Spot on, as usual. But, there's one additional element which differentiates the US Empire from the British Empire, and, in fact, from all empires which came before.
The US empire possesses thousands of nuclear weapons, and with them, the ability to end civilization, and perhaps all life on the planet.
When collapse inevitably comes, will the US Empire quietly disengage around the world to lick its wounds, or will its psychopathic misleaders strike out in one final paroxysm of death and cruelty... indeed *the* final paroxysm of death and cruelty?
You pose an interesting - and chilling - question, but I see that final paroxysm being initiated by Israel, they're closer to collapse than we are, and when that day comes, when it dawns on them they can no longer get/take/steal what they want, their innate reaction is to see that no one else gets it either, so they'll let loose in one final act of orgiastic aggrandizement.
Israel scares me. They are an unhinged, psychopathic and sociopathic nation and society (even more than Trump). I fear Israel (and the U.S.) more than ANY other country on the planet (by a large margin).
Israel was horrible and now with Trump, it is a terrifying combo. Sometimes I read about Trump's idiotic comments and I actually laugh. If only it were not reality.
Yes my friend, they scare me more than I thought. Animals will do things unthinkable when faced with death. Can this even be stopped now?
I have a feeling the world has said no to israel just enough to cause their economic collapse which then causes the military collapse. Is that the trigger to the end of Empire of Capitalism?
No one believes it who are on the other end of our guns and economic warfare. Wilful ignorance is a choice, done by those comfortable, not allowed as a legal defence. If you follow MSM, because you believe your freedoms are not worth ANY effort, then you get the result past history has warned us about.
Since the creation and first use of the nuclear weapon, the "Bomb" has been the centerpiece of US foreign policy and military strategy. This was the message for Stalin and anyone else, sent through Hiroshima and Nagasaki, don't mess with the USA, "we have the bomb and we will use it!" All US war plans have the bomb as a final fallback. We held the bomb over the USSR after the end of WW2, simply because the rulers in DC and the Pentagon understood that we could not match the overwhelming numbers in conventional forces that the USSR could bring to the battlefield in Europe.
When the USSR exploded their first A-bomb, no one in DC or the Military Industrial Complex said, "let's stop this, this is insane!" Their solution was a bigger bomb and the rest is history. These lunatics in DC and the Military Industrial Complex will literally destroy the planet before they allow someone else to "win". The Pentagon's version of "winning" is a black, smoking cinder of a planet, devoid of all life; except that which resides in secure bunkers under their vaporized cities.
"The Pentagon's version of "winning" is a black, smoking cinder of a planet, devoid of all life; except that which resides in secure bunkers under their vaporized cities."
They say the cockroaches will survive though, one helluva legacy.
Years ago, I'm talking 45 of 'em, there was an excellent PBS series called "Oppenheimer" with Sam Waterston playing the lead. Did a very good job. David Suchet ("Poirot") played Edward Teller, also very good, a character who doesn't get much mention in the telling of nuclear weapons development, but in the series he came across, quite likely accurately, as a scientist driven to demonstrate what could be achieved, namely the hydrogen bomb, or "the Super" as he termed it.
After Japan, Oppenheimer was aghast, did all that he could to stop nuclear weapons use and further development. But the combination of Teller's ambition and the policy maker nuts in DC prevailed, I think contributing to breaking Oppenheimer.
Footnote: I think it was two weeks after Obama won the Noble Peace Prize (for what reason I have no idea) he announced a ten-year, $1.5 trillion upgrade of our nuclear arsenal. What the fornicate...?
Not sure whether either the Empire or its Mid-East proxy is anywhere near collapse as yet, though they are inciting dangerous enemies. USA is as bullying as ever, with its tech edge and dollar dominance still holding. Israel has never controlled as much territory or weaponry. Both powers indulge an entitled imperial hubris that ill matches their hypocritical moral masks. The rest of the world is more than sick of them.
"Not sure whether either the Empire or its Mid-East proxy is anywhere near collapse as yet..."
Morality, justice, international law, they mean next to nothing here. What does matter is, per usual, the $$$. Specifically payment on the national debt is presently 13% of the federal budget, arguably manageable; in twenty years, it will be at 42% (numbers don't lie when it comes to money), which means good-bye to Medicare, Social Security, whatever other entitlements there may be. The Penta-gone budget will remain intact, as will support of the genocidal entity, should it last that long. In other words, we will have become a failed state fiscally, socially, politically.
Yeah, it's a close race. Personal preference, I want the satisfaction of seeing them go first, then this asylum needs a tear down before it drives the rest of the world over the brink.
In the past few years I have come to believe that in the scenarios describe above, the world will be destroyed. It's not that the people in control want to go, but they will not leg go of their power as the British eventually did - go gracefully. Britain was successful in accepting the role of a lesser power. The US will not. And, if Israel strikes first, I fear the US will be right beside her.
Very trenchant point. Now that I think about it a bit, it was relatively easy or acceptable for Britain to cede because they played up the baloney of the "special relationship" with the US. With whom are we to have such a relationship, China? No way. I fear your last sentence is right on.
