Listen to a reading of this article (reading by Tim Foley): The 2024 presidential election will be THE MOST IMPORTANT ELECTION OF ALL TIME, because if Americans don’t make the correct choice between the two candidates something terrible might happen to their country. The US might even turn into an abusive totalitarian dystopia where everyone’s mind is controlled by propaganda engineered to shape them into unthinking gear-turners for a globe-spanning empire.
There is an element left out of this piece, something Caitlin has highlighted in the past. This is the background, preparatory work done in Hollywood and elsewhere to precondition us to think wars are noble and just, and police are brave heroes defending the public from bad guys. It's not just the more overt and specific propaganda work to persuade the public to ignore or support what the empire does; it's also the conditioning to believe in Good Guys and Bad Guys and the nobility of violence, and American exceptionalism.
It started before but I consider "Rambo' to be the fall off the cliff. In David Morrell's good book, Rambo and the sheriff are neither good nor evil, and Rambo dies. In the movie, Rambo is a misunderstood hero versus the Evil Sheriff. Nevertheless, its a gritty drama, and one of my favourite classics. Whereas the first was a criticisom of turning men into war machines, the next 4 movies became 'Hoo-rah' for America/MIC. Much more shooting, and with enemies such as Soviets, Vietnamese, and Mexicans. If there's ever a 6th movie, it's sure to be politically correct.
Stallone is a leftist. Rocky is 100% blue collar. His F.I.S.T. lionizes the labor movement. But it flopped at the box office while Rambo soared and Stallone went with the flow.
'Rocky' soared after taking the 'Rambo' route. I recall a rare movie moment with my father, him lying to my mother so that he and I could watch 'Rocky 4'. I loved it cause I knew Drago (aka The Russians) were evil. All the books I was reading as a teen were teaching me that only Americans and Brits were heroes.
Matt Taibbi lived in Russia for years. He wrote something like that, "Americans think Russians are like menacing taciturn Drago. I wish! The average Russian can't mind their own business and STFU."
Yes. There’s a recent documentary that covers this called Theatres of War. In essence: not only is Hollywood sold to Chinese interests, but it also requires CIA/DoD approval of the entire script. All part of a organised, global propaganda campaign that likely began with the Tavistock institute.
I heard an interview with the film's director on System Update. CIA/DoD script approval means taking out messages that don't support Good Guy/Bad Guy simplistic narratives. It was fascinating to hear how our culture is being sculpted to take out the nuance and complexities of life.
It’s hard to tell who exactly the ‘enemy’ is, but that also depends on the perspective of the one calling the term... when I see rampant corruption between the Biden crime family and Chinese interests, it does make me wonder our aggression with China is faked, and at the very top people are planning this war for a win-win as they continue to suck more blood, money and life from the public in their search for ultimate power.
Assange sinned with truth, Snowden betrayed his country by trying to protect his countrymen, Khashoggi was in love with knives, Vietnam started the war, Russia started the war, Serbia started the war... oops... jumped ahead, I think that's next week.
That is a very large question, which country will be the next victim of the u.s. empire? With the joint Russia/China Alaska trip, I think that rules our China? Iran, will the u.s. have the nerve to try and board Iranian tankers and start the war with Iran? Niger is to small and won't sell the needed weapons or cause more than 1 week of distraction. Who is next or do we turn the war inward?
I believe and hope inward battles take a toll but even asthmatic capitalists will run towards more money. I think Serbia or another neighbour of Russia such as Kazakhstan. And there's always profit to be made out of a fake war e.g. arming the Pacific.
"Its creation of the Ukraine conflict is just as evil as anything Bush or Obama did." It's hard to say about evil, but the Ukraine conflict is diabolical. The USA has taken advantage of the excess of passion in the soul of Ukraine to facilitate the destruction of that nation. It's like selling your soul to the devil. "You'll beat those Russkies, sure you will son. Just sign right here. I know I know, your mother will kill you if she finds out you sold your soul. Ah...you can buy it back when you march into Moscow, yaz yaz." I also believe that the deaths of Ukrainians is seen as a plus.
As soon as all the overpriced obsolete hardware is "sold" and the war ceases to be profitable to arms manufacturers all support will drop like a rock. That might be happening right about now.
I lived in Ukraine for much of my adult life, although I have not a drop of Slavic blood in me, nor am I related to a Russian or Ukrainian by blood or otherwise (Cats as a rule do not read or need pedigrees.)
Long story short, Ukrainians desperately want to see the West as The Land Where Institutions Basically Work. If hating their brethren and even their own parents is the price that is charged for admission to that blessed land, to that exclusive club, then they will pay it.
This is also why Russia is so loathe to make war on the West or Ukraine. They don't want to fight their kinsmen, and do not want to admit how much they are hated and feared by those they want to befriend.
"They don't want to fight their kinsmen" from Feral. Well stated. Kinsmen, one and all.
This NATO / US PROXY war could have been over in a week and we all know it. So as we read of some well regarded western media whore stating that Russia has made some dreadful mistakes for allowing this war to continue for so long, they choose to forget that there really is only one basic reason. Kinsmen.
Like Feral, you would have needed to live there to better understand that
Full stop.
PS. When it is all over, just one guess what country will apply all its resources to return Ukraine back to what it was, before the US proxy war was started.
(It won't be the USA, be assured, so best tell BlackRock and the other US investors to stop buying up the land). Really good land though.
You see, there is no Joseph Stalin any more in Russia and the Holodomor was the most disgraceful example of a then criminal regime in Moscow........ but that was indeed a long, long time ago. 1932.
However, for Stalin, on a smaller but equally criminal scale, read Netanyahu, Israel, 2023.
By the way, for those who have never heard of The Holodomor, see 'Holocaust', without 70 years of Hollywood-style marketing hype with well-funded museums, aplenty.
I wrote once, I am thankful the Russian people are far more compassionate then the u.s. otherwise there would be millions dead in cities of Ukraine as with Iraq. Do you think that is true? This strategy of war is so different then the u.s. has ever planned for, allowing the force to jump into the cauldron personnel and equipment until they are no more. The real war will start soon don't you think?
