Another fascinating story you’ve stitched together! My mind is spinning trying to imagine other seemingly unrelated maps that would layer neatly atop each other in other parts of the world. I live in Connecticut, which according to the map also had a coastline of the ancient sea running along it. But we never developed intensive large scale plantations here due in part to another geographical event: the glaciation of this region during the last ice age about 10,000 years ago. As the glaciers retreated they dropped countless boulders and stones of all shapes and sizes across the region. Even though we have very rich soil here, it is punishing to farm the land - the joke amongst farmers here is that our top crop is rocks, which is why to this day you will see stone walls everywhere throughout New England. How different our history might have been had the glaciers not come this far south!
fascinating. I've always been deeply suspicious of mono-causal explanations of anything. That way leads to ideology, not an understanding of the world. Even something as simple as a mugger shooting a victim has layers and layers of cause (someone made the bullets and the gun, something led the mugger to the need to mug, something caused the victim to be on that dark street, etc) For practical purposes of accountability the law has created the concept of proximate cause, but that doesn't mean there is only ONE cause of anything. It just means we look at one cause (or at most a few) in deciding whether to apply the law.
I had no idea about the river diamonds. Haven't had a diamond since I ditched my engagement ring over 30 years ago.
I like this way of thinking Brian… like the book u wrote called fluke it seems much more organic to bring related events together into timelines like this rather than to sort by subject. I like how checking into cause and effect, for instance the story of the diamond trade and how it relates to the story of sierra leon, makes much better sense than looking thru a ‘linear lens’. Thanks for keeping this perspective alive.
The sweeping perspectives presented, industrialization, cotton, diamonds. Interwoven with wars, slavery and disease, the mega forces coming to bear over centuries. Mind-boggling, to be sure, but also challenging. I feel invited to step back and ponder these and other forces that shape destinies, forces beyond the daily news and kitchen table economics. So, Brian, thank you for the invitation, both to ponder and conjecture. Sometimes day-to-day concerns have to be trivialized, even when they dominate the choices and options of living.
Thank you, Brian, for reconnecting the dots between geography, commerce, and mankind's failure to follow a moral compass. Geography influences the "destiny" of some people, and the unfortunate fates others, but it can't be blamed for creating winners and losers. As you can personally attest, being born in the right place at the right time is sheer luck; but what we do with it matters a lot. It's appalling how weak the magnets in mankind's moral compass are, and how quickly they can be misdirected by the magnetic pull of commerce.
Every bit of this lesson is fascinating, as usual. As a jewelry designer working with diamonds, I became interested in how Jews came to dominate the diamond trade. While this is hardly the beginning of the story, and is a vast oversimplification, during the Middle Ages, Jews were restricted as to what sorts of businesses they could operate and were limited to selling used rather than new goods. They acted as moneylenders and pawnbrokers and handled diamonds (and other gems) for the rich and thus became suppliers. And because they frequently needed to pack up hurriedly, they found gems to be a portable and easily concealable means of transporting their wealth.
Tellement intéressant comme toujours. Merci Brian pour ton point de vue éclairant.
So interesting like always. Thanks Brian for your perspective
Another fascinating story you’ve stitched together! My mind is spinning trying to imagine other seemingly unrelated maps that would layer neatly atop each other in other parts of the world. I live in Connecticut, which according to the map also had a coastline of the ancient sea running along it. But we never developed intensive large scale plantations here due in part to another geographical event: the glaciation of this region during the last ice age about 10,000 years ago. As the glaciers retreated they dropped countless boulders and stones of all shapes and sizes across the region. Even though we have very rich soil here, it is punishing to farm the land - the joke amongst farmers here is that our top crop is rocks, which is why to this day you will see stone walls everywhere throughout New England. How different our history might have been had the glaciers not come this far south!
fascinating. I've always been deeply suspicious of mono-causal explanations of anything. That way leads to ideology, not an understanding of the world. Even something as simple as a mugger shooting a victim has layers and layers of cause (someone made the bullets and the gun, something led the mugger to the need to mug, something caused the victim to be on that dark street, etc) For practical purposes of accountability the law has created the concept of proximate cause, but that doesn't mean there is only ONE cause of anything. It just means we look at one cause (or at most a few) in deciding whether to apply the law.
I had no idea about the river diamonds. Haven't had a diamond since I ditched my engagement ring over 30 years ago.
I like this way of thinking Brian… like the book u wrote called fluke it seems much more organic to bring related events together into timelines like this rather than to sort by subject. I like how checking into cause and effect, for instance the story of the diamond trade and how it relates to the story of sierra leon, makes much better sense than looking thru a ‘linear lens’. Thanks for keeping this perspective alive.
Interesting….. thank you
The sweeping perspectives presented, industrialization, cotton, diamonds. Interwoven with wars, slavery and disease, the mega forces coming to bear over centuries. Mind-boggling, to be sure, but also challenging. I feel invited to step back and ponder these and other forces that shape destinies, forces beyond the daily news and kitchen table economics. So, Brian, thank you for the invitation, both to ponder and conjecture. Sometimes day-to-day concerns have to be trivialized, even when they dominate the choices and options of living.
Thank you, Brian, for reconnecting the dots between geography, commerce, and mankind's failure to follow a moral compass. Geography influences the "destiny" of some people, and the unfortunate fates others, but it can't be blamed for creating winners and losers. As you can personally attest, being born in the right place at the right time is sheer luck; but what we do with it matters a lot. It's appalling how weak the magnets in mankind's moral compass are, and how quickly they can be misdirected by the magnetic pull of commerce.
Every bit of this lesson is fascinating, as usual. As a jewelry designer working with diamonds, I became interested in how Jews came to dominate the diamond trade. While this is hardly the beginning of the story, and is a vast oversimplification, during the Middle Ages, Jews were restricted as to what sorts of businesses they could operate and were limited to selling used rather than new goods. They acted as moneylenders and pawnbrokers and handled diamonds (and other gems) for the rich and thus became suppliers. And because they frequently needed to pack up hurriedly, they found gems to be a portable and easily concealable means of transporting their wealth.