in the time remaining, to help us understand how the man-made system of capitalism will lead to the extinction of our human species, and so many others.
The author is a British citizen, who lived in India for a number of years, studied the impacts of neoliberal development on India agriculture which had devastating effects on small farmers and reaped big profits for Western corporations. Writers of classic liberalism, the ideology (or theology) of capitalism, wrote that the unimpeded pursuit of profit by owners (under the rules of capitalism) inevitably results in benefits to the entire society. While living in India Todhunter observed the devastation that was occurring among small farmers and simultaneously the tremendous wealth that neoliberal policies and actions were generating for Western corporations. Thus I think it is worth our time to review the development of capitalism to see why such contradictions to their theory about capitalism have since occurred, not only in India, but across the entire world.
These classic liberals built their theory on the foundation of feudalism which was characterized by the ownership and control of lands that were originally taken by violent force and bequeathed to feudal descendants known as the aristocracy and monarchs. The early capitalists saw the vast potential for generating wealth in the organization of production concentrated in large workshops that combined the new developments in machines and power (water, coal, and later petroleum fuels) with human operators, and they wanted to have "ownership" rights over such production like the feudal authorities had over the production of foodstuff on their land by serfs engaged in agriculture.
These capitalist classes rallied working people to their side in order to defeat the feudal authorities by espousing "natural rights", "liberty", "equality", and "fraternity", "social contract",
"freedom", sovereignty of the people as opposed to "divine right" of
kings, etc. But what was always included in this new ideology of capitalism was "property rights",
and it was this element that the new class really took seriously. The
rest was pure propaganda or window dressing to sell to the unwashed masses the new system where rights (or freedom) and influence were in reality based on the ownership of economic property. The end result of this agitation by the new class of capitalists was the eventual overthrew of the rule of feudal authorities and the establishment of governing structures that promoted the interests of capitalists.
Where
kingdoms existed before, these new ruling classes absorbed them into
states under their control, and established elected parliaments (congresses) and other institutions to mediate disputes between capitalist competitors. Of course they always sold these new structures to the general public as evidence of "democracy" because members were selected through elections, however they always took great pains to obscure their control over the electoral process.
Originally they allowed only property owners to vote in these elections, but over time to appease the ever yearning popular desire for more democracy, they
gradually permitted more and more people to vote as they consolidated
their ownership of economic property, control of money (Federal
Reserve in the US, central banks elsewhere), political parties, and especially the ideological institutions--education, media, and entertainment. Since then they have used, and are using, ideological institutions to
advance deceptive ideas, views, and news of the world to obscure the
facts of ever increasing inequality: wealth and power for a few and poverty and powerlessness for
the vast majority.
These new states competed with each other for dominance over resources and markets which inevitably resulted in wars, and the wars grew increasingly larger until what we witnessed in the first half of the 20th century was worldwide devastating wars with around 100 million lives lost.
Out of the WWII devastation rose the US capitalist ruling class whose economy was intact along with a powerful military establishment. This ruling class saw the world ripe for a takeover by them. In order to accomplish this, they first combined forces with British capitalists in order to inherit what was left of the British Empire. Then they launched a series of efforts to contain the influence of the Soviet Union and any ideas of public ownership of economies among their own populations (see McCarthy period and Gladio operations). They also wanted to organize the very fragmented states of Europe into one big economic enterprise and a bulwark against the Soviet Union. This they succeeded in doing with the European Union and NATO. And, as they say, the rest is history--the history since WWII and the rise of the US-led Empire.
This integration of the world's economies under the Empire's domination necessarily led to efforts to break down all state barriers to the free flow of capitalist enterprise throughout much of the world. This effort became known as neoliberalism. Thus, one cannot separate this rise of Empire domination without considering subsequent neoliberal policies and actions. In this neoliberal stage of capitalism we see international industrial corporations and banks diminishing the power of national governments, whether fake democratic or autocratic, and increasing the power of international capitalists under the leadership of the US Empire's ruling class which is increasingly transnational. Thus, neoliberal capitalists are erecting supra-national institutions to override the authority of nation-state institutions. As George Monbiot wrote referring to neoliberalism:
The state, it asserts, should do little but defend the realm, protect
private property and remove barriers to business. In practice it looks
nothing like this. What neoliberal theorists call shrinking the state
looks more like shrinking democracy: reducing the means by which
citizens can restrain the power of the elite. What they call “the
market” looks more like the interests of corporations and the
ultra-rich. Neoliberalism appears to be little more than a
justification for plutocracy.