I always told Ukrainians that the US had comparable corruption, and I have bribed everyone in Ukraine from the postman up to members of the Council of Ministers (equivalent to the Cabinet) and I have never so much as offered an American cop a free donut.
Just that they don't call it "corruption" when you have pricey lawyers.
"The tragedy is that the main issue people vote on is the economy, and it’s the one thing that’s almost completely out of democratic control. All those votes are in vain." -- https://indi.ca/democracy-is-bullshit/
I also have noticed this. If the economy goes up the president gets re-elected. If it goes down they don't. Bob Woodward and Bob Reich both wrote that the Fed had the most power over the economy so it held the power of re-election. Since this was the ultimate power the Fed dictated budget goals.
The people generally have no idea where the money is coming from so any kind of skullduggery that brings in money is OK. That was the idea in Iraq 2003. John Bolton dropped the mask and announced we're going after Syria and Venezuela for the oil.
Now we have a flood of money printing to keep housing prices and stocks rising, thus keeping home/401k owners on board at the expense of the havenots. Covid tanks the economy and in reply stocks go up a stratospheric 50%. To me this says, "it's all fake." The spiral is tightening, the whole thing is accelerating. How long can this continue?
When I found out there were more young people living at home than with a partner then I knew something was going to blow. What does 15000 troops defending the capital Green Zone tell you?
"The people get saddled with bail-outs and have absolutely no buy-in." I have read that after the big 2009 bailout the laws were changed so that a future Congress had no control over the next bailout, which is sure to come. What happens then? If there is so much dissatisfaction when times are "good", what happens when they turn "bad"? We are going to find out sooner or later.
"The people generally have no idea where the money is coming from so any kind of skullduggery that brings in money is OK."
Nor do they care, so long as they still get a paycheck. Then again, as you and Indi point out, it's not as if they have any influence or effect on these things.
Voters drive it all but in an indirect way. If the economy goes up the president gets re-elected. If it goes down they don't. This is what motivates empire and discourages doing anything to save the environment. If a million Bolivians have to die to make a buck then that's what the public "wants" you to do. It will get you re-elected.
Or wars. Losing a war is bad for re-election so the wars drag on and on. That's what the Pentagon Papers showed. The Vietnam war ended when the public turned against it. Nixon said something like "when we lost Cronkite it was all over." But now they've "throttled" all Cronkites. When Phil Donahue got fired liberalism was finished.
A strange dilemma is that the prevalence of labor saving devices is in dire conflict with the work ethic. There is less need for work, but the people must work. It's getting to be the central issue of conflict. Wokeness is about who gets hired to work. Endless wars are largely job creation programs. Not enough work to occupy the people, hence this focus on "job creation." Up to the 20th century I don't think anyone worried about job creation. Wall Street trading is also largely a jobs creation program. I wonder whether it does more good or more harm.
I think Western people should drop the war thing and focus on creating beauty like they do here in Bali , but with the USA's overwhelming preference for drame, weapons, and violence this is nowhere near to happening.
In short, I think the US government reflects what the people want and gives it to them. It's discouraging. It is true that when the people learned how awful Vietnam was they put a stop to it, but the US has been transformed into a gargantuan mushroom farm. That's truly evil.
Like the FDA approved Ivermectin *after* transferring $100B+ of taxpayer dollars to the coffers of Big Pharma. Prior to the approval the same body labelled it horsepaste, which translates to Putin-lover in in the “unprovoked invasion.” Its the same playbook in a different complex.
I think they are referring to the just released, FDA, Physicians can now prescribe Ivermectin without restrictions for approval. I believe it has something to do with court action.
The Ukrainian minority were given an opportunity to control the majority. The West abused their crazy desire, but shame on those monsters for turning their citizens into cripples and ghosts.
someone or something gives or creates the opportunity and someone or something feeds the 'crazy desire'. the monsters are created, imo. the ukrainian monsters were cultivated after ww2 where a covert war against the communists continued to well into the 50's and some 50000 civilians, police and military were killed while the perpetrators of this secret war regularly reposed and resettled inside western democracies.
I think this is all about Nazi’s. Ukraine has always been a Nazi infested country, it’s just that its Russian speaking population rejected that bunch of pus until Vicki and her cookies were sent to empower the Nazis. Instead of Kristallnacht, they got Cookienacht. Jeez Louise.
It's more like the '3.5% rule for change' being manipulated by the CIA. Most Ukrainians will be normal folk like us, hating the corruption in their country, and wanting a better life.
We are not nice normal folks. Most of us want to think that but have no objections to our state demolishing nations all over the globe just so we can cry about corruption and “want a better life”. Our lives are already so better, we’re destroying the planet with our demands.
I imagine that you're on a fixed income. The working class has NOT in any way shape or form had a good life these past three years, even less now that COVID denial is in full swing across business and both parties. Accusations of general profligacy play only into capital's austerity fetish.
Neoliberals have always set out to actively destroy alternatives to market dependency. It's Münchausen syndrome by proxy at the global scale. When some global action doesn't seem to make sense on simple profit grounds, try on that lens.
Stinky—I agree with your analysis but what I’m saying is that westerners have MUCH more than we need compared to “the rest”. Remember George Carlin and his take on “stuff”? We’re a consumerist nation, eat beyond our capacity to spend calories, shop beyond our capacity to wear, use or even take care of, reproduce beyond the capacity of our land to house us, as we walk disdainfully past the homeless in our midst. Yes, capitalism takes advantage of these proclivity’s but this shit starts in our soul. Try that lens.
Pretty sure your from a white settler nation and I know what you were expressing. But being from a white settler nation, you are contributing to the Nazi take over with your nice normal better life aspirations.
Caitlin, I'm sorry but it's already too late. 2020 proved what American 'elections' have become.
Even if 150 million vote against the regime candidate in 2024, make it 200 million, it won't matter. The regime candidate will still 'win'. That's how fake tinpot Banana Republics work.
This assumes that the regime even permits the 2024 election to occur in the first place, of course. There's every chance they won't.
Even if Cornell West and JFK Jr. were to win all 50 states and take office as president and vice president, Congress, the foreign policy establishment (in and out of office) and the federal bureaucracy, not to mention the war industry would all still fight them tooth and nail.
Every time I see the image of Biden it says to me, "what you want, what you need, doesn't matter at all to us. If We say you'll be ruled by a potato, so ruled ye shall be."
