American Conservative Sleepwalkers wading into the dark South China Sea

LDNR authorities have identified the chemical substances US PMCs have brought to the cities of Mariupol, Krasnyi Liman and Avdeevka: botulinum toxin and dibenzoxazepine.  These chemical weapon were brought over from the USA by USAF contracted aircraft and are now deployed by 120 US mercenaries.

-False flag aborted in the Ukraine.

Jabber, jabber, jabber from the war-mongers in America about China and Russia. These people are deranged lunatics. And they are somehow delirious believing their invincibility and superiority. They have funded an enormous war machine, and they are pushing, pushing, and pushing towards WAR!

Just this week Congress passed a $7 billion dollar anti-China propaganda campaign to villainize China and to prevent Chinese news from ever reaching America. To put this in perspective, the 2020 budget of NASA is $20 billion dollars. So it’s roughly one third of the entire space budget of America. That’s how serious the USA is determined to garner the population on a war-footing.

Why bother? Americans already consider China the enemy. video 5MB

Fools.

Here’s an interesting discussion in the American Conservative circles discussing a war with China. It’s illuminating. Not only on the points of view being bantered about, but the lack of understanding on the true realities, and the absolutely horrific consequences involved.

Read and be enlightened.

Top American conservatives including AT’s David Goldman recently debated the risks of preparing for war with China

by David P. Goldman November 3, 2021

Whether the United States should prepare for war with China – and thereby make war almost inevitable – was the matter of a verbal brawl at one of the largest gatherings of American conservatives, the National Conservatism Conference in Orlando, Florida, from October 31 to November 2.

The same debate is ongoing in American opinion journals, where the war party is represented by the neo-conservatives of the American Enterprise Institute – Hal Brands, Dan Blumenthal, Gary Schmitt and Michael Mazza – and former National Security Adviser John Bolton.

I was a participant in the debate.

It would have been unseemly to have a polite exchange in a hotel ballroom a few miles from Disney World about the desirability of killing millions of people in a nuclear exchange.

So I wasn’t polite.

Although the arguments on both sides are well known, the Orlando debate merited publication of a lengthy edited transcript, for two reasons.

First, the exchange between former Trump adviser and war-hawk Michael Pillsbury on one side, and former Trump National Security Council official Michael Anton and this writer on the other, set the issues in poignant relief.

Second, the audience of conservative activists, the opinion and organizational leaders of the Republican Party, repudiated the war party by a margin of about three to one, by my informal poll of the audience.

Of the informal guess-timation of participants;

75% of the Conservative opposed a war with China.
25% of the Conservatives were neocons in favor of a war with China.

The American right doesn’t want war with China.

That doesn’t mean war won’t come. Christopher Clark’s magisterial account of the outbreak of World War I, The Sleepwalkers, recounts the intellectual corruption and grandiose irresponsibility of the statesmen who stumbled into World War I.

It’s an old story: If one side mobilizes, the other has to mobilize or be defenseless; if one side believes the other is likely to mobilize, it must do so first. Clark proved – contrary to the usual Anglophile account – that it was the Russian mobilization, urged by the French, that started the war.

By the same token, if the United States attempts to force the issue of Taiwan’s independence, China will pre-empt this by seizing the island. If the United States takes military measures – stationing troops on the island, mining the Taiwan Straits – China will have to consider pre-emptive action.

It’s August 1914 all over again, played as farce rather than tragedy. The European powers had existential interests to defend; the United States has nothing to lose but the perception that it can project its power anywhere in the world, including China’s coasts.

The American military wasted US$6 trillion and thousands of lives in misguided nation-building campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, while China built up a massive high-tech defense in and around its coasts.

This weakened America’s strategic position decisively.

The blunderers who vitiated America’s defense will risk war simply to save their reputations. The war hawks have shown scant interest in rising to China’s technological ambition, which presents a real challenge to America’s leading position in the world.

But they will roll the dice on war over issues that do not bear directly on American security.

America is in NO STATE to take on a war against the combined forces of Russia and China.

Compared to them, the sleepwalkers of 1914 were exemplars of enlightened statesmanship.

Transcript

There follows my edit of the transcript of the conference session on China. I have included all the points of substance, leaving out the ancillary discussion in the interest of space.

Video of the event will be available at the conference website.

Pillsbury: The Hundred-Year Marathon [Pillsbury’s best-selling book] was translated by the Chinese military. No royalties, but they had a little ceremony for me. They make fun of Biden. They say Biden is plagiarizing, it’s the Trump administration policy.

Trump loves to say, if Hillary Clinton had won the election, China would be surpassing us now. But it’s not going to happen on my watch. If you’re close watchers of Joe Biden’s TV interviews, four months ago, he said the exact same words.

China wants to surpass us, but it’s not going to happen on my watch. The Chinese reaction to that is to laugh. Because they don’t expect it to come that soon. But when they do surpass us, I think the level of arrogance they showed today is going to be something that we wish for.

When they do believe that they’re superior to us in a number of ways. We will wish that it was 1947 when the Soviet Cold War began, and we did was, we created the CIA by legislation. We created the Defense Department. We created the National Security Council.

There’s not a single new institution in our government to deal with China. I think there should be.

Goldman: We will spend these next few days complaining about how terrible things are. I hear very little discussion of what we need to do about it. My argument is very simple. We’ve done it before. We did it during the Reagan administration. We did it during the Kennedy administration, we did it under Franklin Roosevelt.

We need to rebuild the American economy and we can only do that with a visionary strategy that galvanizes the imagination of Americans like the Kennedy moon-shot, the Reagan SDI.

The numbers show that the Trump policy towards China was a catastrophic failure. We’re importing now more than 30% more from China than we did in January 2018, when Trump imposed tariffs.

And as for technology suppression?

China’s built 70% of the world’s 5G networks and is proceeding to build the applications on top of that, which constitute the Fourth Industrial Revolution. We can do better than China. We’re better equipped to innovate than China.

But we’re not because we’re crushed by a technocratic elite which has sucked the marrow out of the United States economy and generated enormous wealth doing things that, for the most part, harm us. Nothing short of an intervention by the federal government, namely an industrial policy, will turn that around.

That’s not a classically liberal view of things. Industrial policies are dangerous. They lead to rent-seeking behavior, corruption and too much state power. But that’s what you do in a war, and we’ve got the economic equivalent of a war going on.

The thing that worries me the most is the knuckleheads who spent $6 trillion on forever wars and gutted our military by frittering away our resources. If we’d spent a 10th of that on high-tech weaponry, we wouldn’t be worrying about China’s hyper-velocity missiles or anything else like that.

They will steer us into a confrontation with China that will lead to a war that nobody can win.

John Bolton is the most dangerous lunatic roaming the streets of the United States right now.

If you try to force the independence of Taiwan, any Chinese government that wants to rule China will use military action, Communist or not.

The Chinese Communist Party is Communist the same way the mafia is Catholic. They take it very seriously. But it has very little practical importance for running a Chinese empire. You have to suppress rebel provinces. The only thing we can do with Taiwan is to maintain strategic ambiguity, raise the price of the Chinese taking it by force, which we have no means to stop at this point short of a nuclear war.

We should dissuade them from doing it, maintain Taiwanese democracy and walk the fine line.

John Bolton (on the other hand) would call the question, and that gets a lot of people killed.

If you don’t believe me, read Admiral Stavridis’ marvelous thriller 2034. Spoiler alert: We blow up a bunch of their cities. They blow up a bunch of our cities and we’re back to square one.

Now let me talk about the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which is what’s really critical here. Wars are not won by stealing data, they are not won by spies, they are won by logistics in depth and the willingness to prevail. The first industrial revolution began when James Watt sold his first commercial steam engine in 1776.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution began when China responded to the Covid-19 pandemic by using artificial intelligence applied to massive data sets to predict potential outbreaks. They are now proceeding to roll out the technologies associated with this. This is the real science fiction stuff we’re talking about – 5G permitting groups of industrial robots to communicate on the shop floor and program themselves.

Smart logistics allow individual objects to be tracked from mine to factory to warehouse to ship back to warehouse to truck loaded onto autonomous vehicles and controlled all the way. It allows AI servers to optimize urban traffic and match every passenger and package to a conveyance.

It allows sensors at the base of soybean plants to communicate with drones that deliver fertilizer and pesticides and direct autonomous tractors to harvest them. We’re talking about an explosion of productivity like that of the first and second industrial revolutions.

The main thing the Chinese stole from us was the great idea of the Reagan Revolution that you can have dual-use technologies, which both give you button guns and butter. They foster civilian productivity. They pay for themselves 10 times over, just like the Apollo program did, just like the Strategic Defense Initiative did.

Every single invention of the digital age. No exceptions started with the DARPA project. They were all funded by the Department of Defense.

The Chinese have stolen the American approach. They want to be Reagan in the Cold War against the sclerotic Soviet Union. Now, they’re not as good at it as we are.

My argument is we have nothing to learn; we only need to remember. We know all these things because we’ve done every single one of them.

We only have to dust off the old ideas and get the band back together, and what I put to you is that the conservative movement needs a part of a positive program, a set of solutions to galvanize the American people, capture their imagination, as Kennedy did when he pointed to the Moon, as Reagan did when he promised to defend the homeland against enemy ballistic missiles.

We need a positive view. We need a can-do approach, and we need to found it on the proven track record of the United States of America in pioneering the future for the world.

Anton: I’m just going to go through a couple of historical points to put this in context. In 1842, the Chinese ceded Hong Kong island to the British in perpetuity – in perpetuity. The Chinese regime at the time of Imperial China greatly resented it. And that resentment carried over through Republican China to Communist China, National, etc.

Why is this important?

This is something that was a thorn in the side of the succession of China as a civilization, not of one regime, not of the communist regime of China for 150 years. It bothered them very greatly. They look forward to the day when they could get it back. They were patient and they got it back.

Without conflict, without much of a struggle, with just some gnashing of teeth and hair, pulling and sighing and crying by the British, but they got it back.

A couple of quotes.

“To win without fighting is best.”

Some of you may remember recognize this.

The second one is:

“To destroy the enemy is not the acme of skill; to capture what you want from the enemy, whether that’s a city, a fortress, a ship, an army, that is the acme of skill.”

Those are both from Sun Tzu, a Chinese classic written about 200 BC. This very well encapsulates the Chinese strategy, I would say, with regard to Hong Kong and with regard to Taiwan.

Taiwan is a similar thorn in the psyche of China.

This would be the case, no matter what the regime in Beijing were. It could be, you know, the neocons’ fantasy of a liberal democratic China, and they would still really care about getting Taiwan back. It’s central to the regime’s conception of its territorial national integrity…

One very firm demand of the Chinese government on the international community is Taiwan can never be a full member of an international organization for which statehood is a member and as a requirement, and they make it very plain that they’ll go to war over that.

They’re very, very clear about this.

An Article five guarantee in the NATO charter, for instance, that is a treaty requirement that the United States has got to go to a nuclear war in defense of a place. [Our agreement with Taiwan] is a commitment of sorts. The full extent of it and what it legally obligates us to do is a bit ambiguous compared to an actual mutual defense treaty signed by both sides.

This comes up a lot, especially lately, because we are told constantly that crisis is brewing in the Taiwan Straits.

China’s been patient.

Patience may be running out.

Maybe they’ll try to do something soon.

What we’ve seen now is a pretty dramatic shift toward I still have a bipartisan consensus on China, but now it’s a bipartisan consensus to sort of beat up on them rhetorically not to take any actual action as far as I can see, except some of the things we talked about.

But what, where that rhetoric leads is, you know, we’re obligated to do something about Taiwan and it would be a stain on the national honor and so on and so forth.

And so if something happens, we’ve got to get into a fight.

China’s preference is still to take Taiwan without fighting for it. Time is on their side. Some are saying, some people who claim to know, are saying, Oh no, no, they’re getting impatient and they’re going to … they’re going to do something shortly.

I just have no basis to evaluate that.

But based on historical precedent, I think the Chinese would certainly like to do exactly what they did with regard to Hong Kong, tipped the balance of strategic power, economic power, political power so much against the possibility of continued Taiwanese independence that public opinion in Taiwan comes to accept the notion that we just have to make the best deal we can make.

And then you win without fighting.

You know, a nation of 24 million can only have so big a military and especially against a nation of 1.4 billion … China’s been building up [its military] for decades. The Taiwan-American combination has not caught up either in terms of sheer numbers and certainly not in terms of technology.

So that’s a way of winning without fighting if you have two or three decades to build up so much force on one side that the other side just looks at it and goes, “I can’t win that fight,” then the fight doesn’t happen unless the other side is delusional or crazy brave.

And the last point I will raise, I just want you to think about this.

I’ll tell you the last time a United States aircraft carrier was sunk. It was the battle of Midway, the USS Yorktown, June of 1942. Actually, we did lose an aircraft carrier last year, not a fleet carrier, a smaller carrier, you know why?

Because it burned in San Diego Harbor and the navy couldn’t figure out how to put out the fire.

And they had to scrap the ship, the USS Bonhomme Richard. Look it up.

The navy crashed four ships in 2017. Read the official reports from the Department of the Navy and the Congressional investigations on those crashes. They were marvels of esoteric writing to try to dodge the cause of what happened, while somehow revealing it between the lines.

If you’re Taiwan and you’re counting on the United States to defend you, what conclusion did you draw from Afghanistan this summer? Did you get the conclusion that here is a great power that knows what it’s doing, that keeps its promises, and that can execute the things that it wants to do?

American military flee Afghanistan just like they fled Vietnam.

Plausibly, if not certainly, the Chinese have had an ability to sink a fleet carrier for the last decade.

And now… ask yourself how the nation would take it.

Right now, there seems to be a massive amount of group think. We’re only allowed to think about this one way. Only one way.

Nobody is allowed to bring up any of the counterfactuals or any, you know, any other outlying considerations.

And when policy is made on that basis, horrible blunders and catastrophes result.

So before the United States commits itself to some policy or before we, whoever we broadly understood as being in this room are right of center conservatives, intellectuals, nationalists want the best for our country, who want the best for our military, who want to maintain our alliance structure with credibility.

But before we commit ourselves to a policy, are we in this room?

Take a stand in favor of X or against Y and make recommendations that other people may read and listen to.

We should be at least thinking about all of these considerations and, in my view, the conversation as it has. I don’t mean this conversation. I mean, the broad conversation on Taiwan has taken insufficient account of the things that I mentioned and others.

Goldman: The most important fact about any country is its people. Taiwan, according to the CIA World Factbook, has the lowest birth rate of any political entity in the world … China does have a demographic crisis, but Japan, South Korea and especially Taiwan are much worse.

So if you simply. Kick the can down the road, maintain strategic ambiguity. What the Chinese will get if they eventually get Taiwan is a bunch of old people. It’s simply, in my view, not worth having a nuclear war over.

The ideal situation is to maintain the status quo as long as possible. Anything else means a war, and the possible loss of American cities. I ultimately don’t care about China. I care about the United States of America. I’m a nationalist and I want what’s best for us.

We can’t abandon Taiwan because it makes us look weak and we lose important economic advantages and leverage against China. We can’t force the issue and start a war.

The Chinese have hundreds of anti-ship missiles.

Michael Pillsbury and I have something in common. He for many years, and I briefly, worked for a great man at the Pentagon, Andrew Marshall, head of the Office of Net Assessment.

Andy told me in 2013 that the Chinese missiles could (and would) sink an American carrier.

Anton: I think the core answer, it is the best outcome is the status quo for as long as possible because any attempt to change the status quo will be worse than the status quo.

There are only two alternatives to the status quo.

One is Taiwanese independence. Well, Taiwanese independence will start a war. Taiwan becoming part of China would be net bad for us. Obviously, if it becomes a part of China through military action, that’s worse than if they just make a deal.

So for as long as the status quo can be maintained, that’s, unfortunately, the best possible scenario. And I just say unfortunately, because it’s an inherently unstable scenario, and it’s also by its very definition, it’s not permanent. The status quo isn’t going to last forever, so let’s stretch it out for as long as we can, and that’s unfortunately about the best we can do.

Pillsbury: President Trump once asked me, How did we used to defend Taiwan? He saw me as the in-house historian who knew all this ancient stuff. Nobody else in the room knew.

So I finally spoke up.

We used to have atom bombs there. We used to have them attached to jet fighters ready to go to hit the mainland with the Chinese made sure that Kissinger took them out in ’74. We used to have a treaty with a garrison and 30,000 troops and a war planning unit underground in Taipei.

Now it’s an art center and a Mongolian barbecue restaurant …

So what do the paranoid group in charge today say when they hear someone like Michael Anton say, oh, we can’t get it in a war, you know, they think that this is American deception.

Of course, the Americans are going to get into a war, which is why they’ve been increasing the deployments and we are moving closer to a nuclear war with China.

It’s not just me saying this, quite a few other people inside the government are saying this as well.

The head of our strategic command in charge of all our nuclear forces, he’s given two interviews. He says the Chinese are engaging in a strategic breakout of their nuclear weapons, including ICBMs, which they are doubling or tripling.