The world's economy, especially the part that is under the domination of the US Empire, serves the interests of profit and power of the transnational capitalists associated with the Empire. Whether in the process of these pursuits they wreck havoc on workers or their environments is of little concern to this transnational class.
Click here to access article by Kurt Nimmo from Newsbud. (Note: the first paragraph of the article carelessly cites the Washington Times as referencing PropOrNot. It obviously should be the Washington Post as he later indicates.) It's obvious that our ruling masters are suffering acute anxiety over their botched operations all over the world and over the disbelief of its own citizens regarding information disseminated by their corporate media. Nimmo cites evidence that they are now engaged in psychological operations (in other words, engaged in fakery to alter news and views) against their rebellious subjects in order to combat the credibility of independent media that people are increasingly turning toward to understand what is going on in the world.
The Washington Post and the establishment media have latched on to the ludicrous PropOrNot campaign to denounce alternative media as some sort of nefarious Russian plot to undermine the political system in the United States. Despite this, millions of Americans continue to read alternative news and make their own informed decisions, a trend that has set off alarm bells in the deepest recesses of the establishment.
Everyday there seems to be more evidence that our ruling capitalist masters are engaging in activities that they accuse their opponents of doing. In this regard you might also be interested in a report from The Free Thought Project entitled "As Feds Blame Russia, GA Secretary of State Just Accused DHS of Hacking its Election Systems" regarding the attempted hacking of voter data from the state of Georgia by the Dept. Homeland Security.
Given the current "fake news" campaign by various spokespersons for the ruling class, Parry attacks major corporate media for their coverups of the CIA drug distribution scandal that was exposed by minor investigative journalists mostly in the 1990s.
I followed these revelations closely when his investigations first broke in the San Jose Mercury, heard Gary Webb speak in Eugene, Oregon after he lost his career in journalism following his blacklisting, and read his book Dark Alliance and many other materials on the subject. In earlier decades I had personally witnessed the devastating effects of the influx of drugs in HUD subsidized low-income housing which I managed. On a visit to Nicaragua in 1982 I personally witnessed the devastation of the CIA sponsored Honduran Contras who targeted mostly schools, hospitals, and cooperatives which were organized and supported by the Nicaraguan government. In a campaign which began earlier in the 1970s, major media gave widespread coverage to the War on Drugs that was heralded by President Nixon. In ensuing years under this campaign I witnessed aggressive actions by militarized police forces that were used to confiscate properties of mostly marijuana growers in California and small time distributors in the African-American ghettos of major cities. But then leaked reports started coming from independent investigators such as Gary Webb that clearly suggested the involvement of the CIA, their illegal funding of the Contras, and ties to drug distribution in the US.
Recently I've seen many major corporate media reports on the growing problem of heroin addiction. The coverage is always on the sensational aspects and never on what police agencies are doing about it. One would think that the estimated $50 billion dollars devoted annually to police illicit drug crimes would have prevented this. The fact that heroin related production has vastly increased in Afghanistan while under the control of the US is never referred to in corporate media coverage related to the current addiction problems. Thus, you will never find articles like this in corporate media: "Afghanistan: Opium, the CIA and the Karzai Administration", "Making Afghanistan Safe for Heroin" and "Afghan Opium Production Hits New Highs"--all from credible independent websites.
The author goes to a Deep State source, the Brookings Institution, to find an "explanation" for the lack of effective results by the US in their fight against ISIS.
The Brookings Institution's Daniel Byman in a paper titled, "The limits of air strikes when fighting the Islamic State," laments that America's alleged war on the Islamic State (IS) is limited by a lack of capable local allies.
The paper states more specifically that:
The trouble is that local allies are often themselves flawed instruments: corrupt, ineffective, and brutal. Often, U.S. troops are necessary to leaven local forces, provide necessary intelligence, and otherwise carry much of the burden.
The author of this article also contrasts the ineffective US effort to combat ISIS with the success of Russia and Iran. Of course, the latter--if you believe the fake news spewed by corporate media--are only targeting hospitals and little children.
For those users of these networks who are not so aware, this disguised censoring apparatus probably seems as harmless and positively idealistic as Google’s “Do no evil” dogma from bygone years. Disguised as an anti-terror collaboration, this latest Orwellian move by the establishment is nothing of the kind.
