CJ>>"The western press do not criticize this power structure. Westerners do not learn about it in school. They don’t know it exists, so it never occurs to them that it is something that can be justifiably criticized and opposed."
From my experience, Westerners are as indoctrinated and propagandized about their reality as Israelis are about theirs. The narratives may be different, but the non-stop brainwashing from birth is present in BOTH.
It takes conscious effort to OVERRIDE this brainwashing, and unfortunately too few are willing to put in the effort. I hope this changes as more and more people open their eyes to the realities they will soon have to reckon with (if they haven't already).
I love Iran which is under a democratical socialism. I've been there and it and the people are wonderful. Smart, too, 98% literacy. They are happy with their government and support it against the war-mongers of the West. Anyone who doesn't support it are paid by the CIA and Mossad.
That's a bit naive. Plenty of Iranians dislike their government. But it's blazingly obvious that Israel and the US, in their offers to "help," have zero interest in the wellbeing of Iranians--what I don't understand is why they're being so explicit, about Mossad agents walking with demonstrators, about installing Reza Pahlavi--I'm old enough to remember what a horror his father, also installed by the US, was.
"The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out...without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Absolutely, inevitably, he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable,"
As a Soviet general told Canadian writer Farley Mowat in the 1970s, "The difference between American propaganda and Soviet propaganda is that no one believes ours."
"giant globe-spanning power structure which functions more or less as a single empire with regard to foreign policy . . . to subvert, undermine and eventually devour the nations we’ve all been trained to hate."
That's the core of the bloody problem, which you stated so well.
Thank you, Caitlin, excellent perspective (as usual). Iran is an ancient civilization that basically wants to live their lives on their own sovereign land. Their "evil" in "Western" eyes is 1) being there; 2) supporting other peoples in the area under duress such as Palestinians and Hezbollah and Yemen; 3) supplying heavy crude oil to China, which must be stopped to cause China to be diminished. And any of this should concern the U.S. because?
Does anyone have the standing to criticize Iran, other than its own citizens?
Reparations are complicated. How far back in time do we account for, and whose account of history do we use? Must my children pay for my sins? Of course not. But neither should they continue to live in a world where the “Golden Billion” reaps most of the wealth and enforces the rules selectivity.
We need only start by upholding the values that the Collective West professes to hold so dear, the Magna Carta, the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, the UN Charter, or just as a bare minimum the Ten Commandments.
The Iranian military, with the support and financial assistance of the United States government, overthrows the government of Premier Mohammad Mosaddeq
and reinstates the Shah of Iran. Iran remained a solid Cold War ally of the United States until a revolution ended the Shah’s rule in 1979.
Thing is, it`s just history, meaningless in a world in which we continue to all allow a belligerent power to suspend reality. Sometimes I wonder if the entire leadership of the Collective West nations has been compromised by some evil entity , if one looks at all the madness , there is a common element.
What a fucked world we now life in. The Iran miltary has been classified as a terrorist organisation, the US, Uk and yes, by Australia. Again the colitionof the all over again. What really gets me, the IDF has killed 10 times the amount of people, likked neally 180 jouralist, destroyed hospitals, staved a population, killed people who were lined up to recive aid. Invaded several sovergn
I hate to be the one to raise this but it was us that did it to us. Ordinary people like you and me, spray our skies, dump toxins in the water and attack unarmed people with weapons. They own practically everything and what does everybody do? Support them.
It's astonishing how little people care about what is about to happen to Iran and its poor people. The same people who are crying about ICE shooting white people in their communities, don't even give it a second thought when someone tells them that far worse will happen to the people in Iran - or has happened to the people in the middle east over the past 40 years via the same imperial machine that is now enabling ICE and that has turned those nations into failed states. I have come to the sad realization that most people just don't want to see white people shot in the streets, but are perfectly fine as long as it happens to black and brown people. Do you think we would see the same backlash in Minneapolis if the two civilians shot were black?
