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

Monday, September 21, 2015

US-China Relations: the Pentagon versus High Tech

Click here to access article by James Petras from Global Research. (a must-read article)

This retired sociologist and outstanding analyst of political affairs sees a split occurring in ruling class policies toward China on the eve of President Xi Jinping's visits: first his visit with high tech corporate officials in Seattle starting tomorrow (Tuesday), and then on to the White House on Friday. 

I think that this hate-love ambivalence toward China has been ongoing and will continue for some time in the future. On the one hand China is a boon to US corporations many of whom have long ago outsourced jobs from American factories to China in order to reduce labor costs and increase profits. On the other hand, imperialists among our ruling class masters also see that China is a force to be reckoned with over who dominates the world. "But wait, there's more". Or rather, there is another section of the ruling class, the banksters, who I think are really the top dogs in this aggressive wolf-pack because they have their own interests vis-à-vis China.
Obama’s decision to provoke China on multiple fronts reflects the overwhelming influence of the militarist power configurations in Washington: the Pentagon, the NSA and the Zionist –militarist ideologues.

In contrast to Washington’s aggressive policy, the major US high tech corporations are almost unanimous in their opposition to Obama’s ‘military pivot’ and are appalled by the threat of cyber sanctions, rightly calling them a “needless provocation”.

For its part, Wall Street has taken an intermediary position – hoping Washington will coerce China into ‘opening’ its protected financial markets to the big US banks.  It doesn’t necessarily support aggressive sanctions, which could provoke a response from China closing off lucrative opportunities in the world’s biggest financial market.
  
If the bankers continue to be shut out of China's economy as I expect will happen, we can also expect US policies toward China to align with the imperialist section, "the Pentagon, the NSA and the Zionist–militarist ideologues". This is the most frightening scenario.