I think this article is grossly mistitled. Obama is merely the head puppet for the capitalist deep state that rules the US and (along with the British capitalist ruling class) much of the US-led Empire. It should read something like this: "The US government is moving on legislation to authorize anti-aircraft weapons to 'moderate rebels'".
The legislation has already passed the House of Representatives after a closed door session and is expected to be considered in the Senate within a week. These weapons in the hands of terrorists poses a direct military threat to both Russian and Syrian warplanes.
The rapid liberation of the Syrian city of Aleppo, against the background of a complete collapse of the actions Washington led coalition in Mosul has clearly driven the Obama administration mad.
Although this site has been banned on lists published by the Washington Post, I think we should defy the thought police as much as we can by reading this article before our masters install overt fascism.
Vltchek has recently visited the Philippines and writes about his experiences especially among the many poor people of that country, and about President Duterte's support, or lack thereof, among various factions of the Philippine establishment.
The Philippines has been a colony of the US since we took it from Spain in 1898, given formal independence in 1946, after which the US ruled over the country in a neocolonial fashion. Duterte's administration marks a radical departure from that rule, and we can expect at the very least some retaliatory and/or subversive measures against his administration, and even assassination attempts (like Fidel Castro) for his disobedience (see the latest here) to the diktats of the US Empire.
Duterte has acquired a reputation for lashing out at everything from Western imperialism to President Obama, to Pope Francis (in this staunchly Catholic country), the EU, and the UN. He has threatened to close down all US military bases and to move his country closer to China and Russia. To emphasize his seriousness, he has canceled all joint US–Philippine military exercises.
President Putin is his hero. He is clearly leaning toward the left, and he despises colonialism. He often speaks about the “genocide” committed by the US against his people during the ‘Philippine–American War.'
He refuses to provoke and antagonize China. He is with the poor, introducing and improving social programs. He is gradually releasing political prisoners and actively negotiating peace deals with the Marxist and Muslim guerrillas while seeking peace treaties and territorial compromises with China.
The evidence is accumulating to suggest the policies of the new Trump administration. So far people from Wall Street, retired military generals, and now a climate destabilization denier have been picked by Trump to head his cabinet positions. I can't help but wonder if the election/selection of Trump wasn't the ruling class's retaliatory response to all the Bernie Sander's supporters who were so active in challenging their choice of Hillary Clinton as CEO of America Inc. The current campaign to clamp down on alternative media ("fake news") may be another expression of this effort to retaliate against those who refuse to follow their orders and subscribe to their views.
Of all the people Donald Trump was considering to run the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), his eventual pick, Scott Pruitt, a fellow climate change denier, has the most dangerous ties to the fossil fuel industry. The news was announced today, after the Oklahoma attorney general beat out four other candidates, including climate change denier Myron Ebell.
If you are strapped for time, I recommend that you scroll down to a section entitled "The Performance Pyramid - Conformity Without Design" which provides a very good explanation of how corporate news services necessarily frames their coverage of events by the profit and power interests of capitalists. Edwards specifically describes four frames in which news coverage is shaped.
1) Corporate nature, elite/parent company ownership and profit-maximising orientation 2) Dependence on allied corporate advertisers for 50% or more of revenues 3) Dependence on cheap, subsidised news supplied by state-corporate allies 4) Political, economic, legal carrots and sticks rewarding corporate media conformity and punishing dissent
However, numbers 3 and 4 require much more elaboration which Edwards provides only indirectly by quotes mostly from Michael Parenti. The quotes suggest that corporate coverage of events that undermine the legitimacy or credibility of the US-led Empire's actions abroad is heavily biased to prevent any major criticism. And Edwards completely misses one major frame that prevents any discussion, much less criticism of the basic system of capitalism: the capitalist bias regarding the private ownership and control of economic property and money.
Although criticism is permitted about the way the system currently functions to cause problems, this is always framed as a distortion of the basic system which suggests that only reforms are needed to solve the problems. Thus you might find comments that reflect adversely on "crony capitalism" , "corporate capitalism", "neoliberal capitalism", and "the excesses of capitalism", but the soundness and legitimacy of the basic system is simply taken for granted.Likewise corporate media always promotes the idea of "sustainable capitalism" in the face of overwhelming evidence that capitalism is driving climate destabilization.
British economist Roberts reviews a speech delivered recently in Liverpool, England by a major influential of the US-led Empire: Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England, who offered his views on the state of global capitalism.