This is the four-star admiral who commands our nuclear forces.

Quite a few other people are talking this way – very different from Michael Anton. They’re more like Churchill. Bill Buckley, the long tradition of Americans like Barry Goldwater …

So I’m going to have to go home to Washington.

So yes, I went to the conservatism conference. A bunch of the people there on the panel said surrender Taiwan. We don’t want to go to war with China. That’s appeasement. Michael and I should clarify his remarks in my humble opinion.

Anton: If they can sink an aircraft carrier and if the only way to stop an invasion of Taiwan is to deploy the forward-deployed aircraft carrier…

…and Yokosuka…

and maybe send one or two others out there, which as far as I know, is the only way for the United States to effectively defend the island if the Chinese decide to invade it and they sink one of these 12 to 14 billion dollar behemoths with 6,500 men on board.

What’s the US response going to be at that point?

Pillsbury: Well, we could turn to you and say, I surrender.

Anton: What would you do if you were either the secretary of defense, the president, the head of a Pacific Command and sitting there in Pearl Harbor?

Pillsbury: I’ve been working on this for 30 years. More recently, the US has gotten a much more detailed picture of what it could do.

Exactly which targets inside China could be struck.

What would happen the first morning?

…

New York “concrete jungle” cleared of the underbrush.

More and more work is being done on both sides about how a war would happen and both the Chinese and American military have come to a conclusion.

It would be a long war.

Okay, maybe two or three years – I haven’t read.

There’s a brand new book by the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense in the Pentagon under Trump [Elbridge Colby’s The Strategy of Denial, featured in a June 2021 Asia Times webinar].

There’s a whole chapter on how to recapture Taiwan after it’s been partially taken by the Chinese military.

This is the state of the art thinking.

There’s a new piece of legislation, the Taiwan Defense Act … They say, please, Pentagon, give us a plan for how to avoid a fait accompli taking place on Taiwan. The Pentagon is drafting their response.

We’re moving closer to a war.

It doesn’t help for you to tell conservatives, oh, if we lose an aircraft carrier, what are we going to do then? What would Winston Churchill say?

Goldman: What, Winston Churchill? Just before the fall of Singapore in 1942, according to Andrew Roberts, Winston Churchill said in the event of war “the Japanese would fold up like the Italians because there were the wops of the Far East.”

Winston Churchill, when it came to Asia, was an absolute idiot, and we bailed him out. He was as stupid as Nicholas II who lost the Russian fleet at Tsushima [in 1905].

Bridge Colby has been a dear friend for 20 years who is now hallucinating about what the United States might do to take Taiwan back.

This is crazy.

Anton: Following the logic of what you said – because I haven’t read whatever STRATCOM put out – I have read certain analyses: not even analysis. There’s speculations that the Chinese are increasing the size of the nuclear arsenal in this underground network of tunnels that we can’t follow and so on.

The official estimate that we have some confidence in is that the Chinese nuclear arsenal is at least 300 warheads, right?

None of which have to be air-dropped anymore.

That means all [delivered by] ~~ICBM~~ hyper-velocity AI-guided missiles. And if you read their doctrine, unlike ours, they formally take a doctrine of minimal deterrence.

That is to say, they have no kind of nuclear warfighting doctrine at all.

They just have city killers.

And if they feel that the territorial integrity of China or the survival of the state is at stake, they’re willing to use those 300 missiles or some portion of them on American cities. The largest 300 American cities would be blasted into radioactive rubble.

The largest surviving American city would be New Bedford, Massachusetts. With it's five gas stations, and two strip malls. -MM

In fact, once as I’m sure you remember in the far-off year of 1996 on one of the more tense moments in the Taiwan Strait, a Chinese general was quoted as saying, “I don’t think the Americans will do anything at the end of the day. They won’t want to trade Los Angeles for Taipei.”

Their nuclear arsenal is now triple what it was.

And they’re going on a more offensive posture with nuclear weapons and this thing ends up going to nuclear war.

How that fits into the seeming “recommendation” you just gave, I have to admit, being somewhat dim, I don’t see because it would seem to make the danger greater.

And I also would ask: What do you think the American people’s response to losing a fleet carrier would be?

My own estimate is it would be the greatest psychological shock we’ve had in a generation, arguably greater than 9/11.

Unquestionably, getting one single city nuked would be the greatest psychological shock the American nation has ever had in its history.

So how do we deal with something like that, given that Taiwan is orders of magnitude more important to China, and they’re willing to do that over this, as they have said, than it is to us?

From a Chinese point of view, Taiwan is like the US "Statue of Liberty". Destroy it and the Chinese would sacrifice their first born in revenge.

From an American point of view Taiwan is a news item that fits in the bottom of a news feed. Nestled somewhere between a Viagra ad and a cute cat video. -MM

Well, I’m going to be the dove here and say that it’s possible to avoid a nuclear war, whether it be over Taiwan or any other place.

I’d kind of prefer to do that.

If that makes me an outlier, I’m at least I’m in good company with that other famous nuclear dove named Ronald Reagan.

Goldman: [to the audience] Who volunteers to be in the first city that gets nuked? Any takers?

Pillsbury: One wonderful book shocked the hell out of me. It came out of the Hoover Institution 1962. It’s called Wall Street and Hitler. It’s by a professor who went through the Nuremberg war trials after the war.

I didn’t know Henry Ford’s photo was in Hitler’s office.
I didn’t know the Nazis gave prizes to different American businessmen.
I didn’t know that the Nazis knew they lacked synthetic oil production and that they got the technology from America.

It’s a long book and it goes to in great detail what Wall Street was willing to do even as late as 1938-1939. We had a huge debate about getting involved in Europe … A big group in our country in ’38, ’39 wanted to surrender to Hitler – for lack of a better word; surrender.

Anton: What are they trying to do? I mean, the Soviet Union had to be contained because the Soviet Union was very explicitly an expansionist power.

We know the Chinese would like to expand and take Taiwan.

I’m not aware of the Chinese wanting to expand and take other people’s territory.

They want to exert dominance in East Asia and in the western Pacific, and some of that dominance they will exert in ways that will be deleterious to American interests.

That’s irrespective of our ability to be able to prevent and stop that. But I think there are certain things we could probably be doing better that could push back against some of those influences. But it’s not as if unless, you know, Michael Pillsbury could tell me differently.

Like the Chinese after Taiwan, they’re going to invade South Korea and they’re going to invade Japan, and then they’re going to invade Vietnam.

I don’t know. I don’t get the sense of that from them, nor in the sources that I read. Granted, I can’t read Mandarin. They don’t say that they want to do that.

Pillsbury: Specifically, specifically on Japan and in India … the Chinese think this is part of the key.

They hope the Americans don’t do it.

The Japanese stick to 1% of their GDP on defense, which is very, very low. Maybe that will double to 2% over the coming years.

That’s an alarm sign to the Chinese.

The Indians want to. They’re fiercely independent. The British poured poison in their ears as they left that the Americans are going to be a new colonial power.

You know, we don’t have a treaty with them. So we’ve got a long way with the Indians. We have quite a few military exercises … So slowly, we’re improving our military cooperation with India, other countries in the region.

Trump picked up the idea of the Quad as a magic word. Japanese say they invented it. Biden attacked Trump. You don’t, you know, you’re not seeking help from our allies. I think it was not true.

But the Quad, even under Biden, is starting to increase its consultations, mainly about China. So things are moving in the direction of your question.

Some videos describing what is not being said

It’s like a discussion over tea and crackers. Oh “Taiwan is sort of important to the Chinese, well we can convince them…” In your fucking wet dreams. The Chinese no longer has any tolerance for the United States BULLSHIT. Just like Putin has. These jackasses have no idea who they are dealing with.

I am gonna show you all.

History

Burned into the minds and soul of China. If you all think that China will allow an invasion by any one for any reason, you are very, VERY mistaken. They will rip apart your cities, gut your nations, and then burn it to the ground. They are a serious nation that does not play games.

Atrocities by the Japanese occupation forces 1937. video 6MB

Actual photos, actual sound recordings. Nasty shit. video 11MB

Atrocities by the Japanese inflicted on the Chinese. video 20MB

The Chinese are not individualists. they fight for their community! video 6MB

Defense of Shanghai. video 10MB

Chinese in the Korean war. Video 11MB

Modern Chinese Military

Serious. Dangerous. Well equipped. Superbly trained. video 3MB

Very dangerous. Not a music video. look at the equipment. video 6MB

You all think that American military can airlift and sea transport forces into Chinese waters safely to fight this formidable army? video 3MB

Reread the dialog

They are talking about a “long drawn out war” with China.

What would actually happen?

The moment a war starts, the USA GDP will fall to under 50% of what it is now. And that is just if there is another “regional police action”. Not a full-borne war. A full on war, would collapse the GDP to a fraction of what it is now. Perhaps in the single digits. Think 2% to 6%.
As such, inflation would skyrocket, and the value of the USD would approach zero. Think $25,000 for a can of Pepsi. That’s pretty pricy even for you Pepsi lovers out there.
99% of all medicines used in the United States come from China. How is America going to deal with providing hospitals medications, and supplies? That means ZERO MEDICINE. When a full 65% of the American population is on some kind of medicine, and you take that away… whether pain medicine, anti-depression medicine, heart or high blood pressure medicine, anti-biotics, aspirin, tums stomach medicine… what will happen? My guess is “Zombie apocalypse”.
How are the people going to react to all this? Bare store shelves? Insane prices for gas and heating oil? Electricity? And periodic internet if any? They will be very frustrated, angry and fearful. And they all will have lots and lots of guns…
America is a mess domestically. You cannot isolate the long drawn out fighting and overlook how it will affect the domestic population.

America is a mess domestically. video 3MB

And…

Any war with China is a war against Russia and China together. There is no fucking way that America is able to fight TWO (x2) above-peer military forces, let alone one. The result would be the destruction of ALL 13 core aircraft carriers, all major naval bases and staging locations.
How will the American public react to that.
And knowing so…

Conclusion

…America would “push the big red nuclear button”. But it would be too late. American cites would already be rubble.

Funny how NO ONE is addressing this very clear and always present danger. My guess is that they are all collectively idiots of the lowest caliber. And I am being generous.

Consider this memo to all the employees at McDonald’s.

Do you want more?

You can find more articles related to this in my latest index; A New Beginning. And in it are elements of the old, some elements regarding the transition, and some elements that look towards the future.

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A time to morn the lost buildings of the world

When I lived in Massachusetts, I noticed just how different it was from either New York, or Pennsylvania. Massachusetts had bigger homes… huge multi-generational homes. It had large beautiful cemeteries… not the spare plot of earth where you would toss the diseased into like the state of Indiana, and it had statues, and carvings, and character.

After learning about local history, and lore, I came to the realization that the people who lived in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and similar adjacent states all were founded by people who cared about their environment and their society.

And in many ways, that still exists in Massachusetts.

In those days, people would have picnics in cemeteries. (When was the last time you and your family had a picnic in a cemetery?) And went out for a stroll down the roads and lanes near your house at twilight? They, the people who lived there, designed the environment to be one that was aesthetically and socially appealing. Large lush and deep dark shady trees adorned the roads. Mailboxes, fences, and stairways were designed for beauty and appearance. Instead of the raw brutalist minimalism that had corrupted America since the psychopathic oligarchy took control in 1910.

Back in the day, say after the American Civil War, paintings depicted real art; real beauty. Buildings showed elements of interest and were designed for multi-generational families, and monies were allocated to those purposes. Parks were constantly created, maintained, and expanded upon. Statues were erected, and monuments created.

“The Royal Opera House In Valletta, Malta (1911). Built In 1866, It Was Destroyed In World War II From A Direct Hit By Luftwaffe Bombers”

All of these things are currently happening in China today because the government recognizes that to have a happy citizenry, you must create a healthy and happy environment to live in.

These things are NOT happening in America because America has devolved into a two class society. The oligarchy class of the 0.0001% live in isolated communities and live lavish and exorbitant lives. While the rest serve them in a very stratified existence. From their point of view (the ruling class), as long as the serf-sheeple are content enough not to revolt, who needs to provide them a good and healthy environment to live in. Rather to milk them dry while they are distracted in various political battles, and foreign wars.

And that’s the way it is.

Today we are going to look at the loss of these beautiful buildings and structure. We will not focus on the American progressive movement, and the American rise of the psychopaths. But rather we will simply morn the loss of buildings and structures as “works of art” in their own way. I hope you enjoy this post.

“The Original Neue Elbbrücke Bridge From 1887-1959 In Hamburg, Germany”

When I lived in Indiana I saw outdoor ice skating rinks that had been turned into open air garbage dumps, public swimming pools that had been cemented in, statutes what had been torn down and now all that existed was a plot of land with a pedestal and a bunch of old tangle weeds.

I saw housing complexes going up in areas that was fenced off “for posterity so that others can enjoy the beauty of old growth forests”, and I saw housing developments bull-dosing beautiful meandering streams, brooks and low rolling hills.

I also saw a parking lot where an old local swimming hole used to exist.

When the society becomes that of a money grabbing venture by the most evil psychopaths in society, there is no room for anyone else, beauty, or society.

““It’s Not Possible To Take Such A Photograph Anymore, As The Buildings Outside Block The Sun Rays.” Grand Central, NYC (1929)”

Indiana was an eye-opening experience for me. I used to visit the local libraries and go into the local history section and research the area where I lived. So much history.

While today it is flat and filled with soy beans and corn fields as far as the eye can see.

he Knoxville, Tennessee, courthouse circa 1903. With signage advising “Keep Off the Grass,” “No Loafing,” “Drink Hickman’s Coffee” and “Chew Ram’s Horn Tobacco.”

But you know, back when the “white settlers” were moving Westward, the land was mostly wooded with large and expansive old-growth forests, fine babbling brooks and tall wide based trees covered in deep plush mosses.

Not today. Indiana is a farming state. It’s changed, but not every change is for the best.

“Lost And Rediscovered”

So there is some hope.

One of the things that I lament about China, but I never talk about, is how the old is all being displaced with the new. yeah. I like the new malls, the clean and efficient public works and all the rest. But I believe that some attention must be made to preserve the past.

“The Hotel Netherland (NYC) Photographed In 1905 And Later Demolished In 1927”

Surely, China is trying.

Tree are being planted, parks are being established everywhere, and there are local committees all over the place dedicated to preserving the past. Some ancient and historical sites are going under.

If not, then are being renewed in some “architectural improvements” for the best of society. You know, maybe the ruins have their own beauty, maybe?

“Built In 1504, Demolished In 1910. What Was The Oldest House In Hamburg, Germany”

California was a land of forests that were actually nothing more than “Christmas trees on gravel”, and if you all have ever been to CA, you will know what I am talking about. however, there is some serous history in Northern California near Chico and the areas near San Francisco. The entire Pacific North West is dotted with character, and you can see it in the movies “Labyrinth“, “First Blood (a Rambo movie)” and “The Goonies“. You can see that it resembles Pennsylvania is so many ways, that I automatically became attracted and attached to it.

“The Elisabeth Bridge Built In 1903 Budapest, Hungary. It Was The Longest Single-Span Bridge In The World At The Time And An Engineering Marvel. Following The Retreat Of German Forces From The City In Ww2, It Was Blown Up In The Morning Of January 18, 1945. Replaced In 1964 By A Modernist Bridge”

The local towns all have historical societies and their history is all very interesting. I particularly loved Auburn in this regard.

They had a museum, and in it was a full length ball-gown all made from a woman’s hair. I have never forgotten about it. I well remember going into the renovated Victorian style building and gawking at the dress while licking some frozen yogurt from TCBY. But that was on another world line and on this one people eat ice cream more than yogurt cones.

“Medieval Town Of Hildesheim, Lower Saxony, Germany. Once One Of The Most Picturesque And Pristine Late Medieval Towns In Europe. Destroyed On March 22nd, 1945, One Month Before The War’s End”

You know, when you are in a place, it is the environment that makes it special. The people, the smells, and the style of the local architecture all contribute to the ambience. It’s what makes events special.

I can relate to you special time that I have had singing with a girl on the pier in Salem Massachusetts after we had pizza and wine in a local restaurant (with red checkered tablecloths) and a candle in an old wine bottle. Or chilling out in the cemetery next to my university in Syracuse New York, or grabbing a hot dog in an obscure diner on a side alley in Philadelphia (maybe I should have gotten a Philly cheese steak sandwich).

The point is that if everything is nothing but white bland boxes or McMansions you miss out in life and special experiences that enhance the senses.

“Cincinnati Public Library 1871-1955”

When I lived in Indiana I was surprised how plain and sterile everything was. Restaurants, aside from well established chains were just empty rooms with the cheapest plastic chairs and the barest tables. The food was the cheapest to make and the most expensive to sell. Iced tea came in a huge tureen and provided sugarless without lemon, mint twig or orange, and provided in the a really bland way. It was like eating in a school or hospital cafeteria.