I venture to guess there are perhaps a few sober military analysts within the U.S. foreign policy establishment who understand Russian & Iranian capabilities. But they don’t hold enough sway. Hegseth should take his FAFO and hold it up to a mirror. Kind of unhinged trying to back a bear against a wall. But as Chang says, Israel takes the cake. They are probably unhinged enough to go at Iran again.
The big problem I see is in the potential for these “wars” that U.S./Israel keeps pushing to get out of hand so to speak.
Increasing international anti-Israel/Zionism sentiment; losing support among the younger generations; their scare tactics losing punch; their narrative coming undone; assessment of Ilan Pappe' (see recent interview with Chris Hedges).
Plus they're doing a good job hiding those who have permanently left Israel, and the sorry shape their economy is in, they're not accustomed to prolonged military campaigns drawing so much on reserves.
It does appear the arms race has been reignited intentionally. So trillions of dollars more will be wasted on making more weapons. And here's the kicker: they're going to tell us we're all safer with more powerful weapons and military toys.
In the eyes of the Empire, the dollars are not wasted, but used to enrich the bank accounts of the industrial military industry… war is profitable, and so it is with its preparations. Producing nuclear weapons is extremely costly , and profitable.
The twist for me, BRICS started something. That allowed most of the world to see a path to move outside the dollar control. BRICS so far is talk until the Chinese deliver on a non Western Empire controlled clearing house and I have heard they are very close now. We shall see my friend. We may have to create a nation of our own. United Peoples of Caitlin. A country of Peace and Solidarity : )
Do readers of this substack understand that the US Empire has been quietly planning a worldwide genocide (but one focussed particularly on its own people and Europe) since the 1990's?
It is called Sars-cov-2, the "pandemic" and its consequences..
Just for historical context. The US has outpaced the vassal UK by its mafia inspired criminal acts. At least the British administered the territories they took over.
We are witnessing a degree of psychopathic unprovoked evil and delight in suffering - mental and psychological - that is unprecedented. And I am not talking about Gaza here, though Gaza is a product of this mentality.
Ah I see already well discussed in the comments. The US can withdraw up until it's borders. Israel doesn't have self defined borders and is as a whole not accepted anymore.
Japan was firebombed with Nagasaki and Hiroshima looking much like Dresden. There's conclusive proof nuclear weapons don't exist. Nuclear fission does not result in an explosion.
Well, at least Americans don't have to call the people born with "magic blood" (a.k.a. the house of Windsor) "Your highness" and bow down to them as they enter a room. And from time to time we can get rid of our top a-hole via an election or an assassination. But yeah, another one will come take his place. That's "freedom" for you!
(And secure AI data center. That's really what's happening below the so-called "ballroom" on the East Wing of the White House. They'll be able to surveil us all that way. Fun times!)
Telling is not sufficient. I tell people all the time about how to debunk, pseudo-science, conspiracy theories, anti-science thinking, etc. - but with limited success. Beliefs override science (and often facts).
People use too much 'emotions' instead of 'logic/reasoning' in their thinking, hence their emotions often override their ability to think critically.
If it was really as simple as telling, the world would be a different place.
Besides, no one knows all aspects of the surveillance industry (not even the experts). Secrecy is intrinsic to this industry. Hence the challenge in exposing the workings of the industry (though Jullian Assange and Edward Snowden made an excellent effort in this realm and paid the price).
I understand what you are saying. Still, I think the only way we can bring about change is to keep talking. It is like that for so many issues. I have worked with people living in poverty and constantly talked about how poor people are not lazy, stupid, or some other negative attribute. It is difficult to get people to see and accept that the system under which they, we all, live is destroying us and the rest of the natural world. I realize that there is a lot unknown about AI and what we are told may or may not be true.
I have known for several decades now. If they know 0101010101 equals dollars in your account they know everything. Google was a project of DARPA to surveil the Vietnamese jungles in mapping movements. I am facing a moment in career, will I contribute effort to something that is interesting science however end game could be the enabler of evil people. Deleted thoughts..........................
Every four years you get a performative circus show to give the knuckledragging US population something to entertain them.
Who's aging butt sits in the Whitehouse makes only a superficial difference. This is necessary to give the peeps something to hope for. "We can change the diapers next time".
The underlying strategies and ensuing policies are constant and unrelenting. Essentially the two main doctrines of US Imperialism as written by Munroe and Wolfowitz.
Democratic government, in general, was always a schtick.
The only time 90% of the population are ever able to shift the behaviour of the power structure is when the mob is in the street and the ruling class fear their heads might end up in baskets. Our rulers require that we escalate to unsociable means before they pay us any mind.
They abuse the natural social inclinations of most humans, constantly attempting to pit us against one another in gladiatorial combat, calling it free market competition.
Everything's a cost-benefit analysis with these motherfuckers.
The FDR Presidency says otherwise. While it is true that the possibility of mass violence menaced the system, it did not actually occur.
