The sociopaths who run things are unimpressed by our cleverness, our word games, our tightly reasoned arguments and close readings of texts, unmoved by facts, logic, evidence or morality, as long as they have force on their side, as long as the cops and army will shoot when ordered to do so.
It's like trying to reason with a schoolyard bully. Truly, this never grows old:
"A WOLF, meeting with a lamb astray from the fold, resolved not to lay violent hands on him, but to find some plea, which should justify to the lamb himself, his right to eat him.
He then addressed him: Sirrah, last year you grossly insulted me.
Indeed, bleated the lamb in a mournful tone of voice: I was not then born.
Then said the wolf: You feed in my pasture.
No, good sir, replied the lamb: I have not yet tasted grass.
Again said the wolf: You drink of my well.
No, exclaimed the lamb: I never yet drank water, for as yet my mother's milk is both food and drink to me.
Upon which the wolf seized him and ate him up, saying: Well! I won't remain supper-less, even though you refute every one of my imputations.
Moral: The tyrant will always find a pretext for his tyranny, and it is useless for the innocent to try by reasoning to get justice, when the oppressor intends to be unjust."
I wish every word you wrote was an exaggeration, but it is anything but. It is a reminder for me that not everyone has their eyes open. I have to get out of my bubble because I shouldn’t be shocked that so many are still kneeling on the throne of the Empire, the MIC, supporting Endless wars,& “strikes”(let’s be real, it’s bomb dropping)against those standing with The Resistance. Here as protesters we get police brutality(hello “cop city”), smeared, targeted or just completely ignored. I have to do a better job talking to people, & encouraging BDS. I often say “If you don’t care about the massacre/ethnic cleansing, do you care that we send billions to them every year, while they enjoy free healthcare & college & we have neither in the U. S.?” There’s more than one reason to protest this war(?), no it’s not war, it’s GENOCIDE.
Thanks. I read it. Glad to see people actively protesting. Now you need those in charge of things to listen. Maybe if there is enough of us things can change. Hope so, because what is happening now may wind up the end of things.
I refuse to live with the idea things are hopeless. That's no way to live. I know that I was as active as I could be during the US's many middle eastern wars as were so many and you do feel hopeless, and you realize you didn't stop anything. However that doesn't mean you give up because if you do you sell your own soul, and become one with them. I will never do that. Screw them.
"How can the 'civilized nations' repeatedly rationalize the invasions of another's land and culture by bringing their own unacknowledged heart of darkness to them? The simple truth is: It is easy. All one has to do is find a 'reason'."
"The tyrant will always find a pretext for his tyranny." In Japan after WWI, there was a schoolyard ditty to that effect, that the great powers of the world preached about law and justice, but they ignore them whenever they saw fit at the moment, because the only real law is force and fraud.
So, as an individual what do you do? Nothing,since you realize your input often means nothing, or do you continue to try because that is only way you don't lose your soul as well.
As long as you always remember to sign and date the tax checks..they can steal your labor and energy through your blood sweat and tears right out of your body and build bombs to rip others apart with and channel the profits to the top of the control pyramid that enslaves you.. Hurry run get that pen and checkbook it's your civic duty now to be taxed without representation,,,, sheep.
Democracy, as a practical matter, is basically an exercise in passing the buck, in avoiding responsibility.
Everyone in power claims to answer to and derive their authority from someone else, going ultimately back to "the people" who themselves do not directly exercise power, and who would find it difficult to exercise as a collective action problem, even if they had the formal authority to do so.
What this means is that real power is often in the hands of unelected bureaucrats, who typically don't even want to stand for election because they don't want the voters to know what their programs are, much less to exercise any oversight. Robert Moses is the classic example here.
Even that minimal level of scrutiny is too much for some, and real power is often exercised by people not formally part of any government structure. Corporate lobbyists or Robert Kagan come to mind.
Note how western politicians and their policies are all incredibly unpopular, but they claim to be acting on a popular mandate.
Robert Moses has a huge "mountain" of river sediment unofficially named after him on the south shore of St. Lawrence "Seaway." During the construction of the "Seaway," many people lost their homes and farms, including some historic landmarks. Those that tried to stop the destruction were put down by Mr. Moses as 1950s-era "deplorables."
Another interesting aside: the destruction of the Nord Stream pipeline occurred on Robert Kagan's birthday in 2022.
What was really sad was the area that was condemned (AFAIK) was never redeveloped.
Then there is the pseudo-history TV show "Hell on Wheels" that very loosely documents how Doc Durant financed the Union Pacific to create the transcontinental railroad. He was a crook but as the main character says on one of the last shows, there would not have been a railroad without him.
I'm not sure if I'd classify Durant as an Oligarch but he surely was a criminal who used Oligarchy money to enrich himself. Lincoln was his lawyer. Fascinating story. His children were educated at elite schools.
Anyway, compare Durant to China's economic growth and their high-speed rail. China seems to put the crooks in jail.
I'm trying to ask what the right response will be "next time". (Where "next time" is a variable that you determine when the question is presented to you.)
Perhaps not that raiiroad, in exactly that way, or at that moment. We don't have to reject something even as we reject how it was accomplished. If it is truly good and needed, there may be a better way.
