, again, McDonald's and rainbow flags, not particularly appealing to any decent individual, to be perfectly honest.
00:01:40.620 So, no, imagine my shock, it doesn't come to, it doesn't come as a surprise in the least that people would reject it.
00:01:48.700 So, there you have it, my brief analysis of the, of the situation.
00:01:53.980 So, anyway, speaking of Afghanistan, I wanted to issue a Central Asian history month.
00:02:00.060 I thought it would be a fun thing.
00:02:02.060 So, in my latest Wild Hunt challenge video, I encouraged you to read a book.
00:02:07.340 And I will actually encourage you to read two books for Central Asian history month.
00:02:11.740 Now, of course, we can place that particular month in September.
00:02:15.020 Um, and, uh, it's simply to read two books.
00:02:18.940 You can read one historical fiction book and one non-fiction book.
00:02:22.780 And I have, and I have two recommendations.
00:02:25.420 First and foremost, as I've talked about before on numerous occasions,
00:02:29.900 The Great Game by Peter Hopkirk.
00:02:31.660 Now, this takes place during the 1800s and it's about the struggle between
00:02:37.500 the British and the Russians, the Russians under the Tsar.
00:02:42.140 Now, if you have begun the Wild Hunt challenge, you will probably already have read my short book
00:02:46.940 review of this.
00:02:47.820 But to recap, the British, of course, they wanted to protect their prized jewel, India.
00:02:53.660 And Russia, of course, they wanted to expand into Central Asia as well.
00:02:57.900 Now, important to read this to understand the current situation in Afghanistan is that
00:03:03.260 the rivalry between Tsarist Russia and Great Britain in the 1800s, they were, um,
00:03:09.900 the successors of them.
00:03:11.260 The Americans, they took the place of the British and the Soviets took the place of the Tsarist Russians.
00:03:17.820 And also, if you look on certain films from the 80s, you will see the Taliban as being the good guys.
00:03:24.060 They were actually funded also by the Western powers to fight the Soviets.
00:03:28.780 And yeah, of course, now they are the bad guys since they are against the Western regimes.
00:03:34.940 Anyway, a recommended book.
00:03:36.460 It's quite thick, but it's worthwhile anyway, especially if you're interested in the time period.
00:03:42.860 Now, I also have a historical fiction recommendation, Empire of the Mughal.
00:03:49.180 It's set in the early 1500s and it follows Babur Khan, the founder of the Mughal Empire.
00:03:56.780 So this is also quite good to, yeah, get a feel of the Central Asian dynasties.
00:04:02.860 So I remember I read this many years ago.
00:04:05.580 I will probably reread it before I read the second and third books.
00:04:09.820 Something I remember was that they talked about who the most glorious ancestor was.
00:04:15.500 Was it Genghis Khan or was it Timur Lenk?
00:04:17.980 So they claimed to be descendants of those that people might make Let's Plays in Age of Empires 2.
00:04:25.740 There are campaigns for both Genghis Khan and Timur Lenk.
00:04:29.020 Anyway, that's a side note.
00:04:30.300 I can definitely recommend it.
00:04:31.740 And then you might say, isn't it better to only read nonfiction?
00:04:34.940 But keep in mind that most historical fiction authors, they go to great lengths to, you know,
00:04:41.980 do the research to portray the events and the setting in a good way.
00:04:45.820 So this fine man, Alex Rutherford, he traveled to Central Asia to, yeah, to study as well, to study the time period.
00:04:54.860 So you will get a lot of historical insights by reading it as well.
00:04:59.420 So for me, if I participate in this Central Asian History Month myself, I will first and foremost read this book,
00:05:06.060 The Silk Roads, to gain additional inspiration for Legi Gloria clothing, rocking this fine organic cotton polo now,
00:05:16.620 looking absolutely juicy, if I may be so bold.
00:05:19.260 So I will read this, gain some additional inspiration, and then I will read, I will first reread this and then read the second book.
00:05:27.020 So those are my two books in this fine challenge, as it were.
00:05:32.060 So anyway, I just thought to check in.
00:05:33.980 I encourage you to read up on some Central Asian history.
00:05:37.020 It's deeply interesting and it can be good to know what is going on in Afghanistan at the moment.
00:05:43.580 So now we'll hit the gym.
00:05:45.180 Thank you for watching and check out all links in the description box below.
00:05:50.380 XOXO BOOM!