Nowadays I think we will see European countries defecting as their standard of living continues to plunge. I expect that parties will win on a platform of exit from the warmongering EU/peace with Russia. This is why the USA blew up the inactive pipeline. They wanted the LNG income stream to persist through this change. Perhaps this is also why the EU is so determined to continue the war. They want to rule the populace through fear.
Americans still think that Empire means you have colonies overseas therefore they deny the US is an empire. However they forget that the US has used its military power (800 bases around the world) to overthrow reformist governments overseas, used its money to subvert governments and imposed right wing dictatorships on all four corners of the world. Under the guise of Freedom and Democracy the US Empire has subverted and coopted the world to acknowledge US supremacy and rendered the rest of the world as a slave to US oligarchs.
There is not much difference between either both US or Britain's Empire both operate on the same Principles ,A White Christian Supremacist Ideology ,including Israel, a Jewish Supremacist entity
Winston CHURCHILL::****
I do not apologize for take over of the region by the Jews from the Palestinians, in the same way I don't apologize for the Whites taking over America from the Red Indians,
or the takeover of Australia from the Blacks. Its natural for a superior race to Dominate and Inferior one.
1812
Meyer Armschel Rothschild on his Death Bed Remember My Children that all the earth must belong to us Jews,
and that Gentiles being mere excrement of Animals must Possess Nothing.
It's more of an English supremacy than the Christian. They were equally ruthless to the Boers in the Second Boer War. More of the Boers (mainly women and children) died in concentration camps than from the fighting. They also applied the scorched earth policy of burning their farms and slaughtering their animals, the way the Union military practiced against the Confederate population.
Quite a "compare and contrast" dissection. I'd just add a coupla points - don't forget that we have (have been told) there's that "mushroom cloud" we gotta be on the alert to prevent; and we also put the screws to others not only with propaganda, but really vicious economic sanctions and "death squad" operations, either by our own "special forces" or training and supplying local thugs.
Coincidentally, I just got from the library "Legacy of Violence: a history of the British Empire" by Pulitzer Prize winner and Harvard history professor Caroline Elkins. At 875 pages, it's gonna take me several renewals to get through it. In reading more about Prof. Elkins, I came across this from her webpage https://history.fas.harvard.edu/people/caroline-elkins:
"Her research also served as the basis for the historic Mau Mau reparations case in the High Court of London (2009-2013). Elkins was expert witness for the claimants, who received an apology and a 20-million-pound settlement from the British government for the torture and systematic abuse they endured in 1950s Kenya."
Think we'll ever see something comparable for the Palestinians?
But the horrors on Palestine are by the Israelis, who are a completely independent country from the USA. Why, poor President Biden was TIRELESS in expressing that he wanted to stop the slaughter, but that bad bad man Nuttyahoo just wouldn't listen to him!
More important than ever! The work that the Hind Rajab Foundation is doing will continue to be vital in tracking down, and bringing the culprits to justice. This is ongoing and something we should support, irrespective of any ‘ceasefire.’
Davina, ......until 1945....after which the cost of the expensive WWII made the British a financial and military slave to the USA.
However, some of the Empire decided that it was time to call it a day. Some others like Australia and New Zealand are still in there, grovelling day after day while virtually under the total control of the US dollar, the USA war machine and still fighting with every US power play since that date....Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, World war 2 and who knows how many more under cover. Of course, US air bases in northern Australia, Pine Gap spy operation in Central Australia, military uniforms with Stars and Stripes in all the halls of the capital. Sickening! A little bumboy to a person like Trump.
Come on, Australia...jump. How high, Donald?
Poor little Australia. Still grovelling to both the USA and the UK with the AUKUS scheme where they will pay $360+ billion for nuclear submarines, first due in 2042.
Yet another US rip-off and another Australia boot lick and more UK Kings and Queens from England with the likes of once-upon-a-time Prince Andrew and little Donny Trump, Epstein apprentices and Israeli stooges, so they say.
Mind you.....Australia was only colonised by those named as "Poms" in 1788. Early days yet.
I mean, that's only 237 long grovelling years. Still at it and always will be. Suckers.
The US is different from Britain as the US follows the way of the soulless person, the completely self absorbed person, who constantly does bad things and simultaneously pretends they’re a completely selfless person. That’s the root of the problem in the US. It has more self absorbed people among its populace than any other country on earth.
And how did the U.S. get to the point of having high numbers of 'self-absorbed' people? By the Empire Managers using 'narratives' (like individuality, invisible hand, free markets, neoliberalism, globalism, etc.) to brainwash and indoctrinate people.
? the US is openly saying that full spectrum US dominance is the way the world should work. They are openly talking about stealing oil to make lots of money. Trump is clearly the emperor.
They openly said they wanted the oil during DTs first term. John Bolton said so on international TV. Actually, the one thing I like about DT is such openness.
I read Caroline Elkins’s Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire a couple of years ago. It’s the stuff of nightmares - really, truly horrific. Nothing’s changed except that yes - the Empire now cloaks its actions in feel good propaganda and does its best to scrub atrocities from the news and public consciousness.
You are right about empires being held in place by brute force and overt indoctrination (which we now too often call propaganda). But all empires are ultimately sustained by their citizens , the enslaved masses.