To the best of my knowledge, the 19th-century canals around the rapids in the St. Lawrence River could have been enlarged to allow ocean-going ships; and perhaps several smaller power dams could have been built. I have heard that the gross destruction of the communities along the river was due to the United States wanting to build a bigger dam than one that had recently been built on the Nile River (as I recall), perhaps by Russia (as I recall).
The people who lost their homes and farms through eminent domain received a pittance (so I have been told). Many were given a short time to pack up and leave - one newspaper report tells of a family that just got in their car and left - never looking back.
A few years ago an author in Canada interviewed people who had lived in the "Lost Villages" destroyed by the Seaway. She found many who had never spoken about it in over fifty years, similar to those who were displaced by a war.
Yeah Eminent Domain is certainly abused. But how else are you going to build that football stadium so tickets can be sold for $200 and only the 1% can attend? /s
Can you agre that the form of government is irrelevant ? Democracy, dictatorship, monarchy, republic it is all irrelevant camouflage to the tyrant. The bureaucrats are the same regardless of the formally declared government style.
A communist bureaucrat is indistinguishable from a democratic one.
If citizens participate, then it should be a "good thing".
Then there was this SF book I recall "The mote in God's eye". A paragraph was in there about how "this guy" was too busy to pay attention to the government so was willing to let an authoritarian (of good character) run the place.
Another favorite trick is for a functionary to wear two hats and switch them as convenient.
The classic example is how Sheriff Buford could proclaim himself to be the law in dis heah county when it came to arresting civil rights protesters on any pretext, but just a private citizen exercising his constitutional rights when it came time to address the local Klan meeting.
Thank You for mentioning Robert Moses! -- I agree, his story is an excellent example of how real power works behind the dressy curtain of "democracy"; I urge everyone to read Robert Caro's masterful study "The Power Broker" (and as with ANY book, make sure you get a copy published before 2010, if possible).
I saw a documentary called "The Opera Hoise," by Susan Froemke. It made very clear what a destructive, and tyrannical force Moses was, as well as bringing Lincoln Center into existence. We really do need to find better, more human, community-centered ways to make stuff happen, just like the railroads, the airports, the Chavez Ravines, et.c.
Your point applies to corporations, churches & a family with more than one child or pet equally. We in a society must hold ourselves, institutions, and individuals there accountable and support each other when we can’t trust those with power over us.
All of it goes back to the dynasty family banking oligarchs and they probably grew out of every royal family and rich fuck that colonized the planet.. these Euro Anglos have been stomping on the face of indigenous peoples for centuries.. add the whole middle eastern roman christian Jewish supremacist and there you have this whole world of opulent sociopath cunts living off all our backs and blood!
Thank you for this essential essay. I do what I can as an elder. Teetering on the edge of nihilism, your work is one of few things that keeps me going.
See the current Billboard for Peace in Times Square, styled after John Lennon's WAR IS OVER Billboard of 1970. The Pentagon has admitted that the Peace campaigns of the early 1970s did bring an earlier end to the Vietnam War than intended. Now see the work for the CEASEFIRE and prevention of ALL wars of ALL kinds: www.JohnLennonReturns.com . Actions appear on the site.
"The Pentagon has admitted that the Peace campaigns of the early 1970s did bring an earlier end to the Vietnam War than intended" - and the draft had very little to do with it, of course.
The strength of those "Peace campaigns" were the consequence of the real losses and the draft, when the privileged started to feel the heat.
I have never seen any protest actual dissuaded any government obsession with war. They just say that shit now to pretend that they had been wrong then so they wont look like cunts now ..this is all bull shit to make people think they have a say today...yeah go protest and get it out of your little systems.. unless you hit them in the money belt they will never stop tricking you into the big protection racket pyramid scheme..
Having the talent and written voice and growing popularity Caitlin has does come with that unavoidable sense what one says can effect people profoundly (good or bad). Reminds me of something Robert Redford once said about his own growing stardom:
“I never trusted success... Early on, when movies like ‘Butch Cassidy’ put a huge spotlight on me, I ran from it. I never fell into the traps of having an entourage and being surrounded by yes-people. It never interested me to do Leno or go to parties, and I think that served me.” ~Robert Redford
"The unelected empire managers who actually run the US power structure also don’t care who wins the election. They know they’ll still get their murder and militarism and capitalism and imperialism no matter who gets sworn in next year, whether it’s Biden or Trump or Harris or someone else. Nobody with any real power cares about your vote."
Indeed, and this has been the case for decades. This started at the end of WWII and has become progressively worse.
Excellent article with some reference to a solution.
YES. The Democrats actually don't like it when they have all three Houses, because then they have to awkwardly explain why they can't deliver on any of their promises to their base, instead of simply point to the Republicans. The PTB don't like Trump because he's such a loose cannon, but they managed him for four years once. And YES, we can change things once we have the people--or a hefty percentage of us--united, but they requires a lot of education, a lot of deconstruction.
Bingo! And it’s why when democrats do hold all branches of government they also always have a rotating villain. During Clinton’s tenure it was Ben Nelson. Obama had Joe Lieberman and Biden has Joe Manchin. And if they fail there are many house democrats that will fail in life to derail the agenda. Biden even used the parliamentarians who has no power.
Managed and manipulated ...Netty and Kushner had him wrapped around their fingers and all these Trumpeters still can come to grips with that because of their blind hero worship..
