There's so much to dislike about America's relationship with Israel it's hard to know where to start or to limit my response to under 10,000 words, so I'll be necessarily brief.
Israel is a weapons exporter and is not Ethiopia. To have the American taxpayer foot the bill for Israeli weapons systems is ludicrous, more so when so many domestic needs are lacking.
Israel regularly violates human rights and international law. Iron dome and the UN veto assure Israel never faces any consequences for its lawlessness, which encourages their continuation.
Defenders of Israel too often smear critics with charges of antisemitism instead of honestly addressing the issues, thus cheapening cases of actual antisemitism.
Israel represents one of the most powerful lobbies on Capitol Hill, demanding that freshman congresspeople sign loyalty pledges or face challengers in the next election cycle. The dysfunction of having a foreign power making our representatives sign a loyalty pledge should be obvious
Israel's defenders promote censorship in the press, on our evening news, on our social media, in our political discourse, and on our college campuses.
I don't contribute to racist conservative politicians here in the States; why should I be made to do so elsewhere?
Israel's interests as a regional power encourages policies which do not serve the interests of the American people. For starters see PNAC.
Blindly supporting a self-proclaimed Jewish State is a perfect an example of a "foreign entanglement" that the Founders warned us against entering.
With both major parties firmly in Israel's pocket, paying taxes amounts to extortion that benefits both Israel and American weapons manufacturers.
Defenders of Israel pretend they want to be treated like any other country, but time and again they receive special treatment no other country enjoys.
Wikileaks revealed an internal NSA document that named Israel the greatest cyber threat to the United States. Yes, our "good friend" Israel, whose citizens and spies are regularly employed by our major tech firms.
Defending Israel makes our words about democracy and the rule of law comical. Of course, our actions do the same, but embracing Israel doesn't help.
Israel is a facet of the exact same Deep State rot that is making our government such a mess. Endless war, terror, dark money, corruption, corporate greed, unaccountable power, etc. Addressing our blind support for Israel pulls on the string that connects it all, and that's one reason the pushback is so severe.
The current situation is unsustainable. It's time for America's unconditional support of Zionism to end.
A “protection racket” is a scam where an aggressor instigates an attack, blames a bogeyman, and then offers to protect the victim from this bogeyman in return for money and power.
The funds allocated to Israel by congress in part are then allotted to buy weapons from American manufacturers. This is a scam of the highest order, basically using tax dollars to subsidize private corporations, under the guise of defending apartheid Israel. Disgusting from top to bottom.
An interesting observation: How few people have left comments compared to other of Caitlin's articles. What could account for this? People aren't rushing to defend Israel either, which is good news, but I find the overall silence on such an important topic curious.
"What funds the things the government pays for? Well, $3.5 trillion of that spending was paid for by “federal revenues,” which mostly refers to taxes."
So either you or Google is wrong. And there's no need to shout.
Even IF tax dollars weren't funding Israel, the bigger point is that we shouldn't be funding Israel in the first place.
What funds the things that the government buys IS "federal revenues," only that doesn't imply that those revenues are necessarily taxes.
The revenues that Congress uses are the currency which Congess creates every time they pass an appropriations bill. They haven't used taxes for revenues since the days of the gold standard, which finally ended in 1971, when Nixon took us out of the Bretton Woods Accord.
This is "fiat currency," and the word "fiat" means "by decree." So Congress can decree currency into existence. It isn't based on anything, not gold and not petroleum. The "petro-dollar" is a myth. The only thing that the dollar is based on is "the full faith and credit of the United States" (which I suspect means that we have the largest military machine in the world).
This and more is what I meant when I said "Learn MMT." You will find some amazing facts there if you do.
And *of course* I agree that we shouldn't be giving money to Israel at all, even if our money was left under our pillows by the Money Fairy every night.
Well we've gone from "doesn't" to "doesn't necessarily mean", so that's progress, I suppose.