Seriously.

“The Saltair Pavilion 1900-1925”

People you all need to look at things from a aesthetic perspective; one of pleasure and beauty instead of just one of profit. Why are water holes from the last century filled in or cemented over? Because no one could profit from them? That’s fucking sick! Seriously. Your society is demented if it allows them to be destroyed simply become someone cannot profit from them.

Don’t understand. I task you. Go to the local historical society and research where all the old (free) water holes were. Get the locations on a map (easy to do int he library) and go search them look. Look at what they are like today.

Replaced with tiny little hands grasping and clutching at your wallet. This is not a society. It is a concentration slave camp.

“Warsaw, Poland 1939. No Need To Say What Happened Here. Truly A Tragic Loss”

And you know what is supremely frustrating to me? It’s that no one else notices. They just accept it as a “good thing” and as “progress”. They do not see that taking something that is free and turning it into something that someone can profit from is EVIL. They fail to see this.

They are the one’s with a head problem.

One hundred years ago homes were quite different. People lived in multi-generation homes. The grandparents, the uncles and aunties and their kids, and you and your family all lived int he same house. Each family had a suite of rooms which consisted of a bedroom or two, a living area, a bath and a kitchen and a porch.

They didn’t need to mow grass. They had the lawns planted in clover.

They didn’t have or need air conditioning. They had high ceilings with above the door transoms, and large spacious deep porches with swings, swing gliders and porch swings and big enormous thick trees that shaded the entire home form the relentless sun in the Summer.

Not today.

The design of homes is such that the owners NEED to purchase systems that they must pay for weekly or monthly to maintain a comfortable standard of living.

Now, of course, these homes are now considered to be mansions. After all they have multiple bedrooms, and living rooms, but really are they any different from McMansion’s?

In those days they didn’t have wall to wall carpeting. They had real hardwood floors. They didn’t have air conditioning. they used fans, and high vaulted ceilings to direct the hot air outward. They didn’t have refrigerators, they had cold cellars, and other systems that sound so primitive, but in all functionality work just as well today as they did back then.

A cold cellar would store vegetables and fruit for up to a week. So does a refrigerator. A high ceiling room can keep only slightly warmer than an air conditioned room set at 75 degrees F in the Summer. A house with windows open allows for the early morning and evening breezes to clean out the bad odors and smells that accumulate. Today we must use a selection of detergents to scrub the rooms to maintain a pleasant environment.

To live in the “old way” is to live cheaper, but only take a minor hit in benefit. Unless you like to keep your air conditioner set to freezing, there is no benefit in having a A/C unit unless you have enough disposable income to afford the monthly electrical bills.

And yeah. I get it. When the weather is super hot and humid, having an air conditioner does make all the difference. My point is this; how many days per year do you need to run it?

“The Late 3rd Century Tetrapylon Of Ancient Palmyra, Syria. Deliberately Destroyed By Isis, 2017”

If you have the money, and the ability, then go ahead use and have all the modern conveniences. I have, after all, spent many years designing these appliances. So it’s all up to you. But I want to underline that there is a very special characteristic of a home with a big wide porch and a nice sliding glider.

“Times Square (1919) Before All The Renovations And Billboards”

When I was 16 years old and working, one fine old lady came up to me and told me that her granddaughter really had a shine to me. She was 14 years old and the woman (Her name was “Auntie Gay”) arranged a date.

She had this big old Victorian home on one of the broad streets in East Brady, PA, and it was near the Captain Brady mansion. She invited me in, and made us some nice lemonade, and allowed us to drink it on the porch on a nice glider there. She left us alone, but we were not allowed off the porch. We were permitted to hold hands but when I tried to kiss her, the porch light went on.

I look back now. It was really charming.

“The Old Dutch House In Bristol, England. It Was Constructed In 1676 But Was Destroyed During The Bristol Blitz Of 1940 By The Luftwaffe”

She had this enormous kitchen with floor to ceiling cupboard that reached to the sky and two doors in it. One led to a pantry with was bigger than my bedroom (well, almost heh, heh) and another lead downstairs into the cold cellar. Where it was dark, damp, cool and gloomy. She had a thousand glass jars of all sorts of preserves and stored food there, as well as baskets of herbs and other items such as tree bark and Lord knows what.

“The Original Waldorf-Astoria Hotel In NYC, Demolished In 1929 To Serve As The Site For The Empire State Building”

The thing that I remember most about that house was the huge entryway. Once you existed the inner alcove and entered the house, you were in this large room, and in the middle of it was a circular table. Sitting in the middle of the table upon a lace table cloth was this wonderful Tiffany lamp. It was a beautiful work of art. I really admired it.

I have always admired the details in home and building design, and while I am a big fan of the Victorian style homes, I have to admit that I actually love those wonderful “Craftsman Houses” that become popular briefly before World War II.

These are truly works of art, and are quite adorable. Oh, to be a young boy growing up in either a Victorian or a Craftsman style home would have truly have been a wonderful experience. I can well imagine hanging out in a nook or two with my cat, and reading comic books while munching on a leftover chicken salad sandwich.

Such was my childhood dreams.

But I digress.

Why don’t we design buildings, parks, venues, environments for people to live in? Why does America seem to be nothing more than a bunch of hastily and cheaply produced boxes for people to rush from container one to container two? Why that’s exactly what it seems like. It really does.

“Bowhead House, Edinburgh, Scotland. Built In The Early 1500s, It Was Demolished In 1878. Many Locals Mourned The Loss, Having Regarded The House As One Of The Most Distinctive Relics Of The Old City”

To some people holding on to the old is a relic of the past, and to some degree I can actually see that. Change is how we grow. But that is not what I am talking about here. I am talking about taking things that work, things that are beautiful, things that make life pleasant and replacing them with the bland, the cheap, the simple and the ugly with no consideration what so ever to the people who live around those places.

it’s like the entire concept of American suburbia. It’s just a landscape of little boxes filled with little people doing little things.

“Sibley Breaker, Pennsylvania, Built In 1886 And Destroyed By Fire In 1906”

Here is some images of appreciation to the past.

Here are some thoughts and images that I have found that inspires me, and stirs the porridge in my soul. All credit to the wonderful and skilled architects and craftsmen who built these structures. And you too can enjoy them with me.

Detroit circa 1916. “Griswold Street from Capitol Park.” A scene last glimpsed here, before People’s Outfitting had its growth spurt. 8×10 inch glass negative.

And yeah, It’s just a park in a city. One that is now just mile and miles and miles of ruin. But before the psychopathic oligarchy took over, it was a place of commerce, and a place where people lived, made a living for themselves and their families and thrived.

The Hippodrome stood on 6th Avenue in New York City from 1905 to 1939. It was one of the largest theaters of its time, with a seating capacity of over 5,000.

I suppose that you can argue that it’s just fashion. Buildings come and go and its similar to fashion. The building styles change as the generations cycles.

I understand that.

The Old Metropolitan Opera House was built in 1883 in New York City. First home of the Metropolitan Opera Company, it was demolished in 1967, and performances were moved to Lincoln Center.

The thing is, and this is my point, is that for the last one hundred years, America has dominated the world.

And as the leader, it has influenced the rest of the world.

And the influences are driven downwards from Washington DC.

And since Washington DC has become to focal point for all the global psychopaths in the world, they have, in turn, influenced the entire planet.

And the ruins that you see in the West are but the debris from their carnage.

Chorley Park was the fourth Government House constructed in the early 20th century in Toronto. The birthplace of Toronto alderman John Hallam, it was bought by the city in 1960 and eventually demolished in 1961.

Many of the great building, the most impressive buildings, and the important building were all torn down in America between 1958 and 1965. Why?

Here’s one of the casualties…

The Schiller Theater Building (later known as the Garrick Theater) was built in Chicago in 1891 and was one of the tallest buildings in the city at the time. Inside was a 1,300-seat theater, which was razed in 1961.

Here’s another…

The Chicago Federal Building had a stunning post office and courthouse. The building was demolished in 1965, when it was replaced with the Kluczynski Federal Building.

The renovations towards the “new America” seemed to happen in waves. The 1960 (plus or minus a few years) seems to have a great affect on me personally, but the rapid destruction of American buildings had a second wave afterwards that hit around 1970 or so.

I wonder if this is a consequence of human herd behaviors.

The Old Toronto Star Building was built in 1929 and stood at 288 feet tall, an impressive feat at the time. It was torn down in 1972.

Here’s another casualty from that particular time, the Singer building. As an aside you all might know that I used to hang around with, and party with, Susan Singer the multi-Billionaire heiress to the Singer fortune. She was a nice girl. She was always worrying about how thick her ankles were though. Her ankles were just fine, and she was attractive, and nice.

But you know, that’s life. Its a really strange quirk she had, but I suppose she would tell you all that I was pretty much a weird dude in school as well. LOL.

Conclusion

I like to believe that change is a good thing. That is how we grow.

But I think that change FOR THE BETTER is and should always be welcome. While change for the worse should be avoided at all costs.

When we have a situation where profits for a tiny, tiny small minority governs the shape, appearance and structure of society, eventually that society will break down and collapse.

First you will see minor things disappear.

Then others will vanish with great rapidity. Until all that is left is the barely functional, most expensive, and of questionable utility for the people and the society to use.

And isn’t that what we see today in America?

The ONLY way that this is going to change is to [1] change the structure of the government so that psychopaths no longer can get into positions of control, and [2] Remove all the psychopathic personalities present int he Untied States today.

Which both seem to be quite unlikely.

Therefore…

It’s time to have a picnic and enjoy some companionship, some fine picnic food, and some frosty beers, or a few bottles of red wine. Life is too short to worry about things that you cannot control.

Have a great day you all!

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Buildup to a Second American Civil War; to overthrow the Elites that control America

We have all seen this coming. Admit it.

“We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission; which is the stage of the darkest periods of human history, the stage of rule by brute force.” 

— Ayn Rand

Rule by brute force.

That’s about as good a description as you’ll find for the sorry state of our nation.

SWAT teams crashing through doors. Militarized police shooting unarmed citizens. Traffic cops tasering old men and pregnant women for not complying fast enough with an order. Resource officers shackling children for acting like children. Homeowners finding their homes under siege by police out to confiscate lawfully-owned guns. Drivers having their cash seized under the pretext that they might have done something wrong.

The list of abuses being perpetrated against the American people by their government is growing rapidly.

We are approaching critical mass.

The groundwork has been laid for a new kind of government where it won’t matter if you’re innocent or guilty, whether you’re a threat to the nation, or even if you’re a citizen. What will matter is what the government—or whoever happens to be calling the shots at the time—thinks. And if the powers-that-be think you’re a threat to the nation and should be locked up, then you’ll be locked up with no access to the protections our Constitution provides.

In effect, you will disappear.

American Citizens are just “things” that the elites use

Our freedoms are already being made to disappear.

We have seen this come to pass under past presidents with their use of executive orders, decrees, memorandums, proclamations, national security directives and legislative signing statements.

President Biden’s long list of executive orders, executive actions, proclamations and directives is just more of the same: rule by fiat.

Now the Biden Administration is setting its sights on gun control.

Mark my words: gun control legislation, especially in the form of red flag gun laws, which allow the police to remove guns from people “suspected” of being threats, will become yet another means by which to subvert the Constitution and sabotage the rights of the people.

In Radley Balko's study of police raids of the homes of civilians for the CATO Institute, he described the mayhem currently taking place at the hands of federal and state governments in the United States in the name of law enforcement:

"Americans have long maintained that a man's home is his castle and that he has the right to defend it from unlawful intruders. Unfortunately, that right may be disappearing. Over the last 25 years, America has seen a disturbing militarization of its civilian law enforcement, along with a dramatic and unsettling rise in the use of paramilitary police units (most commonly called Special Weapons and Tactics, or SWAT) for routine police work. The most common use of SWAT teams today is to serve narcotics warrants, usually with forced, unannounced entry into the home.

"These increasingly frequent raids, 40,000 per year by one estimate, are needlessly subjecting nonviolent drug offenders, bystanders, and wrongly targeted civilians to the terror of having their homes invaded while they're sleeping, usually by teams of heavily armed paramilitary units dressed not as police officers but as soldiers. These raids bring unnecessary violence and provocation to nonviolent drug offenders, many of whom were guilty of only misdemeanors. The raids terrorize innocents when police mistakenly target the wrong residence. And they have resulted in dozens of needless deaths and injuries, not only of drug offenders, but also of police officers, children, bystanders, and innocent suspects."

- from the Executive Summary of a research paper titled, 
Overkill: he Rise of Paramilitary Police Raids in America
by Radley Balko, CATO Institute.

…

But you have already heard this spiel…

America is a military empire, it’s police are military soldiers.

These “red flag” laws, growing in popularity as a legislative means by which to seize guns from individuals. They are an excuse. The excuse sounds so reasonable. People who are viewed as a danger to themselves or others, have their guns removed. Yes, this is yet another Trojan Horse, a stealth maneuver by the police state to gain greater power over an unsuspecting and largely gullible populace.

Nineteen states and Washington DC have red flag laws on their books.

That number is growing.

As The Washington Post reports, these laws “allow a family member, roommate, beau, law enforcement officer or any type of medical professional to file a petition [with a court] asking that a person’s home be temporarily cleared of firearms. It doesn’t require a mental-health diagnosis or an arrest.”

Sound familiar?

Someone in the neighborhood doesn’t like you…

… they claim that you are a witch…

…or you are a communist…

…or a child sex offender…

…or are a danger to yourself.

In the midst of what feels like an epidemic of mass shootings (the statistics suggest otherwise), these gun confiscation laws—extreme risk protection order (ERPO) laws—may appease the fears of those who believe that fewer guns in the hands of the general populace will make our society safer.

Of course, it doesn’t always work that way.

It’s just an excuse

SWAT team raids "The Garden of Eden" The beast is gaining more and more unbridled power to lash out as he did this week at "The Garden of Eden" - a small organic farm in Texas reported by a RT News. This is but one of many raids that take place on a daily basis throughout the U.S. In this case they held 6 adults at gunpoint and handcuffed them for 10 hours saying they were looking for marijuana. Throughout the day the police conducted their search, destroying parts of the farm in the process. However, the property owner Shelley Smith told the media, "They came here under the guise that we were doing a drug trafficking, marijuana growing operation. They destroyed everything.”

The residents believe the raid was only an excuse to allow them to change the farm's "unconventional appearance." Code enforcement cops came along with the SWAT team and Smith said that they had been issued a number of code violations recently including, “grass that was too tall, bushes growing too close to the street, a couch and piano in the yard, chopped wood that was not properly stacked, a piece of siding that was missing from the side of the house and generally unclean premises,” The cops found no drugs or criminal activity but arrested one of the members of the group for an unpaid parking ticket.

-Axis of logic

Anything—knives, vehicles, planes, pressure cookers—can become a weapon when wielded with deadly intentions.

With these red flag gun laws, the stated intention is to disarm individuals who are potential threats… to “stop dangerous people before they act.”

While in theory it appears perfectly reasonable to want to disarm individuals who are clearly suicidal and/or pose an “immediate danger” to themselves or others, where the problem arises is when you put the power to determine who is a potential danger in the hands of government agencies, the courts and the police.

Any excuse serves a tyrant

It took place in August, 2005 when a SWAT team killed an innocent man in his home while his wife and 4 year old son hid in a bedroom closet in Sunrise Florida. After killing the man, the police claimed they knocked on his door and announced they were police. But according to neighbors who watched the scene unfold from their window, the police in black masks did not identify themselves before smashing down his door and using a flash grenade expecting to find drugs and guns. The neighbors said that if the police had yelled, "POLICE!" - they would have heard it. The police claimed that 23 year old Anthony Diotaiuto (a two-time Iraq war veteran) fled from his bed into another room and "armed himself." Radley Balko (quoted above) reported that the police initially claimed that he fled to the bedroom for a handgun and pointed the gun at them. Later, the story changed with a spokesperson for the police saying that the "found the weapon next to his body" after they killed him.

Diotaiuto returned from his night shift at one of the two jobs he had to provide for his family. According to his friends, he had a shotgun and handgun which he kept for protection with a valid concealed weapons permit. Balko surmised that he rose from a deep sleep, disoriented by the crashing of his door and flash grenade and ran terrified into another room. After they killed him, the police claimed that they found 2 ounces of marijuana, some plastic baggies and a scale. But by the time the case went to a jury trial, that amount of marijuana was determined to be 16 grams, a little more than half an ounce. The Broward County medical examiner reported 10 bullet wounds in his head, chest, torso, and limbs.

-Axis of Logic

We’ve been down this road before.

Remember, this is the same government that uses the words “anti-government,” “extremist” and “terrorist” interchangeably.

This is the same government whose agents are spinning a sticky spider-web of threat assessments, behavioral sensing warnings, flagged “words,” and “suspicious” activity reports using automated eyes and ears, social media, behavior sensing software, and citizen spies to identify potential threats.