Also, a few years ago, there was a "leak", supposedly from a Capitol Hill area pharmacist, to the effect that multiple Congressional leaders, Team D and Team R, were taking Alzheimer medications.
Said disclosure appears to have been memory-holed, and I have no idea whether or not the leak itself was genuine, but I do believe that a lot of the political leadership are senile.
"a lot of the political leadership are senile." - of course they are, sufficient to just look at their demeanor and hear them speak, if they're still capable of the latter.
But, as the Caitlin's post stresses, it doesn't matter anyway as political is not the real leadership.
I recall working on projects in D.C years ago, how walking into the Capital building there was a big Cadillac parked on the sidewalk, my companion for the day said oh don't worry thats M. Waters car, she always parks on the sidewalk because she doesn't know where she is.
Lexus and Vovan did a hilarious prank on Waters, getting her to call for the invasion of a non-existent country to prevent Russian influence from spreading there.
For that matter, it was an open secret that Dianna Feinstein had severe dementia in the the years before her death. Hell, her daughter wanted a guardianship over her because she was that incompetent, but she was still nominally in the Senate.
We don't pay enough attention to the Banks and the men who own them.
I call them the Oligarchy.
The Oligarchy hires the "empire managers".
You can see it on nearly a daily basis when discussing European politics because they have the unelected European Commission and it is money that determines who will join that group. It is money which controls the head of NATO. Politics in the US are more disguised.
Let me try to do some "cross pollination" with this youTube and article. The youTube discusses the article. The gist is that some members of the Oligarchy (Commercial Banks in this case) are trying to destroy the EU with the Fed keeping interest rates at 5%. Other members of the Oligarchy are combating this attempt by creating a more closely integrated EU that effectively turns member nations into subservient states. No one in the Oligarchy cares about Ukraine (or Gaza) they are just ways of accumulating more wealth to maintain their positions of privilege. Please Note: the Oligarchs fight amongst each other.
The Oligarchs don't care who you vote for because they already own your vote, the voting machines, and the names on the ballot. All power flows from money and all money is controlled by the Oligarchs.
Some day someone should build a structure chart on how power flows from the Oligarchy and down.
I'm always surprised that Mearsheimer seems to gloss over this kind of stuff whenever he is interviewed (maybe he gets into it more in his writing, I dunno).
There's a Richard Wolff video (which I've posted several times in various places) that I can't find at the moment where he describes his education and graduation Magna cum Laude from Yale (I think it was Yale) and how he got his PhD and his first job.
He states that it was impossible to find a professor who knew anything about Marx, the reason being "they were all afraid".
Mearscheimer is a "realist" and he gets paid to spread that doctrine. He's based at the University of Chicago, home to the saddest Milton Friedman and the "Chicago Boys".
I'm not at all trying to suggest that his interpretation of events isn't well founded. But let us recognize it is "just a theory". You and I should pay attention to what he has to say and pick and choose how to understand the world through his talks.
After all. 2 or 3 years ago Tucker Carlson was spouting Bullshit and now he is the "word of God".
Who pays Mearscheimer? There's a billionaire somewhere who likes what he has to say. Same with Wolff and Hudson even thought one might consider them to be polar opposites of Measheimer.
Wars are what launders the money. That's exactly where someone like him should be shining light on the washing machine process (imho), rather than framing things simply as large power "interests". At least in the West, these "interests" and what fuels them often boils right down to nothing more than money transfers.
Agreed, but whyever do any of us still subject ourselves to the misleading euphemism "West", when we know Rothschild-created and Rothschild-funded Israel to be the power broker over it all - including the much-impugned US?
FWIW: I don't believe Israel is the tail wagging the dog.
OTOH there are Zionist supporters who have a "hobby" called "Israel" that they really, really want to see be successful.
As an example, take the buyout of the Chicago Tribune. Do you see the name of the Oligarch reported anywhere? I think it was "Shem" something or other. Nope, he hides behind his "hedge fund"
Now you can certainly make an argument that such Oligarchs are controlled by Israel making it circular. But that means you're obfuscating the -people- responsible. If you say "Israel", can you touch "Israel"? Does "Israel" talk?
Rothschild is dead. Funny how his name started appearing only after he was dead. Can't touch him.
Hope I'm being clear here. Not at all saying "you are wrong". But I do want folks to "name names" rather than dilute the accusation by pointing at something that is a euphemism.
Individuals (like Jacob Rothschild) die; dynasties and their foundations and corporations persist. Power is a function of wealth and military might. If you knew what I knew from the inside, you'd understand that, from out of Rothschild BIS (Bank of Intl Settlements) money, and the theft of US nukes and classified info, IZ wags the dog. To be clear: IZ owns and commands, as high-level military people could inform you, the US Military. For any psychological devastation this may cause, my apologies.
I use "West" because there are competing interests (as JZ already pointed out) and there isn't a single power broker. Some of it is emergent. And also because non-"West" entities such as North Korea are probably not so much operating in the exact same paradigm.
the beast lives on no matter what faction takes a turn holding the reins (or reigns) or, if one prefers, strong institutions can withstand strong political winds
A propos this post, I'm halfway thru Ep2 of 4 of the docuseries, "American Conspiracy" on Netflix. Spooks galore. Check it out, all four episodes. Handle with care. It isn't a journalist-safe zone.