The very people who sustain it, who build its weapons, who sacrifice their children to its armies to go out and slaughter other people’s children, so the Empire can plunder the wealth of others to pay its own to build more ships, more weapons. And how does the Empire do this? Through fear. It’s the age-old trick , keep your own people enslaved with fear, and ignorance is the key.
Your comparison of the American and British Empires omits these points. How did the British public learn about their Empire’s exploits? There was no radio, no television, no internet during Britain’s reign. Yes, there were newspapers, but I doubt the children working in coal mines in Wales could read well enough to understand one, let alone afford to buy it.
During the British Empire’s reign, the public was starved of news. Ignorance was widespread, and what little they did hear about the Empire was always flattering. Their ignorance was bliss, and bliss for the Empire too, because it had to do very little to keep people that way.
Now, under the American Empire’s reign, ignorance is still widespread, but not for lack of information. No, it is because of an overdose of it, an overdose of lies. Add to that the endless distractions, censorship, and content manipulation, and we have another ignorant, fearful populace. But with one crucial difference: the American Empire must work to keep its people ignorant. It must react constantly to hide its contradictions. And sometimes it fails and the ugly truths break through. The people begin to see that those they were taught to fear and hate had cause for their actions, and that those they were taught to trust are, in fact, an evil regime
This difference, this crack in the armor is very dangerous, because there is nothing more volatile than an ignorant people who realize they are being lied to. The British still have not realized that their Empire was evil, but perhaps Americans are awakening up to this fact, though it may be too late.
I do appreciate that you are expanding your writing beyond daily hate posts, but if you are going to make comparisons, especially with the past, the circumstances matter.
One of the most insidious things about the old age of empire was that if you didn't build an empire of your own then someone else would, and they might become strong enough to incorporate you into their empire. England was minding its own business when the Spanish Armada attempted to conquer England. After that England lucked out it figured it had to build an empire in self defense.
"self defense" where have I heard this one before?
What was there in Britain that the Spanish could desire, that they could not get elsewhere more easily, the Spanish had the Americas , Philippines, Canary Islands, Sardinia and Sicily.
My recollection is different, the British had nothing, the new world had been discovered it was not profiting, even with its pirates for hire , so they made a decision to have an empire, to have an empire, they had to have navy, so they bought loads lumber of ships from Scandinavian and Baltic states, because Britain`s own forests were long ago depleted
Wikipedia, Seriously? You might as well ask ChatGPT. Well, I read the page, and even such a historically inaccurate source plainly states that England was NOT 'minding its own business'.
Perhaps there were some factions in Spain with delusions of conquering England, but at what cost? England under Elizabeth I was already an aggressive and rising naval power deeply involved in challenging Spanish dominance.
The privateering of English 'Sea Dogs' like Sir Francis Drake, actively and officially encouraged to raid Spanish treasure ships and ports in the Americas amounted to state-sanctioned piracy that cost Spain immense wealth.
England’s military intervention, sending troops to the Netherlands to support the Dutch rebellion against Spanish rule, was not 'minding its own business'.
Spain was not unprovoked; the Armada was Spain's response to England's ongoing acts of undeclared war. To frame England's subsequent empire-building as 'self-defense' is historically and factually disingenuous.
It all part of a ongoing global power game, one that follows the historical pattern of established empire overextending themselves with delusions of grandeur to be "rulers of world" "masters of universe" to their detriment. The challengers can bide their time and poke holes in the empire until one day they find themselves on top intoxicated with the same delusions
Spot on, as usual. But, there's one additional element which differentiates the US Empire from the British Empire, and, in fact, from all empires which came before.
The US empire possesses thousands of nuclear weapons, and with them, the ability to end civilization, and perhaps all life on the planet.
When collapse inevitably comes, will the US Empire quietly disengage around the world to lick its wounds, or will its psychopathic misleaders strike out in one final paroxysm of death and cruelty... indeed *the* final paroxysm of death and cruelty?
You pose an interesting - and chilling - question, but I see that final paroxysm being initiated by Israel, they're closer to collapse than we are, and when that day comes, when it dawns on them they can no longer get/take/steal what they want, their innate reaction is to see that no one else gets it either, so they'll let loose in one final act of orgiastic aggrandizement.
Israel scares me. They are an unhinged, psychopathic and sociopathic nation and society (even more than Trump). I fear Israel (and the U.S.) more than ANY other country on the planet (by a large margin).
Israel was horrible and now with Trump, it is a terrifying combo. Sometimes I read about Trump's idiotic comments and I actually laugh. If only it were not reality.
Israel was horrible under Biden who said that “if there wasn’t an Israel we (the US) would have to invent one.” The horribleness is bi-partisan.
You and me both.
Yes my friend, they scare me more than I thought. Animals will do things unthinkable when faced with death. Can this even be stopped now?
I have a feeling the world has said no to israel just enough to cause their economic collapse which then causes the military collapse. Is that the trigger to the end of Empire of Capitalism?
