(Part 3) Top products from r/MorbidReality

That ELI5 is, of course by nature, too simplistic. The Germans didn't "install the Tutsi into power". Instead, Rwanda as it exists today is one of the few countries where the current borders pretty closely approximate with the borders of a complex hierarchical kingdom that existed before the country became a colony.

Colonial powers prefer using existing governing structures as it saves them the time and effort to set up an entire administrative system of their own, and in the case of Rwanda, this was easier than usual. They simply solidified the existing system, so in their eyes, at this point they weren't inducing volatility at all, but strengthening a stable system.

After WWI, the Belgians took over the administrative functions and they not only continued to rely on these governing structures, but, guided by the racist and eugenics movements of the time, came up with a racial explanation for the Tutsi rule: their superiority was demonstrated by their lighter skin, aquiline nose, tall stature, etc. as opposed to the broad-nosed, darker and shorter Hutus. According to this new racial mythology, Hutu were Bantus while the Tutsi were part-Caucasian.

So they didn't intend to induce volatility, but they certainly weren't well-intentioned when they decided how to rule. As to direct economic gain, Rwanda has few resources and covers a small and landlocked territory, but it was well-suited for cash crop production of mainly coffee and some tea.

This is another important cause of the volatility of the country in itself. The post-colonial one-party dictatorship under Hutu rule relied almost entirely on a mix of foreign aid and profits from the coffee trade, and purposely kept the country rural and the population uneducated in order to maximize the exploitability of its only profitable natural resource.

When coffee prices plummeted in the late 1980ies, this caused serious problems for the regime as both the international and domestic communities as well as the exiled Tutsi community in Uganda mounted a serious opposition to the dictatorship. They were eventually forced to agree to political reforms, but hard-liners who were unwilling to relinquish their power seized control after the assassination (probably by the RPF - Tutsi rebels from Uganda) of the President, were able to use the years of anti-Tutsi propaganda, trained submission through dictatorship, and fears about the rebels from Uganda to organize the genocide.


There still is a lot more to it, and it is also interesting, but worrying to see many parallels between the current post-genocide Tutsi government and the pre-genocide Hutu government. I mostly based the above on academic sources, but more accessible reading I could recommend about the country and the region would include Dancing in the Glory of Monsters and anything by Prunier and Mamdani. Jared Diamond's Collapse has a chapter on Rwanda which focuses on the economic dimension; it's a bit controversial, but based on some very interesting research.

Best place to start for overview of skeptical philosophy from ancient through modern times: http://www.amazon.com/Skepticism-Anthology-Richard-H-Popkin/dp/1591024749.

Afterwards, select the most intriguing philosophers and read them in more detail.

Also, read anything about quantum theory and modern cosmology.

This is a great starting point that will,also amaze you:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Holographic-Universe-Revolutionary-Reality/dp/0062014102

Eyes of the Tailless Animals and Long Road Home may interest you as well. There are a couple of books about the original Gulags in the Soviet Union (what Kim Il-Sung modeled the NK gulags after) that are excellent reads. Let me know if you want those.

The prevalence of sociopathy in the population may range from 1 - 4%. This is likely a congenital defect, and seems to ablate the capacity to have love or empathy for others, leading to a lack of conscience. For more information, I recommend The Sociopath Next Door.

Not all people are born as blank slates. Cognitive function is regulated by organic factors as well as environmental factors, and we cannot neglect the influence of organic factors.

Though, to be clear, it is possible for otherwise normal people to be made violent - this process was detailed fairly well in the book Why They Kill, which I also recommend.

About the Rwanda genocide. One of the best I've ever read.

we wish to inform you...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lost-Revolution-Story-Official-Workers/dp/0141028459

This is a really good book.