Mark Carney is the governor of the Bank of England. Formerly the head of the central Bank of Canada, some years ago he was headhunted to take over at the BoE on a huge salary and expenses.
This week he gave the Roscoe Lecture at Liverpool’s John Moores University, his first speech since the decision of the Brits to vote (narrowly) to leave the European Union. Carney took the opportunity to offer what his view of the state of global capitalism. And he does not make it sound good.
Carney starts off with a very reasonable observation:
I will focus on the underlying causes and consequences of weak real income growth and inequality across the advanced world.
That’s because any doctor knows that the importance of diagnosing the underlying causes of the patient’s symptoms before administering the cure. Monetary policy has been keeping the patient alive, creating the possibility of a lasting cure through fiscal and structural operations. It has averted depression and helped advanced economies live to fight another day, so that measures to restore vitality can be taken.
However, this major capitalist influential doesn't seem to know how to improve economic conditions:
It was up to governments now to turn things round. But given that Carney and his bank economists did not know why things had got so bad, he offered no real advice to governments on how to get productivity up, inequality down and real incomes restored.
A study by the RAND Corporation – which, since Vietnam, has planned America’s wars – is entitled, War with China: Thinking Through the Unthinkable. Commissioned
by the U.S. Army, the authors evoke the Cold War when RAND made
notorious the catch cry of its chief strategist, Herman Kahn — “thinking
the unthinkable”. Kahn’s book, On Thermonuclear War, elaborated a plan for a “winnable” nuclear war against the Soviet Union.
Today, his apocalyptic view is shared by those holding real power in the United States: the militarists and neoconservatives in the Executive Branch, the Pentagon, the intelligence and “national security” establishment and Congress.
This independent Australian journalist and now filmmaker of "The Coming War on China" has not spent two years making the film for merely sensational reasons. In this article he carefully builds his case for making the film: the US Empire is on a collision course with China, and the prospects for nuclear war are likely. For some reason his emphasis is on the Empire's buildup for war with China, but the same applies for Russia as well. Thus these two nations are increasing their cooperation to confront what they see as a likely contest with the Empire.
The Empire's capitalist director-emperors have been largely hidden from public view by meeting in various "think tanks", issuing their commands and policies to their subordinates in government and in their secret (from US citizens) agencies like the CIA, NSA, FBI, etc. The Empire's directors, who have been constructing their world empire at least since WWII and are now facing the powerful adversaries of China and Russia, are determined to eliminate them from interfering in their project of world domination. Like addicts in the final stages of addiction, our capitalist masters are pursuing this insane project by contemplating dangerous actions that will be lethal to themselves.
The only problem is that the self-destructive actions of our capitalist masters are likely to have horrendous consequences for the rest of humanity as well. We are now facing twin threats of extinction: the more immediate one of a worldwide nuclear holocaust and a more distant one of climate destabilization which will render the Earth unfit for human habitation.
Thus it is imperative that we who believe in social justice,
equality, and an economy that serves all the people must rapidly
organize our forces to end class riven societies once and for all. There has never been more reason to begin organizing a revolution, and to construct societies that can live in peace internally, in relations with each other, and in harmony with nature.
Click here if you wish to access the following introduction and this excellent 14:16m video directly from Newsbud. Posted by Kurt Nimmo.
On this edition of The Geopolitical Report, we cover the establishment’s effort to characterize alternative news as Russian propaganda. We look at the government’s use of lies to start wars and how the establishment media parrots these lies. Is PropOrNot, the anonymous sources of the “fake news” campaign amplified by The Washington Post, part of a psychological operation run by US intelligence? This is a distinct possibility considering The Washington Post’s association with the CIA and its Operation Mockingbird, a massive effort initiated in the 1950s to disseminate real fake and distorted news through corporate media channels.
Click here if you wish to access the following introduction and nearly one hour video directly from "Don Quijones'" website Raging Bull-Shit. "Quijones" is a Brit who resides mostly in Spain and occasionally in Mexico.
There is much to be learned in the video about the banking crisis in Europe (and the US). The capitalist investors, that is, the bondholders of the banks, have been paid, but the citizens of Europe are stuck with the debts due to the grossly reckless bets made by bankers in Europe and North America prior to 2008. Banksters are the prime directors of the capitalist ruling classes who secretly control Western governments behind the scenes. Their creation of a neoliberal order makes it easy for them to place bets all over the US Empire. Hence bankers and capitalist investors make sure that they never lose their wealth and power. That is why I often refer to capitalism as organized crime.
