Rapaire,

Hello. The thigh bone's connected to the hip bone; the hip bone's connected to the back bone.

History has been presented as a picture rather than a 'river'. We see chunks as snapshots that presume a serendipitous cause/effect. But please note that when we eat a loaf of bread--which we do in just a few days--that the loaf hsa been through the hands of a grocery clerk, a shipper-receiver, a trucker, a shipper-receiver, a shipper-receiver, a manufacturer, a trucker, a grain handler, a farmer. And we see the loaf of bread. It is the grain however from which the wheat sprouts. And while as economists we can look at the life of the bread, we have to as historians look at the travels of the loaf and all the machinations that preceded its display on a shelf. In the life of the loaf, the three days it is with the person who eats it is a brief time when compared to the total time it took from grain being planted to product being sold in a store. Thus, the 693 years--well, the Chinese have been admired for taking a long view of history as have the samurai, which in Japan has transformed to the leaders in the business world. There are many ways to fight, and many ways to conquer. IMO.

BM