First round vote on the next topic!

Hey there! It's time again! We shall vote on the topic of the next video. As we did previously, the high tier patreons and channel members selected topics from my to-do list. I will now post a poll on Patreon, and a poll on the youtube channel member page with their selections. And you all get to vote on what the next video topic will be. Remember that there will be two rounds of voting (like in French presidential elections). So the top two picks of this poll, will be voted on in a future second poll.

Here are your choices:

The Origins of Italian corruption: This video will have one singular and simple point: The Mafia ruined Italy. Yes, I will go through and explain the origins of various different broken state structures, in particular in the South of Italy. But the main point I will make is that those broken structures are continued by a system of corruption that was created, and is being kept alive, by the Italian Mafia. And that the Italian Mafia is a tumor on Italian society that must be removed.

How the Congo predicts the Saudi Future: This will be a video based on a paper I wrote as an undergrad history student, comparing the slave economy of the medieval Congo Kingdom, to the Oil economy of the Saudi Kingdom, and making a prediction for Saudi Arabia based on the brutal collapse into Chaos that destroyed the Congo Kingdom.

What can Lebanon learn from Switzerland? This would be a video comparing Switzerland and Lebanon. Both these countries are multiethnic and multireligious nation states in which diverse populations are mixed together. Yet, one is a completely dysfunctional shambles, while the other is one of the richest countries in the world. So, what could Lebanon learn from Switzerland?

The Problem with Foucault: A video in which I explain why I do not use Foucault for my work, why I am very critical of his work, and why I believe he and many of his desiples have in fact had a very negative impact on the world.

Legacies of Imperialism: This would be a several part long series discussing the legacy of Imperialism. It would go through a list of former Empires and specifically discuss the legacies in political structures that they have left behind in their colonies. Each part would cover one specific Empire: Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, France, Britain, China, United States, Germany, Japan, and Russia.

The Origins and Decline of German Militarism: A video on how the German state was shaped and built by Prussian militarism. How it led Europe into disaster. But also a video on how German civic society was constructed as an opposing force through the free cities of the Rhine valley.

Where does France beginn? Following the reaction to a segment in a video, in which I said that France barely existed 1000 years ago, I would like to delve further into this as a question. I will begin the video by asking “Where does a nation begin?” and then we will use the example of France to show just how complex and difficult finding an answer to this question really is.

A very British Genocide. Would be a video about the Tasmanian peoples and their extermination under British colonial rule during the 19th century. A very unique and interesting topic, since it is an often overlooked one that poses unique questions to historians.

The Origins and Decline of Japanese Militarism: A video discussing the remarkable events around the creation of the Japanese nation-state during the Boshin restoration. Looking into the militaristic forces that subsumed that state, created Japanese Imperialism, and drove the Japanese state off a cliff. And how that legacy still impacts the Japanese state to this day.

Culture Wars: This would be a series of 12-15 videos that are each about 20-30 minutes long in a series in which I try to explain the Origins of the American political structures, and why they are predominantly shaped by the "culture war" rather than by state institutions.

The Origins of English Democracy: This video would probably end up being a collab video with an English law youtuber I know. Because one of the prime focuses of this video would have to be English common law, and the concept of what “rule of law” is. As those are concepts that were pretty much invented by the English and form the foundation of how English democracy came to be.

Who inherited Rome? One of the most controversial things I apparently ever said in any video of mine, was that the Ottomans were the heirs to Rome’s legacy. That seems to have upset a lot of people. So I would like to explain why I call them that, and also examine all other claims to the legacy of Rome.

The neglected Danube: Is a video comparing the Rhine and Danube rivers, and tries to answer the question of why the Danube is neglected as a transportation artery in comparison to the Rhine, and how that may change.