Totally agree and already in my community in the UK we are refusing to
vote for the two main party candidates and have vetted and selected our own
I am actively encouraging via social media others to do the same. Our Labour opposition party under Starmer in also under the thumb of the USA and Israel
I find George Galloway from the new Worker's Party becoming an MP a bit of ray of sunshine. I know he's controversial for some, but he is unequivocal about the Gazan genocide.
Tony Blair booted him from Labor because of Galloway's opposition to the Iraq war. I still remember watching Galloway in action during a US congressional hearing - where he told US representatives to their face - that the entire WMD's farce was a pack of lies. Galloway was so impressive back then that it remains etched in my memory even now.
It will be interesting on how they will work hard to smear him and whether it will succeed or not. The corrupt parties (the effete Elite and Corrupt Establishment) have control of UK's mainstream media outlets and have a loud megaphone, and if they can find something to smear Galloway on - which they were successful with Corbyn, they will most certainly exploit it to the hilt. Sunak is finished as PM (he and his party just don't know it yet) - his circus like appearance the other day in front of 10 Downing street finished him. But that won't stop the Established powers from marginalizing Galloway as much as they possibly can in the coming months ahead. The first way which is now obvious - they will come at him labeling him "divisive" like he and the public support he has are children who are not behaving. And that as soon as you complain about any of these despicable immoral people who now inhabit two cheeks of the same backside in parliament - you will be labeled as a supporter of Putin, a divisive figure or an anti-semitic by these same miscreants. But I think the gig is coming to a close to the rampant corruption - given just how much Galloway won his seat, quite a mandate - and how fed up the UK populace has become - especially with this ongoing genocide in GAZA. One can hope it is. We shall see.
The great thing about Galloway is his incredible oratory. No one has a better or cheekier way with words. He’s unparalled and highly entertaining. Years with a talk radio show probably honed that skill. He’ll say what needs to be said in the HoC.
George really is next level. You just don't see people with his quick wit, keen intelligence, and oratory skills every day - they are once in a generation type individuals. It will be sad if they figure out a way to get the best of him - and they will pull out all stops (methinks) to do so in the coming months. Galloway will need as much support as he can get from the general public, and those who are in the political class - who have enough sense that the GAZA genocide must be a red line for us all, and that Sunak's clownish speech the other day - is quite ominous to the general human rights of all people within the UK. No one should stand for it - and hopefully Galloway will bring that point home with the majority of the British people on his side.
Focusing on oratory is what got Obama elected (similar to Bill Clinton). Public personas is one thing. Policies, ability to make deals and compromises, and navigate constant conflict scenarios and environments is quite another.
There is a long and storied history of media personalities winning elections due to popularity. Examples: Reagan, Trump, Zelensky (Ukraine), Imran Khan (Pakistan), Schwarzenegger, the list is endless.
Having said that, almost anyone is better than Sunak, and I do like George Galloway's stances on foreign policy and geo-politics, but do find him conservative in many areas.
The sociopaths who run things are unimpressed by our cleverness, our word games, our tightly reasoned arguments and close readings of texts, unmoved by facts, logic, evidence or morality, as long as they have force on their side, as long as the cops and army will shoot when ordered to do so.
It's like trying to reason with a schoolyard bully. Truly, this never grows old:
"A WOLF, meeting with a lamb astray from the fold, resolved not to lay violent hands on him, but to find some plea, which should justify to the lamb himself, his right to eat him.
He then addressed him: Sirrah, last year you grossly insulted me.
Indeed, bleated the lamb in a mournful tone of voice: I was not then born.
Then said the wolf: You feed in my pasture.
No, good sir, replied the lamb: I have not yet tasted grass.
Again said the wolf: You drink of my well.
No, exclaimed the lamb: I never yet drank water, for as yet my mother's milk is both food and drink to me.
Upon which the wolf seized him and ate him up, saying: Well! I won't remain supper-less, even though you refute every one of my imputations.
Moral: The tyrant will always find a pretext for his tyranny, and it is useless for the innocent to try by reasoning to get justice, when the oppressor intends to be unjust."
I wish every word you wrote was an exaggeration, but it is anything but. It is a reminder for me that not everyone has their eyes open. I have to get out of my bubble because I shouldn’t be shocked that so many are still kneeling on the throne of the Empire, the MIC, supporting Endless wars,& “strikes”(let’s be real, it’s bomb dropping)against those standing with The Resistance. Here as protesters we get police brutality(hello “cop city”), smeared, targeted or just completely ignored. I have to do a better job talking to people, & encouraging BDS. I often say “If you don’t care about the massacre/ethnic cleansing, do you care that we send billions to them every year, while they enjoy free healthcare & college & we have neither in the U. S.?” There’s more than one reason to protest this war(?), no it’s not war, it’s GENOCIDE.
https://www.aljazeera.com/program/newsfeed/2024/3/4/pro-palestinian-jewish-group-wants-to-see-end-of-us-funding-for-israel
I think you might find this interesting. hope so.
Thanks. I read it. Glad to see people actively protesting. Now you need those in charge of things to listen. Maybe if there is enough of us things can change. Hope so, because what is happening now may wind up the end of things.
I refuse to live with the idea things are hopeless. That's no way to live. I know that I was as active as I could be during the US's many middle eastern wars as were so many and you do feel hopeless, and you realize you didn't stop anything. However that doesn't mean you give up because if you do you sell your own soul, and become one with them. I will never do that. Screw them.
