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| Deranged leaders of the capitalist class go crazy when they don't get what they want. |
Friday, July 7, 2017
Deranged capitalist leaders
By political cartoonist Jeff Darcy.
When Will Co-opted Figures and Board Members Be Hauled into Court?
Click here to access article by Colin Todhunter from his blog East by Northwest. (See especially the comments section. Also notice in the sixth paragraph there is one typographical error. The first sentence should read "The integrity of public institutions is compr[om]ised due to the political influence and financial clout ....")
The public is being poisoned, disease rates are spiralling, waterways are contaminated, soil is being degraded, insects, birds, invertebrates and plant diversity are in dramatic decline. Humanity and the planet are being poisoned for profit.The answer to the question in the headline is thus: they will not be hauled into court as long as the tiny capitalist class rules the world. There is no kind of good capitalism simply because like cancer wherever capitalists attain a critical level of power they will begin to devour the rest of society and the environment until all of humanity is threatened with extinction. And, like cancer, the best chances of a cure is in the early stages, but it is never too late to fight for survival.
We are experiencing an assault on life by the agrotoxins industry, which is in fact contributing to a sixth mass extinction. Armed with a harmful chemical cocktail of highly profitable agrotoxins, ranging from disease-causing glyphosate to bee-killing neonicotinoid insecticides, biocide manufactures are waging biological and chemical warfare on us all under the guise that they are serving humanity by helping to feed the world.
Thursday, July 6, 2017
The Long, Dirty History of U.S. Warmongering against North Korea
Click here to access article by Christine Hong from The Progressive.
I notice that the author made brief reference to Bruce Cumings by quoting a statement from one of his books about the Korean War. I read both volumes of his important study entitled The Origins of the Korean War, and I strongly recommend them. But if you don't have time to read at least volume 1, then I recommend that you view at least the first of a two part interview with him regarding the war that was posted on YouTube in 2011.
As the latest North Korea crisis unfolded, and Donald Trump swapped campaign plowshares for post-inauguration swords, Americans took to the streets demanding that the President release his tax returns and then marched for science. There were no mass protests for peace.From my observations and experience with my fellow Americans, I think the ruling class has been very successful in their campaign to "gaslight" the American public. They have been so bamboozled by the manipulative reports spewed by corporate media about foreign affairs that they no longer pay attention to events happening outside our national boundaries. As a result they are distracted by ongoing coverage by corporate media about Trump's health care bill, efforts to $15/hr minimum wage in various states, or the latest incident involving the police.
Although the substance of Trump’s foreign policy remains opaque, he had campaigned on an “America First” critique of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton’s liberal interventionism in Libya and, to his own party’s mortification, blasted George W. Bush’s neoconservative adventurism in Iraq.
Once in the White House, though, Trump announced he would boost the U.S. military budget by a staggering $54 billion and cut back on diplomacy, while pushing the United States to the brink of active conflict with North Korea. None of this provoked a major backlash.
I notice that the author made brief reference to Bruce Cumings by quoting a statement from one of his books about the Korean War. I read both volumes of his important study entitled The Origins of the Korean War, and I strongly recommend them. But if you don't have time to read at least volume 1, then I recommend that you view at least the first of a two part interview with him regarding the war that was posted on YouTube in 2011.
Wednesday, July 5, 2017
Why Wall Street Should Be Viewed as a Major National Threat
Click here to access article by Pam Martens and Russ Martens from their blog Wall Street on Parade.
The Martens are no leftist revolutionaries. Rather they are reformers of the capitalist system because they believe naively that they can with their little blog alert Americans to the Wall Street's self-serving hold on the American economy--thus on the US itself--and then Americans will elect representatives who will regulate these Wall Street subversives in order to keep the economy stable. There is no hint in their writings of a "Deep State", 24/7 surveillance of ordinary Americans, the prolific organs of ideological control and news management, the insidious insertion of laws that create a police state if needed, etc.
The Martens are no leftist revolutionaries. Rather they are reformers of the capitalist system because they believe naively that they can with their little blog alert Americans to the Wall Street's self-serving hold on the American economy--thus on the US itself--and then Americans will elect representatives who will regulate these Wall Street subversives in order to keep the economy stable. There is no hint in their writings of a "Deep State", 24/7 surveillance of ordinary Americans, the prolific organs of ideological control and news management, the insidious insertion of laws that create a police state if needed, etc.
Both the Democrat and Republican party platforms for the 2016 presidential campaign promised to rein in the abuses of Wall Street by restoring the Glass-Steagall Act and its separation of insured banks from the wild speculations of investment banks on Wall Street. Only an uproar from the American people and strident, ongoing editorials from our nation’s newspapers will bring that critical legislation to the fore.However as reformers, they do dig up some interesting facts about the crimes of Wall Street (a more acceptable liberal synonym for capitalists) and the deleterious effects that they are having on ordinary people of the US.
Documents expose how Hollywood promotes war on behalf of the Pentagon, CIA and NSA
Click here to access article by Tom Secker and Matthew Alford from Insurge intelligence.