Isra-hell will end. They have to pay for their many crimes and this will be only a partial down payment.
What they owe, have stolen, can never be fully paid for.
They openly threaten to do that. They call it the Samson Option.
Oh, great, they even have a name for it, like the Hannibal Directive, that means they're serious (or even further deranged).
What puzzles me, is how few have heard of this before.
Too many believe what the msm tell them.
No one believes it who are on the other end of our guns and economic warfare. Wilful ignorance is a choice, done by those comfortable, not allowed as a legal defence. If you follow MSM, because you believe your freedoms are not worth ANY effort, then you get the result past history has warned us about.
Israel-controlled media coverup/downplaying...?
What am I, chopped liver?
Lol
Sorry, I will fix it.
Few have heard that the Irish Famine never was a shortage of food. Few UK citizens, I have spoken with know what the City of London refers to.
Since the creation and first use of the nuclear weapon, the "Bomb" has been the centerpiece of US foreign policy and military strategy. This was the message for Stalin and anyone else, sent through Hiroshima and Nagasaki, don't mess with the USA, "we have the bomb and we will use it!" All US war plans have the bomb as a final fallback. We held the bomb over the USSR after the end of WW2, simply because the rulers in DC and the Pentagon understood that we could not match the overwhelming numbers in conventional forces that the USSR could bring to the battlefield in Europe.
When the USSR exploded their first A-bomb, no one in DC or the Military Industrial Complex said, "let's stop this, this is insane!" Their solution was a bigger bomb and the rest is history. These lunatics in DC and the Military Industrial Complex will literally destroy the planet before they allow someone else to "win". The Pentagon's version of "winning" is a black, smoking cinder of a planet, devoid of all life; except that which resides in secure bunkers under their vaporized cities.
"The Pentagon's version of "winning" is a black, smoking cinder of a planet, devoid of all life; except that which resides in secure bunkers under their vaporized cities."
They say the cockroaches will survive though, one helluva legacy.
Years ago, I'm talking 45 of 'em, there was an excellent PBS series called "Oppenheimer" with Sam Waterston playing the lead. Did a very good job. David Suchet ("Poirot") played Edward Teller, also very good, a character who doesn't get much mention in the telling of nuclear weapons development, but in the series he came across, quite likely accurately, as a scientist driven to demonstrate what could be achieved, namely the hydrogen bomb, or "the Super" as he termed it.
After Japan, Oppenheimer was aghast, did all that he could to stop nuclear weapons use and further development. But the combination of Teller's ambition and the policy maker nuts in DC prevailed, I think contributing to breaking Oppenheimer.
Footnote: I think it was two weeks after Obama won the Noble Peace Prize (for what reason I have no idea) he announced a ten-year, $1.5 trillion upgrade of our nuclear arsenal. What the fornicate...?
Not sure whether either the Empire or its Mid-East proxy is anywhere near collapse as yet, though they are inciting dangerous enemies. USA is as bullying as ever, with its tech edge and dollar dominance still holding. Israel has never controlled as much territory or weaponry. Both powers indulge an entitled imperial hubris that ill matches their hypocritical moral masks. The rest of the world is more than sick of them.
"Not sure whether either the Empire or its Mid-East proxy is anywhere near collapse as yet..."
Morality, justice, international law, they mean next to nothing here. What does matter is, per usual, the $$$. Specifically payment on the national debt is presently 13% of the federal budget, arguably manageable; in twenty years, it will be at 42% (numbers don't lie when it comes to money), which means good-bye to Medicare, Social Security, whatever other entitlements there may be. The Penta-gone budget will remain intact, as will support of the genocidal entity, should it last that long. In other words, we will have become a failed state fiscally, socially, politically.
Not so sure Israel will collapse first… ?
Yeah, it's a close race. Personal preference, I want the satisfaction of seeing them go first, then this asylum needs a tear down before it drives the rest of the world over the brink.
One is the Master, the other the slave..
Question is, how to tell the two apart, or which is which...?
That’s easy… it’s the One who has the most control of the money…
The time is near!
In the past few years I have come to believe that in the scenarios describe above, the world will be destroyed. It's not that the people in control want to go, but they will not leg go of their power as the British eventually did - go gracefully. Britain was successful in accepting the role of a lesser power. The US will not. And, if Israel strikes first, I fear the US will be right beside her.
Very trenchant point. Now that I think about it a bit, it was relatively easy or acceptable for Britain to cede because they played up the baloney of the "special relationship" with the US. With whom are we to have such a relationship, China? No way. I fear your last sentence is right on.
I venture to guess there are perhaps a few sober military analysts within the U.S. foreign policy establishment who understand Russian & Iranian capabilities. But they don’t hold enough sway. Hegseth should take his FAFO and hold it up to a mirror. Kind of unhinged trying to back a bear against a wall. But as Chang says, Israel takes the cake. They are probably unhinged enough to go at Iran again.
The big problem I see is in the potential for these “wars” that U.S./Israel keeps pushing to get out of hand so to speak.
What makes you think they are close to collapse?