This is the same government that keeps re-upping the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which allows the military to detain American citizens with no access to friends, family or the courts if the government believes them to be a threat.

This is the same government that has a growing list—shared with fusion centers and law enforcement agencies—of ideologies, behaviors, affiliations and other characteristics that could flag someone as suspicious and result in their being labeled potential enemies of the state.

For instance, if you believe in and exercise your rights under the Constitution ...

(namely, your right to speak freely, worship freely, associate with like-minded individuals who share your political views, criticize the government, own a weapon, demand a warrant before being questioned or searched, or any other activity viewed as potentially anti-government, racist, bigoted, anarchic or sovereign), 

...you could be at the top of the government’s terrorism watch list.

Moreover, as a New York Times editorial warns, you may be an anti-government extremist (a.k.a. domestic terrorist) in the eyes of the police if you are afraid that the government is plotting to confiscate your firearms, if you believe the economy is about to collapse and the government will soon declare martial law, or if you display an unusual number of political and/or ideological bumper stickers on your car.

Let that sink in a moment.

You are a threat by your very existence

Radley Balko’s White Paper, Overkill: The Rise of Paramilitary Police Raids in America:

Balko said that botched raids such as this one are not 'isolated incidents.' Other examples of SWAT teams misused are the hundreds of raids conducted each year at a wrong address. Often the people targeted are completely innocent, unlike in the Diotaiuto tragedy. Further, the 'no-knock' and 'quick-knock' raids often rely on anonymous tips and 'dubious informants to obtain the search warrants.'

The raids are intended to terrify. The police generally break down the doors with a battering ram or blow them off with explosives. Sometimes police use a flash bang grenade. Once inside, police force the occupants to lie prone, generally at gunpoint...

Balko wrote in Overkill, 'The idea of sending battalions of men dressed, trained, and armed like soldiers to do civilian police work should give us great discomfort'.”

Now consider the ramifications of giving police that kind of authority: to preemptively raid homes in order to neutralize a potential threat.

It’s a powder keg waiting for a lit match.

Duncan Lemp

Under these red flag laws, what happened to Duncan Lemp—who was gunned down in his bedroom during an early morning, no-knock SWAT team raid on his family’s home—could very well happen to more people.

At 4:30 a.m. on March 12, 2020, in the midst of a COVID-19 pandemic that had most of the country under a partial lockdown and sheltering at home, a masked SWAT team—deployed to execute a “high risk” search warrant for unauthorized firearms—stormed the suburban house where 21-year-old Duncan, a software engineer and Second Amendment advocate, lived with his parents and 19-year-old brother.

The entire household, including Lemp and his girlfriend, was reportedly asleep when the SWAT team directed flash bang grenades and gunfire through Lemp’s bedroom window.

Lemp was killed and his girlfriend injured.

No one in the house that morning, including Lemp, had a criminal record.

No one in the house that morning, including Lemp, was considered an “imminent threat” to law enforcement or the public, at least not according to the search warrant.

So what was so urgent that militarized police felt compelled to employ battlefield tactics in the pre-dawn hours of a day when most people are asleep in bed, not to mention stuck at home as part of a nationwide lockdown?

According to police, they were tipped off that Lemp was in possession of “firearms.”

Thus, rather than approaching the house by the front door at a reasonable hour in order to investigate this complaint—which is what the Fourth Amendment requires—police instead strapped on their guns, loaded up their flash bang grenades and acted like battle-crazed warriors.

In May, 2010 Joseph Weekley, a Detroit cop shot and killed Aiyana Stanley Jones, a seven-year-old girl when they raided a home during the early morning hours as she lay sleeping on a sofa in her home on Lillibridge Street in Detroit. Aiyana was shot in the head and neck. Assistant Police Chief Ralph Godbee said the heavily armed "Special Response Team" was executing a "no-knock" search warrant for a homicide suspect and they threw a flash grenade through an unopened window around 12:45 a.m. before charging in with guns drawn but they got the wrong house. It may have never gained international attention except that it was recorded by a reality TV crew, which was filming an episode of “The First 48,” a program like "Cops" and other racist TV shows that feed off the misery of victims in praise of the work of US police.

In June, 2013 Weekley went on trial for involuntary manslaughter with a possible sentence of 15 years in prison. The cop claimed that he had "physical contact" with the little girl's grandmother, Mertilla Jones, after entering the home. On June 18, the trial ended in a hung jury and he is now to be retried. In the trial, Grandmother Mertilla testified,

"I saw the light leave out of her eyes, and blood gushed out of her mouth. I knew she was dead.” After the first trial, Mertilla stated, "He admitted he shot and killed her. He's a dirty cop because he said I touched him. I never touched that man. ... I was never anywhere near Joseph Weekley. He's a lying [expletive] cop."

The Military patrol America today

This is what you get when you live inside a Military Empire.

This is the blowback from all that military weaponry flowing to domestic police departments.

This is what happens when you use SWAT teams to carry out routine search warrants.

Red Flag Laws

This is what happens when you adopt red flag gun laws, which Maryland did in 2018, painting anyone who might be in possession of a gun—legal or otherwise—as a threat that must be neutralized.

Therein lies the danger of these red flag laws, specifically, and pre-crime laws such as these generally where the burden of proof is reversed and you are guilty before you are given any chance to prove you are innocent.

Red flag gun laws merely push us that much closer towards a suspect society where everyone is potentially guilty of some crime or another and must be preemptively rendered harmless.

Where many Americans go wrong is in naively assuming that you have to be doing something illegal or harmful in order to be flagged and targeted for some form of intervention or detention.

The American Police State

In fact, U.S. police agencies have been working to identify and manage potential extremist “threats,” violent or otherwise, before they can become actual threats for some time now.

All you need to do these days to end up on a government watch list or be subjected to heightened scrutiny is use certain trigger words (like cloud, pork and pirates)…

…surf the internet,

…communicate using a cell phone,

…limp or stutter,

…drive a car,

…stay at a hotel,

…attend a political rally,

…express yourself on social media,

…appear mentally ill,

…serve in the military,

…disagree with a law enforcement official,

…call in sick to work,

…purchase materials at a hardware store,

…take flying or boating lessons,

…appear suspicious,

…appear confused or nervous,

…fidget or whistle or smell bad,

…be seen in public waving a toy gun or anything remotely resembling a gun (such as a water nozzle or a remote control or a walking cane),

…stare at a police officer,

…question government authority,

…appear to be pro-gun or pro-freedom,

…or …

….generally live in the United States.

Government Watch Lists

Be warned: once you get on such a government watch list—whether it’s a terrorist watch list, a mental health watch list, a dissident watch list, or a red flag gun watch list—there’s no clear-cut way to get off, whether or not you should actually be on there.

You will be tracked wherever you go.

You will be flagged as a potential threat and dealt with accordingly.

This is pre-crime on an ideological scale and it’s been a long time coming.

The government has been building its pre-crime, surveillance network in concert with fusion centers (of which there are 78 nationwide, with partners in the private sector and globally), data collection agencies, behavioral scientists, corporations, social media, and community organizers and by relying on cutting-edge technology for surveillance, facial recognition, predictive policing, biometrics, and behavioral epigenetics (in which life experiences alter one’s genetic makeup).

To that noxious mix, add in a proposal introduced under the Trump Administration and being considered by Biden for a new government agency HARPA (a healthcare counterpart to the Pentagon’s research and development arm DARPA) that will take the lead in identifying and targeting “signs” of mental illness or violent inclinations among the populace by using artificial intelligence to collect data from Apple Watches, Fitbits, Amazon Echo and Google Home.

It’s the American police state’s take on the dystopian terrors foreshadowed by George Orwell, Aldous Huxley and Phillip K. Dick all rolled up into one oppressive pre-crime and pre-thought crime package.

If you’re not scared yet, you should be.

It’s a Nightmare America

Connect the dots.

Start with the powers amassed by the government under the USA Patriot Act, note the government’s ever-broadening definition of what it considers to be an “extremist,” then add in the government’s detention powers under NDAA, the National Security Agency’s far-reaching surveillance networks, and fusion centers that collect and share surveillance data between local, state and federal police agencies.

To that, add tens of thousands of armed, surveillance drones that will soon blanket American skies, facial recognition technology that will identify and track you wherever you go and whatever you do. And then to complete the picture, toss in the real-time crime centers being deployed in cities across the country, which will be attempting to “predict” crimes and identify criminals before they happen based on widespread surveillance, complex mathematical algorithms and prognostication programs.

Hopefully you’re starting to understand how easy we’ve made it for the government to identify, label, target, defuse and detain anyone it views as a potential threat for a variety of reasons that run the gamut from mental illness to having a military background to challenging its authority to just being on the government’s list of persona non grata. Finally, add in the local police agencies and SWAT teams that are being “gifted” military-grade weaponry and equipment designed for the battlefield and trained in the tactics of war.

It all adds up to a terrifying package of brute force coupled with invasive technology and totalitarian tactics.

This brings me back to those red flag gun laws.

It’s the nail in the American Coffin

In the short term, these gun confiscation laws may serve to temporarily delay or discourage those wishing to inflict violence on others, but it will not resolve whatever madness or hate or instability therein that causes someone to pull a trigger or launch a bomb or unleash violence on another.

Indeed, those same individuals sick enough to walk into an elementary school or a movie theater and open fire using a gun can and do wreak just as much havoc with homemade bombs made out of pressure cookers and a handful of knives.

Nor will these laws save us from government-instigated and directed violence at the hands of the militarized police state or the blowback from the war-drenched, violence-imbued, profit-driven military industrial complex, both of which remain largely overlooked and underestimated pieces of the discussion on gun violence in America.

No matter how well-meaning the politicians make these encroachments on our rights appear, in the right (or wrong) hands, benevolent plans can easily be put to malevolent purposes. In this way, even the most well-intentioned government law or program can be—and has been—perverted, corrupted and used to advance illegitimate purposes once profit and power are added to the equation.

The war on terror, the war on drugs, the war on illegal immigration, asset forfeiture schemes, road safety schemes, school safety schemes, eminent domain: all of these programs started out as legitimate responses to pressing concerns and have since become weapons of compliance and control in the police state’s hands.

And what is next…

Well, it’s when the elites declare that they are a class that is up and above that of the American citizenry.

The following article is reprinted as found with limited editing to fit in this venue, and all credit to the original author. by Baruch Pletner,PhD,MBA

The Hi-Tech Traditionalist: A Revolution In Reverse: The Uprising Of The American Elites Against The American People

The great Bolshevik revolutions of the last century in Russia, in China, and in Cuba all followed a familiar pattern: a group of young, energetic, endlessly corruptible, but not yet corrupt outsiders take on, in the name of the people, a tired corrupt establishment.

A civil war ensues in which the people side with the revolutionaries because they (mistakenly) think that things can never be worse.

Revolutionaries win, slaughter the establishment elites, and proceed to rob and enslave the people in even more outrageous fashion.

In May, 2008, a SWAT team raided a home in Norwalk, Connecticut after a prostitute called the police telling them that the home contained drugs and weapons. She gave the police a false name and after the killing no weapons were found but the police killed Gonzalo Guizan and dragged the home owner, Ronald Terebesi out in handcuffs. In February, 2013 taxpayers from 5 Fairfield County towns were ordered to pay $3,500,000.00 resulting from the raid on the residence in Norwalk that left Guizan dead, Terebesi traumatized and heavy damage done to his house. Reporter Jonathan Turley expressed his view of the $3.5 million settlement:

"Now, Easton First Selectman Thomas Herrmann insists that the settlement does not reflect any negligence by his officers or those of the other towns: 'While the defendants, police departments and officers from Darien, Easton, Trumbull, Monroe and Wilton maintain they were not responsible for the unfortunate death of Mr. Guizan, the insurers for the defendants, who will bear the full cost of the settlement, believed that it was best to resolve the matter rather than incur further attorneys’ fees, which were anticipated to be significant. The defendants concurred, further believing it was important to facilitate the Guizan family being relieved of the combined burden of litigation.'

"That seems a rather belated concern for the Guizan family since you first launched a virtual military assault on a drug allegation, then killed the unarmed Guizan, and then fought their claim for damages until you had little practical alternative but to settle."

The only thing the police found were two smoking pipes and a tin with a minuscule amount of drugs. Jonathan Turley described the raid and this part of his original story has since been redacted,

"One would have thought this was the alleged bin Laden raid, as it looked like a military operation in a war zone. Heavily armed police and SWAT teams raided a home owned by Ronald Terebesi based on a tip from a local stripper that she had a “dispute” with Terebesi. This sounds pretty harmless so far, but SWAT team members dressed in armor bore down on this home with flash grenades, snipers surrounding the house, and a virtual tank supplied to this police department after the cover up of 9/11 by DHS.

"When all was said and done, one man, Gonzalo Guizan, was killed and Terebesi was dragged from his home. Both of these men were unarmed, and had done nothing to warrant this raid, and in fact were cowering in a corner when the spray of bullets were fired."

Soon enough the old guard revolutionaries become every bit as corrupt as the ones they have replaced if not more so and the cycle repeats itself.

In America, the situation is rather farcically backwards.

In America, the corrupt establishment elites have decided to stage a Bolshevik coup against the American people rather than the other way around.

A Tsar fully in command of his own kingdom staging a coup against his own people is a bizarre development to say the least, and yet, here we are in 2021 America.

Like always, there are reasons.

First and foremost among them is the sheer scope of the nepotism and corruption of the American elites in business, government, technology, and the intelligence services.

This scope has very likely far exceeded anything previously known in human history.

Had the dimensions of the robbery perpetrated by the American ruling classes against the American people become widely known earlier, America could well have experienced a more typical revolution, one by the people against the elites.

Well aware of the possibility if not probability of such an outcome, the people who run America put in place a plan to make it all but impossible.

The plan involved the gradually escalating erosion of the limits on government powers put in place by the Constitution with a parallel erosion in the God-given rights guaranteed every American by the same document.

This was a fully bipartisan effort, put in place immediately after president Reagan departed office.

It is sufficient to observe the exponential increase in government versus private sector employment in America from 1988 to 2019 to fully grasp this point.

Stopping immigration from countries that have (or at least used to have) a tradition of personal freedom and limited government while throwing open the spigots for immigration from countries that have neither was the second part of the same plan.

The destruction of family values and Christianity in America was the third.

On the whole, the plan was a spectacular success.

Americans proved easy targets for propaganda on pro-gay rights and every other kind of moral depravity and have learned to bite their tongues and bow low whenever they heard the phrase: “diversity is our strength”.

White Americans learned to internalize guilt for something they had no control over – the very color of their skin.

Americans allowed themselves to become squeezed out of well-paying jobs by the elites-induced trifecta of low and high-skilled immigration and automation, with nary a whisper in protest.

All was going well for the elites until they had a panic attack, a freakout of unheard of proportions when a non-establishment person, Donald Trump managed to get himself elected president.

The problem for the elites inherent in Trump’s election was simple: they have not done much, if anything, to cover the tracks of their massive robbery of the American people.

That meant that when Trump assumed office even their best efforts would likely not be good enough to stop him from perceiving at least a glimpse of the true scale of their crimes.

There is a certain irony in the fact that being criminals themselves, the American establishment has found, in Trump, the one true nemesis.

For he is a New York developer who cut his teeth dealing with the New York building trades, which are, of course, a criminal element in and of themselves.

Trying to pin on Trump their own sins of sexual corruption, nepotism, embezzlement, etc. has not been a well-thought out strategy on the part of the American power elites.

This is simply because it enabled him to begin educating the American public as to the breathtaking scope of their own criminality.

And that pretty much explains what happened during the election of 2020; a coup d’etat against the American people, the American Constitution, and the American Republic itself.

Since the elites still very much permeate every hall of power in America, this is a one-off deal in which the rulers of a country set out to violently overthrow the very political structure of the country they are ruling, but, as they say, it is what it is.

The cover may be different, but the playbook is the same, so we are already being exposed to the oldies but goodies of…

escalating agitprop (weaponized lies and propaganda),
suppression of unwanted elements (cancel culture),
and paid snitching (whistleblowing).

Now we are entering into a new phase, that of secret trials with a predetermined outcome.

Apparently congressional Democrats are going to hold impeachment hearings (read Bolshevik tribunal) at a secret location with no rights whatsoever being afforded to the accused.

Unfortunately for all of us, however, the scope of their criminal acts is such that they cannot contemplate any due process without committing political and even non-political suicide.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said federal government programs that armed police “with the weapons and tactics of war” had led forces across the United States to become unnecessarily and dangerously militarized.

“The use of hyper-aggressive tools and tactics results in tragedy for civilians and police officers, escalates the risk of needless violence, destroys property and undermines individual liberties,” the ACLU said in a report.

It said police forces set up special weapons and tactics (SWAT) units initially to face emergencies such as hostage situations and active-shooter scenarios.

But after studying more than 800 SWAT deployments conducted by 20 law enforcement agencies between 2011-2012, it said the specialized teams had moved away from that original role and were increasingly used to search people’s homes for drugs.