From government documents from a recent request under the Freedom of Information Act, the authors have found that the secret agencies of the government have influenced over 1,800 movies and TV shows. They conclude their report with this statement:
From government documents from a recent request under the Freedom of Information Act, the authors have found that the secret agencies of the government have influenced over 1,800 movies and TV shows. They conclude their report with this statement:
... we are looking at a vast, militarised propaganda apparatus operating throughout the screen entertainment industry in the United States.This is only one component of the full-spectrum ideological dominance that has proved so effective in the shaping of Americans' consent to many of the outrageous crimes perpetrated by the US Empire. These secret agencies of our masters in the ruling capitalist class have not only spied on the communications ranging from ordinary Americans to the the communications of political leaders of many countries, but have through their subversive activities overturned governments that they don't like causing horrific consequences for many millions of ordinary people as we have witnessed recently in places like Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, and Syria--to mention only a few.
It is not quite an official censor, since decisions on scripts are made voluntarily by producers, but it represents a major and scarcely acknowledged pressure on the kind of narratives and images we see on the big and small screens.
In societies already eager to use our hard power overseas, the shaping of our popular culture to promote a pro-war mindset must be taken seriously.
Monday, July 3, 2017
It’s not about cutting taxes for the rich
Click here to access article by Jim O'Reilly from his blog Comments on Global Political Economy.
In a recent blog post, Paul Krugman branded the healthcare bill as “pure class warfare, with extra contempt” and said it’s really “all about the tax cuts”. While he’s certainly right about class warfare, I think he overstates the brutality of this particular battle versus the great many preceding it. What I’ll quarrel with here, though, is the idea that the central goal of the conservatives is as simple as cutting taxes for the rich. I believe the driving dynamic is not about monetary taxes but is instead deeply fundamental to the system itself. It is very old.This retired (and my favorite) banker, who I believe now lives in Denver, knows of what he writes when he argues that healthcare issues are about power. But I also wonder if the US ruling class is getting worried about financing its many military adventures and subversive operations abroad to support their hegemonic aspirations. Thus they are doing everything they can to cut back domestic expenditures to their working class.
Insurance corporations control healthcare in the US
by political cartoonist John Jonik.
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| Health care, like everything else in the US, serves corporate profits. |
Saturday, July 1, 2017
ISIS “Coincidentally” Appears Along China’s One Belt, One Road
Click here to access article by Tony Cartalucci from New Eastern Outlook.
Cartalucci builds a well-documented argument that the US Empire will continue to use terrorist armies such as ISIS to advance the interests of Wall Street and its insatiable appetite for profits and power. One of its major interests is thwarting the power of China. Furthermore, this strategy does not depend on who occupies the White House. That is precisely why the Deep State constantly attack Donald Trump through their media corporations: to bend his rather parochial business interests toward their international hegemonic interests.
The Deep State includes "think tanks" such as the Council on Foreign Affairs, Carnegie Institute, Brookings, etc, and the actions of their secret agencies (CIA, NSA, etc) that often hide behind numerous NGOs and direct terrorist proxy armies.
Cartalucci builds a well-documented argument that the US Empire will continue to use terrorist armies such as ISIS to advance the interests of Wall Street and its insatiable appetite for profits and power. One of its major interests is thwarting the power of China. Furthermore, this strategy does not depend on who occupies the White House. That is precisely why the Deep State constantly attack Donald Trump through their media corporations: to bend his rather parochial business interests toward their international hegemonic interests.
The Deep State includes "think tanks" such as the Council on Foreign Affairs, Carnegie Institute, Brookings, etc, and the actions of their secret agencies (CIA, NSA, etc) that often hide behind numerous NGOs and direct terrorist proxy armies.
The Islamic State “coincidentally” appearing in virtually every geopolitical theater on Earth US interests are impeded or challenged by local and regional interests helps explain why not only the Islamic State exists in the first place, but explains how it has managed to survive and continue to thrive despite multinational efforts by nations like Russia, Syria, and Iran to defeat it.
Through state sponsorship, the Islamic State’s source of logistical, political, and military power ultimately lies in Washington, London, Brussels, Ankara, Riyadh, and Doha – where Russian-Syrian-Iranian military and political power cannot reach.
For those wondering where the Islamic State will strike next, one needs only to look at a world map and identify where else US interests are being impeded by an increasingly multipolar world unwilling to yield to Wall Street and Washington’s corporate-financier monopolies.
Friday, June 30, 2017
The Myth of Liberal Policing
Click here to access an approximately 52 minute interview with Alex Vitale, Assoc. Professor of Sociology at Brooklyn College, NY City from the studios of KPFA, a listener sponsored radio station in Berkeley, California. (Note: if you access this interview at any other than the "Listen" link, the interview and program entitled "Against the Grain" starts at 5:33m.)
Although there is more or less token allegiance to liberal practices historically in the US or in other capitalist countries, this appearance has to do with the historical origins of capitalism and its espousal of "democratic" propaganda to obtain the allegiance of the lower classes by the rising capitalist classes in order to overthrow the established feudal ruling classes. Thus fascist rule is capitalist rule without this fake liberal ideological element. However, police forces are expensive to maintain, therefore advanced capitalist ruling classes also put a lot of investment in organs of indoctrination and perception management. With the US going in a fascist direction, such reform measures that he suggests are all but impossible to implement. Hence our ruling class has placed far more resources in brutal police forces. Revolution is the only real solution!