Increasing international anti-Israel/Zionism sentiment; losing support among the younger generations; their scare tactics losing punch; their narrative coming undone; assessment of Ilan Pappe' (see recent interview with Chris Hedges).
Plus they're doing a good job hiding those who have permanently left Israel, and the sorry shape their economy is in, they're not accustomed to prolonged military campaigns drawing so much on reserves.
As long as their American thug stands by them, they have nothing to fear.
Brilliant point. Thank you
It does appear the arms race has been reignited intentionally. So trillions of dollars more will be wasted on making more weapons. And here's the kicker: they're going to tell us we're all safer with more powerful weapons and military toys.
In the eyes of the Empire, the dollars are not wasted, but used to enrich the bank accounts of the industrial military industry… war is profitable, and so it is with its preparations. Producing nuclear weapons is extremely costly , and profitable.
nah. it is their bank accounts that are safer. Until the banks are nuked.
Ever seen "Don’t Look Up!"?
The twist for me, BRICS started something. That allowed most of the world to see a path to move outside the dollar control. BRICS so far is talk until the Chinese deliver on a non Western Empire controlled clearing house and I have heard they are very close now. We shall see my friend. We may have to create a nation of our own. United Peoples of Caitlin. A country of Peace and Solidarity : )
I feel a story coming on ha. Friends will hate me more if I ever had any. The truth is a hard thing for people hear in hard times.
Sometimes that’s the only time people “hear” it.
Yes my friend. Yes they are. I am already hearing we can win a nuclear war from people who should know better.
Nuke Nuland Nazi's.
Likely the latter.
Do readers of this substack understand that the US Empire has been quietly planning a worldwide genocide (but one focussed particularly on its own people and Europe) since the 1990's?
It is called Sars-cov-2, the "pandemic" and its consequences..
Just for historical context. The US has outpaced the vassal UK by its mafia inspired criminal acts. At least the British administered the territories they took over.
We are witnessing a degree of psychopathic unprovoked evil and delight in suffering - mental and psychological - that is unprecedented. And I am not talking about Gaza here, though Gaza is a product of this mentality.
That's a much more relevant question regarding israel
Ah I see already well discussed in the comments. The US can withdraw up until it's borders. Israel doesn't have self defined borders and is as a whole not accepted anymore.
Japan was firebombed with Nagasaki and Hiroshima looking much like Dresden. There's conclusive proof nuclear weapons don't exist. Nuclear fission does not result in an explosion.
Israel would be the one
Well, at least Americans don't have to call the people born with "magic blood" (a.k.a. the house of Windsor) "Your highness" and bow down to them as they enter a room. And from time to time we can get rid of our top a-hole via an election or an assassination. But yeah, another one will come take his place. That's "freedom" for you!
Well - we're going to have a royal ballroom of our own soon. We're catching up!
(And secure AI data center. That's really what's happening below the so-called "ballroom" on the East Wing of the White House. They'll be able to surveil us all that way. Fun times!)
>>"They'll be able to surveil us all that way."
They ALREADY do! Few people know how, and even fewer people understand how.
if you know how, it would be great if you could tell us.
Telling is not sufficient. I tell people all the time about how to debunk, pseudo-science, conspiracy theories, anti-science thinking, etc. - but with limited success. Beliefs override science (and often facts).
People use too much 'emotions' instead of 'logic/reasoning' in their thinking, hence their emotions often override their ability to think critically.
If it was really as simple as telling, the world would be a different place.
Besides, no one knows all aspects of the surveillance industry (not even the experts). Secrecy is intrinsic to this industry. Hence the challenge in exposing the workings of the industry (though Jullian Assange and Edward Snowden made an excellent effort in this realm and paid the price).
I understand what you are saying. Still, I think the only way we can bring about change is to keep talking. It is like that for so many issues. I have worked with people living in poverty and constantly talked about how poor people are not lazy, stupid, or some other negative attribute. It is difficult to get people to see and accept that the system under which they, we all, live is destroying us and the rest of the natural world. I realize that there is a lot unknown about AI and what we are told may or may not be true.
I have known for several decades now. If they know 0101010101 equals dollars in your account they know everything. Google was a project of DARPA to surveil the Vietnamese jungles in mapping movements. I am facing a moment in career, will I contribute effort to something that is interesting science however end game could be the enabler of evil people. Deleted thoughts..........................
You know...........................................
The Empire drowns in irony, bathed in gold. Could this ballroom be the British Golden Carriage to display the wealth the empire no longer had.
Every four years you get a performative circus show to give the knuckledragging US population something to entertain them.
Who's aging butt sits in the Whitehouse makes only a superficial difference. This is necessary to give the peeps something to hope for. "We can change the diapers next time".
The underlying strategies and ensuing policies are constant and unrelenting. Essentially the two main doctrines of US Imperialism as written by Munroe and Wolfowitz.
Amerikkkans bend over and take it in the ass instead.
Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose
Nothin', it ain't nothin' honey, if it ain't free…
Democratic government, in general, was always a schtick.