This is the reason Trump will get away with what he is about to do to Iran. It is the same reason their beloved Obama got away with droning Yemeni weddings massacring civilians to maybe get one target. As long as people don't connect the dots and reserve their outrage for "worthy" victims, nothing will change.
“Westerners do not learn about it in school. They don’t know it exists”
Funny you should say that. As a teenager and young adult in the 1980s, I knew it existed. Despite going to a conservative high school. Despite there being no internet. Despite living in a far-off backwater as far away from Europe as you can get. And it’s true that I didn’t learn about it in school. So how did I know about its existence? How did I know that I was living in an empire? Art, music, films, magazines, literature, lectures, student radio, protests, dissident academics, trade unionists, anti-racist groups, occasional appearances by anti-imperial figures in the mainstream press, the library, bookshops, my father’s occasional acerbic rants against “the yanks”, subtle hints from teachers, etc, etc. I really believe that most westerners’ ignorance of their position within the empire is the result of unconscious avoidance of thought on the subject as a mechanism to prevent crippling cognitive dissonance. Psychological self preservation. But it’s actually a choice. It’s not particularly hard to see at least part of the truth. And then it’s up to the individual to look for more information. The demonisation of “evil regimes” takes place through long-term immersion in certain narratives. This pervasive information warfare can even turn highly intelligent and highly informed people into mouthpieces for CIA talking points. No one is completely immune from this psychological operation.
In 1905 the Imperial Russian Baltic battle fleet took seven months to sail 18,000 miles to take on the Japanese Imperial fleet, which destroyed the Russians at Tsushima. Now we have the Americans having sailed their big, bad carriers I don't know how many thousands of miles to Iranian proximate waters with the apparent intention of waging unprovoked aggressive war on that country. I personally have nothing against the American people generally, but I honestly wouldn't feel too broken up if some Iranian hypersonic missiles sank the shit out of those carriers, and I feel very confident that the vast majority of the world's peoples feel the same way.
As a Jewish American I grew up hearing, “Why is it Israel that everybody picks on?” This is part and parcel of the hasbara perpetuated by Israel. And in the US, it’s defend your country which can do no wrong. Same thing. It comes from an ignorant public living in a country that is never held to account for one’s horrific actions.
I don't criticise Iran because they are never allowed to be a proper country at peace as they are always under pressure from the West and are always reacting against these pressures trying to hold it all together. They are authoritarian as there are terrorist cells trying to overthrow the country. If there is a fissure in Iran numerous western agencies are there trying to use these cracks to destroy the country. Besides, can we actually believe anything the Western media ever says about the place?
When Iran is able to settle down and behave like a 'normal' peaceful country and deficiencies still exist, then it's time to be critical of them, but we are a long way from that and the West is making sure that we never get to that time.
The Iranian military, with the support and financial assistance of the United States government, overthrows the government of Premier Mohammad Mosaddeq
and reinstates the Shah of Iran. Iran remained a solid Cold War ally of the United States until a revolution ended the Shah’s rule in 1979.
"The average westerner is not even aware that they live in an empire."
You got that right. The average westerner just lives in their own little bubble and doesn't know (or care) what's happening outside their bubble. And they can't figure out why nobody else on the planet cares about the westerner's little bubble. A rude wake up call for all of us is in the works. #FreeIran
Yes, it is so refreshing to read your clear commentary and explanations. It is disappointing the bad stuff we do, but it is important to be aware of it.
There are a few details being left out of the Iran narrative in the western press. Like the Mossad agents infiltrating the protests and causing a lot of grief. And then there's StarLink and the role it played...
CJ>>"The western press do not criticize this power structure. Westerners do not learn about it in school. They don’t know it exists, so it never occurs to them that it is something that can be justifiably criticized and opposed."
From my experience, Westerners are as indoctrinated and propagandized about their reality as Israelis are about theirs. The narratives may be different, but the non-stop brainwashing from birth is present in BOTH.
It takes conscious effort to OVERRIDE this brainwashing, and unfortunately too few are willing to put in the effort. I hope this changes as more and more people open their eyes to the realities they will soon have to reckon with (if they haven't already).