Although many thinking people can recognize this insight regarding police forces as an institution that protects the ruling capitalist class, but they have a harder time recognizing that this is true of every institution (justice, media, education, entertainment, health care, etc) of all capitalist societies to a lessor or greater extent.
Each week brings another tragic account of the police injuring or killing someone, usually poor and of color. So shouldn’t we support reforms to make the police more accountable? Alex Vitale has a surprising answer. The sociologist discusses how liberal police reforms legitimize an illegitimate institution. He argues instead that the reform we should get behind is reducing the number of police.The professor supplies an excellent history of the origins of police forces used in Western countries. Like any good sociology professor he places the origins and the entire history of Western policing in the context of capitalist systems, but he doesn't do this very well directly. Rather he does it mostly implicitly in such a way as to protect him from crossing a red line of attacking the capitalist system which our masters in the ruling class do not tolerate. Otherwise his teaching career, or at least tenure, would be put in jeopardy. At the end of the program he does offers some progressive solutions, but they are all methods that are strictly within the acceptance of capitalism. The fact that they are so difficult to implement belies belief that such measures can be significantly introduced in a society such as ours than is heading in the direction of fascism.
Although there is more or less token allegiance to liberal practices historically in the US or in other capitalist countries, this appearance has to do with the historical origins of capitalism and its espousal of "democratic" propaganda to obtain the allegiance of the lower classes by the rising capitalist classes in order to overthrow the established feudal ruling classes. Thus fascist rule is capitalist rule without this fake liberal ideological element. However, police forces are expensive to maintain, therefore advanced capitalist ruling classes also put a lot of investment in organs of indoctrination and perception management. With the US going in a fascist direction, such reform measures that he suggests are all but impossible to implement. Hence our ruling class has placed far more resources in brutal police forces. Revolution is the only real solution!
Although many thinking people can recognize this insight regarding police forces as an institution that protects the ruling capitalist class, but they have a harder time recognizing that this is true of every institution (justice, media, education, entertainment, health care, etc) of all capitalist societies to a lessor or greater extent.
Wednesday, June 28, 2017
‘China’s Old Silk Road Revival’
Click here if you wish to access this post directly from 21st Century Wire.
It is likely this video was designed for Western audiences--but then, maybe not. You can see how the narrator's emphasis is on the success of entrepreneurs, development, skyscrapers, cars, etc. Although other informed people such as Jeff J. Brown, who lives and works in China, insist that state owned industries dominate the economy and the government is under the strict control of the Chinese Communist Party, China now has billionaire entrepreneurs who likely are very influential regarding China's future. What is worrisome for me is that today's entrepreneurs are likely tomorrow's ruling capitalist class with all the Western tendencies of such a powerful class to be self-serving and anti-democratic. Besides that, what endows members of the Chinese Communist Party with wisdom to serve an educated Chinese people rather than themselves?
EDITOR’S NOTE: China’s international trade and infrastructural expansion is influencing geopolitical events from Asia, to the Middle East, all the way to eastern Europe’s Balkan states. The West could only dream of making the sort of capital investments being made by China across Eurasia at the moment. How will the Western powers react to, and eventually accommodate this formidable emerging international force?
“In its heyday, the ancient Silk Road was Eurasia’s most important trade route, connecting two rich continents to facilitate trade and cultural exchange. Modern-day China has seen near constant economic growth. It boasts of several record figures, including the highest number of skyscrapers and the longest railroads. Five years ago, the government announced a new plan, “One Belt, One Road”, an initiative to revive the Silk Road. The strategy seeks to help China play a bigger role in global affairs through developing an infrastructure that will unite the countries of the two continents under a cohesive economic area. Many ancient Chinese cities that were once outposts along the Silk Road, desert oases or transport hubs are now rapidly transforming themselves into megacities, so that they can, once again, service and profit from the trade route. New businesses are opening, facilitated by the development of a reliable transport system, which in turn brings greater tourist flow. Some cities are also grated the status of special economic area, offering attractive tax incentives to foreign investors.”
It is likely this video was designed for Western audiences--but then, maybe not. You can see how the narrator's emphasis is on the success of entrepreneurs, development, skyscrapers, cars, etc. Although other informed people such as Jeff J. Brown, who lives and works in China, insist that state owned industries dominate the economy and the government is under the strict control of the Chinese Communist Party, China now has billionaire entrepreneurs who likely are very influential regarding China's future. What is worrisome for me is that today's entrepreneurs are likely tomorrow's ruling capitalist class with all the Western tendencies of such a powerful class to be self-serving and anti-democratic. Besides that, what endows members of the Chinese Communist Party with wisdom to serve an educated Chinese people rather than themselves?
Eurasia: Some Personal Impressions of Emerging China
Click here to access article by F. William Engdahl from New Eastern Outlook.
Following a recent visit to China in which he talked to many top-level intellectuals, Engdahl reports on his impressions. In contrast to capitalists under the US-led Empire who prefer trading debt instruments and proxy wars to accumulate wealth and power, China is pursuing a program of building infra-structure to facilitate the trade of goods across the Eurasian continent linking all the economies from Asia to Europe.
