Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Washington prepares for World War III

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

Thursday, November 5, 2015

Washington prepares for World War III

Click here to access article by Patrick Martin from World Socialist Web Site.

With regard to the possibility of WWIII, Martin reveals the rather stark contrast between the bellicose views of the military section of the US ruling class with the frayed social fabric of the US that would be necessary in fighting even a conventional war with Russia and/or China.

Even though our masters in the ruling capitalist class express some worry about the latter, their addiction to power and profits prevents them from taking the problem very seriously, much less prevents them from any considerations about strengthening the social fabric. Thus, the social fabric will continue to fray while the delusions of our addicted rulers will only increase. This, of course, is a recipe for a disaster. It seems sometimes that only a religious faith in the revolutionary potential of American workers can provide comfort from the prospect of such a disaster, but how realistic is that when so many Americans are dumbed-down with corporate issued news reporting and distracted with mindless entertainment?

I think that the best we can hope for is that there are a sufficient number of ordinary Americans who will keep reminding their masters of their determined opposition through massive demonstrations, hacking into their computers and revealing their criminal secrets, writing about their lies and crimes in alternative media, a refusal to let them divide us by race/ethnicity, and in a thousand ways obstructing and/or, refusing to cooperate with, their policies and actions.

This is probably necessary but not sufficient to save us from a nuclear holocaust. It will likely take more: at the very least, European governments breaking away from the Empire (for example, read this); and the best would be successful revolutionary movements in nations currently within the Empire (for example, read this). Such developments could seriously weaken the Empire to a point in which our masters come to their senses and realize that they cannot win even with their many weapons of mass destruction.