Could Covid have created a brain disruption? I was speaking with nurses in a hospital, they are horrified when people violently demand management within 5 mins. after pushing the button. They looked at me like wow, could that be.
The 2024 presidential election will be THE MOST IMPORTANT ELECTION OF ALL TIME, because if Americans don’t make the correct choice between the two candidates something terrible might happen to their country. The US might even turn into an abusive totalitarian dystopia where everyone’s mind is controlled by propaganda engineered to shape them into unthinking gear-turners for a globe-spanning empire.
IMHO.........guess what??????? We are already there...........yessssssssssssssssssss we are.....big time.......even before the election happens........
CHARLIE CHAPLIN’s FINAL SPEECH (8paragraphs long) From his first “Talkie Film, The Great Dictator (1940)
To those who can hear me, I say - do not despair. The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed - the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish…
. . .
Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people! Now let us fight to fulfil that promise! Let us fight to free the world - to do away with national barriers - to do away with greed, with hate and intolerance. Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men’s happiness. Soldiers! in the name of democracy, let us all unite!
I love that speech from The Great Dictator. It was timely and it was prescient. Chaplin saw the future all too clearly. (And the status quo hated him for it, alas.)
Just the other day vigorous Ukraine proxy war critic Scott Ritter's YouTube channel was canceled without prior "warnings" due to "hate speech," which really means "political speech." Clearly, this was done at the behest of Alphabet agencies, who are still directing Big Tech platforms on who to censor. This is a step on the staircase to criminalizing dissent, which Western authorities want to put into "law."
"The US empire has all the personality characteristics of a malignant narcissist." Gee, that sounds a lot like our previous president. Perhaps we get what we deserve. But then again, our current "leader" is no great prize either.
Should the blame of "get what we deserve" fall on ordinary Americans - whom I see as the victims of abusive 24/7 propaganda, and a rigged economic system?
It's hard to be responsible for being in a cage, one is unaware one is in. Which appears to be the case with many ordinary Americans. They fail to understand that the two party tribalism, the highly propagandized/politicized woke war between men & women, the Putin bad - Biden good Ukrainian murderfest of 100s of thousands of human beings - is all part of the blanket of propaganda disseminated to them daily through the millionaire mass media pundit oligarchic pawns - the Rachel Maddow Neo-McCarthyist deep state liars.
Who or what is responsible for the malignancy we see in US government now, and the malignant clowns who are elected as POTUS? Not only clowns, but both Biden and Trump are creepy womanizers with some indications of pedophilia from them both - and both have little respect for the US judiciary - both are obvious criminals who made sure Julian Assange (an innocent Australian journalist) would languish in a small cell for years now, while they themselves escaped any laws for their own criminality of political bribery, business lawlessness.
Who is responsible for the malignancy in power in DC right now? The malignancy that has been resident on Wallstreet now for decades and is spreading through American society? Is it just the idea that greed is good? Me first - before you? Is it a malignancy not of ideas, but of sociopaths who gain power - who look at human lives in Ukraine as cannon fodder for their hegemonic power over the world? What is the root cause of the spreading malignancy?
You ask really good questions. I don't know the answer(s). Probably no one does, though they possibly lie in the realm of capitalism and class divisions.
Of course you are correct, but the reason why is that everything is this way is it is designed to be. The propaganda works to this end. The manufacturing of consent as you say. The idea that we are always the good guys in every foreign policy conflict...Why do we have to get involved in every single conflict? Why is everyone of these conflicts an issue of our national security? (you covered this in a previous article).
Why is it then a short time later another administion says we made this mistake? (you covered this in another article) They work as one party.
We are born clinging to life, with the help of others we survive. We are by our nature tribal. We learn that there are "good" guys and "bad" guys in the world and we were born, "by the grace of God" into the clan of "good" guys. From this narrative it is easy to be deceived. Good and bad are not people but actions and all people do both in the process of living.
Page 8, 7th Para. “Keith’s firm conviction, following years of study and research, was that nature had incorporated into the human psyche a prejudice or bias in favour of one’s own kind which channelled primitive man unconsciously into an infinitely slow but continual program of racial improvement.”
From the book The Place of Prejudice in Modern Civilization by Sir Arthur Keith
For those interested in some real debate about American imperialism that seems to have occurred in 1898 there's "The True Flag" by Stephen Kinzer.
"How should the United States act in the world? Americans cannot decide. Sometimes we burn with righteous anger, launching foreign wars and deposing governments. Then we retreat―until the cycle begins again.
No matter how often we debate this question, none of what we say is original. Every argument is a pale shadow of the first and greatest debate, which erupted more than a century ago. Its themes resurface every time Americans argue whether to intervene in a foreign country. Every argument over America’s role in the world grows from this one. It all starts here."
It has always seemed interesting to me that the first thing the Thirteen Original Colonies (i.e., 13 original and different countries) did upon ostensibly gaining independence from the British empire was to unite into an American empire. There is nothing new under the sun.
I think it was the way to go. Otherwise you get New Europe with a war every generation. Since many continentals had come to the New World to avoid this they were very much aware of the danger.
Civil War, same thing. If the South had split off this would have begun the cycle of war, like France and Germany used to have.
Based on that logic, wouldn’t a unipolar world be more peaceful? Europe’s history of incessant war had many contributing factors—the political vacuum left after the collapse of the western Roman Empire, feudalism, religious wars, the rise of the nation states, lack of natural resources, etc. IMO, the rise of the American empire was irreversible when the federalist faction won out over the anti-federalists and created a federal government dominant over the states. Had the anti-federalists prevailed, we would today have a far greater variety of political expression and economic decentralization within the U.S., and California, Texas, Alaska, Hawaii and most of the territories in the Rocky Mountain states likely would have left or never joined “the Union” and would have become independent nations. I’m not claiming that an anti-federalist organization would have been utopia, but an occasional war between, say, Rhode Island and Connecticut would be less of an existential threat to the world than between the U.S. and Japan in WWII or today between the western and Russian empires. In general, I think, decentralization of wealth, power, and geography is more sustainable and ideologically and culturally diverse, which reduces global risk. Yes, there would still be local and regional conflicts, but they would be smaller and more resolvable, and much less likely to spread across the world.
