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M F's avatar

"Instead, the empire has opted to barrel forward with its aggressions against Russia and is now doing the same with China, and anyone who points out that these are terrifyingly incendiary provocations gets shouted down by what essentially amount to arguments against reality."

That's geo-political gaslighting, a US government speciality.

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Louis Bingo's avatar

Our elites are out of control with the smug superiority of their incompetence, and the political system is useless to replace them, even just with better elites. I doubt that we can avoid catastrophe thanks to these schmucks.

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Patrick Powers's avatar

I wish the richest country in the world could find something better to do with its money than destroy the world and have a huge war.

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JohnOnKaui's avatar

But then it wouldn't be the richest country in the world.

However, It does seem that the end of empire is hurtling toward us much faster every single day.

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hugh's avatar

Only in your dreams

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JohnOnKaui's avatar

The world is now multi-polar. The end of the American Empire will mean little, if anything, to me personally.

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DoctorBuzzard's avatar

It’s not a huge prophesy any analyst worth his salt would have told you as much... Most don’t realise that Russia has been invaded three times since the 19th Century by Western forces.

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Jonathan Reece's avatar

As someone not very knowledgeable about history, I'd be most grateful if you would spell out (what I imagine is to you) the obvious? What are those 3 occasions please?

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Jeff Rich's avatar

Excellent article. As TS Eliot said, empire symps cannot bear too much reality.

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todd smith's avatar

Empire and its managers deal in rationalizations, not Reason. At least in the West, our leadership class seems composed of brain-chipped robots, with Canada's "Applaud-a-Nazi!" Trudeau taking the brain-chipped cake most recently...

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DomeLord's avatar

Trudeau is now the weakest link in the WEF chains. Heave ho, my hearties! He has to go and go now!

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Alistair P-M's avatar

There's something about the way MSM newsreaders talk that makes a certain kind of person forget about reason and believe what they're saying, no matter what it is. It's comforting to be told that your side is always in the right, especially if everyone around you agrees

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Toma's avatar

You noticed! NPR is soothing ,Fox screaming and MSNBC is serious and a how can this happen. Tailoring to the particular personality types of the audience.

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Alistair P-M's avatar

Yes it's remarkable how people watch news that communicates similarly to how they do isn't it? 🤔

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Gnuneo's avatar

They are not paid fantastical salaries for nowt.

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sistersmith's avatar

I've seen advertisement and propaganda described as dark magic. It really is

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Alistair P-M's avatar

Yes there's a lot of neuro linguistic programming going on. People hear phrases like "Putin's brutal unprovoked full scale war of aggression" enough times that they start unconsciously believing it

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JennyStokes's avatar

I think in the US the 2 words: Communism and Socialism have been batted around for years!

Have to have an 'evil empire' for the people?

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JennyStokes's avatar

Yes. I read the comments on WAPO.

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Alistair P-M's avatar

Oof why do that to yourself

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JennyStokes's avatar

Purely out of interest. Psychogically

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Patrick Powers's avatar

I think it is a sort of herd instinct.

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Cheryl T's avatar

Yes. The Bandwagon Effect is an important method of propaganda.

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Paula's avatar

I don't know much about how newsreaders talk, but years ago I got the NYT newsletter & unsubscribed when the writing all seemed edited by the same person or team. It read/reads like bland TV news.

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djrichard's avatar

It's a war campaign. Which needs a marketing campaign.

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Robert C's avatar

Yes, more precisely Public Relations, after the master Edward Bernays, nephew of Freud, Father of modern Public Relations according to NPR, also father of modern Propaganda (book "Propaganda" from 1905 or so, used by Hitler too).

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jamenta's avatar

"It is perhaps difficult for those who have not themselves experienced it to realize how 'blessed' it is to face the truth about oneself and what a 'cursed' state it is to cherish illusions." ~Barbara Hannah

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Cai's avatar

“Would you rather be illusioned or disillusioned.” -Gabor Mate’

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Gnuneo's avatar

When wealth is inherited, privileged stupidity becomes the norm.

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Jeano's avatar

But here’s a good reality. Di Fi did indeed die! 1 down, 1/2 the Senate to go! Now watch as they get out there like cats in a dirty box, furiously pawing litter over all the shit Di Fi did in her miserable oligarchic life. Plenty breeds pride and warre and finally death, without ever getting to humility, in her case. I’m glad she’s gone.

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Feral Finster's avatar

Half the Senate? Why only half?

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Jeano's avatar

Age. Infirmity. Dementia.

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Feral Finster's avatar

Even when they're young, energetic and in possession of their senses, most of the Senate are criminals.

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Jeano's avatar

But. I consider that democracy. I may disagree with Senators but I don’t want them to die. I’m fine with the old arrogant tools who seem to want to die in office to go ahead and do so. Mitch and Nancy would do our country a great service by going to heaven. NOW.

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Feral Finster's avatar

I am not sure that a democracy must elevate criminals to higher office.

That said, I would not shed a single tear if Biden or Pelosi were to tip over. Although the prospect of "President Kamala" does not fill me with delight.

