June 28, 1914. Probably the saddest anniversary for the human race.

[greatlaurel]

40. "The Guns of August" by Barbara Tuchman proves ridiculous incompetence led to the war.

The leaders of the empires of Europe were so completely incompetent and intent on protecting and projecting power that every move they undertook made matters worse in a rapidly cascading fashion. The idiocy is so clear that when reading the book, you keep hoping that someone would step up and say "Stop the stupidity!".

The only leader who acted with some intelligence and concern for humanity was Albert l of Belgium. Unfortunately, no one else with any power had the mother wit to think out their actions or constrain their massive egos and he did not have enough of a power base to prevent disaster that continues to haunt us today.

The book is incredibly shocking and eerily reminiscent of the the neocons here in the USA. That the most educated people of their day could act with such abandon of rational thought, is dismaying and disturbing for the future of humanity. The same type of ego-centric idiocy has reverberated through out history, but is manifested most recently in the science denialism of the conservative movements across the globe.

The act of the assassin would have been a vilely misguided tragic act of murderous protest, if not for the massive stupidity of the monarchs and military men of Europe.