The only time 90% of the population are ever able to shift the behaviour of the power structure is when the mob is in the street and the ruling class fear their heads might end up in baskets. Our rulers require that we escalate to unsociable means before they pay us any mind.
They abuse the natural social inclinations of most humans, constantly attempting to pit us against one another in gladiatorial combat, calling it free market competition.
Everything's a cost-benefit analysis with these motherfuckers.
The FDR Presidency says otherwise. While it is true that the possibility of mass violence menaced the system, it did not actually occur.
Nowadays I think we will see European countries defecting as their standard of living continues to plunge. I expect that parties will win on a platform of exit from the warmongering EU/peace with Russia. This is why the USA blew up the inactive pipeline. They wanted the LNG income stream to persist through this change. Perhaps this is also why the EU is so determined to continue the war. They want to rule the populace through fear.
As long as their police and army obey orders, european countries will do no such thing.
Americans still think that Empire means you have colonies overseas therefore they deny the US is an empire. However they forget that the US has used its military power (800 bases around the world) to overthrow reformist governments overseas, used its money to subvert governments and imposed right wing dictatorships on all four corners of the world. Under the guise of Freedom and Democracy the US Empire has subverted and coopted the world to acknowledge US supremacy and rendered the rest of the world as a slave to US oligarchs.
There is not much difference between either both US or Britain's Empire both operate on the same Principles ,A White Christian Supremacist Ideology ,including Israel, a Jewish Supremacist entity
Winston CHURCHILL::****
I do not apologize for take over of the region by the Jews from the Palestinians, in the same way I don't apologize for the Whites taking over America from the Red Indians,
or the takeover of Australia from the Blacks. Its natural for a superior race to Dominate and Inferior one.
1812
Meyer Armschel Rothschild on his Death Bed Remember My Children that all the earth must belong to us Jews,
and that Gentiles being mere excrement of Animals must Possess Nothing.
It's more of an English supremacy than the Christian. They were equally ruthless to the Boers in the Second Boer War. More of the Boers (mainly women and children) died in concentration camps than from the fighting. They also applied the scorched earth policy of burning their farms and slaughtering their animals, the way the Union military practiced against the Confederate population.
Quite a "compare and contrast" dissection. I'd just add a coupla points - don't forget that we have (have been told) there's that "mushroom cloud" we gotta be on the alert to prevent; and we also put the screws to others not only with propaganda, but really vicious economic sanctions and "death squad" operations, either by our own "special forces" or training and supplying local thugs.
Coincidentally, I just got from the library "Legacy of Violence: a history of the British Empire" by Pulitzer Prize winner and Harvard history professor Caroline Elkins. At 875 pages, it's gonna take me several renewals to get through it. In reading more about Prof. Elkins, I came across this from her webpage https://history.fas.harvard.edu/people/caroline-elkins:
"Her research also served as the basis for the historic Mau Mau reparations case in the High Court of London (2009-2013). Elkins was expert witness for the claimants, who received an apology and a 20-million-pound settlement from the British government for the torture and systematic abuse they endured in 1950s Kenya."
Think we'll ever see something comparable for the Palestinians?
But the horrors on Palestine are by the Israelis, who are a completely independent country from the USA. Why, poor President Biden was TIRELESS in expressing that he wanted to stop the slaughter, but that bad bad man Nuttyahoo just wouldn't listen to him!
The American Empire's hands are completely clean.
/sarc.
Yup... Who, me (us)...?
As said Yogi Berra, "Predictions are uncertain, especially when they're about the future."
lol
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An accurate, concise, and engaging summary of the US Empire.
Thank you, Ms. Johnstone and Mr. Foley!
Which why so many of these countries when allowed their freedom chose to stay under the umbrella of the Commonwealth.
It saved them from America, or did until...
Now when the UK government tries to emulate the US and stuffs it up big time.
Davina, ......until 1945....after which the cost of the expensive WWII made the British a financial and military slave to the USA.
However, some of the Empire decided that it was time to call it a day. Some others like Australia and New Zealand are still in there, grovelling day after day while virtually under the total control of the US dollar, the USA war machine and still fighting with every US power play since that date....Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, World war 2 and who knows how many more under cover. Of course, US air bases in northern Australia, Pine Gap spy operation in Central Australia, military uniforms with Stars and Stripes in all the halls of the capital. Sickening! A little bumboy to a person like Trump.
Come on, Australia...jump. How high, Donald?
Poor little Australia. Still grovelling to both the USA and the UK with the AUKUS scheme where they will pay $360+ billion for nuclear submarines, first due in 2042.
Yet another US rip-off and another Australia boot lick and more UK Kings and Queens from England with the likes of once-upon-a-time Prince Andrew and little Donny Trump, Epstein apprentices and Israeli stooges, so they say.
Mind you.....Australia was only colonised by those named as "Poms" in 1788. Early days yet.
I mean, that's only 237 long grovelling years. Still at it and always will be. Suckers.
I think that was a major stuff up, especially for the Palestinians.
The Commonwealth seems like a good deal. You get to keep your health benefits in many countries worldwide.