It said the raids were often violent, involving 20 or more officers armed with assault rifles and stun grenades, breaking down doors and windows, and screaming at occupants to get on the floor. It said children were present on numerous occasions.

The ACLU said the militarization of policing was also evident in police training that it said encouraged officers to adopt a “warrior” mentality – something it said was reinforced by the use of equipment such as battering rams, flashbang grenades, and armored personnel carriers.

It said the shift in culture was partly driven by U.S. Supreme Court rulings that gave police increased authority to force their way into homes, often in narcotics probes.

All things are on the table right now, including things that now sound crazy like setting up a parallel Supreme Court having declared the Constitution illegitimate because it was written by white males some of whom supported slavery and ratified without African American and other minority votes.

Needless to say, such actions may well precipitate an armed conflict we know of as civil war, but that would not be an unexpected outcome for the elites.

We know now that the American intelligence services all work for the elites and not for the people.

They will fight on their side in the coming war. What we don’t know is to what degree the armed forces have been infiltrated, especially the mid-level officer corps.

The outcomes of such cataclysms are never possible to predict, but we know what we know.

American ruling classes have long since betrayed her and her people to make themselves fabulously, generationally rich and powerful.

They could have cut a power-sharing deal with the American people as represented by president Trump; his hand has always been open to them.

They didn’t take him up on it.

Massive anger is building up in America now and the battle lines are drawn: either the American republic overthrows her own criminal elites or they overthrow her.

Which shall it be? To quote the Commander in Chief of the forces of light: “we’ll see what happens.”

The MM Opinion

Nothing is going to happen domestically. People are getting ready, ready, ready but there isn’t any “trigger” that will enable the unleashing of holy terror internally.

If something is going to happen, then it will happen externally.

Which brings up all these “waltzes” and “dances” that the Biden administration is involved in regarding other nations. It’s very blatant and “in your face”. Here’s my terms, you lowly Chink.. you lowly scum Russki… you evil Iranian… accept them or we will squelch you like the vermin you are.

Is it intentional? Or is the leadership complete morons? It’s difficult to tell these days. So I must ask…

What is the end game?

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America is stepping back from war with China, and stepping up to the plate to take on Russia. A Rand recommendation.

The soaring contempt and smug exceptionalism made me almost gag on my weetbix as I read this. I've never met an empire more in dire need of a slap down...

-Posted by: Patroklos | Apr 14 2021 19:50 utc | 6

For shits and giggle, I often read some of the policy papers that are generated out of Washington DC. They are fantastical and outlandish and shows that either [1] America is a nation run by herd-mentality idiots, or [2] that they are so enraptured in their own echo chamber that they don’t realize what fresh-air is. Here is one such policy paper.

It is from RAND.

Which is a big “Think Tank” out in Washington DC that loves war, like I love sex, pizza and wine.

It’s a hoot. I’ll tell you what.

Here’s access to the document yourself, and a nice summary with my MM comments thrown in for some points of stability.

Russia Is a Rogue, Not a Peer; China Is a Peer, Not a Rogue

Different Challenges, Different Responses

by James Dobbins, Howard J. Shatz, Ali Wyne

Full Document

Format	File Size	Notes
PDF file	0.3 MB	Use Adobe Acrobat Reader version 10 or higher for the best experience.

Research Questions

How do Russia and China challenge U.S. national security and global influence?
How can the United States meet those challenges?

Russia and China represent distinct challenges to U.S. national security.

Russia is not a peer or near-peer competitor but rather a well-armed rogue state that seeks to subvert an international order it can never hope to dominate.

So Russia; enormous Russia with a population larger than the United States is a "well armed" rogue state.

I can agree that it is well-armed. But, a rogue state?

A rogue state otherwise known as an outlaw state, is a term applied by some international theorists to states that they consider threatening to "the world's peace". 

This means being seen to meet certain criteria, such as [1] being ruled by authoritarian or totalitarian governments. [2] That severely restrict human rights. That [3] sponsors terrorism and [4] seeking to proliferate weapons of mass destruction. 

By these criteria, it is America that is a rogue state.

Yet, the term is used most by the United States, and in his speech at the United Nations in 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated this phrase.

In contrast, China is a peer competitor that wants to shape an international order that it can aspire to dominate.

Yes. China is a peer competitor with the Untied States, and in many areas it has surpassed the Untied States.

But this idea that it wants to "shape an international order" that it can dominate is flat-out false.

It wants to follow confucianism values in cooperation and harmony so that all can benefit. Of course China wants to put the Chinese people first. This is the function of all governments. But to call a peaceful nation that hasn't been involve din a war for over 50 years desirous of dominating others is really outlandish.

4 Confucian principles that are integral to a moral life and a moral society

[1] Development of the self. The development of the self and the cultivation of virtue and morality are crucial to Confucius’ vision of a harmonised world.

[2] Filial Piety. Filial piety is a love and respect for one’s parents. ...

[3] The importance of tradition. ...

[4] We must be humane. ...

No wonder that RAND and those psychopathic personalities in Washington DC are confused with China. these values are completely alien to them.

Both countries seek to alter the status quo.

But only Russia has attacked neighboring states, annexed conquered territory, and supported insurgent forces seeking to detach yet more territory.

Russia assassinates its opponents at home and abroad.

Russia interferes in foreign elections.

Russia subverts foreign democracies.

Russia works to undermine European and Atlantic institutions.

And so does the United States. Historically this is known as spy-craft, international politics, and intrigue. It's not a reason to go to war over.

In contrast, China’s growing influence is based largely on more-positive measures: trade, investment, and development assistance. These attributes make China a less immediate threat but a much greater long-term challenge.

True. China is not an immediate military threat.

But the only challenge here is whether the Untied States is able to compete with it. After throwing away it's scientists and engineers, it's going to be a hard slog trying to compete with "diversity directors" and "accountants".

In the military realm, Russia can be contained, but China cannot.

Its military predominance in east Asia will grow over time, compelling the United States to accept greater costs and risks just to secure existing commitments.

But it is geoeconomics, rather than geopolitics, in which the contest for world leadership will play out.

It is in the domain of geoeconomics that the balance of global influence between the United States and China has begun shifting in China’s favor.

Key Findings

China presents a greater geoeconomic challenge to the United States than Russia does

China’s per capita GDP approaches Russia’s; its population is eight times Russia’s, and its growth rate three times.
As of 2017, China’s economy was the second largest in the world, behind only that of the United States. Russia’s was 11th.
Russia’s military expenditure is lower than China’s, and that gap is likely to grow.
Russia is far smaller, has poorer economic prospects, and is less likely to dramatically increase its military power in the long term.

You can tell just how out of sync this entire paper is when they start using GDP instead of PPP for comparison values. I argue, rather convincingly I must add, that if you remove the top 0.1% of the super-billionaires out of America in your GDP calculations, the GDP slides way down to a value that is half of China's GDP.

Also the level of crime and corruption is far lower than what you see in America. Thus you can make and create things with far, far less effort and money.

Thus you really cannot make the comparisons that are being made here.

It truly is like comparing apples with bananas.

Russia is a more immediate and more proximate military threat to U.S. national security than China is but can be countered

Russia will probably remain militarily superior to all its immediate neighbors other than China.
Russia is vulnerable to a range of nonmilitary deterrents, such as sanctions on the Russian economy and limiting Russian income from exports of fossil fuels; multilateral efforts would be more effective than U.S.-only operations, however.

China presents a regional military challenge and a global economic one

Militarily, China can be contained for a while longer; economically, it has already broken free of regional constraints.
Russia backs far-right and far-left political movements with a view to disrupting the politics of adversarial societies and, if possible, installing friendlier regimes. China, in contrast, seems basically indifferent to the types of government of the states with which it interacts, increasing its attractiveness as an economic partner.

Recommendations

In the security sphere, the United States should continue to hold the line in east and southeast Asia, accepting the larger costs and risks involved in counterbalancing growing Chinese military capabilities. Meanwhile, Washington should help its regional allies and partners to field their own antiaccess and area denial systems. Finally, the United States should take advantage of any opportunities to resolve issues and remove points of Sino-American tension, recognizing that its bargaining position will gradually deteriorate over time.
In the economic realm, the United States needs to compete more effectively in foreign markets, persevere and strengthen international norms for trade and investment, and incentivize China to operate within those norms. Given China’s efforts to take technological leadership in the long term and the potential advantages that such leadership brings, the United States also needs to improve its innovation environment. Measures could include greater funding for research, retention of U.S.-educated foreign scientists and technologists, and regulatory reforms that ease the introduction of product and process improvements into businesses and the market.
In responding to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, the United States should move to secure its own preferential access to the world’s largest markets, the industrialized countries of Europe and Asia; assist nations in increasing connectivity with the world economy; work with partners to ensure more transparency in China’s Belt and Road projects; and increase support to U.S. exporters and investors.
In all these challenges, the United States will be more successful coordinating action with allies and trading partners.

Research conducted by

RAND Army Research Division

This research was conducted within the Strategy, Doctrine, and Resources Program of the RAND Arroyo Center. RAND Arroyo Center is a federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) sponsored by the United States Army.

This report is part of the RAND Corporation perspective series. RAND perspectives present informed perspective on a timely topic that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors. All RAND perspectives undergo rigorous peer review to ensure high standards for research quality and objectivity.

Some final comments

As you can easily see, entire armies inside of Washington DC are dedicated in maintaining the superiority of the American Military Empire. While they do not use direct sentences, and tend to use many euphemisms, their intention is very clear. And the clarity is alarming…

America MUST remain the biggest, and most powerful nation in the world.
America must use it’ military to achieve this goal.
In using the military, the military must be used so that it is not “spread too thin”, so that forces can be concentrated.
Every other nation is a rogue nation that must be tamed.
Every other nation is a threat to America, and it’s leadership.

This kind of thinking is how long drawn-out ideological wars happen, and how many people lose their lives. What is sad is that the people who wrote this piece are paid in enormous amounts and live in the upper classes of American society.

Fight World War III against Russia now. Then once vanquished…
Fight World War IV against China in the future.
This is the only way to maintain dominance.

There is no room for them in whatever society develops in the next ten years.

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A pretty nice summary of a possible next phase of the collapse of America. It makes a heck of a lot of sense.

A soft landing for America 20 years from now? Don’t bet on it. The demise of the United States as the global superpower could come far more quickly than anyone imagines. If Washington is dreaming of 2040 or 2050 as the end of the American Century, a more realistic assessment of domestic and global trends suggests that by 2025, it could all be over except for the shouting.

The screaming.

The writhing, and…

…the dying.

Despite the aura of omnipotence most empires project, a look at their history should remind us that they are fragile organisms. So delicate is their ecology of power that, when things start to go truly bad, empires regularly unravel with unholy speed.

It’s typically a long, long, looonnnggg build up.

And then, something snaps.

And it all unravels…

Like an over-wound spring.

We know this from history: just a year for Portugal, two years for the Soviet Union, eight years for France, 11 years for the Ottomans, 17 years for Great Britain, and, in all likelihood quite soon for the United States, ending within the next few years.

It’s all going to go “belly up”…

Economic (Health of the Economy)
Social (Social unrest, and a collapse of norms.)
Military (Attempts at creating large wars.)
Industrial (Jump starting the manufacturing base.)
Technology (Investments in R&D, NPD and innovation.)
Financial (Value of the USD)

The following is from the Kuntsler Blog also known as “Cluster-fuck nation”. He usually have some nice and pointed points, but this is a crown jewel. In this observation he talks about the major miscalculation(s) in economic policy inside the Washington DC beltway and how it will manifest in “heartland America” when the entire “deck of cards” come tumbling down.

This is a full reprint, all credit to the author. Reprinted to fit this venue with only minor editing as necessary.

We will start with this article, and the follow up with a second one, back to back…

…and then some MM discussions.

Paradigm Failure

Clusterfuck Nation
For your reading pleasure Mondays and Fridays

A nation literally falling apart certainly might want to Build Back Better, but it also might want to consider building back differently, consistent with the signals that reality is sending to humankind these days.

For instance, the signals that the old industrial paradigm is coming to an end, and that the furnishings and accessories of it may not be the ones that humankind actually requires going forward.

Alas, the psychology of previous investment tends to dictate that societies pound their capital — if they still have any —down a rat-hole in the vain and desperate attempt to keep old rackets going.

And this is the essence of Mr. Biden’s infrastructure bill; a colossal confection of government over-reach with its thin cake layers, cloyingly thick “social justice” frosting, and its giant cherry-on-top of drawing on “capital” that doesn’t exist.

The main racket is the ongoing effort to replace a transactional economy of individual enterprise with the managerial state (that attempts to allocate all resources and direct markets).

We’ve seen that movie before.

It beats a path directly to totalitarian tyranny, and that is already sickeningly visible in the pre-production activities for the new movie.

With social media assisting government to set up total control of its citizens lives — actually copying the techniques already operating in China.

Some pieces of the bill are just plain tragic.

Like the effort to prop up mass motoring by switching out electric cars for the old gasoline-powered cars that have ruled the land for a century.

It’s an appealing fantasy, of course…

…but the electric car thing ain’t a’gonna happen.

Not at the scale envisioned, not unless the government plans to buy the electric cars and give them away to everybody, and that’s rather a stretch.

First, the whole mass motoring racket is falling apart more on its financial model than on whether the cars move by gasoline or electricity.

Americans are used to buying cars on installment loans, and, with the middle-class withering away, there are ever-fewer credit-worthy borrowers for those loans (for ever more expensive cars).

Soon, as the debt markets wobble, there will also be even less hallucinated capital (“money”) to loan out to this shrinking pool of borrowers.

Second, the decrepit US electric grid can’t handle the charging needs of such a gigantic electric car fleet (and fixing the grid alone would be a trillion-dollar project).

Third, the manufacturing of electric cars depends on scarce rare mineral resources that are not readily available in the US, but controlled by foreign nations.

Fourth, car-making utterly depends on far-flung international supply lines for parts and electronics.

This is occurring at a time when the integrated global economy is cracking up under the strain of desperate competition for dwindling resources and the ill-will generated by that.

More… There are yet more kinks in the electric car scheme but those are enough.

MM Comments.

Of course he's talking about the Untied States. The rest of the world doesn't really have this problem. In China, for instance, most public transportation is electric, as is a sizable portion of the private automobile market.

Of course, this whole initiative is in the service of preserving a set of living arrangements that is going obsolete…

… namely, suburbia.

The previous investment represented by all the housing subdivisions, commercial highway strips, malls, office parks, and super-highways pretty much drove the American economy since the Second World War.

It’s understandable that we would be desperate to keep it all running.

As well as fix the pieces that are falling apart, because it’s where we put most of our national wealth.

It’s the whole American Dream in one nifty package.

And, it sure seemed like a good idea at the time, in such a big country, with so much cheap land, and all that oil.

But now things have changed and reality is sending us clear signals that we have to live differently.

The effort to oppose reality is apt to be ruinous for us.

A thumping sense of triumph attended the roll-out of the Build Back Better infrastructure bill…

… at least on the Democrats’ side, especially with all the chocolate Easter eggs for “social justice”…

…lodged in the $1.9 trillion basket.

I imagine it will mark the Biden regime’s high point of esprit.

By the time Congress churns through it all, the financial markets will be sending florid distress signals of deepening instability…

And, with Covid lockdowns ending (or even if they resume), warm weather will bring out people angry about one thing or another into the streets.

And a number of pending legal matters — the Derek Chauvin verdict, the Durham investigation, the Hunter Biden case at DOJ, and perhaps the burgeoning and rather sinister new Matt Gaetz melodrama…

… will stir the pot that the American zeitgeist is brewing in.

With plumes of chaos wafting over the land.

By fall, Build Back Better might transmogrify into the ominous question: build back anything?

Do You Believe in Magic?

Clusterfuck Nation
For your reading pleasure Mondays and Fridays

The people pretending to run the world’s financial affairs do.

The more layers of abstract game-playing they add to the existing armatures of unreality they’ve already constructed…

…the more certain it becomes that they will blow up all the support systems…

…support systems of a sunsetting hyper-tech economy that now has no safe lane to continue running in.

Virtually all the big nations are doing this now in desperation.

This is because they don’t understand that the hyper-tech economy is hostage to the deteriorating economics of energy.

Basically fossil fuels, and oil especially.

The macro mega-system can’t grow anymore.

We’re now in the de-growth phase of a dynamic that pulsates through history, as everything in the universe pulsates.

We attempted to compensate for de-growth with debt, borrowing from the future.

But debt only works in the youthful growth phases of economic pulsation, when the prospect of being paid back is statistically favorable.

Now in the elder de-growth phase, the prospect of paying back debts, or even servicing the interest, is statistically dismal.

The amount of racked-up debt worldwide has entered the realm of the laughable.

So, the roughly twenty-year experiment in Central Bank credit magic, as a replacement for true capital formation, has come to its grievous end.

Hence, America under the pretend leadership of Joe Biden ventures into the final act of this melodrama, which will end badly and probably pretty quickly.

