Comments on: Rodenberry never thought that Speaking Trek would mean speaking Chinese and Hindi http://www.asiahealthcareblog.com/2010/02/08/rodenberry-never-thought-that-speaking-trek-would-mean-speaking-chinese-and-hindi/ Sun, 18 Jul 2010 11:04:09 +0000 hourly 1 By: Damjan http://www.asiahealthcareblog.com/2010/02/08/rodenberry-never-thought-that-speaking-trek-would-mean-speaking-chinese-and-hindi/comment-page-1/#comment-6699 Damjan Wed, 10 Feb 2010 15:08:22 +0000 http://www.asiahealthcareblog.com/?p=1962#comment-6699 You know, that's a great point I missed. THE Lunar landing would probably become the Chinese touchdown. This is perhaps the strongest argument for why the landing would mark China's ascent as one of the world's leading cultural trend setters. New achievements take the place of older history. I just finished Rogert Crowley's <em>Empires of the Sea</em> and I was amazed again and again by just how important the Ottoman empire was to the politics of Europe. For a long time, they were THE boogeymen of Europe. These guys murdered, skinned alive, abducted, and enslaved countless numbers of people in Europe over a period of 200+ years. Their dominance eventually led the greatest Alliance of European powers (Spain, Venice, and the Vatican) ever seen. Growing up, however, the only boogeymen that we were warned about in school were of the German variety, and THE Alliance people talked of was headlined by gun wielding GIs. Even though both the Nazi and the Ottoman menace defined the politics of Europe and led to equally momentous alliances, only one set of these occurrences matters - the newer one. You know, that’s a great point I missed. THE Lunar landing would probably become the Chinese touchdown. This is perhaps the strongest argument for why the landing would mark China’s ascent as one of the world’s leading cultural trend setters. New achievements take the place of older history.

I just finished Rogert Crowley’s Empires of the Sea and I was amazed again and again by just how important the Ottoman empire was to the politics of Europe. For a long time, they were THE boogeymen of Europe. These guys murdered, skinned alive, abducted, and enslaved countless numbers of people in Europe over a period of 200+ years. Their dominance eventually led the greatest Alliance of European powers (Spain, Venice, and the Vatican) ever seen. Growing up, however, the only boogeymen that we were warned about in school were of the German variety, and THE Alliance people talked of was headlined by gun wielding GIs. Even though both the Nazi and the Ottoman menace defined the politics of Europe and led to equally momentous alliances, only one set of these occurrences matters – the newer one.

]]> By: Adam Daniel Mezei http://www.asiahealthcareblog.com/2010/02/08/rodenberry-never-thought-that-speaking-trek-would-mean-speaking-chinese-and-hindi/comment-page-1/#comment-6692 Adam Daniel Mezei Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:46:27 +0000 http://www.asiahealthcareblog.com/?p=1962#comment-6692 Given the paucity of historical knowledge on the part of the average carbo-scarfing, game console banging, laptop-slinging, Red Bull (or worse!) guzzling Gen Y'er set, I suspect that when the Chinese make their eventual 2020 lunar landing debut that their iteration of the monumental human endeavor will become the de facto "lunar landing," supplanting the original US push towards our lone satellite. Given how WWII embodied the worst of man's atrocities against man, previous gory slugfests (WWI, obviously) like the Boer War or even, say, fights between the Germans and the French from the late 19th-century, were condemned to history's dustbin in just a few short decades, there's no telling what the Chinese plan to do to actively erase mankind's recollection of things in which we could previously find solace. The alarming part of what I just wrote is this: given that the Chinese are astute studies of the Western historical record, they know this intimately and are just patiently biding their time, like cheetahs set to pounce in the bullrushes (wait a moment, do cheetahs a) pounce, and b) find themselves ever near a marsh?) Do I say Heaven help us now or leave that for when the event happens? Given the paucity of historical knowledge on the part of the average carbo-scarfing, game console banging, laptop-slinging, Red Bull (or worse!) guzzling Gen Y'er set, I suspect that when the Chinese make their eventual 2020 lunar landing debut that their iteration of the monumental human endeavor will become the de facto "lunar landing," supplanting the original US push towards our lone satellite. Given how WWII embodied the worst of man's atrocities against man, previous gory slugfests (WWI, obviously) like the Boer War or even, say, fights between the Germans and the French from the late 19th-century, were condemned to history's dustbin in just a few short decades, there's no telling what the Chinese plan to do to actively erase mankind's recollection of things in which we could previously find solace.

The alarming part of what I just wrote is this: given that the Chinese are astute studies of the Western historical record, they know this intimately and are just patiently biding their time, like cheetahs set to pounce in the bullrushes (wait a moment, do cheetahs a) pounce, and b) find themselves ever near a marsh?)

Do I say Heaven help us now or leave that for when the event happens?

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