I don't see how hope has anything to do with it.
It just is.
Doesn't mean it always has to be that way, and it changes only if you have hope that it can be different. .
One brick in a wall
Even when it comes to Gaza. No a lot more has to be done sooner then later, otherwise he will implement his genocide.
Have a listen to Judy Small sing "You don't speak for .me".
Our hope isn't what makes things different. Life is just a series of temporary expedients, regardless of anything we may wish for.
Not hope alone but without it nothing changes. No one is saying wishing for something will bring change, but trying for it can.
"Act without regard to results." L.N. Tolstoi
"How can the 'civilized nations' repeatedly rationalize the invasions of another's land and culture by bringing their own unacknowledged heart of darkness to them? The simple truth is: It is easy. All one has to do is find a 'reason'."
~James Hollis, #GPBT #p135 #Jung
"The tyrant will always find a pretext for his tyranny." In Japan after WWI, there was a schoolyard ditty to that effect, that the great powers of the world preached about law and justice, but they ignore them whenever they saw fit at the moment, because the only real law is force and fraud.
So, as an individual what do you do? Nothing,since you realize your input often means nothing, or do you continue to try because that is only way you don't lose your soul as well.
L.N. Tolstoy said that you act, regardless of outcomes.
l
As long as you always remember to sign and date the tax checks..they can steal your labor and energy through your blood sweat and tears right out of your body and build bombs to rip others apart with and channel the profits to the top of the control pyramid that enslaves you.. Hurry run get that pen and checkbook it's your civic duty now to be taxed without representation,,,, sheep.
Democracy, as a practical matter, is basically an exercise in passing the buck, in avoiding responsibility.
Everyone in power claims to answer to and derive their authority from someone else, going ultimately back to "the people" who themselves do not directly exercise power, and who would find it difficult to exercise as a collective action problem, even if they had the formal authority to do so.
What this means is that real power is often in the hands of unelected bureaucrats, who typically don't even want to stand for election because they don't want the voters to know what their programs are, much less to exercise any oversight. Robert Moses is the classic example here.
Even that minimal level of scrutiny is too much for some, and real power is often exercised by people not formally part of any government structure. Corporate lobbyists or Robert Kagan come to mind.
Note how western politicians and their policies are all incredibly unpopular, but they claim to be acting on a popular mandate.
Robert Moses has a huge "mountain" of river sediment unofficially named after him on the south shore of St. Lawrence "Seaway." During the construction of the "Seaway," many people lost their homes and farms, including some historic landmarks. Those that tried to stop the destruction were put down by Mr. Moses as 1950s-era "deplorables."
Another interesting aside: the destruction of the Nord Stream pipeline occurred on Robert Kagan's birthday in 2022.
Are you saying the seaway should not have been built?
Or that the people who lost their homes were not justly compensated?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelo_v._City_of_New_London
What was really sad was the area that was condemned (AFAIK) was never redeveloped.
Then there is the pseudo-history TV show "Hell on Wheels" that very loosely documents how Doc Durant financed the Union Pacific to create the transcontinental railroad. He was a crook but as the main character says on one of the last shows, there would not have been a railroad without him.
I'm not sure if I'd classify Durant as an Oligarch but he surely was a criminal who used Oligarchy money to enrich himself. Lincoln was his lawyer. Fascinating story. His children were educated at elite schools.
Anyway, compare Durant to China's economic growth and their high-speed rail. China seems to put the crooks in jail.
Yeah, this kind of wandered far off the point.
Consider how the Pacific Railroad precisely enabled the final nail-in-coffin Native American genocide.
Certainly a point to consider.
Does that mean it shouldn't have been built?
Or that good things can be used for bad purposes?
Or that "real power" ignores "humanity"?
Or something else.
I'm trying to ask what the right response will be "next time". (Where "next time" is a variable that you determine when the question is presented to you.)
Perhaps not that raiiroad, in exactly that way, or at that moment. We don't have to reject something even as we reject how it was accomplished. If it is truly good and needed, there may be a better way.
To whom ought your questions be addressed, JohnZ? Me? Or the People who'd lived on the land for time immemorial?
#3 - those with power over significant projects & ego motivated have little regard for how their actions impact anyone or anything else.
Prejudice/Bias/Exceptionalism makes those neg consequences exponentially worse because the powerful sees neg consequences as a feature not a bug
Hi John,,
To the best of my knowledge, the 19th-century canals around the rapids in the St. Lawrence River could have been enlarged to allow ocean-going ships; and perhaps several smaller power dams could have been built. I have heard that the gross destruction of the communities along the river was due to the United States wanting to build a bigger dam than one that had recently been built on the Nile River (as I recall), perhaps by Russia (as I recall).
The people who lost their homes and farms through eminent domain received a pittance (so I have been told). Many were given a short time to pack up and leave - one newspaper report tells of a family that just got in their car and left - never looking back.
A few years ago an author in Canada interviewed people who had lived in the "Lost Villages" destroyed by the Seaway. She found many who had never spoken about it in over fifty years, similar to those who were displaced by a war.