Hmm. I suppose the South would have invaded Mexico, Cuba, and beyond in order to build up its strength, while the North would have made war on Canada. A hundred years later the North nukes Atlanta and Dallas. Having to endlessly maintain big garrisons to deter invasion might inhibit Empire but it wouldn't stop it, as demonstrated by Europe. I'd say that's the worst thing about empire. If you build an empire then the other guy has to do it too or else be absorbed into your empire.
Then there's extradition. Back in the real old days New York City duelists would cross the Hudson to New Jersey to have their duels, Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr included. All Aaron had to do to avoid a murder charge was stay out of New York. He somehow did eventually return.
Then there were duties on transport between states. Duties are always popular -- make the foreigners pay -- but are bad for trade in general. Thus the Common Market and EU.
Your point that “if you build an empire then the other guy has to do it too or else be absorbed into your empire” is a problem with decentralization. If there were 500 or 1000 small nations in the world, it’s pretty certain that an aggressor would eventually arise and try to pick off smaller defenseless neighbors until it grew into an empire and tried to dominate the world. But that is what defensive alliances are for. As a military counter to the USSR, NATO was once a good idea. Also, before its capture by the western empire, the UN was once a good idea. NATO is irredeemable, but the UN might one day regain some of its original dignity.
That's a good summary of what went on the ancient world. Thousands of princes and chiefs eventually dominated by empires. The trouble with a defensive alliance is the incentive for treason. You rely on the Duke of Earl to hold down the left flank, but he gets paid off. At the key moment Earl turns his troops against the alliance and you're screwed. Japan, same thing. With nation states treason has disappeared except as a relic in the propaganda world.
John Mearsheimer points out that international politics is anarchy, and a bad one. Might makes right. Maybe you can trust X today, but after an election or coup you may find tomorrow's X is hot to get you. So you have to build on that assumption. If you and X build up your armies in for mutual defense maybe someday things will go sour and X will turn on you. Or maybe you have a sort of vassal status and rely on Y. Some day Y might decide to move in and take over.
After World War II the trad empires collapsed. There was strong popular support for peace. This means an end to might makes right, thus the UN. Dwight Eisenhower in particular, the UN was his main goal as President. But Reagan and his friends hated the UN and in spite of strong resistance illegally revived might makes right. The 2003 Iraq invasion heralded the USA's full embrace of might makes right, Empire Lite. Most of the world didn't like it, but f*** them. Unfortunately if a nation as mighty as the USA decides to do this then everyone else has got to react.
Russia and China strongly advocate adherence to international law and a reformed UN. The USA is having none of that and is hurtling headlong in the might makes right path. It appears though that most of the world is forming the BRICS alliance against this. Short of winning a nuclear war the USA can't possibly overcome this defensive alliance. So nuclear war and/or the threat thereof is key to their plans. I get the feeling they are itching to make a demonstration by nuking a little friendless nation. That's why so many countries are flocking to BRICS : this is no time to go it alone. Iran is forsaking it's ancient enmity with Russia for the sake of survival. The USA won't dare nuke a BRICS member. At least so I believe.
Examples of "argumentation" for expansion used in Congress at the time (Hawaii in this case).
Senator Bacon of Georgia asked (paraphrasing): "Seeing that the Executive only has such powers as are given in the Constitution I want to know under what clause the power to seize the territory of a neutral country with which we are not at war can be found".
Senator Morgan of Alabama replied that it was foolish to dwell on constitutional niceties when vital interests were at stake. Taking Hawaii, he insisted, was "absolutely necessary for properly providing for the situation".
Doesn't it sound like today's "obeying the rules-based order"?
Pat Buchanan, of all people, pointed out that a country can be a constitutional republic or it can be an empire, but it cannot be both, for an empire cannot allow itself to be bound by any law other than power or surely it will fall.
Better latent in democracy than overt in a regime.
History shows that an empire eventually becomes a tyranny at home. I used to be puzzled by this but now I get it. It's because of income inequality. Empire makes plutocrats. They use their power to squeeze wealth from ordinary guys, who protest. The rich fear their numbers and hire men to control the populace. A downward spiral ensues.
I beg you to continue voting as I do. Without personal knowledge on the person on the ballot, I write in candidates to show, I see you and fing reject you. I voted for JIm Earl comedian and friend for president. Sure it takes a bit longer but their are good local people sometimes. My friend Rachel was just elected State Senator with our help. She is a force : )
Over lunch just now and it ended with indifference. That is something though ha. I could almost see the words Putin's puppet forming though ha. Ukraine is not winning now, the war hasn't even started yet. That ended the conversation.
There is an element left out of this piece, something Caitlin has highlighted in the past. This is the background, preparatory work done in Hollywood and elsewhere to precondition us to think wars are noble and just, and police are brave heroes defending the public from bad guys. It's not just the more overt and specific propaganda work to persuade the public to ignore or support what the empire does; it's also the conditioning to believe in Good Guys and Bad Guys and the nobility of violence, and American exceptionalism.
It started before but I consider "Rambo' to be the fall off the cliff. In David Morrell's good book, Rambo and the sheriff are neither good nor evil, and Rambo dies. In the movie, Rambo is a misunderstood hero versus the Evil Sheriff. Nevertheless, its a gritty drama, and one of my favourite classics. Whereas the first was a criticisom of turning men into war machines, the next 4 movies became 'Hoo-rah' for America/MIC. Much more shooting, and with enemies such as Soviets, Vietnamese, and Mexicans. If there's ever a 6th movie, it's sure to be politically correct.
Stallone is a leftist. Rocky is 100% blue collar. His F.I.S.T. lionizes the labor movement. But it flopped at the box office while Rambo soared and Stallone went with the flow.
'Rocky' soared after taking the 'Rambo' route. I recall a rare movie moment with my father, him lying to my mother so that he and I could watch 'Rocky 4'. I loved it cause I knew Drago (aka The Russians) were evil. All the books I was reading as a teen were teaching me that only Americans and Brits were heroes.
Matt Taibbi lived in Russia for years. He wrote something like that, "Americans think Russians are like menacing taciturn Drago. I wish! The average Russian can't mind their own business and STFU."