The Chinese Communist Party have used China's abundance of cheap labor to serve capitalist economies in order to develop their economy and technology. They have been wildly successful. But now its time to change to producing only necessary goods and services that are required to raise the quality of lives across the world. To do this, they must create genuine democratic structures that empower people to play an increasing role in deciding what is really necessary.
Following a recent visit to China in which he talked to many top-level intellectuals, Engdahl reports on his impressions. In contrast to capitalists under the US-led Empire who prefer trading debt instruments and proxy wars to accumulate wealth and power, China is pursuing a program of building infra-structure to facilitate the trade of goods across the Eurasian continent linking all the economies from Asia to Europe.
Today’s China is far more complex than simply being the world’s great economic colossus, the so-called “workshop to the world.” Yet despite serious problems with the development path the country’s Communist Party leadership took beginning in 1979, when Deng Xiaoping opened China to foreign investment and a global market with a pragmatic market economy whose slogan was “Socialism with Chinese Characteristics,” China today is the key to any future positive world economic growth in a peaceful context. Unlike Trump’s demagogic slogan, “Making America Great Again,” China’s OBOR infrastructure undertaking is no demagoguery. It’s very richly real.Personally, I would like to see the Chinese Communist Party which guides China's policies start to restrict what their industries produce in favor of necessities like food, shelter, education, and information structures rather than producing for capitalist markets.
The Chinese Communist Party have used China's abundance of cheap labor to serve capitalist economies in order to develop their economy and technology. They have been wildly successful. But now its time to change to producing only necessary goods and services that are required to raise the quality of lives across the world. To do this, they must create genuine democratic structures that empower people to play an increasing role in deciding what is really necessary.
Monday, June 26, 2017
David Suzuki & GM [Guy McPherson]- Abrupt Climate Change - Compassion in the Face of Death
(Edited for clarity at 6 PM Seattle time)
The video below starts out with a scene featuring American scientist Guy McPherson and continues with other interspersed scenes of doctors and patients confronting the end of individual lives. This is apparently intended to provide a context for the major issue of today--human extinction. Most of the video consists of an interview by Peter Mansbridge of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) with Canadian scientist David Suzuki regarding climate destabilization. At one point Suzuki makes reference to Guy McPherson who among scientists represents a more pessimistic view of near term human extinction due to human-caused destabilization of our planet's biosphere.
I think it is a mistake, as in the video, to compare the interspersed scenes of individuals facing death with that of the entire human race facing extinction. I think this actually trivializes the issue. Individuals have known death (as well as birth) for the past 150,000 years of human existence, but human extinction is of a vaster different scale of tragedy. I think this treatment illustrates the extreme individualism throughout Western capitalist civilization in which self-centeredness in addition to greed and manipulation of others for private gain have been essentially transformed into virtues.
The video below starts out with a scene featuring American scientist Guy McPherson and continues with other interspersed scenes of doctors and patients confronting the end of individual lives. This is apparently intended to provide a context for the major issue of today--human extinction. Most of the video consists of an interview by Peter Mansbridge of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) with Canadian scientist David Suzuki regarding climate destabilization. At one point Suzuki makes reference to Guy McPherson who among scientists represents a more pessimistic view of near term human extinction due to human-caused destabilization of our planet's biosphere.
I think it is a mistake, as in the video, to compare the interspersed scenes of individuals facing death with that of the entire human race facing extinction. I think this actually trivializes the issue. Individuals have known death (as well as birth) for the past 150,000 years of human existence, but human extinction is of a vaster different scale of tragedy. I think this treatment illustrates the extreme individualism throughout Western capitalist civilization in which self-centeredness in addition to greed and manipulation of others for private gain have been essentially transformed into virtues.
Trump‘s Red Line
Click here to access article by Seymour M. Hersh from Welt (Germany).
Once again Hersh brings information gleaned from his anonymous inside sources in an attempt to reveal the real story behind another criminal act by our military and/or CIA establishments--the April bombing of a Syrian airbase because of a concocted story of gas warfare. It appears from this report that the real estate magnate and elected president watches fake news produced by media corporations, and make decisions accordingly.
On the other hand, maybe he just wants to get the Ziocons (Zionist conservatives) off his back by a largely fake display of a proper militancy toward Russia, Iran, and President Assad of Syria without really doing too much damage. Hersh's piece supports the former hypothesis, but I remain skeptical. It seems more likely that he deliberately went along with military intelligence officials to design a militarily deficient response that was wrapped in militant rhetoric. This Hersh piece makes one wonder if Deep State operatives are using Hersh for their own nefarious purposes by supplying him with deceptive information.
On April 6, United States President Donald Trump authorized an early morning Tomahawk missile strike on Shayrat Air Base in central Syria in retaliation for what he said was a deadly nerve agent attack carried out by the Syrian government two days earlier in the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun. Trump issued the order despite having been warned by the U.S. intelligence community that it had found no evidence that the Syrians had used a chemical weapon.First of all, I note that Hersh has gone from publishing his articles in The New Yorker (mostly read by upper income people) to the London Review of Books to this one which is the online version of the conservative German newspaper Die Welt. It seems that any well-known and reputable American news analyst must go abroad to have their views read by any public.