Yeah Eminent Domain is certainly abused. But how else are you going to build that football stadium so tickets can be sold for $200 and only the 1% can attend? /s
Katrina? The levies? Hmmm
Can you agre that the form of government is irrelevant ? Democracy, dictatorship, monarchy, republic it is all irrelevant camouflage to the tyrant. The bureaucrats are the same regardless of the formally declared government style.
A communist bureaucrat is indistinguishable from a democratic one.
Learn well The Iron Law Of Oligarchy and its corollary, The Iron Law Of Institutions.
The form "can be" irrelevant. It isn't always.
If citizens participate, then it should be a "good thing".
Then there was this SF book I recall "The mote in God's eye". A paragraph was in there about how "this guy" was too busy to pay attention to the government so was willing to let an authoritarian (of good character) run the place.
YMMV
No Thanks. I have acquired a distaste for quisling half measures and trivial statements, they seem to be the fall back for statists.
Another favorite trick is for a functionary to wear two hats and switch them as convenient.
The classic example is how Sheriff Buford could proclaim himself to be the law in dis heah county when it came to arresting civil rights protesters on any pretext, but just a private citizen exercising his constitutional rights when it came time to address the local Klan meeting.
Thank You for mentioning Robert Moses! -- I agree, his story is an excellent example of how real power works behind the dressy curtain of "democracy"; I urge everyone to read Robert Caro's masterful study "The Power Broker" (and as with ANY book, make sure you get a copy published before 2010, if possible).
I saw a documentary called "The Opera Hoise," by Susan Froemke. It made very clear what a destructive, and tyrannical force Moses was, as well as bringing Lincoln Center into existence. We really do need to find better, more human, community-centered ways to make stuff happen, just like the railroads, the airports, the Chavez Ravines, et.c.
"unelected bureaucrats,"
True. Where does their money come from?
Your point applies to corporations, churches & a family with more than one child or pet equally. We in a society must hold ourselves, institutions, and individuals there accountable and support each other when we can’t trust those with power over us.
All of it goes back to the dynasty family banking oligarchs and they probably grew out of every royal family and rich fuck that colonized the planet.. these Euro Anglos have been stomping on the face of indigenous peoples for centuries.. add the whole middle eastern roman christian Jewish supremacist and there you have this whole world of opulent sociopath cunts living off all our backs and blood!
Far as I can tell, it goes back more to power than money. The Kagans of this world don't exactly live in sybaritic luxury.
Thank you for this essential essay. I do what I can as an elder. Teetering on the edge of nihilism, your work is one of few things that keeps me going.
Thanks to a fellow elder. I’m in the same boat my friend!!
See the current Billboard for Peace in Times Square, styled after John Lennon's WAR IS OVER Billboard of 1970. The Pentagon has admitted that the Peace campaigns of the early 1970s did bring an earlier end to the Vietnam War than intended. Now see the work for the CEASEFIRE and prevention of ALL wars of ALL kinds: www.JohnLennonReturns.com . Actions appear on the site.
"The Pentagon has admitted that the Peace campaigns of the early 1970s did bring an earlier end to the Vietnam War than intended" - and the draft had very little to do with it, of course.
The strength of those "Peace campaigns" were the consequence of the real losses and the draft, when the privileged started to feel the heat.
I have never seen any protest actual dissuaded any government obsession with war. They just say that shit now to pretend that they had been wrong then so they wont look like cunts now ..this is all bull shit to make people think they have a say today...yeah go protest and get it out of your little systems.. unless you hit them in the money belt they will never stop tricking you into the big protection racket pyramid scheme..
Tax revolt or remain slaves..
Having the talent and written voice and growing popularity Caitlin has does come with that unavoidable sense what one says can effect people profoundly (good or bad). Reminds me of something Robert Redford once said about his own growing stardom:
“I never trusted success... Early on, when movies like ‘Butch Cassidy’ put a huge spotlight on me, I ran from it. I never fell into the traps of having an entourage and being surrounded by yes-people. It never interested me to do Leno or go to parties, and I think that served me.” ~Robert Redford
"The unelected empire managers who actually run the US power structure also don’t care who wins the election. They know they’ll still get their murder and militarism and capitalism and imperialism no matter who gets sworn in next year, whether it’s Biden or Trump or Harris or someone else. Nobody with any real power cares about your vote."
Indeed, and this has been the case for decades. This started at the end of WWII and has become progressively worse.
Excellent article with some reference to a solution.
Don't forget to dutifully and obediently as trained to sign and date the tax checks
"Don't forget to dutifully and obediently as trained to sign and date the tax checks."
Your comment appears to be a non-sequitur.
How so?...there's no contradiction.
Or you just don't agree with it?
I don't get your point.
YES. The Democrats actually don't like it when they have all three Houses, because then they have to awkwardly explain why they can't deliver on any of their promises to their base, instead of simply point to the Republicans. The PTB don't like Trump because he's such a loose cannon, but they managed him for four years once. And YES, we can change things once we have the people--or a hefty percentage of us--united, but they requires a lot of education, a lot of deconstruction.
Bingo! And it’s why when democrats do hold all branches of government they also always have a rotating villain. During Clinton’s tenure it was Ben Nelson. Obama had Joe Lieberman and Biden has Joe Manchin. And if they fail there are many house democrats that will fail in life to derail the agenda. Biden even used the parliamentarians who has no power.