Just like my Mom but she never got anyone killed :)
I call this "tell the people what they want to hear and the money will follow."
Yes. There’s a recent documentary that covers this called Theatres of War. In essence: not only is Hollywood sold to Chinese interests, but it also requires CIA/DoD approval of the entire script. All part of a organised, global propaganda campaign that likely began with the Tavistock institute.
I heard an interview with the film's director on System Update. CIA/DoD script approval means taking out messages that don't support Good Guy/Bad Guy simplistic narratives. It was fascinating to hear how our culture is being sculpted to take out the nuance and complexities of life.
Japan's Sony owns Columbia and TriStar movie studios and record company.
I have it on my playlist. Will watch after 'The Youtube Effect'.
Wait, Chinese interests? That doesn't make sense, since as Caitlin says above, China has been designated the US's #1 "enemy."
It’s hard to tell who exactly the ‘enemy’ is, but that also depends on the perspective of the one calling the term... when I see rampant corruption between the Biden crime family and Chinese interests, it does make me wonder our aggression with China is faked, and at the very top people are planning this war for a win-win as they continue to suck more blood, money and life from the public in their search for ultimate power.
Please go away, and take your off topic spam with you.
Assange sinned with truth, Snowden betrayed his country by trying to protect his countrymen, Khashoggi was in love with knives, Vietnam started the war, Russia started the war, Serbia started the war... oops... jumped ahead, I think that's next week.
Snowden did not betray his country, he betrayed the criminal government of his country. Government and country are NOT the same thing.
But I agree with the point you're making.
I was being satirical, speaking as if I were the State. In a literal sense, of course I agree with you!
That is a very large question, which country will be the next victim of the u.s. empire? With the joint Russia/China Alaska trip, I think that rules our China? Iran, will the u.s. have the nerve to try and board Iranian tankers and start the war with Iran? Niger is to small and won't sell the needed weapons or cause more than 1 week of distraction. Who is next or do we turn the war inward?
I believe and hope inward battles take a toll but even asthmatic capitalists will run towards more money. I think Serbia or another neighbour of Russia such as Kazakhstan. And there's always profit to be made out of a fake war e.g. arming the Pacific.
Haiti too.
"Its creation of the Ukraine conflict is just as evil as anything Bush or Obama did." It's hard to say about evil, but the Ukraine conflict is diabolical. The USA has taken advantage of the excess of passion in the soul of Ukraine to facilitate the destruction of that nation. It's like selling your soul to the devil. "You'll beat those Russkies, sure you will son. Just sign right here. I know I know, your mother will kill you if she finds out you sold your soul. Ah...you can buy it back when you march into Moscow, yaz yaz." I also believe that the deaths of Ukrainians is seen as a plus.
As soon as all the overpriced obsolete hardware is "sold" and the war ceases to be profitable to arms manufacturers all support will drop like a rock. That might be happening right about now.
I lived in Ukraine for much of my adult life, although I have not a drop of Slavic blood in me, nor am I related to a Russian or Ukrainian by blood or otherwise (Cats as a rule do not read or need pedigrees.)
Long story short, Ukrainians desperately want to see the West as The Land Where Institutions Basically Work. If hating their brethren and even their own parents is the price that is charged for admission to that blessed land, to that exclusive club, then they will pay it.
This is also why Russia is so loathe to make war on the West or Ukraine. They don't want to fight their kinsmen, and do not want to admit how much they are hated and feared by those they want to befriend.
"They don't want to fight their kinsmen" from Feral. Well stated. Kinsmen, one and all.
This NATO / US PROXY war could have been over in a week and we all know it. So as we read of some well regarded western media whore stating that Russia has made some dreadful mistakes for allowing this war to continue for so long, they choose to forget that there really is only one basic reason. Kinsmen.
Like Feral, you would have needed to live there to better understand that
Full stop.
PS. When it is all over, just one guess what country will apply all its resources to return Ukraine back to what it was, before the US proxy war was started.
(It won't be the USA, be assured, so best tell BlackRock and the other US investors to stop buying up the land). Really good land though.
You see, there is no Joseph Stalin any more in Russia and the Holodomor was the most disgraceful example of a then criminal regime in Moscow........ but that was indeed a long, long time ago. 1932.
However, for Stalin, on a smaller but equally criminal scale, read Netanyahu, Israel, 2023.
By the way, for those who have never heard of The Holodomor, see 'Holocaust', without 70 years of Hollywood-style marketing hype with well-funded museums, aplenty.
I wrote once, I am thankful the Russian people are far more compassionate then the u.s. otherwise there would be millions dead in cities of Ukraine as with Iraq. Do you think that is true? This strategy of war is so different then the u.s. has ever planned for, allowing the force to jump into the cauldron personnel and equipment until they are no more. The real war will start soon don't you think?
While the USA is pretty fouled up I would believe that Ukraine is much worse.
I always told Ukrainians that the US had comparable corruption, and I have bribed everyone in Ukraine from the postman up to members of the Council of Ministers (equivalent to the Cabinet) and I have never so much as offered an American cop a free donut.
Just that they don't call it "corruption" when you have pricey lawyers.
https://indica.medium.com/america-is-just-corrupt-e3cabe19e80c
https://www.google.com/amp/s/indi.ca/nytimes-the-word-youre-looking-for-is-corruption/amp/
"The tragedy is that the main issue people vote on is the economy, and it’s the one thing that’s almost completely out of democratic control. All those votes are in vain." -- https://indi.ca/democracy-is-bullshit/
I also have noticed this. If the economy goes up the president gets re-elected. If it goes down they don't. Bob Woodward and Bob Reich both wrote that the Fed had the most power over the economy so it held the power of re-election. Since this was the ultimate power the Fed dictated budget goals.
The people generally have no idea where the money is coming from so any kind of skullduggery that brings in money is OK. That was the idea in Iraq 2003. John Bolton dropped the mask and announced we're going after Syria and Venezuela for the oil.
Now we have a flood of money printing to keep housing prices and stocks rising, thus keeping home/401k owners on board at the expense of the havenots. Covid tanks the economy and in reply stocks go up a stratospheric 50%. To me this says, "it's all fake." The spiral is tightening, the whole thing is accelerating. How long can this continue?