I understand that the government creates money out of thin air. I also understand that I pay federal taxes every year, as do millions of other Americans and that those funds go somewhere. What I don't understand is why bring up this issue at all when the article was specifically about America's rotten behavior regarding Israel?
U brought it up because I get so very tired of seeing my fellow citizens struggling under the lies that our government uses to keep them trapped and unfree.
"We'll have to raise your taxes!" is a threat used by our politicians every time we ask for something for ourselves, and it's based on the misconception that your taxes pay for anything.
You know that your taxes "go somewhere"...yes, they do. They go to the Treasury Department and then those dollars are (guess what!) deleted from the system! They don't get rinsed and reused again. (This is one way to avoid inflation; if the government kept "printing dollars" without a way to take some of them out of circulation, we would end up with masses of money.)
The way that these two ideas are related is this: if you allow yourself to be lied to about your monetary system, you will allow yourself to be lied to about the necessity to keep supporting Israel.
This parable is a good analogy of power relations between Israel and the Palestinians. One saving grace is that in reality, the Iron Dome is full of holes, like many U.S. designed weapons systems. Just ask the Saudis about their experience with Houthi rockets and drones. Hezbollah already possesses weaponry that can penetrate and overwhelm Israel’s air defenses, and someday Hamas will as well. Then the playing field will tilt in a different direction.
A more complete analogy would include the fact that Steve had just demolished Joe's house after blowing up his kids as they slept. The press only show up after the fight starts at the bar, which they report as Joe's fault because, you know, Joe is inherently violent and just irrationally hates Steve's religious beliefs. The two people who own the bar make the patrons empty their pockets and give all their money to Steve. When asked for an explanation, instead of answering, they both climb up on the bar and try to outdo each other shouting how much they love Steve and what a great guy he is and how he can do no wrong. The patrons, disgusted, would go elsewhere, but come to realize it's the only bar in town.
I might add that Israel likes bullying weaker opponents but is terrified of peer or near-peer opponents. That is why Israel relentlessly entreats the United States to attack Iran but will not do so on its own. Iran and its allies, Syria and Hezbollah, can rain down hellfire on Israeli cities, and the Israelis know it.
Not many westerners are aware that Israel routinely fires rockets into Syria from stand-off jets positioned over Lebanon. Syria responds defensively by shooting down 80-90% of the rockets using Russian anti-aircraft weapons but never goes on offense and launches rockets into Israel. Israel is playing a very dangerous game, and if war erupts, it may not go well. Even the U.S. will not be happy about getting sucked into another conflagration in the Mideast.
I wish somebody would give me $3B/no, $4B a year to...exist. Of course I'd give 95% away to further health and survival of Earth's forests, oceans, and non-human people. Some groups of people, like Joe, Steve, and Bill are lost causes just like all the warring factions of humans destined to annihilate themselves and their culture of murder within industrial civilization.
Nice little picture of uneven warfare to steal land and keep it by any means with full support of Empire.
Personally,I wouldn't include Joe in that group of lost causes. Fighting for your existence against people like Steve and Bill doesn't make you a warring faction.
Sorry I am commenting on your articles but twitter deactivated my account for 11 hours and 59 seconds for threatening to beat up Kyle Kulinski over his bogus poll framing bodily automony as a culture war issue (I think MUH FREEDOM were his exact words) and calling for state violence against the unvaccinated as a matter of policy. I stand by my threats of physic violence against his person and refused to delete the tweet until my appeal was denied. If someone is going to call for state violence against me you damn well better bet they should be laying awake fearing I might show up at their doorstep but I guess that's just because I'm mind-controlled.
Or maybe it's the people who think it's wrong to respond to people who openly call for state violence against peaceful, non-violent persons who are harming no one with threats of physical violence if they will not stop and that twitter really has the moral highground in this argument who are mind-controlled, brain-washed idiots. IDk, you tell me.
There's so much to dislike about America's relationship with Israel it's hard to know where to start or to limit my response to under 10,000 words, so I'll be necessarily brief.