They are about to call in the financial four horsemen of apocalypse:

Modern Monetary Theory (MMT),
A “command” economy,
Universal Basic Income (UBI, “helicopter” money for the people), and
the “Build Back Better” infrastructure scheme.

MMT

MMT is the idea that a nation which claims a monopoly on issuing money can “create” new money ad infinitum with no negative consequences.

That is, we can “lend” ourselves money (borrow it into existence) without having to worry about paying it back.

The theory caught on only because that’s what we’ve done for two decades and, so far, it hasn’t destroyed the banking system…

…though debt turned exponential, which is to say ruinous, only recently…

… so we won’t have to stand by long to see how this experiment works out.

Note this: MMT completes the divorce between productive activity and capital formation, that is, prosperity without wealth.

A “command” economy

A “command” economy means that government increasingly attempts to take over economic enterprise.

It does so to replace x-million individual economic choices of freely-acting people in a society with bureaucratic central planning.

MM Comments.

It is usually a complete and absolute failure. The sole lone exception is China, and it really isn't a "command" economy at all. Just a "top driven" one.

UBI

UBI is the primary feature of that because, in a command economy, production is mostly pretend, so you just have to give people money (for nothing).

Remember the old basic operating system of the Soviet Union, stated succinctly as: We pretend to work and they pretend to pay us.

Got that?

Build Back Better

The idea behind “Build Back Better” is to renovate the infrastructure of a hyper-tech economy that actually no longer exists.

Why?

Because we are in the contraction phase of an historic pulsation or cycle.

It is leaving us with lots of tech and less production, trending toward zero.

Nobody flogging this slogan actually knows what it ought to mean under the circumstances, which is to go with the flow of the reality of this contraction:

To downsize, downscale, and re-localize all our activities to bring them back into sync with actual productivity…

… that is, raising food, making real stuff, and trading it. Again, it’s the energy dynamic, stupid.

To get to that point, we’re going to shed the massive over-burden of financial game-playing that has pretended to represent our economy.

That means stock valuations and bond prices will vaporize along with the derivative activities concocted for trading gainfully in these now-phantom representations of capital.

If that happens sooner rather than later, we won’t even be able to pretend to Build Back Better the interstate highways, the electric grid, airports, and all the other stuff in the “infrastructure” folder.

Indeed, a lot of that would be malinvestment folly now because we’re nearing the end of mass motoring and commercial aviation as we’ve known them.

If we even have electricity twenty-five years from now, it will come from much-reduced grids on a much more regional basis.

The bottom line for all this is that pretty soon every corner of the country will be on its own amid quite a bit of social disorder and financial wreckage.

So, whatever energy you actually can marshal to Build Back Better, save it for your town or your local community.

And remember, all of the attempts by a national government to control these events…

… and coerce its citizens in the service of that…

… will only lead to a more ineffectual and impotent national government that nobody has faith in…

… confirming the fact…

…that you are on your own.

Yikes!

All things end…

Have no doubt: when Washington’s global dominion finally ends, there will be painful daily reminders of what such a loss of power means for Americans in every walk of life.

Even when the American government tries to distract from the collapse by launching a war.

This little quote was written over a decade ago, in 2010, in Salon…

By 2020, according to current plans, the Pentagon will throw a military Hail Mary pass for a dying empire. 

It will launch a lethal triple canopy of advanced aerospace robotics that represents Washington's last best hope of retaining global power despite its waning economic influence. 

By that year, however, China's global network of communications satellites, backed by the world's most powerful supercomputers, will also be fully operational, providing Beijing with an independent platform for the weaponization of space and a powerful communications system for missile- or cyber-strikes into every quadrant of the globe.

-Salon 2010

As a half-dozen European nations have discovered, imperial decline tends to have a remarkably demoralizing impact on a society…

…regularly bringing at least a generation of economic privation.

As the economy cools, political temperatures rise, often sparking serious domestic unrest.

Available economic, educational, and military data indicate that, when it comes to U.S. global power, negative trends has aggregated rapidly and are likely to reach a critical mass no later than 2025.

The American Century, proclaimed so triumphantly at the start of World War II, is already tattered and fading and by 2025, its eighth decade, and could (very probably) end up being history.

But don’t worry!

Here’s a number of articles that make the point that there is a significant difference between a collapse and a crisis.

And while not explicitly spelled out directly, it is implied that the worst possible thing that might happen is yet another economic crisis, not an economic collapse.

Economic Depressions vs Collapse

To begin with, I think it’s important to differentiate between economic collapse and economic depression.

A depression is a rather normal part of the market cycle.

As Adam Smith points out in Wealth of Nations, these occasionally happen as the market corrects imbalances within itself.

Maybe there’s some form of bubble akin to the Dutch Tulip Bubble of the 1600s where the price of rare tulip bulbs increased to preposterous levels before people lost entire fortunes when the market corrected itself.

Who knew?

The point is that economic depression is rather normal.

We all witnessed the effects of the crash of 2009.

Thousands of the “well heeled” lost millions of dollars to the “bigger fish in the economic ocean”.

Yet, if they had kept their money in those sinking stocks rather than withdraw, they would now have exponential returns for their initial investments.

Why?

Because markets do actually fluctuate.

I also don’t believe that events as bad as The Great Depression can truly be called a collapse in any sense of the word.

When I say collapse, I’m referring to situations such as post-WW2 Germany, Zimbabwe, Venezuela, and the like.

When you literally have to pay for a loaf of bread with a wheelbarrow full of bills because of hyperinflation, THEN you have economic collapse.

US Economy Collapse: What Would Happen?

There's a difference between crisis and collapse

By Kimberly Amadeo. Reprinted as found and all credit to the author.

The U.S. economy’s size makes it resilient.

It is highly unlikely that even the most dire events would lead to a collapse.

If the U.S. economy were to collapse, it would happen quickly, because the surprise factor is a one of the likely causes of a potential collapse.

The signs of imminent failure are difficult for most people to see.

Most recently, the U.S. economy almost collapsed on September 16, 2008.

That’s the day the Reserve Primary Fund “broke the buck”—the value of the fund’s holdings dropped below $1 per share.

Panicked investors withdrew billions from money market accounts where businesses keep cash to fund day-to-day operations.

If withdrawals had gone on for even a week, and if the Fed and the U.S. government had not stepped in to shore up the financial sector, the entire economy would likely have ground to a halt.

Trucks would have stopped rolling.

Grocery stores would have run out of food, and businesses would have been forced to shut down.

That’s how close the U.S. economy came to a real collapse—and how vulnerable it is to another one.

Will the U.S Economy Collapse?

A U.S. economy collapse is unlikely. When necessary, the government can act quickly to avoid a total collapse.

MM Comment

Nonsense. Compare the US Economy with the Chinese economy.

Most of the CCP government debts are infrastructure = investment. If they need cash, they can simply privatised.

China have a lot of high quality SOEs, they not only make money and contributed to government tax revenue, but their stocks can be used by government to fund social services such as 10% of selected SOEs share are used for age care in China without the need to increase tax. 

China Economy benefited from government infrastructure and water redirection strategies, as a result  there are new growing opportunities to the economy. Government revenues are healthy with big potential to growth further. 

So, no worries with the current china debt level. Beside, the CCP does not give tax Payer money to too big to fail private businesses. when they billed out a private business , they took over the ownership. Last year, there is a private bank become state own. 

However, Western debts are given to wall street for speculative activities from real estate to stock markets. These businesses don't pay tax, they only bribe the politicians with campaign money, and enrich those most corrupt politicians with speech fees, book deals etc. 

The super rich in the West  keep taking from the tax payers by bribing the politicians and not giving back to the society. 

So sources of western government revenue become narrower, national and household debt keep rising at radicurous speed. these are real debt with no ability to repay. 

So western governmen keep taxing the 99% with yearly rising service fees, council rate, all kind of fines. These policies affect the average people buying power, hence affecting the people buying power. Thus, domestic consumption  as one of the major pillars of Western GDP contracted, the economy in trouble. 

As rich people don't pay tax, the 99% running out of money. As a result, small and medium sized businesses suffered, tax revenue for government reduced. So trump think that trade war is easy to win, he can raise tax from China, but he failed miserably.

US will collapsed once RMB successfully replace the dollar as world trading currency, when the ability to continue print money without inflation in US is gone, US dollar will collapse, economy will collapse. 

Hope the above make sense.

Cheers

<redacted>

For example, the Federal Reserve can use its contractionary monetary tools to tame hyperinflation…

…or…

…it can work with the Treasury to provide liquidity (as during the 2008 financial crisis).

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation insures banks, so there is little chance of a banking collapse similar to that in the 1930s.

The president can release Strategic Oil Reserves to offset an oil embargo.

Homeland Security can address a cyber threat.

The U.S. military can respond to a terrorist attack, transportation stoppage, or rioting and civic unrest.

In other words, the federal government has many tools and resources to prevent an economic collapse.

MM Comment.

Sure it can try. But does it still have the actual ability to do so?

What Would Happen If the U.S. Economy Collapses?

If the U.S. economy collapses, you would likely lose access to credit.

Banks would close.

Demand would outstrip supply of food, gas, and other necessities.

If the collapse affected local governments and utilities, then water and electricity might no longer be available.

A U.S. economic collapse would create global panic.

MM Comment

Most of the world has expected this collapse for decades and have put in place systems to mitigate any American-centrist collapse. Certainly the five-eyes nations of Canada, UK, NZ and Australia will be negatively affected, but the rest of the world will not be so directly affected.

The USA does not own, run or dictate to the world.

Demand for the dollar and U.S. Treasury’s would plummet.

Interest rates would skyrocket.

Investors would rush to other currencies, such as the yuan, euro, or even gold. It would create not just inflation, but hyperinflation, as the dollar lost value to other currencies.

If you want to understand what life is like during a collapse, think back to the Great Depression. The stock market crashed on Black Thursday. By the following Tuesday, it was down 25%.

Many investors lost their life savings that weekend.

By 1932, one out of four people was unemployed.

Wages for those who still had jobs fell precipitously—manufacturing wages dropped 32% from 1929 to 1932.

U.S. gross domestic product was cut nearly in half.

Thousands of farmers and other unemployed workers moved to California and elsewhere in search of work.

Two-and-a-half million people left the Midwestern Dust Bowl states.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average didn’t rebound to its pre-Crash level until 1954.

MM Comment

Everything in America today is an illusion. The GDP is artificially skewed in favor of the fantastic wealth held by the 1%. Were they to lose 30% of their wealth, the GDP for the nation could possibly drop to a mere tiny fraction of it's value.

When the curtain comes falling down everything that is fake and an illusion becomes clear for the world to see.

Collapse Versus Crisis

An economic crisis is not the same as an economic collapse. As painful as it was, the 2008 financial crisis was not a collapse. Millions of people lost jobs and homes, but basic services were still provided.

Other past financial crises seemed like a collapse at the time, but are barely remembered now.

1970s Stagflation

The OPEC oil embargo and President Richard Nixon’s abolishment of the gold standard triggered double-digit inflation. The government responded to this economic downturn by freezing wages and labor rates to curb inflation.7 The result was a high unemployment rate. Businesses, hampered by low prices, could not afford to keep workers at unprofitable wage rates.

1981 Recession

The Fed raised interest rates in a bid to end double-digit inflation.

That created the worst recession since the Great Depression. President Ronald Reagan cut taxes and increased government spending to end it.

1989 Savings and Loan Crisis

One thousand banks closed after improper real estate investments turned sour. Charles Keating and other Savings & Loan bankers had mis-used bank depositor’s funds. The consequent recession triggered an unemployment rate as high as 7.5%. The government was forced to bail out some banks to the tune of $124 billion.

Post-9/11 Recession

The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 sowed nationwide apprehension and prolonged the 2001 recession—and unemployment of greater than 10%—through 2003. The United States’ response, the War on Terror, has cost the nation $6.4 trillion, and counting.

2008 Financial Crisis

The early warning signs of the 2008 Financial Crisis were rapidly falling housing prices and increasing mortgage defaults in 2006. Left untended, the resulting subprime mortgage crisis, which panicked investors and led to massive bank withdrawals, spread like wildfire across the financial community. The U.S. government had no choice but to bail out “too big to fail” banks and insurance companies, like Bear Stearns and AIG, or face both national and global financial catastrophes.

2020 Recession

It is too soon to tally up the total costs of the 2020 global health crisisCoronavirus pandemic—the crisis is still ongoing. Already we have seen worldwide supply-chain interruptions, heightened volatility and steep losses in financial markets, and sharp slowdowns in the travel and hospitality industries.

How much economic cost should we expect? According to the United Nations’ Conference on Trade and Development, the global economic hit could reduce global growth rates to 0.5% and cost the global economy as much as $2 trillion for 2020.

So what is going to happen?

I am not really all that good in predicting future events. You know, it’s all a very personal event that lies upon your world-line template. But regardless as to what your template map looks like we can make a couple of basic and reasonable statements…

America is deep, deep in debt.
There are no efforts to control this debt, or slow down spending.
This is not sustainable.

Since it is not sustainable, there will come a time when this kind of behavior will end. It might be gradual, or sudden. But it will have to end.

How the nation handles this change in economic policy will depend on may, many factors. Knowing human nature, humans do not like change, and those accustomed to doing things a certain way will have a difficult time adapting.

Gradual Change

If the change is gradual, and those managing the economy are talented, capable and willing…

… the United States economy can contract in a very controlled implosion, will little radical change, and managed in such as way that the United States might experience a simple minor recession.

Significantly, in 2008, the U.S. National Intelligence Council admitted for the first time that America's global power was indeed on a declining trajectory. In one of its periodic futuristic reports, Global Trends 2025, the Council cited "the transfer of global wealth and economic power now under way, roughly from West to East" and "without precedent in modern history," as the primary factor in the decline of the "United States' relative strength -- even in the military realm." 

Like many in Washington, however, the Council’s analysts anticipated a very long, very soft landing for American global preeminence, and harbored the hope that somehow...

... the U.S. would long "retain unique military capabilities… to project military power globally" for decades to come.

Sure…

What ever you say.

Wrapped in imperial hubris, like Whitehall or Quai d'Orsay before it, the White House still seems to imagine that American decline will be gradual, gentle, and partial. In his State of the Union address last January, President Obama offered the reassurance that "I do not accept second place for the United States of America." 

A few days later, Vice President Biden ridiculed the very idea that "we are destined to fulfill [historian Paul] Kennedy's prophecy that we are going to be a great nation that has failed because we lost control of our economy and overextended." 

Similarly, writing in the November issue of the establishment journal Foreign Affairs, neo-liberal foreign policy guru Joseph Nye waved away talk of China's economic and military rise, dismissing "misleading metaphors of organic decline" and denying that any deterioration in U.S. global power was underway.

Ordinary Americans, watching their jobs head overseas, have a more realistic view than their cosseted leaders. An opinion poll in August 2010 found that 65 percent of Americans believed the country was now "in a state of decline."  Already, Australia and Turkey, traditional U.S. military allies, are using their American-manufactured weapons for joint air and naval maneuvers with China. 

Already, America's closest economic partners are backing away from Washington's opposition to China's rigged currency rates. As the president flew back from his Asian tour last month, a gloomy New York Times headline  summed the moment up this way: "Obama's Economic View Is Rejected on World Stage, China, Britain and Germany Challenge U.S., Trade Talks With Seoul Fail, Too."

-Salon 2010

Sudden Change

If those in Washington DC, have been living in isolation bubbles, echo chambers, and have selfish, self-interests at heart rather than what is good for the nation, it is highly likely that there could be a very sudden change. Perhaps one that reaches the limits and boundaries of a catastrophe.

There are far too many variables involved to make accurate predictions. But that doesn’t stop people. And you can find these predictions all over the internet.

But what will actually happen?

No one knows.

The Elites have their ideas…

Here’s a ten year old article from Salon, and they pretty much nailed it in regards to what is going on. If anything, they were too optimistic.

From Salon 2010…

Viewed historically, the question is not whether the United States will lose its unchallenged global power, but just how precipitous and wrenching the decline will be.

In place of Washington’s wishful thinking, let’s use the National Intelligence Council’s own futuristic methodology.

Here we suggest four realistic scenarios for how, whether with a bang or a whimper, U.S. global power could reach its end in the 2020s (along with four accompanying assessments of just where we are today).

The future scenarios include:

Economic decline,
Oil shock,
Military misadventure, and…
World War III.

While these are hardly the only possibilities when it comes to American decline or even collapse, they offer a window into an onrushing future.

Economic Decline: Scenario 2020

After years of swelling deficits fed by incessant warfare in distant lands, in 2020, as long expected, the U.S. dollar finally loses its special status as the world’s reserve currency.

Hasn't happened... yet. But that is currently in process.

For many reasons, the Chinese authorities will probably someday stop pegging the yuan to a basket of currencies, and shift to a modern inflation-targeting regime under which they allow the exchange rate to fluctuate much more freely, especially against the dollar.

