Man Of Jackistan: Reason and Truth's Time and Place

Q&A: "Were The Dark Ages Actually A Time of Cultural Regression Outside of Europe?" originally composed January 14, 2019 Question: "Were the Dark Ages actually a time of cultural regression outside Europe?" Defining and then measuring culture is tricky. For this answer, let’s say that the hallmarks of a civilization include economic prosperity, trade and material wealth, urbanization, safety/security (no invading armies, no rebellions, lower rates of starvation, etc), scientific achievements and prowess, advanced construction and production (be it huge monuments, state-of-the-art boats, or whatever), and artistic achievement. So, based on that measure: No. Actually, while the eurocentric viewpoint teaches us that after the Fall of Rome—the Western part, containing Italy, France, England etc—marked a sudden decline in science, culture, commerce, art, that simply doesn't hold true across the entire globe. The Visigoths, under Alaric I, ...

SICILY Original draft composed August 10, 2018 Sitting between the shores of Tunisia in North Africa and the toe of Italy's boot, the island of Sicily sits in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea-a body of water the name of which already means "middle of the world." Thus, Sicily rests in the middle of the middle of the world. Based on the position that it has historically occupied among the nations of the Mediterranean, one could argue that strategically, it was exactly that at one point. But many people don't know much about this curious land beyond it having outsourced the mafia and the volcano that erupted two decades ago. To understand this unique place, we must look to the past. For millennia, any mind thinking politics in the Mediterranean Sea area knew the most important island in order to dominate all of its shores: Sicily. From the ancient Phoenicians to the Allied invasion of Sicily in World War 2, rulers have sought to secure this island in the Medite...