Israel is a weapons exporter and is not Ethiopia. To have the American taxpayer foot the bill for Israeli weapons systems is ludicrous, more so when so many domestic needs are lacking.
Israel regularly violates human rights and international law. Iron dome and the UN veto assure Israel never faces any consequences for its lawlessness, which encourages their continuation.
Defenders of Israel too often smear critics with charges of antisemitism instead of honestly addressing the issues, thus cheapening cases of actual antisemitism.
Israel represents one of the most powerful lobbies on Capitol Hill, demanding that freshman congresspeople sign loyalty pledges or face challengers in the next election cycle. The dysfunction of having a foreign power making our representatives sign a loyalty pledge should be obvious
Israel's defenders promote censorship in the press, on our evening news, on our social media, in our political discourse, and on our college campuses.
I don't contribute to racist conservative politicians here in the States; why should I be made to do so elsewhere?
Israel's interests as a regional power encourages policies which do not serve the interests of the American people. For starters see PNAC.
Blindly supporting a self-proclaimed Jewish State is a perfect an example of a "foreign entanglement" that the Founders warned us against entering.
With both major parties firmly in Israel's pocket, paying taxes amounts to extortion that benefits both Israel and American weapons manufacturers.
Defenders of Israel pretend they want to be treated like any other country, but time and again they receive special treatment no other country enjoys.
Wikileaks revealed an internal NSA document that named Israel the greatest cyber threat to the United States. Yes, our "good friend" Israel, whose citizens and spies are regularly employed by our major tech firms.
Defending Israel makes our words about democracy and the rule of law comical. Of course, our actions do the same, but embracing Israel doesn't help.
Israel is a facet of the exact same Deep State rot that is making our government such a mess. Endless war, terror, dark money, corruption, corporate greed, unaccountable power, etc. Addressing our blind support for Israel pulls on the string that connects it all, and that's one reason the pushback is so severe.
The current situation is unsustainable. It's time for America's unconditional support of Zionism to end.
A “protection racket” is a scam where an aggressor instigates an attack, blames a bogeyman, and then offers to protect the victim from this bogeyman in return for money and power.
https://www.veteranstodayarchives.com/2021/03/31/the-zionist-protection-racket/
The funds allocated to Israel by congress in part are then allotted to buy weapons from American manufacturers. This is a scam of the highest order, basically using tax dollars to subsidize private corporations, under the guise of defending apartheid Israel. Disgusting from top to bottom.
Here more. https://www.bitchute.com/video/M4FM0a02GTWs/
An interesting observation: How few people have left comments compared to other of Caitlin's articles. What could account for this? People aren't rushing to defend Israel either, which is good news, but I find the overall silence on such an important topic curious.
TAXES DON'T FUND SPENDING AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL. #LearnMMT!
"What funds the things the government pays for? Well, $3.5 trillion of that spending was paid for by “federal revenues,” which mostly refers to taxes."
So either you or Google is wrong. And there's no need to shout.
Even IF tax dollars weren't funding Israel, the bigger point is that we shouldn't be funding Israel in the first place.
What funds the things that the government buys IS "federal revenues," only that doesn't imply that those revenues are necessarily taxes.
The revenues that Congress uses are the currency which Congess creates every time they pass an appropriations bill. They haven't used taxes for revenues since the days of the gold standard, which finally ended in 1971, when Nixon took us out of the Bretton Woods Accord.
This is "fiat currency," and the word "fiat" means "by decree." So Congress can decree currency into existence. It isn't based on anything, not gold and not petroleum. The "petro-dollar" is a myth. The only thing that the dollar is based on is "the full faith and credit of the United States" (which I suspect means that we have the largest military machine in the world).
This and more is what I meant when I said "Learn MMT." You will find some amazing facts there if you do.
And *of course* I agree that we shouldn't be giving money to Israel at all, even if our money was left under our pillows by the Money Fairy every night.
Well we've gone from "doesn't" to "doesn't necessarily mean", so that's progress, I suppose.
