[kristopolous]

I'm gambling on "The Oil Age". Political strife will be placed in the context of petroleum geopolitics, energy sectors, climate change, and what will be dubbed "The first migration" (if ocean levels rise as some predict, there will be a second migration for 10% of global population [1])

You can wrap, among other things, the 70's OPEC wars, 79 Iranian revolution, 9/11 and the rise of Trump in a nice tiny bow and create a coarsely accurate depiction of history over those 45 years. You can even have a little side story about things like the 1985 "We Are the World" charity song without missing a beat.

In the long run, things like Facebook and Snapchat will probably be as relevant and well-known as say, the Pacific Mail Steamship Company. Never heard of it? It's a charter member of the Dow Jones Transportation Average (the predecessor to the DJIA) and an important company from the 1800s ...

[1] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elliott-negin/think-todays-ref...

[smhost]

When I was in combat training (U.S., mid 2000s), a corporal who was teaching a munitions class one day started pointing to things and listing off random objects. Clothes, chairs, computer, projector, weapon lubricant, etc. He asked what all of these had in common. The answer was that they all contain petroleum derivatives. And that's why we go, he said. The 18-year-old idiot me didn't understand, so that night I went into my Green Monster (didn't have internet) and started reading about recent U.S. military involvement. It culminated in a rather dramatic mental image of Iraqi forces retreating through Kuwait and burning hundreds and hundreds of oil wells as they went. I was still very confused, but I was overcome with a sharp feeling that I was a pawn in a game being played by gods I couldn't see or hear or meet or understand, a game that had been going on since before I was born. I became depressed and cursed my father for not teaching me anything at all useful about the world.

I don't know why I wrote all of that. Maybe just to say that I'm sorry for my part in all of this bullshit.

[anigbrowl]

Lighten up with this: https://www.amazon.com/Illuminatus-Trilogy-Pyramid-Golden-Le...

There will be plenty of more serious stuff to read later.

[oxide]

>Maybe just to say that I'm sorry for my part in all of this bullshit.

I don't blame you. You were doing the job you swore you'd do, were paid to do, and likely ordered to do.

Thank you for sharing your story.

[M_Grey]

For 18... you saw a lot and you saw it clearly; no wonder it hurt so much.