Once again Hersh brings information gleaned from his anonymous inside sources in an attempt to reveal the real story behind another criminal act by our military and/or CIA establishments--the April bombing of a Syrian airbase because of a concocted story of gas warfare. It appears from this report that the real estate magnate and elected president watches fake news produced by media corporations, and make decisions accordingly.
On the other hand, maybe he just wants to get the Ziocons (Zionist conservatives) off his back by a largely fake display of a proper militancy toward Russia, Iran, and President Assad of Syria without really doing too much damage. Hersh's piece supports the former hypothesis, but I remain skeptical. It seems more likely that he deliberately went along with military intelligence officials to design a militarily deficient response that was wrapped in militant rhetoric. This Hersh piece makes one wonder if Deep State operatives are using Hersh for their own nefarious purposes by supplying him with deceptive information.
Saturday, June 24, 2017
Has Washington Lost the Middle East After Qatar?
Click here to access article by F. William Engdahl from New Eastern Outlook.
Engdahl sheds much needed light on the current oil and gas competition played out by all the world's major powers in the fossil fuel rich Middle East. He adds more signs that the US Empire's world hegemony project has ebbed. Can our masters who have resurrected the old cold warrior mentally accept their fate or will they use their huge stockpile of dangerous weapons in a desperate attempt to turn back the receding tide of power? That is the major question threatening human survival in the near term. Too bad that most Americans are so ignorant of this threat, and worse by being so disorganized to prevent a disastrous outcome.
Engdahl sheds much needed light on the current oil and gas competition played out by all the world's major powers in the fossil fuel rich Middle East. He adds more signs that the US Empire's world hegemony project has ebbed. Can our masters who have resurrected the old cold warrior mentally accept their fate or will they use their huge stockpile of dangerous weapons in a desperate attempt to turn back the receding tide of power? That is the major question threatening human survival in the near term. Too bad that most Americans are so ignorant of this threat, and worse by being so disorganized to prevent a disastrous outcome.It ain’t easy to be the world’s Sole Superpower today, not at all as it was, say, in the 1990’s. Not even psychopathic generals with nicknames like Mad Dog can scare others into falling back in line when Washington barks her orders. Back as recent as the 1990s it was, so to say, a piece of cake. Run a war in Yugoslavia, destabilize the Soviet Union after a long war in Afghanistan, loot the former Communist economies of all Eastern Europe. Worse still, the world seems not to appreciate Washington’s wars of destruction anymore. Now that’s real ingratitude after all that Washington has done for them in recent years…
Could it be that the American Century, viewed by future historians, will have its obituary written around the time in 2017 when Washington lost control of the “strategic prize” as Dick Cheney called the energy-rich Middle East?
Deep History of America’s Deep State
Click here to access article by Jada Thacker from ConsortiumNews.
I highly recommend this to all Americans as a means of recovering a close approximation to the true early history of their country in contrast to the historical fiction they have been subject to in their early impressionable years as young students mostly in public schools. (I've often wondered how this fictional history compares to that given in private American schools.) This version of history forms a major core in the indoctrination received by American students to insure that they grow up to be devoted citizens, loyal workers, and willing recruits for armies advancing the nation's interests which is identical to that of the ruling capitalist class.
I have read many of the sources used by the author to uncover the real history to know that his version is very close to reality. For those of you who want to read material by some of these authors, on the top of the list that I recommend should be anything by Charles Beard, a renowned historian of the early 20th century. Obviously none of the sources mentioned by Thacker have informed the fictional history as taught in public schools. Events such as Shays' Rebellion or the Whiskey Rebellion are given only a cursory mention in history courses. I also learned of additional very promising historical sources such as the Anti-Federalist Papers and A Narrative of Some of the Adventures, Dangers and Sufferings of a Revolutionary Soldier by Joseph Plumb Martin. Hopefully I will find the time to read these materials in the future.
One episode that Thacker only alluded to as a general occurrence of the rich ruling class was one I read about Alexander Hamilton from other history sources. He, of course, is one of the reverently referred to "Founding Fathers". During the war the soldiers, farmers and working people (as usual) led by members of the local elites, fought the war against the British. It was a grueling war: many defeats were suffered at the hands of the British, long imprisonments in terrible conditions, and soldiers endured long delays in receiving their pay which also caused hardships for their families. Then when they were paid, they were usually paid in paper script (formally debt) issued either by their respective States or the Confederation government. This money depreciated dramatically over time until after the war it was nearly worthless. When the war was over, Secretary of the Treasury Hamilton and his capitalist friends quietly went about buying up all this script at their market value. Then after the Constitution was rammed through, they made sure that the new government assumed all of the debts for this old money and the other war debts at their face value!
The only criticism I have of this post is Thacker's use of "Deep State" to refer to the ruling class of that time. The very useful concept of a Deep State is admittedly somewhat obscure, but this is only because of its secret nature. It comprises what some authors like Peter Dale Scott have long written about, and more recently people like Mike Lofgren. It is not a synonym for "ruling class" as Thacker uses the term. I wonder if Thacker intentionally omits the use of "ruling class" to avoid negative repercussions to his academic career.