You should read Steve Hodel's book. VERY compelling. He has theories about his father's involvement in a few other gruesome crimes.
It's called "Black Dahlia Avenger"
Check this out on AMZN:
http://amzn.com/0061139610

Here's an amazon links for everything I can think of:

[The Burning of the World by Bela Zombory-Moldovan] (https://www.amazon.com/Burning-World-Memoir-Review-Classics/dp/1590178092)

[Poilu by Louis Barthas] (https://www.amazon.com/Poilu-Notebooks-Corporal-Barrelmaker-1914-1918/dp/0300191596/ref=pd_sim_b_22?ie=UTF8&refRID=08182FWK7NN6N9QSEAF7)

[Infantry Attacks by Erwin Rommel] (https://www.amazon.com/Infantry-Attacks-Marshall-Erwin-Rommel/dp/1607963353)

[Outside Verdun by Arnold Zweig] (https://www.amazon.com/Outside-Verdun-Arnold-Zweig/dp/1908754524)

[Storm of Steel by Ernst Juenger] (https://www.amazon.com/Storm-Steel-Penguin-Classics-Deluxe/dp/0142437905)

[Goodbye to All That by Robert Graves] (https://www.amazon.com/Good-Bye-That-Autobiography-Robert-Graves/dp/0385093306)

Sort of reminds me of this.

Angelhead

Here's a link

points to this

which points to this

there's a book

can't confirm it's true, but lots and lots of sources on the net are repeating it. but anyway it's a start to finding out how credible at least some of these sources are.

The Holocuast by Bullets by Father Patrick Desbois

I was never taught about this aspect of the Holocaust in school. The book follows Father Patrick Desbois as he explores the villages ravaged by the Einsatzgruppen. Some of the stories told by the elders in the village are absolutely haunting.

Highroad to the Stake

A family of vagrants tortured into confessing to being witches in 1600's Germany because the city fathers wanted to hold a big, showy torture/execution with the intent of deterring crime.

Really horrific stuff and all true.

Here is a great and pretty short essay "Going to see a Man Hanged) by famous (at least in some circles) English author William Thackeray about just that - attending a public hanging for the first time and his reaction to it.

Are you referring to William Craig's book? I don't think it's fiction.

Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad

>During the five years William Craig spent researching the battle for Stalingrad, he traveled extensively on three continents, studying documents and interviewing hundreds of survivors, both military and civilian. This unique account is their story, and the stories of the nearly two million men and women who lost their lives.

I have skimmed the book (I own it but haven't had time to get to it) and it isn't much like the movie.

I highly highly recommend the book My War Gone By, I Miss it So. It's about a war photog/journalist that is addicted to war and then heroin in the trips he takes back home. Anyone who enjoys this sub would love it.

Very good book about the murders and murderer ...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Killing-Company-Case-Dennis-Nilsen/dp/0099552612

Source: Blind Eye to Murder by Tom Bower (Granada Publishing: 1983) page 272, figure 8. The caption for the image reads: “Colonel Gerald Draper of the British War Crimes Group photographed as he finally secured the confession of Rudolph Hoess, the commandant of Auschwitz, to the murder of three million people.”

You'd think so, but read this book or this one. Firebombs are as close to the antichrist as you can get in warfare, and I say that as someone who reads a lot into war.

Fire in the Grove: The Cocoanut Grove Tragedy and Its Aftermath

Dark Tide: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919

Under a Flaming Sky: The Great Hinckley Firestorm of 1894

The White Cascade: The Great Northern Railway Disaster and America's Deadliest Avalanche

Curse of the Narrows: The Halifax Disaster of 1917

Chicago Death Trap: The Iroquois Theatre Fire of 1903

To Sleep with the Angels: The Story of a Fire


Albatross
"One late summer's day, the yacht Trashman set sail from Annapolis to Florida. On board were five young people: John, the captain; Meg, Mark, Brad, and Debbie Scaling. When the boat sailed into a gale, the eighty-knot winds shredded the sails. Forty-foot seas crashed through the cabin windows, and Trashman sank, leaving the crew adrift in a rubber dinghy. Albatross tells the story of how Debbie and Brad survived and how the tragedy changed Debbie Scaling's life forever."

have not read yet, supposed to be good:
Flight 232: A Story of Disaster and Survival