Chang Chokaski, excellent comment. Thank you.
I love Iran which is under a democratical socialism. I've been there and it and the people are wonderful. Smart, too, 98% literacy. They are happy with their government and support it against the war-mongers of the West. Anyone who doesn't support it are paid by the CIA and Mossad.
Caitlin and Tim, stay safe wherever you are.
That's a bit naive. Plenty of Iranians dislike their government. But it's blazingly obvious that Israel and the US, in their offers to "help," have zero interest in the wellbeing of Iranians--what I don't understand is why they're being so explicit, about Mossad agents walking with demonstrators, about installing Reza Pahlavi--I'm old enough to remember what a horror his father, also installed by the US, was.
"We accept the reality that we’re given" -Christoff from the Truman Show
The true man in that story, Mr. Burbank, bucked that system. Let's all do the same.
James Brown said it: ‘Think!’
"The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out...without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Absolutely, inevitably, he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable,"
— H. L. Mencken
As a Soviet general told Canadian writer Farley Mowat in the 1970s, "The difference between American propaganda and Soviet propaganda is that no one believes ours."
Excellent way of putting the situation.
"giant globe-spanning power structure which functions more or less as a single empire with regard to foreign policy . . . to subvert, undermine and eventually devour the nations we’ve all been trained to hate."
That's the core of the bloody problem, which you stated so well.
Thank you, Caitlin, excellent perspective (as usual). Iran is an ancient civilization that basically wants to live their lives on their own sovereign land. Their "evil" in "Western" eyes is 1) being there; 2) supporting other peoples in the area under duress such as Palestinians and Hezbollah and Yemen; 3) supplying heavy crude oil to China, which must be stopped to cause China to be diminished. And any of this should concern the U.S. because?
None of us in the West has the standing to criticize Iran.
Iran has the absolute moral right to criticize us, for the destruction we have perpetrated against its society for almost a century.
We owe reparations to Iran, and to many other countries we attacked, as much as Nazi Germany owed reparations to its surviving victims.
Does anyone have the standing to criticize Iran, other than its own citizens?
Reparations are complicated. How far back in time do we account for, and whose account of history do we use? Must my children pay for my sins? Of course not. But neither should they continue to live in a world where the “Golden Billion” reaps most of the wealth and enforces the rules selectivity.
We need only start by upholding the values that the Collective West professes to hold so dear, the Magna Carta, the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, the UN Charter, or just as a bare minimum the Ten Commandments.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/cia-assisted-coup-overthrows-government-of-iran.
The Iranian military, with the support and financial assistance of the United States government, overthrows the government of Premier Mohammad Mosaddeq
and reinstates the Shah of Iran. Iran remained a solid Cold War ally of the United States until a revolution ended the Shah’s rule in 1979.
Thing is, it`s just history, meaningless in a world in which we continue to all allow a belligerent power to suspend reality. Sometimes I wonder if the entire leadership of the Collective West nations has been compromised by some evil entity , if one looks at all the madness , there is a common element.
What a fucked world we now life in. The Iran miltary has been classified as a terrorist organisation, the US, Uk and yes, by Australia. Again the colitionof the all over again. What really gets me, the IDF has killed 10 times the amount of people, likked neally 180 jouralist, destroyed hospitals, staved a population, killed people who were lined up to recive aid. Invaded several sovergn
I hate to be the one to raise this but it was us that did it to us. Ordinary people like you and me, spray our skies, dump toxins in the water and attack unarmed people with weapons. They own practically everything and what does everybody do? Support them.
It's astonishing how little people care about what is about to happen to Iran and its poor people. The same people who are crying about ICE shooting white people in their communities, don't even give it a second thought when someone tells them that far worse will happen to the people in Iran - or has happened to the people in the middle east over the past 40 years via the same imperial machine that is now enabling ICE and that has turned those nations into failed states. I have come to the sad realization that most people just don't want to see white people shot in the streets, but are perfectly fine as long as it happens to black and brown people. Do you think we would see the same backlash in Minneapolis if the two civilians shot were black?