Managed and manipulated ...Netty and Kushner had him wrapped around their fingers and all these Trumpeters still can come to grips with that because of their blind hero worship..
still shouldn't vote for him
The FIX is in and has been for decades!! Both parties stink!!
Also, a few years ago, there was a "leak", supposedly from a Capitol Hill area pharmacist, to the effect that multiple Congressional leaders, Team D and Team R, were taking Alzheimer medications.
Said disclosure appears to have been memory-holed, and I have no idea whether or not the leak itself was genuine, but I do believe that a lot of the political leadership are senile.
n.b. stupid autocorrect.
"a lot of the political leadership are senile." - of course they are, sufficient to just look at their demeanor and hear them speak, if they're still capable of the latter.
But, as the Caitlin's post stresses, it doesn't matter anyway as political is not the real leadership.
Demonstrating their manifest senility mere underscores this.
Feinstein, Pelosi, Mitch the Glitch, ect.. Grassley is 90!
I recall working on projects in D.C years ago, how walking into the Capital building there was a big Cadillac parked on the sidewalk, my companion for the day said oh don't worry thats M. Waters car, she always parks on the sidewalk because she doesn't know where she is.
Lexus and Vovan did a hilarious prank on Waters, getting her to call for the invasion of a non-existent country to prevent Russian influence from spreading there.
For that matter, it was an open secret that Dianna Feinstein had severe dementia in the the years before her death. Hell, her daughter wanted a guardianship over her because she was that incompetent, but she was still nominally in the Senate.
"unelected empire managers"
Correct. Now, who hires these guys? Where does there money come from?
Money makes the world go around: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIAXG_QcQNU
We don't pay enough attention to the Banks and the men who own them.
I call them the Oligarchy.
The Oligarchy hires the "empire managers".
You can see it on nearly a daily basis when discussing European politics because they have the unelected European Commission and it is money that determines who will join that group. It is money which controls the head of NATO. Politics in the US are more disguised.
Let me try to do some "cross pollination" with this youTube and article. The youTube discusses the article. The gist is that some members of the Oligarchy (Commercial Banks in this case) are trying to destroy the EU with the Fed keeping interest rates at 5%. Other members of the Oligarchy are combating this attempt by creating a more closely integrated EU that effectively turns member nations into subservient states. No one in the Oligarchy cares about Ukraine (or Gaza) they are just ways of accumulating more wealth to maintain their positions of privilege. Please Note: the Oligarchs fight amongst each other.
The Oligarchs don't care who you vote for because they already own your vote, the voting machines, and the names on the ballot. All power flows from money and all money is controlled by the Oligarchs.
Some day someone should build a structure chart on how power flows from the Oligarchy and down.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTYBqx0NiSA&
https://tomluongo.me/2024/02/20/why-war-bonds-are-making-their-return-in-europe/
Yes, after all, the United States has long been a de facto CORPORATION.
Anthem should be. Money. Money. Money.
I'd be remiss if I failed to correct that the globalists' well pronounced agenda, whether in speech or writing, is "Genocide. Genocide. Genocide."
I'm always surprised that Mearsheimer seems to gloss over this kind of stuff whenever he is interviewed (maybe he gets into it more in his writing, I dunno).
There's a Richard Wolff video (which I've posted several times in various places) that I can't find at the moment where he describes his education and graduation Magna cum Laude from Yale (I think it was Yale) and how he got his PhD and his first job.
He states that it was impossible to find a professor who knew anything about Marx, the reason being "they were all afraid".
Mearscheimer is a "realist" and he gets paid to spread that doctrine. He's based at the University of Chicago, home to the saddest Milton Friedman and the "Chicago Boys".
I'm not at all trying to suggest that his interpretation of events isn't well founded. But let us recognize it is "just a theory". You and I should pay attention to what he has to say and pick and choose how to understand the world through his talks.
After all. 2 or 3 years ago Tucker Carlson was spouting Bullshit and now he is the "word of God".
Who pays Mearscheimer? There's a billionaire somewhere who likes what he has to say. Same with Wolff and Hudson even thought one might consider them to be polar opposites of Measheimer.
I admire all 3.
I still have absolute trust in Michael Hudson’s integrity
I did not mean in anyway to impugn his character. Hudson is brilliant.
I am just, once again, warning about Apophenia
https://edwardsnowden.substack.com/p/conspiracy-pt2
IOW constantly question what you believe. I worry that I think Hudson is "always right".
Mearscheimer usually only speaks of the wars. That is his speciality.
Wars are what launders the money. That's exactly where someone like him should be shining light on the washing machine process (imho), rather than framing things simply as large power "interests". At least in the West, these "interests" and what fuels them often boils right down to nothing more than money transfers.
Agreed, but whyever do any of us still subject ourselves to the misleading euphemism "West", when we know Rothschild-created and Rothschild-funded Israel to be the power broker over it all - including the much-impugned US?
FWIW: I don't believe Israel is the tail wagging the dog.
OTOH there are Zionist supporters who have a "hobby" called "Israel" that they really, really want to see be successful.
As an example, take the buyout of the Chicago Tribune. Do you see the name of the Oligarch reported anywhere? I think it was "Shem" something or other. Nope, he hides behind his "hedge fund"
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2021/05/25/alden-closes-633-million-purchase-of-tribune-publishing-puts-newspaper-chain-in-debt-and-hedge-fund-president-in-charge/
Now you can certainly make an argument that such Oligarchs are controlled by Israel making it circular. But that means you're obfuscating the -people- responsible. If you say "Israel", can you touch "Israel"? Does "Israel" talk?