When I found out there were more young people living at home than with a partner then I knew something was going to blow. What does 15000 troops defending the capital Green Zone tell you?
"The people get saddled with bail-outs and have absolutely no buy-in." I have read that after the big 2009 bailout the laws were changed so that a future Congress had no control over the next bailout, which is sure to come. What happens then? If there is so much dissatisfaction when times are "good", what happens when they turn "bad"? We are going to find out sooner or later.
"The people generally have no idea where the money is coming from so any kind of skullduggery that brings in money is OK."
Nor do they care, so long as they still get a paycheck. Then again, as you and Indi point out, it's not as if they have any influence or effect on these things.
Voters drive it all but in an indirect way. If the economy goes up the president gets re-elected. If it goes down they don't. This is what motivates empire and discourages doing anything to save the environment. If a million Bolivians have to die to make a buck then that's what the public "wants" you to do. It will get you re-elected.
Or wars. Losing a war is bad for re-election so the wars drag on and on. That's what the Pentagon Papers showed. The Vietnam war ended when the public turned against it. Nixon said something like "when we lost Cronkite it was all over." But now they've "throttled" all Cronkites. When Phil Donahue got fired liberalism was finished.
A strange dilemma is that the prevalence of labor saving devices is in dire conflict with the work ethic. There is less need for work, but the people must work. It's getting to be the central issue of conflict. Wokeness is about who gets hired to work. Endless wars are largely job creation programs. Not enough work to occupy the people, hence this focus on "job creation." Up to the 20th century I don't think anyone worried about job creation. Wall Street trading is also largely a jobs creation program. I wonder whether it does more good or more harm.
I think Western people should drop the war thing and focus on creating beauty like they do here in Bali , but with the USA's overwhelming preference for drame, weapons, and violence this is nowhere near to happening.
In short, I think the US government reflects what the people want and gives it to them. It's discouraging. It is true that when the people learned how awful Vietnam was they put a stop to it, but the US has been transformed into a gargantuan mushroom farm. That's truly evil.
My Ex-Brother in-law lived in Ukraine for 6 mo. working for International Harvester.
I may have met him.
Like the FDA approved Ivermectin *after* transferring $100B+ of taxpayer dollars to the coffers of Big Pharma. Prior to the approval the same body labelled it horsepaste, which translates to Putin-lover in in the “unprovoked invasion.” Its the same playbook in a different complex.
It was approved for human use in 1987. What kind of mental illness do you have that makes you string together false narratives like that?
I think they are referring to the just released, FDA, Physicians can now prescribe Ivermectin without restrictions for approval. I believe it has something to do with court action.
The Ukrainian minority were given an opportunity to control the majority. The West abused their crazy desire, but shame on those monsters for turning their citizens into cripples and ghosts.
someone or something gives or creates the opportunity and someone or something feeds the 'crazy desire'. the monsters are created, imo. the ukrainian monsters were cultivated after ww2 where a covert war against the communists continued to well into the 50's and some 50000 civilians, police and military were killed while the perpetrators of this secret war regularly reposed and resettled inside western democracies.
I think this is all about Nazi’s. Ukraine has always been a Nazi infested country, it’s just that its Russian speaking population rejected that bunch of pus until Vicki and her cookies were sent to empower the Nazis. Instead of Kristallnacht, they got Cookienacht. Jeez Louise.
I don't. I wrote 'Nazi's are Convenient' - https://mikehampton.substack.com/p/putin-ukraine-nazis
It's more like the '3.5% rule for change' being manipulated by the CIA. Most Ukrainians will be normal folk like us, hating the corruption in their country, and wanting a better life.
We are not nice normal folks. Most of us want to think that but have no objections to our state demolishing nations all over the globe just so we can cry about corruption and “want a better life”. Our lives are already so better, we’re destroying the planet with our demands.
I imagine that you're on a fixed income. The working class has NOT in any way shape or form had a good life these past three years, even less now that COVID denial is in full swing across business and both parties. Accusations of general profligacy play only into capital's austerity fetish.
Neoliberals have always set out to actively destroy alternatives to market dependency. It's Münchausen syndrome by proxy at the global scale. When some global action doesn't seem to make sense on simple profit grounds, try on that lens.
Stinky—I agree with your analysis but what I’m saying is that westerners have MUCH more than we need compared to “the rest”. Remember George Carlin and his take on “stuff”? We’re a consumerist nation, eat beyond our capacity to spend calories, shop beyond our capacity to wear, use or even take care of, reproduce beyond the capacity of our land to house us, as we walk disdainfully past the homeless in our midst. Yes, capitalism takes advantage of these proclivity’s but this shit starts in our soul. Try that lens.
Münchausen syndrome? I'd say Korsakoff syndrome.
I'm not American. I was expressing that most Ukrainians are like us, people of the world, and not like Nazis.
Pretty sure your from a white settler nation and I know what you were expressing. But being from a white settler nation, you are contributing to the Nazi take over with your nice normal better life aspirations.
Caitlin, I'm sorry but it's already too late. 2020 proved what American 'elections' have become.
Even if 150 million vote against the regime candidate in 2024, make it 200 million, it won't matter. The regime candidate will still 'win'. That's how fake tinpot Banana Republics work.
This assumes that the regime even permits the 2024 election to occur in the first place, of course. There's every chance they won't.
Even if Cornell West and JFK Jr. were to win all 50 states and take office as president and vice president, Congress, the foreign policy establishment (in and out of office) and the federal bureaucracy, not to mention the war industry would all still fight them tooth and nail.
It would be Jimmy Carter again but worse. While they hated Carter at least they didn't try to imprison him.
Basically, yes.
It will count because only chaos will undo this bad version of America.
Marx expected that with each collapse of capital. War what is it good for, saving Capitalism : (
And good for nothing.
Every time I see the image of Biden it says to me, "what you want, what you need, doesn't matter at all to us. If We say you'll be ruled by a potato, so ruled ye shall be."
Love it.
It amazes me how many people are in a stupor.
Comatose is a better word.
Are You A Brainwashed Zombie?