When that happens, expect most of Asia to follow China. In due time, the dollar, currently the anchor currency for roughly two-thirds of world GDP, could lose nearly half its weight.

Considering how much the United States relies on the dollar’s special status – or what then-French Finance Minister Valéry Giscard d’Estaing famously called America’s “exorbitant privilege” – to fund massive public and private borrowing, the impact of such a shift could be significant.

Suddenly, the cost of imports soars.

This did happen. From the "Trump Tariffs" of 25%, to the costs of shipping in 2021, importing products into the United States is factually much more costly than before.

Unable to pay for swelling deficits by selling now-devalued Treasury notes abroad, Washington is finally forced to slash its bloated military budget. Under pressure at home and abroad, Washington slowly pulls U.S. forces back from hundreds of overseas bases to a continental perimeter. By now, however, it is far too late.

Did not happen. The United States military instead got much larger.

Faced with a fading superpower incapable of paying the bills, China, India, Iran, Russia, and other powers, great and regional, provocatively challenge U.S. dominion over the oceans, space, and cyberspace.

True, and in process.

Meanwhile, amid soaring prices, ever-rising unemployment, and a continuing decline in real wages, domestic divisions widen into violent clashes and divisive debates, often over remarkably irrelevant issues.

True and in process.

Riding a political tide of disillusionment and despair, a far-right patriot captures the presidency with thundering rhetoric, demanding respect for American authority and threatening military retaliation or economic reprisal.

Good call. Donald Trump became President, and Biden continues his neocon ambitions.

The world pays next to no attention as the American Century ends in silence.

Oh, the world is paying attention. It's just that America is viewed as a declining and unstable nation.

Oil Shock: Scenario 2025

The United States remains so dependent upon foreign oil that a few adverse developments in the global energy market in 2025 spark an oil shock.

By comparison, it makes the 1973 oil shock (when prices quadrupled in just months) look like the proverbial molehill.

Angered at the dollar’s plummeting value, OPEC oil ministers, meeting in Riyadh, demand future energy payments in a “basket” of Yen, Yuan, and Euros.

This is in process.

That only hikes the cost of U.S. oil imports further.

At the same moment, while signing a new series of long-term delivery contracts with China, the Saudis stabilize their own foreign exchange reserves by switching to the Yuan.

In process.

Meanwhile, China pours countless billions into building a massive trans-Asia pipeline and funding Iran’s exploitation of the world largest percent natural gas field at South Pars in the Persian Gulf.

In process.

Concerned that the U.S. Navy might no longer be able to protect the oil tankers traveling from the Persian Gulf to fuel East Asia, a coalition of Tehran, Riyadh, and Abu Dhabi form an unexpected new Gulf alliance and affirm that China’s new fleet of swift aircraft carriers will henceforth patrol the Persian Gulf from a base on the Gulf of Oman.

Not happened, and there are no plans for this. What is happening is that China and Iran, with Russia have formed a joint military block.

Under heavy economic pressure, London agrees to cancel the U.S. lease on its Indian Ocean island base of Diego Garcia, while Canberra, pressured by the Chinese, informs Washington that the Seventh Fleet is no longer welcome to use Fremantle as a homeport, effectively evicting the U.S. Navy from the Indian Ocean.

Did not happen. In fact, the United States is pushing for even stronger military presence, and few other nations are enthusiastic about joining the QUAD.

With just a few strokes of the pen and some terse announcements, the “Carter Doctrine,” by which U.S. military power was to eternally protect the Persian Gulf, is laid to rest in 2025. All the elements that long assured the United States limitless supplies of low-cost oil from that region — logistics, exchange rates, and naval power — evaporate. At this point, the U.S. can still cover only an insignificant 12 percent of its energy needs from its nascent alternative energy industry, and remains dependent on imported oil for half of its energy consumption.

Did not happen. Instead, the USA is heavily involved militarily in the entire Middle East region.

The oil shock that follows hits the country like a hurricane, sending prices to startling heights, making travel a staggeringly expensive proposition, putting real wages (which had long been declining) into freefall, and rendering non-competitive whatever American exports remained.

Not happened yet, but 2025 is still four years away.

With thermostats dropping, gas prices climbing through the roof, and dollars flowing overseas in return for costly oil, the American economy is paralyzed. With long-fraying alliances at an end and fiscal pressures mounting, U.S. military forces finally begin a staged withdrawal from their overseas bases.

I would highly doubt it. If anything the last few years has been a nearly insane level of pro-military anti-China, anti-Russia and anti-Iran war-mongering.

Within a few years, the U.S. is functionally bankrupt and the clock is ticking toward midnight on the American Century.

Military Misadventure: Scenario 2014

Counterintuitively, as their power wanes, empires often plunge into ill-advised military misadventures. This phenomenon is known among historians of empire as “micro-militarism” and seems to involve psychologically compensatory efforts to salve the sting of retreat or defeat by occupying new territories, however briefly and catastrophically.

These operations, irrational even from an imperial point of view, often yield hemorrhaging expenditures or humiliating defeats that only accelerate the loss of power.

Embattled empires through the ages suffer an arrogance that drives them to plunge ever deeper into military misadventures until defeat becomes debacle.

In 413 BCE, a weakened Athens sent 200 ships to be slaughtered in Sicily.
In 1921, a dying imperial Spain dispatched 20,000 soldiers to be massacred by Berber guerrillas in Morocco.
In 1956, a fading British Empire destroyed its prestige by attacking Suez.
And in 2001 and 2003, the U.S. occupied Afghanistan and invaded Iraq.

With the hubris that marks empires over the millennia, Washington has increased its troops in Afghanistan to 100,000, expanded the war into Pakistan, and extended its commitment to 2014 and beyond, courting disasters large and small in this guerilla-infested, nuclear-armed graveyard of empires.

So irrational, so unpredictable is “micro-militarism” that seemingly fanciful scenarios are soon outdone by actual events. With the U.S. military stretched thin from Somalia to the Philippines and tensions rising in Israel, Iran, and Korea, possible combinations for a disastrous military crisis abroad are multifold.

Washington makes its move, sending in Special Operations forces to seize oil ports in the Persian Gulf. This, in turn, sparks a rash of suicide attacks and the sabotage of pipelines and oil wells. As black clouds billow skyward and diplomats rise at the U.N. to bitterly denounce American actions, commentators worldwide reach back into history to brand this “America’s Suez,” a telling reference to the 1956 debacle that marked the end of the British Empire.

Well things are going on. Most are not reported. There is the enormous Beirut explosion, as well as various other oil related military Mal-adventures.

World War III: Present Situation

In the summer of 2010, military tensions between the U.S. and China began to rise in the western Pacific, once considered an American “lake.” Even a year earlier no one would have predicted such a development. As Washington played upon its alliance with London to appropriate much of Britain’s global power after World War II, so China is now using the profits from its export trade with the U.S. to fund what is likely to become a military challenge to American dominion over the waterways of Asia and the Pacific.

With its growing resources, Beijing is claiming a vast maritime arc from Korea to Indonesia long dominated by the U.S. Navy.

In August, after Washington expressed a “national interest” in the South China Sea and conducted naval exercises there to reinforce that claim, Beijing’s official Global Times responded angrily, saying, “The U.S.-China wrestling match over the South China Sea issue has raised the stakes in deciding who the real future ruler of the planet will be.”

Amid growing tensions, the Pentagon reported that Beijing now holds “the capability to attack… [U.S.] aircraft carriers in the western Pacific Ocean” and target “nuclear forces throughout… the continental United States.” By developing “offensive nuclear, space, and cyber warfare capabilities,”

China seems determined to vie for dominance of what the Pentagon calls “the information spectrum in all dimensions of the modern battlespace.” With ongoing development of the powerful Long March V booster rocket, as well as the launch of two satellites in January 2010 and another in July, for a total of five, Beijing signaled that the country was making rapid strides toward an “independent” network of 35 satellites for global positioning, communications, and reconnaissance capabilities by 2020.

To check China and extend its military position globally, Washington is intent on building a new digital network of air and space robotics, advanced cyberwarfare capabilities, and electronic surveillance. Military planners expect this integrated system to envelop the Earth in a cyber-grid capable of blinding entire armies on the battlefield or taking out a single terrorist in field or favela.

By 2020, if all goes according to plan, the Pentagon will launch a three-tiered shield of space drones — reaching from stratosphere to exosphere, armed with agile missiles, linked by a resilient modular satellite system, and operated through total telescopic surveillance.

Last April, the Pentagon made history. It extended drone operations into the exosphere by quietly launching the X-37B unmanned space shuttle into a low orbit 255 miles above the planet. The X-37B is the first in a new generation of unmanned vehicles that will mark the full weaponization of space, creating an arena for future warfare unlike anything that has gone before.

From 2008 through 2016, American military forces were training to invade islands in the South China Sea, and moneys were spent enlarging military bases in the Pacific.

From 2017 through 2020, it's been war. Mostly "hybrid", but there has been a major biological warfare effort involved against China with 7 strains attacking livestock, and three attacking people. All have failed.

Leaving and resulting a March 2021 Alaskan meeting where the USA told China to "roll over and die", or be destroyed. China responded back with "Fuck you".

World War III: Scenario 2025

The technology of space and cyberwarfare is so new and untested that even the most outlandish scenarios may soon be superseded by a reality still hard to conceive. If we simply employ the sort of scenarios that the Air Force itself used in its 2009 Future Capabilities Game, however, we can gain “a better understanding of how air, space and cyberspace overlap in warfare,” and so begin to imagine how the next world war might actually be fought.

It’s 11:59 p.m. on Thanksgiving Thursday in 2025. While cyber-shoppers pound the portals of Best Buy for deep discounts on the latest home electronics from China, U.S. Air Force technicians at the Space Surveillance Telescope (SST) on Maui choke on their coffee as their panoramic screens suddenly blip to black. Thousands of miles away at the U.S. CyberCommand’s operations center in Texas, cyberwarriors soon detect malicious binaries that, though fired anonymously, show the distinctive digital fingerprints of China’s People’s Liberation Army.

The first overt strike is one nobody predicted. Chinese “malware” seizes control of the robotics aboard an unmanned solar-powered U.S. “Vulture” drone as it flies at 70,000 feet over the Tsushima Strait between Korea and Japan. It suddenly fires all the rocket pods beneath its enormous 400-foot wingspan, sending dozens of lethal missiles plunging harmlessly into the Yellow Sea, effectively disarming this formidable weapon.

Determined to fight fire with fire, the White House authorizes a retaliatory strike. Confident that its F-6 “Fractionated, Free-Flying” satellite system is impenetrable, Air Force commanders in California transmit robotic codes to the flotilla of X-37B space drones orbiting 250 miles above the Earth, ordering them to launch their “Triple Terminator” missiles at China’s 35 satellites. Zero response. In near panic, the Air Force launches its Falcon Hypersonic Cruise Vehicle into an arc 100 miles above the Pacific Ocean and then, just 20 minutes later, sends the computer codes to fire missiles at seven Chinese satellites in nearby orbits. The launch codes are suddenly inoperative.

As the Chinese virus spreads uncontrollably through the F-6 satellite architecture, while those second-rate U.S. supercomputers fail to crack the malware’s devilishly complex code, GPS signals crucial to the navigation of U.S. ships and aircraft worldwide are compromised. Carrier fleets begin steaming in circles in the mid-Pacific. Fighter squadrons are grounded. Reaper drones fly aimlessly toward the horizon, crashing when their fuel is exhausted. Suddenly, the United States loses what the U.S. Air Force has long called “the ultimate high ground”: space. Within hours, the military power that had dominated the globe for nearly a century has been defeated in World War III without a single human casualty.

A New World Order?

Even if future events prove duller than these scenarios suggest, every significant trend points toward a far more striking decline in American global power by 2025 than anything Washington now seems to be envisioning.

As allies worldwide begin to realign their policies to take cognizance of rising Asian powers, the cost of maintaining 800 or more overseas military bases will simply become unsustainable…

… finally forcing a staged withdrawal on a still-unwilling Washington.

With both the U.S. and China in a race to weaponize space and cyberspace, tensions between the two powers are bound to rise, making military conflict by 2025 at least feasible, if hardly guaranteed.

Complicating matters even more, the economic, military, and technological trends outlined above will not operate in tidy isolation.

As happened to European empires after World War II, such negative forces will undoubtedly prove synergistic.

They will combine in thoroughly unexpected ways, create crises for which Americans are remarkably unprepared, and threaten to spin the economy into a sudden downward spiral, consigning this country to a generation or more of economic misery.

As U.S. power recedes, the past offers a spectrum of possibilities for a future world order.

At one end of this spectrum, the rise of a new global superpower, however unlikely, cannot be ruled out.

Yet both China and Russia evince self-referential cultures, recondite non-roman scripts, regional defense strategies, and underdeveloped legal systems, denying them key instruments for global dominion. At the moment then, no single superpower seems to be on the horizon likely to succeed the U.S.

Nonsense. As of 2021, Russia, China and Iran have combined for a unified Asia.

In a dark, dystopian version of our global future, a coalition of transnational corporations, multilateral forces like NATO, and an international financial elite could conceivably forge a single, possibly unstable, supra-national nexus that would make it no longer meaningful to speak of national empires at all.

As stated by an American inside of America over ten years ago. Such dated ignorance.

While denationalized corporations and multinational elites would assumedly rule such a world from secure urban enclaves, the multitudes would be relegated to urban and rural wastelands.

In “Planet of Slums,” Mike Davis offers at least a partial vision of such a world from the bottom up. He argues that the billion people already packed into fetid favela-style slums worldwide (rising to two billion by 2030) will make “the ‘feral, failed cities’ of the Third World… the distinctive battlespace of the twenty-first century.”

As darkness settles over some future super-favela, “the empire can deploy Orwellian technologies of repression” as “hornet-like helicopter gun-ships stalk enigmatic enemies in the narrow streets of the slum districts… Every morning the slums reply with suicide bombers and eloquent explosions.”

At a midpoint on the spectrum of possible futures, a new global oligopoly might emerge between 2020 and 2040, with rising powers China, Russia, India, and Brazil collaborating with receding powers like Britain, Germany, Japan, and the United States to enforce an ad hoc global dominion, akin to the loose alliance of European empires that ruled half of humanity circa 1900.

Another possibility: the rise of regional hegemons in a return to something reminiscent of the international system that operated before modern empires took shape.

In this neo-Westphalian world order, with its endless vistas of micro-violence and unchecked exploitation, each hegemon would dominate its immediate region — Brasilia in South America, Washington in North America, Pretoria in southern Africa, and so on. Space, cyberspace, and the maritime deeps, removed from the control of the former planetary “policeman,” the United States, might even become a new global commons, controlled through an expanded U.N. Security Council or some ad hoc body.

All of these scenarios extrapolate existing trends into the future on the assumption that Americans, blinded by the arrogance of decades of historically unparalleled power, cannot or will not take steps to manage the unchecked erosion of their global position.

If America’s decline is in fact on a 22-year trajectory from 2003 to 2025, then we have already frittered away most of the first decade of that decline with wars that distracted us from long-term problems and, like water tossed onto desert sands, wasted trillions of desperately needed dollars.

Duh. It's pretty fucking obvious.

If only 15 years remain, the odds of frittering them all away still remain high. Congress and the president are now in gridlock; the American system is flooded with corporate money meant to jam up the works; and there is little suggestion that any issues of significance, including our wars, our bloated national security state, our starved education system, and our antiquated energy supplies, will be addressed with sufficient seriousness to assure the sort of soft landing that might maximize our country’s role and prosperity in a changing world.

Yup. Forget about a "soft landing". The psychopaths in Washington DC will have none of that.

Europe’s empires are gone and America’s imperium is going.

It seems increasingly doubtful that the United States will have anything like Britain’s success in shaping a succeeding world order that protects its interests, preserves its prosperity, and bears the imprint of its best values.

This was written a decade ago in 2010.

The “knee jerk” reaction is for America to start a war.

Don’t.

China. Does. Not. Play.

The Oligarchy have their ideas…

Certainly the PTB, and the oligarchy skedaddled to their hidy-holes in remote areas of NZ, Canada, and Europe. So that tells me that the oligarchy believe that a collapse is imminent.

So, taking their lead and some common sense, we can take note and prepare…

How Do We Prepare for Economic Collapse?

From the SHTFblog…

Thankfully, history can give us some advice here.

As Ayn Rand points out throughout her books (particularly in Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal), it is production which is true wealth. The person who produces, whether that be food, shoes, holsters, or some other form of tangible good, is the one who holds true wealth. They’re adding something to society, creating something that others need or want.

In the same spirit, I would argue that the person who can provide a tangible service as well also has true wealth. An electrician who can provide light to a building, a plumber who can ensure personal hygiene is a diminished issue, and a doctor who can repair a wound are all examples of people who may not necessarily produce tangible goods (such as in the case of farmers, leatherworkers, and blacksmiths), but they still are able to produce a service that is both wanted and needed.