I highly recommend this to all Americans as a means of recovering a close approximation to the true early history of their country in contrast to the historical fiction they have been subject to in their early impressionable years as young students mostly in public schools. (I've often wondered how this fictional history compares to that given in private American schools.) This version of history forms a major core in the indoctrination received by American students to insure that they grow up to be devoted citizens, loyal workers, and willing recruits for armies advancing the nation's interests which is identical to that of the ruling capitalist class.
I have read many of the sources used by the author to uncover the real history to know that his version is very close to reality. For those of you who want to read material by some of these authors, on the top of the list that I recommend should be anything by Charles Beard, a renowned historian of the early 20th century. Obviously none of the sources mentioned by Thacker have informed the fictional history as taught in public schools. Events such as Shays' Rebellion or the Whiskey Rebellion are given only a cursory mention in history courses. I also learned of additional very promising historical sources such as the Anti-Federalist Papers and A Narrative of Some of the Adventures, Dangers and Sufferings of a Revolutionary Soldier by Joseph Plumb Martin. Hopefully I will find the time to read these materials in the future.
One episode that Thacker only alluded to as a general occurrence of the rich ruling class was one I read about Alexander Hamilton from other history sources. He, of course, is one of the reverently referred to "Founding Fathers". During the war the soldiers, farmers and working people (as usual) led by members of the local elites, fought the war against the British. It was a grueling war: many defeats were suffered at the hands of the British, long imprisonments in terrible conditions, and soldiers endured long delays in receiving their pay which also caused hardships for their families. Then when they were paid, they were usually paid in paper script (formally debt) issued either by their respective States or the Confederation government. This money depreciated dramatically over time until after the war it was nearly worthless. When the war was over, Secretary of the Treasury Hamilton and his capitalist friends quietly went about buying up all this script at their market value. Then after the Constitution was rammed through, they made sure that the new government assumed all of the debts for this old money and the other war debts at their face value!
The only criticism I have of this post is Thacker's use of "Deep State" to refer to the ruling class of that time. The very useful concept of a Deep State is admittedly somewhat obscure, but this is only because of its secret nature. It comprises what some authors like Peter Dale Scott have long written about, and more recently people like Mike Lofgren. It is not a synonym for "ruling class" as Thacker uses the term. I wonder if Thacker intentionally omits the use of "ruling class" to avoid negative repercussions to his academic career.
Friday, June 23, 2017
Fear and loathing on the Afghan Silk Road
Click here to access article by Pepe Escobar from Asia Times.
Implied in this article is essentially that China's major project of the new Silk Road network across Asia is in jeopardy due to the impending defeat of the Empire's terrorist armies in Syria. He sees a likely scenario in which the defeated terrorist proxy armies are sent to Afghanistan and reinforced by terrorist forces, doubtlessly supported by the CIA, in China's Xinjiang region and other adjacent areas.
Thus the near future situation in Afghanistan looks very much like an unstoppable force meeting a difficult-to-move object. This may be the future's major pivotal event in the contest between the hegemonic US-led Empire versus the challenge posed by the China-Russia-Iran combination and their new Silk Road project. Sadly missing so far in this scenario is any major threat to the Empire's ruling classes posed by a vigorous anti-war movement within its borders. Although there are some signs that the US coalition behind the conflict in Syria is disintegrating, at the present time it appears that only bankruptcy threatens the Empire's resistance to their project. More austerity measures will be needed to stave off bankruptcy. Perhaps anti-austerity movements within the US and some its allies will be sufficient to prevent a future "terrorist" war in Afghanistan as we've seen in Syria.
Implied in this article is essentially that China's major project of the new Silk Road network across Asia is in jeopardy due to the impending defeat of the Empire's terrorist armies in Syria. He sees a likely scenario in which the defeated terrorist proxy armies are sent to Afghanistan and reinforced by terrorist forces, doubtlessly supported by the CIA, in China's Xinjiang region and other adjacent areas.
Thus the near future situation in Afghanistan looks very much like an unstoppable force meeting a difficult-to-move object. This may be the future's major pivotal event in the contest between the hegemonic US-led Empire versus the challenge posed by the China-Russia-Iran combination and their new Silk Road project. Sadly missing so far in this scenario is any major threat to the Empire's ruling classes posed by a vigorous anti-war movement within its borders. Although there are some signs that the US coalition behind the conflict in Syria is disintegrating, at the present time it appears that only bankruptcy threatens the Empire's resistance to their project. More austerity measures will be needed to stave off bankruptcy. Perhaps anti-austerity movements within the US and some its allies will be sufficient to prevent a future "terrorist" war in Afghanistan as we've seen in Syria.
Thursday, June 22, 2017
The Reason Behind the US Government’s Secret Hatred of Europeans [a best post]
Click here to access article by Eric Zuesse from Strategic Culture Foundation.