Take this easy quiz!
https://science1arts2and3politics.substack.com/p/are-you-a-brainwashed-zombie
Could Covid have created a brain disruption? I was speaking with nurses in a hospital, they are horrified when people violently demand management within 5 mins. after pushing the button. They looked at me like wow, could that be.
My amazement became depression.
Oh, no! That's terrible.
If you can't beat 'em, join 'em eh?
The 2024 presidential election will be THE MOST IMPORTANT ELECTION OF ALL TIME, because if Americans don’t make the correct choice between the two candidates something terrible might happen to their country. The US might even turn into an abusive totalitarian dystopia where everyone’s mind is controlled by propaganda engineered to shape them into unthinking gear-turners for a globe-spanning empire.
IMHO.........guess what??????? We are already there...........yessssssssssssssssssss we are.....big time.......even before the election happens........
I think that is Caitlin's point.
CHARLIE CHAPLIN’s FINAL SPEECH (8paragraphs long) From his first “Talkie Film, The Great Dictator (1940)
To those who can hear me, I say - do not despair. The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed - the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish…
. . .
Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people! Now let us fight to fulfil that promise! Let us fight to free the world - to do away with national barriers - to do away with greed, with hate and intolerance. Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men’s happiness. Soldiers! in the name of democracy, let us all unite!
https://www.charliechaplin.com/en/articles/29-the-final-speech-from-the-great-dictator-
And Hollywood banished him for his many acts of courage.
I love that speech from The Great Dictator. It was timely and it was prescient. Chaplin saw the future all too clearly. (And the status quo hated him for it, alas.)
Just the other day vigorous Ukraine proxy war critic Scott Ritter's YouTube channel was canceled without prior "warnings" due to "hate speech," which really means "political speech." Clearly, this was done at the behest of Alphabet agencies, who are still directing Big Tech platforms on who to censor. This is a step on the staircase to criminalizing dissent, which Western authorities want to put into "law."
"I hate your speech. And hate speech is not allowed here."
My experience is that American businesses have all kinds of rules but all that matters is whether or not they like what you are doing.
yes you do: "I do have a knack for using words to help people see the information that has been made public with more clarity."
"The US empire has all the personality characteristics of a malignant narcissist." Gee, that sounds a lot like our previous president. Perhaps we get what we deserve. But then again, our current "leader" is no great prize either.
Should the blame of "get what we deserve" fall on ordinary Americans - whom I see as the victims of abusive 24/7 propaganda, and a rigged economic system?
It's hard to be responsible for being in a cage, one is unaware one is in. Which appears to be the case with many ordinary Americans. They fail to understand that the two party tribalism, the highly propagandized/politicized woke war between men & women, the Putin bad - Biden good Ukrainian murderfest of 100s of thousands of human beings - is all part of the blanket of propaganda disseminated to them daily through the millionaire mass media pundit oligarchic pawns - the Rachel Maddow Neo-McCarthyist deep state liars.
Who or what is responsible for the malignancy we see in US government now, and the malignant clowns who are elected as POTUS? Not only clowns, but both Biden and Trump are creepy womanizers with some indications of pedophilia from them both - and both have little respect for the US judiciary - both are obvious criminals who made sure Julian Assange (an innocent Australian journalist) would languish in a small cell for years now, while they themselves escaped any laws for their own criminality of political bribery, business lawlessness.
Who is responsible for the malignancy in power in DC right now? The malignancy that has been resident on Wallstreet now for decades and is spreading through American society? Is it just the idea that greed is good? Me first - before you? Is it a malignancy not of ideas, but of sociopaths who gain power - who look at human lives in Ukraine as cannon fodder for their hegemonic power over the world? What is the root cause of the spreading malignancy?
I dunno if the love of money is the root of all evil but it sure is doing a job on Ukraine.
Beautifully written friend.
You ask really good questions. I don't know the answer(s). Probably no one does, though they possibly lie in the realm of capitalism and class divisions.
Of course you are correct, but the reason why is that everything is this way is it is designed to be. The propaganda works to this end. The manufacturing of consent as you say. The idea that we are always the good guys in every foreign policy conflict...Why do we have to get involved in every single conflict? Why is everyone of these conflicts an issue of our national security? (you covered this in a previous article).
Why is it then a short time later another administion says we made this mistake? (you covered this in another article) They work as one party.
We are born clinging to life, with the help of others we survive. We are by our nature tribal. We learn that there are "good" guys and "bad" guys in the world and we were born, "by the grace of God" into the clan of "good" guys. From this narrative it is easy to be deceived. Good and bad are not people but actions and all people do both in the process of living.
Page 8, 7th Para. “Keith’s firm conviction, following years of study and research, was that nature had incorporated into the human psyche a prejudice or bias in favour of one’s own kind which channelled primitive man unconsciously into an infinitely slow but continual program of racial improvement.”
From the book The Place of Prejudice in Modern Civilization by Sir Arthur Keith
Hmm. Why couldn't improvement take place without such bias? I don't see how it helps.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vb8Rj5xkDPk
Great share.
For those interested in some real debate about American imperialism that seems to have occurred in 1898 there's "The True Flag" by Stephen Kinzer.
"How should the United States act in the world? Americans cannot decide. Sometimes we burn with righteous anger, launching foreign wars and deposing governments. Then we retreat―until the cycle begins again.
No matter how often we debate this question, none of what we say is original. Every argument is a pale shadow of the first and greatest debate, which erupted more than a century ago. Its themes resurface every time Americans argue whether to intervene in a foreign country. Every argument over America’s role in the world grows from this one. It all starts here."
It has always seemed interesting to me that the first thing the Thirteen Original Colonies (i.e., 13 original and different countries) did upon ostensibly gaining independence from the British empire was to unite into an American empire. There is nothing new under the sun.
I think it was the way to go. Otherwise you get New Europe with a war every generation. Since many continentals had come to the New World to avoid this they were very much aware of the danger.
Civil War, same thing. If the South had split off this would have begun the cycle of war, like France and Germany used to have.
