On Sat, Aug 1, 2015 at 8:07 PM, Greg Chalik <xxxxxx@gmail.com> wrote:

> The Earth historical model for this would be Islam.
>
> Islam expanded very quickly in short time not due to any religious fervour
> as most are led to believe, but because of the demographic tipping point in
> an unsustainable environment.
>
> Essentially pre-Islamic Arab culture was based on raiding others, killing
> all males and enlarging one's number of wives.

Which is also a biblical tactic.  Sort of suggests it is actually pretty common.

>.Muhammad simply recognised the way
> things were headed and offered the Arab tribes an alternative - raiding
> others.
>
> The rest of the three centuries of the Islamic Expansion can be described as
> a series of strategic raids utilising an entire culture, Arabic.

Not all that different from Rome or any other empire.  (Or the US for
that matter.) Expansion is funded by pillaging after conquest.  Those
that surrender and acculturate early get to help raid the neighbors
down the road.

Lather, rinse, repeat, until you hit the limits of communication and
your command structure, or geography, or run into neighbors too tough
to conquer.

Dan

--

"Any sufficiently advanced parody is indistinguishable from a genuine
kook." -Alan Morgan