This is the reason Trump will get away with what he is about to do to Iran. It is the same reason their beloved Obama got away with droning Yemeni weddings massacring civilians to maybe get one target. As long as people don't connect the dots and reserve their outrage for "worthy" victims, nothing will change.
There have already been black and brown people murdered by ICE. The media response? ...crickets...
“Westerners do not learn about it in school. They don’t know it exists”
Funny you should say that. As a teenager and young adult in the 1980s, I knew it existed. Despite going to a conservative high school. Despite there being no internet. Despite living in a far-off backwater as far away from Europe as you can get. And it’s true that I didn’t learn about it in school. So how did I know about its existence? How did I know that I was living in an empire? Art, music, films, magazines, literature, lectures, student radio, protests, dissident academics, trade unionists, anti-racist groups, occasional appearances by anti-imperial figures in the mainstream press, the library, bookshops, my father’s occasional acerbic rants against “the yanks”, subtle hints from teachers, etc, etc. I really believe that most westerners’ ignorance of their position within the empire is the result of unconscious avoidance of thought on the subject as a mechanism to prevent crippling cognitive dissonance. Psychological self preservation. But it’s actually a choice. It’s not particularly hard to see at least part of the truth. And then it’s up to the individual to look for more information. The demonisation of “evil regimes” takes place through long-term immersion in certain narratives. This pervasive information warfare can even turn highly intelligent and highly informed people into mouthpieces for CIA talking points. No one is completely immune from this psychological operation.
In 1905 the Imperial Russian Baltic battle fleet took seven months to sail 18,000 miles to take on the Japanese Imperial fleet, which destroyed the Russians at Tsushima. Now we have the Americans having sailed their big, bad carriers I don't know how many thousands of miles to Iranian proximate waters with the apparent intention of waging unprovoked aggressive war on that country. I personally have nothing against the American people generally, but I honestly wouldn't feel too broken up if some Iranian hypersonic missiles sank the shit out of those carriers, and I feel very confident that the vast majority of the world's peoples feel the same way.
Excellent article and spot on.. 👍
As a Jewish American I grew up hearing, “Why is it Israel that everybody picks on?” This is part and parcel of the hasbara perpetuated by Israel. And in the US, it’s defend your country which can do no wrong. Same thing. It comes from an ignorant public living in a country that is never held to account for one’s horrific actions.
I don't criticise Iran because they are never allowed to be a proper country at peace as they are always under pressure from the West and are always reacting against these pressures trying to hold it all together. They are authoritarian as there are terrorist cells trying to overthrow the country. If there is a fissure in Iran numerous western agencies are there trying to use these cracks to destroy the country. Besides, can we actually believe anything the Western media ever says about the place?
When Iran is able to settle down and behave like a 'normal' peaceful country and deficiencies still exist, then it's time to be critical of them, but we are a long way from that and the West is making sure that we never get to that time.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/cia-assisted-coup-overthrows-government-of-iran.
The Iranian military, with the support and financial assistance of the United States government, overthrows the government of Premier Mohammad Mosaddeq
and reinstates the Shah of Iran. Iran remained a solid Cold War ally of the United States until a revolution ended the Shah’s rule in 1979.
"The average westerner is not even aware that they live in an empire."
You got that right. The average westerner just lives in their own little bubble and doesn't know (or care) what's happening outside their bubble. And they can't figure out why nobody else on the planet cares about the westerner's little bubble. A rude wake up call for all of us is in the works. #FreeIran
Quiet! Sit down... Big Brother [insert your own choice of inane media pap here] is about to start on the telly... 😵💫
Yes, it is so refreshing to read your clear commentary and explanations. It is disappointing the bad stuff we do, but it is important to be aware of it.
What idiot, reading your newsletter, would ask a ridiculous question like that?
Just what I was thinking!
There are a few details being left out of the Iran narrative in the western press. Like the Mossad agents infiltrating the protests and causing a lot of grief. And then there's StarLink and the role it played...
Everything We do is good.
Everything They do is bad.
See? It's easy.