Based on that logic, wouldn’t a unipolar world be more peaceful? Europe’s history of incessant war had many contributing factors—the political vacuum left after the collapse of the western Roman Empire, feudalism, religious wars, the rise of the nation states, lack of natural resources, etc. IMO, the rise of the American empire was irreversible when the federalist faction won out over the anti-federalists and created a federal government dominant over the states. Had the anti-federalists prevailed, we would today have a far greater variety of political expression and economic decentralization within the U.S., and California, Texas, Alaska, Hawaii and most of the territories in the Rocky Mountain states likely would have left or never joined “the Union” and would have become independent nations. I’m not claiming that an anti-federalist organization would have been utopia, but an occasional war between, say, Rhode Island and Connecticut would be less of an existential threat to the world than between the U.S. and Japan in WWII or today between the western and Russian empires. In general, I think, decentralization of wealth, power, and geography is more sustainable and ideologically and culturally diverse, which reduces global risk. Yes, there would still be local and regional conflicts, but they would be smaller and more resolvable, and much less likely to spread across the world.
Hmm. I suppose the South would have invaded Mexico, Cuba, and beyond in order to build up its strength, while the North would have made war on Canada. A hundred years later the North nukes Atlanta and Dallas. Having to endlessly maintain big garrisons to deter invasion might inhibit Empire but it wouldn't stop it, as demonstrated by Europe. I'd say that's the worst thing about empire. If you build an empire then the other guy has to do it too or else be absorbed into your empire.
Then there's extradition. Back in the real old days New York City duelists would cross the Hudson to New Jersey to have their duels, Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr included. All Aaron had to do to avoid a murder charge was stay out of New York. He somehow did eventually return.
Then there were duties on transport between states. Duties are always popular -- make the foreigners pay -- but are bad for trade in general. Thus the Common Market and EU.
Your point that “if you build an empire then the other guy has to do it too or else be absorbed into your empire” is a problem with decentralization. If there were 500 or 1000 small nations in the world, it’s pretty certain that an aggressor would eventually arise and try to pick off smaller defenseless neighbors until it grew into an empire and tried to dominate the world. But that is what defensive alliances are for. As a military counter to the USSR, NATO was once a good idea. Also, before its capture by the western empire, the UN was once a good idea. NATO is irredeemable, but the UN might one day regain some of its original dignity.
That's a good summary of what went on the ancient world. Thousands of princes and chiefs eventually dominated by empires. The trouble with a defensive alliance is the incentive for treason. You rely on the Duke of Earl to hold down the left flank, but he gets paid off. At the key moment Earl turns his troops against the alliance and you're screwed. Japan, same thing. With nation states treason has disappeared except as a relic in the propaganda world.
John Mearsheimer points out that international politics is anarchy, and a bad one. Might makes right. Maybe you can trust X today, but after an election or coup you may find tomorrow's X is hot to get you. So you have to build on that assumption. If you and X build up your armies in for mutual defense maybe someday things will go sour and X will turn on you. Or maybe you have a sort of vassal status and rely on Y. Some day Y might decide to move in and take over.
After World War II the trad empires collapsed. There was strong popular support for peace. This means an end to might makes right, thus the UN. Dwight Eisenhower in particular, the UN was his main goal as President. But Reagan and his friends hated the UN and in spite of strong resistance illegally revived might makes right. The 2003 Iraq invasion heralded the USA's full embrace of might makes right, Empire Lite. Most of the world didn't like it, but f*** them. Unfortunately if a nation as mighty as the USA decides to do this then everyone else has got to react.
Russia and China strongly advocate adherence to international law and a reformed UN. The USA is having none of that and is hurtling headlong in the might makes right path. It appears though that most of the world is forming the BRICS alliance against this. Short of winning a nuclear war the USA can't possibly overcome this defensive alliance. So nuclear war and/or the threat thereof is key to their plans. I get the feeling they are itching to make a demonstration by nuking a little friendless nation. That's why so many countries are flocking to BRICS : this is no time to go it alone. Iran is forsaking it's ancient enmity with Russia for the sake of survival. The USA won't dare nuke a BRICS member. At least so I believe.
Examples of "argumentation" for expansion used in Congress at the time (Hawaii in this case).
Senator Bacon of Georgia asked (paraphrasing): "Seeing that the Executive only has such powers as are given in the Constitution I want to know under what clause the power to seize the territory of a neutral country with which we are not at war can be found".
Senator Morgan of Alabama replied that it was foolish to dwell on constitutional niceties when vital interests were at stake. Taking Hawaii, he insisted, was "absolutely necessary for properly providing for the situation".
Doesn't it sound like today's "obeying the rules-based order"?
Pat Buchanan, of all people, pointed out that a country can be a constitutional republic or it can be an empire, but it cannot be both, for an empire cannot allow itself to be bound by any law other than power or surely it will fall.
Some foreigners' quotes at the time:
- "A sort of bellicose fever has seized the American nation" the French ambassador
- "the delirium of war" - The Times
- "manic passion for what has never been done before" - an Italian correspondent
- Le Temps of Paris concluded that the US had become "the predestined instrument of that imperialism that is latent in every democracy"
Better latent in democracy than overt in a regime.
History shows that an empire eventually becomes a tyranny at home. I used to be puzzled by this but now I get it. It's because of income inequality. Empire makes plutocrats. They use their power to squeeze wealth from ordinary guys, who protest. The rich fear their numbers and hire men to control the populace. A downward spiral ensues.
In short, it's greed.
Define “vital interest” b/c Today’s Money =Constitutionally-Protected-FreeSpeech, Corporate Fascist Interpretation is, 800+ Military Base, InsiderTraders, Global PROFITS Protection Monopoly
I always vote, but now that I know the elections in the US are completely fake it sort of seems like a waste of time.
I beg you to continue voting as I do. Without personal knowledge on the person on the ballot, I write in candidates to show, I see you and fing reject you. I voted for JIm Earl comedian and friend for president. Sure it takes a bit longer but their are good local people sometimes. My friend Rachel was just elected State Senator with our help. She is a force : )
Yo: It is a waste of time to vote. And you might get jury duty as a prize!
I want to move where you are.
russian_bot: You better have lots of money to move to the SF Bay Area. LOL.
When was the last time ( you were able?) to discuss US imperialism in polite company in America?
Over lunch just now and it ended with indifference. That is something though ha. I could almost see the words Putin's puppet forming though ha. Ukraine is not winning now, the war hasn't even started yet. That ended the conversation.
Possibly when "polite" become synonymous with wilful ignorance.