Zuesse is identified by a wide range of descriptions. One has it that he is "is a cultural anthropologist, general systems theorist, economist, and investigative journalist." Others (here and here) describe him as an "investigative historian". I haven't been able to find sources that clearly identify his educational background and career. However his web posts on a variety of highly selective websites testify to his competence in uncovering "the truths that contradict Big Brother's lies".
This article, which supplies via links to other excellent articles and documents which, in turn, contain other links, etc., provides a mother lode of information about "truths that contradict Big Brother's lies". (One such important link brought me to a Wikipedia post that documents the efforts by powerful organizations and people who use Wikipedia to pass on self-serving information--documenting what I've often suspected.) I have studied the article for the past three hours and have only scratched the surface. It is well worth studying and saving for future reference.
Having said that, I also have some criticisms to offer. One criticism is the same as I've offered several times before: his use of the term "aristocracy". The term refers accurately to ruling classes that governed under the system of feudalism, but he uses it to inaccurately refer to contemporary ruling classes who govern under the system of capitalism. (The term is accurate when he refers to the Saudi ruling class which is ruled under a feudal system.)
Another criticism is that he makes the allegation that "the Sauds financed the 9/11 attacks in the United States ....". (Although in my perusal this morning I didn't find conclusive evidence that backed this up. He certainly did supply a lot of evidence indicating that the Saudis have been providing financing for many terrorist organizations and activities.)
Based on these two criticisms, I have formed an hypothesis for you to consider. I think that the two criticisms illustrate what I have often argued in previous post commentaries: that members of the highly educated upper middle class have been co-opted to serve the ruling class or have been so intimidated that they will not cross certain "red lines". This rests on the assumption that Eric Zuesse is a member of this class. Identifying people by class is always a bit problematic, and this is especially so with Zuesse about whom so little is known--maybe deliberately so. But his writings clearly illustrate that he is highly educated, or the worst thought of all: he is backed by a propaganda group that provides much of his material.
Regarding the first criticism, I think he uses the term "aristocracy" to deflect any identification of the real system that is clearly dominant throughout the world--capitalism.
The second criticism suggests that the Saudis are responsible for 9/11! This deflects attention away from any US agents shaping the events that led up to 9/11 to promote a project of the capitalist US ruling class in collusion with their Zionist allies (both within the ruling class and abroad): a dramatic terrorist event that would incite the American public to support much more militarily aggressive foreign policies. The 9/11 event supplied the "Peal Harbor" event that was referred to in the 2000 paper "Rebuilding America's Defenses" produced by the Zionist-inspired Project for the New American Century, a major "think" tank of the ruling class.
It must be recognized that criticism by major intellectuals against US foreign policies are tolerated as acceptable by the ruling class within certain limits. The "red lines" are any criticism of the system of capitalism and any important revelations about the many nefarious activities of the ruling class's secret services such as the CIA, NSA, etc, and the rest of their Deep State ("think tanks" where real policies are formed). The limits are broader for academics who tend to publish their articles in obscure journals only read by other academics. Increasingly we are seeing a few brave academics publishing their articles on alternative websites, of which this post is an example. However, they often betray their cautiousness about offending the ruling capitalist class with tricks such as Zuesse apparently uses.
Perhaps the most valuable contribution given by this article is that he does provide solid reasons for the "US government’s secret hatred of Europeans", and I think this sheds important light on what is currently happening not only in Europe, but in other parts of the world.
Zuesse is identified by a wide range of descriptions. One has it that he is "is a cultural anthropologist, general systems theorist, economist, and investigative journalist." Others (here and here) describe him as an "investigative historian". I haven't been able to find sources that clearly identify his educational background and career. However his web posts on a variety of highly selective websites testify to his competence in uncovering "the truths that contradict Big Brother's lies".
This article, which supplies via links to other excellent articles and documents which, in turn, contain other links, etc., provides a mother lode of information about "truths that contradict Big Brother's lies". (One such important link brought me to a Wikipedia post that documents the efforts by powerful organizations and people who use Wikipedia to pass on self-serving information--documenting what I've often suspected.) I have studied the article for the past three hours and have only scratched the surface. It is well worth studying and saving for future reference.
Having said that, I also have some criticisms to offer. One criticism is the same as I've offered several times before: his use of the term "aristocracy". The term refers accurately to ruling classes that governed under the system of feudalism, but he uses it to inaccurately refer to contemporary ruling classes who govern under the system of capitalism. (The term is accurate when he refers to the Saudi ruling class which is ruled under a feudal system.)
Another criticism is that he makes the allegation that "the Sauds financed the 9/11 attacks in the United States ....". (Although in my perusal this morning I didn't find conclusive evidence that backed this up. He certainly did supply a lot of evidence indicating that the Saudis have been providing financing for many terrorist organizations and activities.)
Based on these two criticisms, I have formed an hypothesis for you to consider. I think that the two criticisms illustrate what I have often argued in previous post commentaries: that members of the highly educated upper middle class have been co-opted to serve the ruling class or have been so intimidated that they will not cross certain "red lines". This rests on the assumption that Eric Zuesse is a member of this class. Identifying people by class is always a bit problematic, and this is especially so with Zuesse about whom so little is known--maybe deliberately so. But his writings clearly illustrate that he is highly educated, or the worst thought of all: he is backed by a propaganda group that provides much of his material.
