Surviving Capitalism (Not) : A valiant verbal warrior demythologizes the CIA

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Saturday, February 18, 2017

A valiant verbal warrior demythologizes the CIA

Click here to access the review by Edward Curtin of a recent book entitled The CIA as Organized Crime authored by Douglas Valentine.

I confess that I don't remember reading any of Valentine's books because I felt that I already knew much about what he was writing. But Curtin's outstanding review of his works explains that his books offer unrivaled depth and width to the subject of the CIA's subversion of the US and it's Empire in service to their masters in the ruling capitalist class. I'm convinced that Valentine' books have the key to an understanding of many of today's seemingly incomprehensible events. Here is only one such tidbit from Valentine's recent book that promises an intellectual feast that awaits your reading:

“Journalism in the US is a traditional cover for CIA officers. And when the owners of the media aren’t covering for the CIA, they’re selling commercial time slots to the multi-national corporations that in turn are selling you commodities made in sweatshops in foreign nations that have been subverted by the CIA. You could almost say there is no such thing as factual reporting. . . . The CIA and the media are part of the same criminal conspiracy. You’re never going to learn anything substantive by reading what mainstream reporters dish out about the CIA. You can’t take a journalism course in CIA Criminal Conspiracies 101.”