The US is different from Britain as the US follows the way of the soulless person, the completely self absorbed person, who constantly does bad things and simultaneously pretends they’re a completely selfless person. That’s the root of the problem in the US. It has more self absorbed people among its populace than any other country on earth.
And how did the U.S. get to the point of having high numbers of 'self-absorbed' people? By the Empire Managers using 'narratives' (like individuality, invisible hand, free markets, neoliberalism, globalism, etc.) to brainwash and indoctrinate people.
I think we’re pretty screwed up everywhere…
Wait - I'm not free!?
You never were, sweetheart 😉
Yes you are free….. to work for the master of your choice…
Work will set you free!
Only a few get the reference. You can pass.
Good comparison. Empires stink either way.
? the US is openly saying that full spectrum US dominance is the way the world should work. They are openly talking about stealing oil to make lots of money. Trump is clearly the emperor.
"Oil" is simply how the wars were sold to Trump.
They openly said they wanted the oil during DTs first term. John Bolton said so on international TV. Actually, the one thing I like about DT is such openness.
I read Caroline Elkins’s Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire a couple of years ago. It’s the stuff of nightmares - really, truly horrific. Nothing’s changed except that yes - the Empire now cloaks its actions in feel good propaganda and does its best to scrub atrocities from the news and public consciousness.
That sounds unbearable, but important for those who are able.
Good points! All.
Exactly right! It’s only in the last few years that I’ve become aware that I live in an empire, though I’ve deplored U.S. foreign policy for decades.
You are right about empires being held in place by brute force and overt indoctrination (which we now too often call propaganda). But all empires are ultimately sustained by their citizens , the enslaved masses.
The very people who sustain it, who build its weapons, who sacrifice their children to its armies to go out and slaughter other people’s children, so the Empire can plunder the wealth of others to pay its own to build more ships, more weapons. And how does the Empire do this? Through fear. It’s the age-old trick , keep your own people enslaved with fear, and ignorance is the key.
Your comparison of the American and British Empires omits these points. How did the British public learn about their Empire’s exploits? There was no radio, no television, no internet during Britain’s reign. Yes, there were newspapers, but I doubt the children working in coal mines in Wales could read well enough to understand one, let alone afford to buy it.
During the British Empire’s reign, the public was starved of news. Ignorance was widespread, and what little they did hear about the Empire was always flattering. Their ignorance was bliss, and bliss for the Empire too, because it had to do very little to keep people that way.
Now, under the American Empire’s reign, ignorance is still widespread, but not for lack of information. No, it is because of an overdose of it, an overdose of lies. Add to that the endless distractions, censorship, and content manipulation, and we have another ignorant, fearful populace. But with one crucial difference: the American Empire must work to keep its people ignorant. It must react constantly to hide its contradictions. And sometimes it fails and the ugly truths break through. The people begin to see that those they were taught to fear and hate had cause for their actions, and that those they were taught to trust are, in fact, an evil regime
This difference, this crack in the armor is very dangerous, because there is nothing more volatile than an ignorant people who realize they are being lied to. The British still have not realized that their Empire was evil, but perhaps Americans are awakening up to this fact, though it may be too late.
I do appreciate that you are expanding your writing beyond daily hate posts, but if you are going to make comparisons, especially with the past, the circumstances matter.
One of the most insidious things about the old age of empire was that if you didn't build an empire of your own then someone else would, and they might become strong enough to incorporate you into their empire. England was minding its own business when the Spanish Armada attempted to conquer England. After that England lucked out it figured it had to build an empire in self defense.
"self defense" where have I heard this one before?
What was there in Britain that the Spanish could desire, that they could not get elsewhere more easily, the Spanish had the Americas , Philippines, Canary Islands, Sardinia and Sicily.
My recollection is different, the British had nothing, the new world had been discovered it was not profiting, even with its pirates for hire , so they made a decision to have an empire, to have an empire, they had to have navy, so they bought loads lumber of ships from Scandinavian and Baltic states, because Britain`s own forests were long ago depleted
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Armada
Wikipedia, Seriously? You might as well ask ChatGPT. Well, I read the page, and even such a historically inaccurate source plainly states that England was NOT 'minding its own business'.
Perhaps there were some factions in Spain with delusions of conquering England, but at what cost? England under Elizabeth I was already an aggressive and rising naval power deeply involved in challenging Spanish dominance.
The privateering of English 'Sea Dogs' like Sir Francis Drake, actively and officially encouraged to raid Spanish treasure ships and ports in the Americas amounted to state-sanctioned piracy that cost Spain immense wealth.
England’s military intervention, sending troops to the Netherlands to support the Dutch rebellion against Spanish rule, was not 'minding its own business'.
Spain was not unprovoked; the Armada was Spain's response to England's ongoing acts of undeclared war. To frame England's subsequent empire-building as 'self-defense' is historically and factually disingenuous.
It all part of a ongoing global power game, one that follows the historical pattern of established empire overextending themselves with delusions of grandeur to be "rulers of world" "masters of universe" to their detriment. The challengers can bide their time and poke holes in the empire until one day they find themselves on top intoxicated with the same delusions