Regarding the first criticism, I think he uses the term "aristocracy" to deflect any identification of the real system that is clearly dominant throughout the world--capitalism.
The second criticism suggests that the Saudis are responsible for 9/11! This deflects attention away from any US agents shaping the events that led up to 9/11 to promote a project of the capitalist US ruling class in collusion with their Zionist allies (both within the ruling class and abroad): a dramatic terrorist event that would incite the American public to support much more militarily aggressive foreign policies. The 9/11 event supplied the "Peal Harbor" event that was referred to in the 2000 paper "Rebuilding America's Defenses" produced by the Zionist-inspired Project for the New American Century, a major "think" tank of the ruling class.
It must be recognized that criticism by major intellectuals against US foreign policies are tolerated as acceptable by the ruling class within certain limits. The "red lines" are any criticism of the system of capitalism and any important revelations about the many nefarious activities of the ruling class's secret services such as the CIA, NSA, etc, and the rest of their Deep State ("think tanks" where real policies are formed). The limits are broader for academics who tend to publish their articles in obscure journals only read by other academics. Increasingly we are seeing a few brave academics publishing their articles on alternative websites, of which this post is an example. However, they often betray their cautiousness about offending the ruling capitalist class with tricks such as Zuesse apparently uses.
Perhaps the most valuable contribution given by this article is that he does provide solid reasons for the "US government’s secret hatred of Europeans", and I think this sheds important light on what is currently happening not only in Europe, but in other parts of the world.
Wednesday, June 21, 2017
On the Arrest of Two US Citizens in the DPRK and the Release of One
Click here to access article by Konstantin Asmolov from New Eastern Outlook.
Dr. Asmolov, a Russian historian, offers a different view of two US citizens that were arrested and incarcerated in the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK). He provides many details missing from the obvious propaganda pieces published by the Empire's media corporations. Finally he concludes the article with this statement:
Dr. Asmolov, a Russian historian, offers a different view of two US citizens that were arrested and incarcerated in the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK). He provides many details missing from the obvious propaganda pieces published by the Empire's media corporations. Finally he concludes the article with this statement:
... no matter what North Korea does, with a certain skill, it can be turned into an illustration of how the DPRK is a country of total horror. The fanning of the story of the “medical experiments on prisoners” reinforces the idea that the DPRK is a country ruled by a cruel and irrational regime from which one can expect virtually anything, and, accordingly, adds fuel to the beliefs of those who think that a “preemptive” military operation against such a regime is not only morally just, but also strategically apt.
John Pilger, Vanessa Beeley on Sputnik with Neil Clark – The Age of Media Mass Deception
Click here if you wish to access the interviews on RT/Sputnik's Neil Clark's show directly from The Wall Will Fall. (I'm posting this from Vanessa Beely's The Wall Will Fall website because it adds additional material and does a better job of framing the issue of corporate media as fake news.)
Because Western media corporations blacklist journalists that report news and views that conflict with the Empire's propaganda, many dedicated independent journalists and news analysts are using RT's vast media facilities as the only way to reach large audiences. True, their reporting and observations appear on other small websites including their own; but to reach worldwide audiences, these two outstanding journalists chose to use RT's facilities.
Because Western media corporations blacklist journalists that report news and views that conflict with the Empire's propaganda, many dedicated independent journalists and news analysts are using RT's vast media facilities as the only way to reach large audiences. True, their reporting and observations appear on other small websites including their own; but to reach worldwide audiences, these two outstanding journalists chose to use RT's facilities.
“The times we live in are so dangerous and so distorted in public perception that propaganda is no longer, as Edward Bernays called it, an “invisible government”. It is the government. It rules directly without fear of contradiction and its principal aim is the conquest of us: our sense of the world, our ability to separate truth from lies. The information age is actually a media age. We have war by media; censorship by media; demonology by media; retribution by media; diversion by media – a surreal assembly line of obedient clichĂ©s and false assumptions.” ~ John Pilger
20th June 2017
RT/SPUTNIK
He has been defying the Establishment gatekeepers and telling us the truth about what’s really going on in the world for over 50 years. He has covered wars around the world from Vietnam to Iraq, and is also an award-winning documentary filmmaker. For many, John Pilger is the journalists’ journalist, and he came into the Sputnik studio to give us his thoughts on the state of the press today.
And, US-led airstrikes on Raqqa have, as the UN observed, led to a ‘staggering loss of civilian life.‘ The US-led coalition has also admitted to using white phosphorus, but the media reaction in the West has been muted, to say the least. It’s all a far cry from the headlines when Syrian forces – with Russian support – were trying to liberate Aleppo in December. Vanessa Beeley has reported from Syria during the current conflict many times, so we invited her into the studio to discuss these glaring double standards in the m
Tuesday, June 20, 2017
Half of World Could See Deadly Heat Waves By 2100
Click here to access article by Andrea Thompson from Climate Central.
Even with drastic cuts to the emissions of greenhouse gases that are driving up Earth’s temperature, more than half of the world’s population could be exposed to deadly heat waves by century’s end.
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