Where has all the money gone? That is the question that desperately needs asking (and answering) now that the European Union has morphed into one humongous orgy of national bailouts, especially with Italy, the eurozone’s third largest economy, next in line.
In his 2013 documentary “The Secret Bank Bailout,” German investigative journalist Harald Schumann documents how the peoples of Ireland, Cyprus and Spain were not bailed out. The biggest recipients of the Irish bailout that saved Anglo-Irish Bank were British, French and German banks, including Union Investment Privatfonds, Rothschild et Compagnie Gestion, and Deutsche Bank.
German and French banks accounted for 50 out of the 80 bondholders. Without the clandestine bailouts these banks received, they would have almost certainly gone under.
Click here to access article by retired American professor of sociology James Petras posted on Global Research (based in Canada).
Since the Vietnam War when the feminist movement and gay movements became so prominent, our capitalist ruling class, ever keen to find new methods to dupe the 99%, promoted identity politics as a diversion from the reality of class politics and class war that became much too influential for our masters' comfort during the Vietnam War. Since then they have used such politics to deceive people in supporting capitalist agendas by frequently co-opting and then using people of color and women to advance their interests at the expense and lives of ordinary Americans. In this article Petras explains how they do this and challenges us to sharpen are critical thinking skills to see through their many ruses.
Often media moguls, publicists and corporate leaders laud the ‘social background’ of a candidate. They use such criteria to groom and coopt upwardly mobile workers, trade union officials and community militants. ‘Chosen leaders’ from minority or oppressed backgrounds are put in charge of discipline, work-place speed-ups and lay-offs. They sometimes adopt ‘workers’ language, splicing rough anti-establishment curses with their abuses as they fire workers and cut wages. One’s past social background is a far less useful criterion than current social commitments. As Karl Marx long ago noted, the ruling class is not a closed caste: It is always open to co-opting bright and influential new members among upwardly mobile labor leaders and activists.
Because Trump issued so many bigoted statements against minorities during his political campaign, the great mass of people oriented to identity politics were shocked by his victory and remain in a state of fear. However, I maintain my position that I argued some time ago that little of significant substance will change. We will continue to experience never-ending wars, austerity policies at home, the loss of American jobs due to corporations seeking cheaper labor and lax environmental regulations abroad, the unleashing of militarized police forces to contain activist dissent, periodic economic crises, and increasing climate destabilization. The recent promotion of anti-Russian propaganda was well underway before the election of Trump. And I doubt that much will change regarding minority or disadvantaged populations in the US.
What we need to worry about is what we are now seeing: an accelerated effort to contain dissent by attacks on alternative media and independent journalists. However, I think this is a result, not of Trump's election, but of the setbacks our ruling masters have experienced in their elaborate effort to destabilize Syria, their lack of success in promoting the Transpacific Partnership agreement, President Duterte's (Philippines) turn to China, and in general the powerful challenges to their power coming from China and Russia. This general view is now being reinforced with the kind of people backing Trump as reflected in his cabinet appointments and nominations. One should not be distracted by the internecine battles of the various factions in the ruling capitalist class simply because they will always serve their tiny class at the expense of the vast majority of Americans.
15 years into the Afghan War, Pentagon statements are almost never the final word on what happened. False denials and upbeat predictions that never pan out have left US credibility incredibly low. Time and again, UN reports have contradicted the official US narrative, only to be proven correct, to the embarrassment of the occupation forces.
Patience appears to be wearing thin after 15 years of inconvenient truth getting in the way of the military’s version of events, with both UN and US officials saying relations between the two are “a nightmare,”....
Do you suppose that the UN could end up on one of the banned lists of "fake news" sources published by the Washington Post?
The author looks at Trump's picks for his cabinet, and so far they suggest that there will be no significant change in foreign policy. The neocons will still be in charge. We are still waiting on Trump's choice for Secretary of State.
Our oceans are on the brink of collapse. Decades of pollution, micro-plastic “islands”, and over-fishing have reduced marine stocks and ecosystem to a fraction of pre-industrial levels. Pacific Salmon is undergoing a veritable genocide conducted by humans, Tuna is being fished at rates thousands of times higher than their natural rate of replenishment, and large marine mammals are at their lowest-ever recorded levels. If this weren’t bad enough, imagine a hidden arsenal of millions of tonnes of toxic chemical weapons laying at the bottom of our oceans, waiting to leech into the waters. A veritable cesspool of poisonous sludge made of Mustard and Chlorine gases, arsenic, and a cocktail of other weapon-grade chemicals. The only thing is: you don’t have to imagine it, it’s actually here!