I understand that the government creates money out of thin air. I also understand that I pay federal taxes every year, as do millions of other Americans and that those funds go somewhere. What I don't understand is why bring up this issue at all when the article was specifically about America's rotten behavior regarding Israel?
U brought it up because I get so very tired of seeing my fellow citizens struggling under the lies that our government uses to keep them trapped and unfree.
"We'll have to raise your taxes!" is a threat used by our politicians every time we ask for something for ourselves, and it's based on the misconception that your taxes pay for anything.
You know that your taxes "go somewhere"...yes, they do. They go to the Treasury Department and then those dollars are (guess what!) deleted from the system! They don't get rinsed and reused again. (This is one way to avoid inflation; if the government kept "printing dollars" without a way to take some of them out of circulation, we would end up with masses of money.)
The way that these two ideas are related is this: if you allow yourself to be lied to about your monetary system, you will allow yourself to be lied to about the necessity to keep supporting Israel.
Thank you for your cogent explanation. We agree.
This parable is a good analogy of power relations between Israel and the Palestinians. One saving grace is that in reality, the Iron Dome is full of holes, like many U.S. designed weapons systems. Just ask the Saudis about their experience with Houthi rockets and drones. Hezbollah already possesses weaponry that can penetrate and overwhelm Israel’s air defenses, and someday Hamas will as well. Then the playing field will tilt in a different direction.
A more complete analogy would include the fact that Steve had just demolished Joe's house after blowing up his kids as they slept. The press only show up after the fight starts at the bar, which they report as Joe's fault because, you know, Joe is inherently violent and just irrationally hates Steve's religious beliefs. The two people who own the bar make the patrons empty their pockets and give all their money to Steve. When asked for an explanation, instead of answering, they both climb up on the bar and try to outdo each other shouting how much they love Steve and what a great guy he is and how he can do no wrong. The patrons, disgusted, would go elsewhere, but come to realize it's the only bar in town.
I might add that Israel likes bullying weaker opponents but is terrified of peer or near-peer opponents. That is why Israel relentlessly entreats the United States to attack Iran but will not do so on its own. Iran and its allies, Syria and Hezbollah, can rain down hellfire on Israeli cities, and the Israelis know it.
Not many westerners are aware that Israel routinely fires rockets into Syria from stand-off jets positioned over Lebanon. Syria responds defensively by shooting down 80-90% of the rockets using Russian anti-aircraft weapons but never goes on offense and launches rockets into Israel. Israel is playing a very dangerous game, and if war erupts, it may not go well. Even the U.S. will not be happy about getting sucked into another conflagration in the Mideast.
I wish somebody would give me $3B/no, $4B a year to...exist. Of course I'd give 95% away to further health and survival of Earth's forests, oceans, and non-human people. Some groups of people, like Joe, Steve, and Bill are lost causes just like all the warring factions of humans destined to annihilate themselves and their culture of murder within industrial civilization.
Nice little picture of uneven warfare to steal land and keep it by any means with full support of Empire.
Personally,I wouldn't include Joe in that group of lost causes. Fighting for your existence against people like Steve and Bill doesn't make you a warring faction.
Another Ol' Hippy
Sorry I am commenting on your articles but twitter deactivated my account for 11 hours and 59 seconds for threatening to beat up Kyle Kulinski over his bogus poll framing bodily automony as a culture war issue (I think MUH FREEDOM were his exact words) and calling for state violence against the unvaccinated as a matter of policy. I stand by my threats of physic violence against his person and refused to delete the tweet until my appeal was denied. If someone is going to call for state violence against me you damn well better bet they should be laying awake fearing I might show up at their doorstep but I guess that's just because I'm mind-controlled.
Or maybe it's the people who think it's wrong to respond to people who openly call for state violence against peaceful, non-violent persons who are harming no one with threats of physical violence if they will not stop and that twitter really has the moral highground in this argument who are mind-controlled, brain-washed idiots. IDk, you tell me.