Rothschild is dead. Funny how his name started appearing only after he was dead. Can't touch him.
Hope I'm being clear here. Not at all saying "you are wrong". But I do want folks to "name names" rather than dilute the accusation by pointing at something that is a euphemism.
Individuals (like Jacob Rothschild) die; dynasties and their foundations and corporations persist. Power is a function of wealth and military might. If you knew what I knew from the inside, you'd understand that, from out of Rothschild BIS (Bank of Intl Settlements) money, and the theft of US nukes and classified info, IZ wags the dog. To be clear: IZ owns and commands, as high-level military people could inform you, the US Military. For any psychological devastation this may cause, my apologies.
Rothschilds progeny are still alive!
I use "West" because there are competing interests (as JZ already pointed out) and there isn't a single power broker. Some of it is emergent. And also because non-"West" entities such as North Korea are probably not so much operating in the exact same paradigm.
Kindly name in full what you mean by "the West".
Fossil Fuels, Weapons, DEA remain very active behind the scenes while GOP is in power.
the beast lives on no matter what faction takes a turn holding the reins (or reigns) or, if one prefers, strong institutions can withstand strong political winds
The U.S. is not a democracy. That’s why it doesn’t matter which of the two big party you vote for.
https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-echochambers-27074746
Vote for anyone except the corrupt two parties. Or don’t vote b
A propos this post, I'm halfway thru Ep2 of 4 of the docuseries, "American Conspiracy" on Netflix. Spooks galore. Check it out, all four episodes. Handle with care. It isn't a journalist-safe zone.
Vote for Caitlin
lol Well she's Australian. Lives in the land down under, where women glow.
Perfect
You, Caitlin Johnstone, and George Galloway give me real hope. Thank you!
Thank you Caitlin🙏
And every time someone tells you that you need to save democracy, what they're really saying is you need to save their asses.
For Democracy cannot be lost if you never had it.
Totally agree and already in my community in the UK we are refusing to
vote for the two main party candidates and have vetted and selected our own
I am actively encouraging via social media others to do the same. Our Labour opposition party under Starmer in also under the thumb of the USA and Israel
Gaza is the tipping point of enough is enough
I find George Galloway from the new Worker's Party becoming an MP a bit of ray of sunshine. I know he's controversial for some, but he is unequivocal about the Gazan genocide.
He’s only controversial because he has been standing for Gaza and Palestine for decades, and been smeared accordingly.
Tony Blair booted him from Labor because of Galloway's opposition to the Iraq war. I still remember watching Galloway in action during a US congressional hearing - where he told US representatives to their face - that the entire WMD's farce was a pack of lies. Galloway was so impressive back then that it remains etched in my memory even now.
It will be interesting on how they will work hard to smear him and whether it will succeed or not. The corrupt parties (the effete Elite and Corrupt Establishment) have control of UK's mainstream media outlets and have a loud megaphone, and if they can find something to smear Galloway on - which they were successful with Corbyn, they will most certainly exploit it to the hilt. Sunak is finished as PM (he and his party just don't know it yet) - his circus like appearance the other day in front of 10 Downing street finished him. But that won't stop the Established powers from marginalizing Galloway as much as they possibly can in the coming months ahead. The first way which is now obvious - they will come at him labeling him "divisive" like he and the public support he has are children who are not behaving. And that as soon as you complain about any of these despicable immoral people who now inhabit two cheeks of the same backside in parliament - you will be labeled as a supporter of Putin, a divisive figure or an anti-semitic by these same miscreants. But I think the gig is coming to a close to the rampant corruption - given just how much Galloway won his seat, quite a mandate - and how fed up the UK populace has become - especially with this ongoing genocide in GAZA. One can hope it is. We shall see.
The great thing about Galloway is his incredible oratory. No one has a better or cheekier way with words. He’s unparalled and highly entertaining. Years with a talk radio show probably honed that skill. He’ll say what needs to be said in the HoC.
George really is next level. You just don't see people with his quick wit, keen intelligence, and oratory skills every day - they are once in a generation type individuals. It will be sad if they figure out a way to get the best of him - and they will pull out all stops (methinks) to do so in the coming months. Galloway will need as much support as he can get from the general public, and those who are in the political class - who have enough sense that the GAZA genocide must be a red line for us all, and that Sunak's clownish speech the other day - is quite ominous to the general human rights of all people within the UK. No one should stand for it - and hopefully Galloway will bring that point home with the majority of the British people on his side.
Focusing on oratory is what got Obama elected (similar to Bill Clinton). Public personas is one thing. Policies, ability to make deals and compromises, and navigate constant conflict scenarios and environments is quite another.
There is a long and storied history of media personalities winning elections due to popularity. Examples: Reagan, Trump, Zelensky (Ukraine), Imran Khan (Pakistan), Schwarzenegger, the list is endless.
List of actor-politicians (international):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_actor-politicians
Having said that, almost anyone is better than Sunak, and I do like George Galloway's stances on foreign policy and geo-politics, but do find him conservative in many areas.
Why speak of "enough" genocide? Really.
I took the expression to mean:Enough of this horror. End to war-mongering BS. Stop, already!