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Jeano's avatar

Agreed. And I didn’t mean that a democracy must elevate criminals. I just mean that the voters need to keep a close eye on their reps in a democracy and they don’t. It’s vote once every 4 years (maybe 2 if I’m interested) and never think of those people again, til the next election. So we get the kind of reps we deserve. Di Fi should have been challenged and voted out decades ago!!!

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embarrassingly parallel's avatar

She was just a politician doing what politicians do, with a typical lack of morality. But she was a skilled politician , which is why we know her name. We all lack the same morality if we vote dem or rep because we ignore the ingredients we dislike. I vote, I’m no better.

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JennyStokes's avatar

Depends WHO you vote for?

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Jeano's avatar

Ya. So was Hitler.

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Doris Wrench Eisler's avatar

True, Russia's position on Ukraine is a fact, but it is a fact that is the consequence of some emotional content: insane hatred and distrust of Russia to the point that murderous proclivities and activities are considered by some as less important in themselves than their alleged usefulness for Russian propaganda. That seems to be what the prime minister of Canada was saying in his twisted apology re the unfortunate Yaroslav Hunka affair in the Canadian House of Commons - Hunka having been fulsomely applauded when introduced as a freedom fighter -instead of what he was: a murderous officer in the Waffen SS.

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martin's avatar

i don't think deep down it really is an 'insane hatred and distrust of Russia', in the end there's just some people who want to take away (steal) stuff (resources, markets, labour, ...) from russia and they have the means and the system to wind up entire populations in their support.

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Doris Wrench Eisler's avatar

They use anti-Russia propaganda to this end. Russia was just mentioned in the Canadian Parliament last week as the enemy we were fighting in WWII, instead of our ally against Nazism. That kind of historical misinformation doesn't happen without preexisting and deep-rooted prejudice, because it can't succeed otherwise. Russia supplies cheap oil and gas that Europe badly needs, but their pipeline was destroyed even though jointly owned by Germany. That was done to force Europe to buy much more expensive US gas. That can't be accomplished successfully without roiling up hatred and prejudice against the better supplier. Now India is buying Russian gas and reselling to the EU. Not unexpectedly, India is being accused by Canada of complicity in the murder of a Canadian resident- a Khalistani activist and murderer no one even in India supported. I call that true insanity even though it is deliberate and purposeful.

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embarrassingly parallel's avatar

This is a reminder of the geopolitical games we play, and how most of us still believe in our tribe’s moral authority without question. I guess that’s been true since dawn of time.

But maybe it will change? I think Ukraine maybe a notable because the internet will ultimately breach propaganda control, and the war seems unlikely to have a clear victor who can own the “historisation”. We’ll just be left with a death count unseen since WW2 and reviews of our role from both supportive and non-supportive perspectives. I think the unknown is whether we’ll feel any guilt given that our tribal supremacy will still be under threat.

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unwarranted's avatar

Life in the empire is a carousel of wars, each displacing the last one and pointing towards the next one. A sense of the present is handed down from on high, the role of an instrumental media that practices ahistorical pseudo-journalism.

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embarrassingly parallel's avatar

I hope our sense of the present will become more accurate as the media becomes more fragmented.

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John Iversen's avatar

“Plenty breeds Pride; Pride, Enuy, Enuy, Warre, Warre, Pouerty,

Pouerty, Humble Care. Humility breeds Peace, and Peace breeds Plenty;

Thus round this world doth rowle alternately.”

~ The World’s Whirlegigge

Robert Hayman

Governor of Newfound-Land

Anno Domini : 1631

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Patrick Powers's avatar

Newfoundland 1631! He certainly succeeded in getting away from it all.

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Gnuneo's avatar

Love. Gulliver's Travels, annoted, is filled with such wisdoms.

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Chen Huizhe's avatar

Don't compare contemporary Russia with contemporary China (PRC). Taiwan's culture is different from the PRC's. Taiwanese see themselves as Taiwanese, not as Chinese (PRCers). They do not want to end up like Hong Kong & Hong Kongers. Nixon didn't have the right to hand over Taiwan to the PRC. Nor did Japan. PRC never ruled Taiwan. If you don't live & work in Taiwan, stay out of the discussion bc you don't know what you're talking about.

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unwarranted's avatar

If the Taiwanese are watching Ukraine, they ought to think twice about having their sovereignty and identity kept intact by getting in bed with the Americans. The American State has consistently shown that all of its actions are transactional, and its pronouncements have never been in line with its decisions. The Ukrainians that the U.S. claims to be supporting are being erased. China may feel nervous about American plans to use Taiwan as a launching point to attack the mainland, but the Taiwanese fear and hatred of the PRC ought not blind it to the likelihood that it will be obliterated if they allow the Americans to do just that. By signaling to their most hated foe that they have no intention of being an American pawn, they would have the best possible outcome.

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Steven Berger's avatar

The only way to impose an order that benefits the Elite at the expense of everyone else is to create a chaos large enough that the desired 'order' is the only logical solution.

This is exactly what is quite intentionally being done today on a worldwide scale.

None of this is taking place by accident or as the result of poor judgement or misguided ideals. It's all done on purpose in order to accomplish a specific goal - World Government; of the Elite by the Elite and decidedly, for the Elite.

This isn't a recent development either. It's an open conspiracy that can be easily traced back for well over a hundred years.

We just happened to live during a time when they may very well be able to accomplish The Great Work.

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