Please forget about most all of the theatrics used and campaign promises made during Trump's campaign. However this report does conform to one of his promises to promote business unfettered by government regulations and environmental concerns.
US President-elect Donald Trump expressed his support for the completion of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) ahead of an evacuation order, due to go into effect on Monday, against thousands of people protesting the oil pipeline project.
Trump’s transition team released a statement reaffirming his support for the $3.8 billion project and claiming that this position is not related to his personal investment of $500,000 in Energy Partners, the Texas-based company that is leading the project. In his speech in Cincinnati on Tuesday, Trump pledged to “eliminate every single wasteful regulation” and remove all “restrictions on the production of shale energy, oil, natural gas and clean coal.”
It's becoming clearer as Trump picks his cabinet members that his administration will continue to serve without any pretenses only Wall Streets' interests of profits and power as suggested by this report (from the same source) entitled "CEOs, Wall Street to drive Trump economic policy".
But what we still have not seen so far are any substantial indications whether Trump's administration will lend support to the ruling class's obsession with their anti-Russian views in spite of his campaign's more accommodating stance and his past anti-war views. Perhaps his delay in nominating someone for the Secretary of State indicates some wavering on this issue. Because of several years of US ruling class anti-Russian propaganda and sanctions and the recent accelerating propaganda about Russian influence in the election and pro-Russian "fake news" in alternative media, I would be shocked if he defied the ruling capitalist class by pursuing a more accommodating approach to Russia and interfered with their wars.
Please take 15 minutes to watch this interview with Enbridge whistleblower John Bolenbaugh. This man has worked laying pipe and cleaning up oil spills for Enbridge – the major company behind the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). The Standing Rock, and all the tribes and allies standing with them, have good cause to be very concerned about their water supply in the face of the pipeline (and full right to protect sacred lands). First, this pipeline was originally supposed to run through Bismarck, ND, but was rerouted for concern about risk to Bismarck’s water supply (Bismarck Tribune, Aug 18, 2016).
Click here to access article by Paul Street from CounterPunch. (Note: Christopher, an online supporter from northwestern Oregon, alerted me once again to this excellent article.)
Street points out that the "management of consent/dissent" explanation for the capitalist ruling classes policies to control their subjects that was used to contain dissent in the latter half of the 20th century has been altered with the addition of more sophisticated weapons to discourage any kind of public displays of resistance to their policies. But he reminds us that our masters in the capitalist class have often used deadly force throughout the nation's history whenever it was necessary to contain dissent:
Make no mistake: armed force state repression is alive and well in the United States. The Iron Heel lives, updated and refined for the current age. It did not simply pass into the dustbin of history with the Ludlow Massacre, the Palmer Raids, Kent State, COINTELPRO, the murder of Fred Hampton, or Wounded Knee II. It has hardly been rendered obsolete by the soft power of the mass media and other modes of propaganda and thought and feeling control, including carefully staged quadrennial electoral extravaganzas that tell people that democracy consists of getting to mark a ballot for five minutes or less once every four years and then going home to let rich people run the world (into the ground).
Now in the 21st century we are seeing an updated version of weapons used against organized resistance to protests over oppressive or deleterious ruling class activities as we saw with the Occupy Movement in New York, in organized protests in Oakland, Chicago, Ferguson,etc, and now at Standing Rock reservation in North Dakota.
The nation’s ever more militarized police departments are loaded up with an array of so-called “nonlethal crowd-control technologies” designed to abolish the right of public assembly. The terrible tools include things like the “Long Range Acoustic Device” (LRAD) – a sonic cannon that can cause total hearing loss for protesters who refuse to disperse at authorities’ command. Drones are now routinely deployed against protestors inside the U.S. (Along with dozens of other opponents of the eco-cidal Dakota Access Pipeline [DAPL] in Iowa, I have now been drone-surveilled at close range).
It is true that protestors are not murdered in U.S streets by government gendarmes. At the same time, the proscriptions against sheer mass and bloody repression here have incentivized American authorities to develop more subtle, technically sophisticated forms of state coercion that prevent or discourage citizens from assembling and protesting.