So, one of the first things that we can do to prepare ourselves for economic collapse is to become capable of producing.

This can be done in two primary ways: by the learning of a new skill or by getting into the business of producing merchandise.

Learning a New Skill

This is part of the reason that I went and became a locksmith. I have more than one job but wanted to have something of a backup plan perchance something should happen to my primary income. Tradesmen are both necessary and (typically) in short supply. Learning a concrete skill seemed to be something that would provide a fairly decent insurance policy should I need to fall back on something else. I’m glad I did, too. We’re a ‘key’ business.

Whether it be plumbing, carpentry, farrier work, or any other kind of trade for that matter, the point is that becoming proficient in a trade is to make yourself proficient in something that is likely to always be necessary. To look at a rather morbid example of such, we can analyze what the Germans did to the Jews throughout the Holocaust. Whether you are reading Schindler’s List, Maus, or The Man Who Broke into Auschwitz, you can see that it was the Jews who knew a trade such as metal polishing, mechanical work, or machining were (at least for a while) kept alive. (Of course, I’m by no means saying that pianists, teachers, and shopkeepers had no value.)

Learning to Produce Products

The second aspect would be investment in a particular merchandise. It involves producing products, starting a side business of some sort, perhaps. True, this often requires increasing one’s knowledge in a particular field, but there are some regions where it is simply the investment that allows a man to produce. As the saying goes, it takes money to make money.

This is where a shopkeeper would fit in. It is because such a man has invested capital into supplies that he is able to produce wealth for himself. Post-economic collapse though, which supplies will help one to produce wealth, however? Well, that leads me to the next topic: bartering.

Barter Society

I think that one of the first things that people need to realize when it comes to economic collapse is that things revert to a BARTER society. Look throughout history, and you’ll see that this is the case. The world doesn’t go to pot and a day later people are walking around and trading gold coins with one another. (I believe Joe Nobody illustrates this point rather well in his Holding Their Own series).

No, people start with trading goods and services for other needed/desired goods and services. Greece proved this with their recent economic collapse within the past five years or so. People traded eggs, milk, and meat for what they needed. I think it’s important to note that the farmer – a producer – was the one that was able to provide this for people as well. HE had true wealth throughout the collapse.

Again, in Venezuela we saw the same thing. People resorted to trading bananas for haircuts. The FIRST thing that becomes of value during an economic collapse is goods and services. True, there will be a very short window in which cash is king until people realize that the paper they have trusted all those years is now truly worthless in every sense of the word, but that window is short.

Barterable Goods and Services

So, after the brief cash window closes, after your world resorts to barter, the question becomes: “Okay, so what do I barter with? How do I get the things that my family needs?”

Regarding goods, I believe that the following is a good list to begin with. These are the things that people are going to need, and that are going to hold intrinsic value post-economic collapse:

Water – Particularly water bottles. These are readily portable, and not so value dense as to be unpractical for trade.
Water Filters – The majority of Americans have less than 3 days of food in their home. That includes water. If people can’t afford their electric bill, post-economic collapse, they are going to need access to safe water, and a water filter provides that.
Ammo – I truly believe that this will be one of the most practical and widely accepted forms of currency. It’s been used before as a currency, and it’ll be used again.
Guns – Value-dense, but there are going to be people who want them to protect their families from post-collapse violence. The demand for guns skyrocketed this year thanks to the riots and government action. What do you think the demand will look like post-collapse?
Gasoline Containers – Everybody will need them, and very few have them.
Food – There will always be a need for food, and – as witnessed by food bank lines – one of the first indicators of economic downturns.
Diapers – Parents go through thousands of these per year and will not have an adequate supply for their kids post-collapse. I believe reusable cloth diapers will be important.
Body Armor – Value-dense, but people will want it. There are record sales of it this year, and that desire will continue in a violent, post-collapse economy.
Coffee – It creates an addiction, and the withdrawal effects SUCK. People are going to want coffee, and there are ways to store it for a long time.
Boots – There will be an increase in the amount of walking the average man does thanks to the unavailability of gasoline. Shoes will wear out and need to be replaced.
Coats – Clothing wears out, new people are always being created, people constantly change size, and people always need it.
Gloves – There will be an increase in outdoor work, and gloves wear out.
Alcohol – Another thing that mankind can’t seem to get enough of. I just wouldn’t broadcast how much of this stuff that you have. People kill for it.
Tobacco – Another addiction that I wouldn’t broadcast you have a lot of. Cigarettes were routinely used as currency among POWs in WW2, and still are used in prisons throughout the world as currency.
Baby Formula – If breastfeeding is no longer an option, people are going to need formula to feed their babies. Parents WILL feed their babies, and there will be a dire need for such. Once again, not something I would advertise that I have a stockpile of.
Gasoline – This will always be needed for vehicles and generators.
Salt – Needed for meat storage since it is very unlikely that people will have access to constant electricity for refrigeration.
Medical Supplies – Crutches, slings, gauze, various first aid equipment and more will be in short supply. People always hurt themselves, and very few of much stored for their own first aid.
Medicine – There will always be a need for medication.
Spare Gun Parts – Guns break, and few have spare parts stored.
Condoms – People are going to realize that now is probably not the best time to get pregnant. If you staple three of them together and sell them in multi-packs, you can create a market for your baby formula as well! (I’m kidding, I’m kidding.)
Eye Glasses – Maybe it’s difficult to get replacement glasses, but reading glasses can be bought in bulk cheaply. It’s one of the most difficult things to get in prison, as the “state issue” glasses make you look like a retired mob boss.
Holsters – The thousands of people who bought pistols to keep in their nightstand will come to realize that they need a way to carry their weapon around with them. Things will be too dangerous to do otherwise, and many forget to buy a holster ahead of time.

When it comes to services, these are the skills that I believe will be in great demand post-economic collapse. It would be wise to learn at least some degree of proficiency in one of them.

Farming – Food production will be vital, and the man with beehives, fields, a garden, chickens, or dairy animals will be able to produce an item that people need on a daily basis.
Ranching – Much different than farming. Whether you know how to manage cattle for somebody else, or have the knowledge to raise them of your own accord, cattle, sheep, goats, and so on are going to need to be cared for to provide meat, leather, hides, and more for people.
Mechanical Work – Vehicles, generators, and more will break down and people will need them to be fixed.
Electrical Work – Wiring solar, pumps for wells, and more will always be needed.
Machining – It is likely that there will still be factories producing, and machinists will be needed for such.
Gunsmithing – Accidents happen, and few trust their own abilities to fix a firearm. Gunsmiths will be needed for such events.
Leatherwork – Primarily for holsters, gun straps, and clothing.
Medical Work – There will be a dire need for such workers post-economic collapse. People will be unable to afford their medications, or regular healthcare services, and thus there will be a drastic increase in acute conditions. Medical workers will be needed to address such, even if it is on the individual barter basis.
Protection – Herds, businesses, neighborhoods, and residences are going to want permanent protection, and will be willing to hire experienced armed men to do so. Knowing how to patrol, set up a perimeter, and dispose of threats will be in demand.
Baking – Knowledge of how to make bread will allow you to produce an item that everyone will need and want post-collapse.
Textile Creation – Whether this comes in the form of knitting, crocheting, tailoring, or so on, there will be a need for items of cloth as clothing gradually wears out, is lost, soiled, or stolen.

Keep in mind that all the above are general lists. Undoubtedly, you will be able to think of both goods and services that will have post-economic collapse value that are not included above. These are simply given to get your mind thinking about some sure-fire ways to be able to barter for what you need in the event of an economic collapse.

What About Precious Metals?

There are two reasons gold and silver have been omitted:

First, the use of precious metals doesn’t seem to come into common use until well after the period of barter transactions.

Second, I believe that precious metals are much more important for wealth evacuation. Let’s take a look at both of these in more detail.

To begin with, seldom throughout history do we see precious metals instantly being reverted to as currency post-economic collapse. Why? You can’t eat them, you can’t drink them, and few understand their inherent value (ask a friend what the current price of gold is to find see). Even fewer can tell if the gold/silver that you are offering them is the real deal or a fake.

Stocking precious metals is now how to survive an economic collapse. People don’t want gold and silver after an economic collapse. They want to be able to feed their families. Gold and silver will not be a readily used means of exchange in such an event.

To further complicate matters, gold is incredibly value dense. As of this writing, gold is a little over $2000 an ounce. That’s a lot of value wrapped up in that little coin. If you need ammunition, and go to buy it from some small-time reloader, do you think he’ll be able to honor the equivalent of an ounce of gold’s worth of ammo? Odds are he won’t even have that much in stock. If we really want to examine the issue, I think that silver would be a better form of currency, precious-metals wise.

Silver is currently around $25/ounce. That’s a much more useable value amount on a daily basis. (If you want to read more, read about the best silver for preppers.) However, what we see throughout history is the reversion to barter, not to the gold standard.

Gold Exception – Wealth Evacuation

If you’ve got to get the heck out of somewhere, and fast, then I believe that gold is where it’s at. Silver is too bulky. A pocket full of gold coins would allow you to “start fresh” somewhere a bit more stable (if you can find such a place). Shoot, we can even look at the US post-Civil War here. Southern money was worth nothing after the war. However, those with gold and silver were able to have something with inherent value that would be redeemable for the new currency.

Again, we can look to the German Jews of the late 1930s. This was a very scary time to be a Jew in Europe. The persecution was very real, and things were heating up. The man who was able to sew gold coins up into the hem of his jacket, and get the heck out of Dodge ASAP was able to arrive at a new and politically friendlier climate with at least some of his wealth intact and under the radar. Baggage is lost and stolen. Clothing seldom is. Thus, I believe that one of the best purposes of gold is wealth evacuation.

How to Survive an Economic Collapse Summary

If you had asked people a year ago if they ever thought the entire world would enact lockdowns and throw refuse people for not wearing a surgical mask at Kroger, they would have said you were nuts. Yet, here we are. Why is it so improbable to think an economic collapse couldn’t be next? All of the warning signs are there? Is it foolish to just ignore them, and pretend that things will always continue on as “normal”?

I’ll let you come to your own conclusions.

Conclusion

So, let’s simplify things.

The statists argue that nothing really bad will happen in the future. At worst will be a recession, but Washington DC will have everything under control.
The “doom and gloomers” are forecasting a complete melt-down of the American society, and it will happen regardless of an American involvement in World War III.
Preppers are fearful for the worst of the worst.
Fourth Turning followers are also fearful for the worst of the worst.
Media Shrills are mindless automatons. They just regurgitate their programming.
Sheeple are oblivious. They know that things are going to shit, but they believe what ever they read. The the “news” says that everything is under control.
Neocons believe that everything will be fixed and turn around once the USA wins World War III.

So what is going to happen?

I cannot tell you all because everyone’s future is different. We all have our own MWI topography maps, and our futures depend on our thoughts, and affirmations.

Would it be too strange for me to allude that the members of each of the groups above will have their own futures play out exactly as their thoughts and actions dictate…

…Yup. That is what it’s gonna be (more or less).

No one is going to be unscathed. We will all experience changes. It’s just that the magnitude of the changes will differ from person to person. The best advice that I can give is to make your immediate environment safe, secure and as stable as possible.

There is no way to predict what will happen for the vast bulk of humanity. All you can do is prepare for your own family and your own region.

The best way to prepare is to be prudent. Be cautious. Be positive, and conduct prayer affirmations that include a GENEROUS listing of affirmations that describe safety and isolation from any looming catastrophes as a result of American mismanagement, evil behaviors, or insanity of one level or the other.

Do you want more?

I have more posts in my SHTF Index here…

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America is slowly being rebuilt brick by brick towards a more community focus instead of an automobile focus.

Who would have known?

Throughout history, nations rise when there is righteous leadership that cared for its citizens' welfare and do the greater good. When they are corrupt and self-serving, those nations fall. Learn from history because we live in a world governed by cause and effect. History will repeat itself.

-Tom Tan

Imagine that. A nation decides to adapt to the people instead of legislating behaviors for them to follow. I know, I know, it’s a long way to go. But to hear that this is happening in the United States is absolutely astounding. It really is.

Wow!

Good stuff!

Great.

It’s about time.

It’s a new world

Yes it is.

I see the global pandemic starting a trend. Actually a series of trends. One of which would be a severely curtailed movement of people across national borders. While others involve a decrease in the use of airlines and planes to go from place to place. You will see these venues downsize.

Just like American malls have down-scaled due to the loss of the American middle class.

the world is changing. you can see it everywhere.

Here’s a scanning robot that I encountered at the mall when I was out getting some groceries. (We go to the mall for fun, we really don’t need to. The delivery services of Er-le-ma and Kangaroo are quite functional.) He said a cheery “Ni Hao!” as I walked by.

Scanning robot in China. — It’s a new world out there.

But you all have got to get the stupid “elected officials” out of Washington DC and start working together to help Americans. All this finger pointing, first to Russia and then to China is just useless and very counter productive. Nothing good will come of it. You have to look inside and address the problems there.

Why is “democracy” so valuable?

It’s heavily promoted (don’t you know) that one-person, one-vote system is the pinnacle of “freedom” and “liberty” in the world. Which is rather strange as the founders of the United States said the absolute opposite.

And people are looking at these various systems of governance with a keen eye. Maybe there needs to be some changes they wonder…

Daniel Bell has put forward his views in favor of China's political meritocracy... against the one person one vote (Western Democracy model) as a mode of selection for political leaders. He has done this  in two books.

The China Model: Political Meritocracy and the Limits of Democracy
Princeton University Press, 2015. ISBN 9781400865505.
 
Dean of the School of Political Science and Public Administration at Shandong University and professor at Tsinghua University (Schwarzman College and Department of Philosophy). He was born in Montreal, educated at McGill and Oxford, has taught in Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai, and has held research fellowships at Princeton's University Center for Human Values, Stanford's Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioural Sciences and Hebrew University's Department of Political Science. 
 
Here:
https://youtu.be/e63ro_suARA

If you are fat and overweight, you change your diet, go to a doctor, exercise more, and monitor your vitals. You do not point at a thin and healthy person and blame them for your problems. Nothing positive or good will come out of it.

Speaking about blaming China…

Pause in WeChat, TikTok ban a positive signal for China-US ties: analysts
The Americans were going to ban WeChat and TikTok from the USA. Then they realized many of their businesses - specially the precious petite bourgeois "small businesses" - are only profitable with WeChat, while a whole sector of the "influencers" business only existed (and prospered) because of TikTok (the same way many glorified salesmen only exist in YouTube).

My bet is, if they can't outright expropriate WeChat and TikTok (Trump tried to expropriate TikTok, forcing it to include their algorithm and source code in the forced selling of their American branch of the business, essentially creating a second, American clone of the company), the Americans will simply let this legal aberration to slowly die and fade into oblivion.

China shows zero tolerance for fake news by banning BBC World News
Propaganda is not information. Fake news is not press. Lies are not speech. Therefore, the BBC is not press and is not speech.

The USA's response was hilarious. It basically stated that, because China has an oppressive system and the West has a free system (because of reasons), China is not entitled to ban Western news outlets, while the West is entitled to ban Chinese newspapers at will. Typical case of infantile "I'm better than you" rant.

Chinese consumption unabated on Spring Festival Eve despite 'stay put' policy
After months of double digit cases, Mainland China finally zeroed new cases and is holding its Spring Festival. Meanwhile, the self-governed province of Taiwan cancelled its Spring Festival after eight consecutive months of (officially) zero new cases and just some 20 cases in January (12 of which happened in a cluster, a hospital). Weird, somebody is cooking the books here...

UK economy hit by record slump in 2020 but double-dip recession avoided
The UK's economy fell double the expected - but at least it avoided a double-dip recession!

Why Japan Inc can’t and won’t quit China
Welcome to the world of capitalism, Mr. Pesek.

-Posted by: vk | Feb 12 2021 12:18 utc | 72

It’s actually pretty bad.

It’s sort of like this…

It’s the way of losers.

To blame others for things that you yourself cause. And yet I find it difficult to accept that America is populated with losers. Sure there are evil people in government, and dregs of society shopping at Wal-mart, but certainly decent people still exist, don’t you think?

America is a real mess

Tax freedom day this year fell on Aug. 12. That’s how long it now takes for the middle-class worker to fulfill his “obligation” to the leviathan. The Ponzi scheme that is our fiat money system is insatiable. It inflates away the savings and investments of Main Street America.

Angel protects. — Americans need some protection.

While the middle-class struggles, the entitlement class grows. High unemployment (who can even count the unemployed at this point), directly caused by government lockdown policies, pushes more people out of the middle class and into the parasite class. One in five American children now lives in poverty, according to a report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

But the parasites live well off the producers. They get “free” housing, “free” food, “free” cable television, “free” cell phones. Their kids eat “free” at school (meals are still handed out at schools, even in lockdown). These “entitlements,” along with ever-extended long-term unemployment benefits, become so attractive that the incentive to work is suppressed.

The workers look with disdain on the parasites. The parasites look with envy on the workers, wanting not their jobs but what they have. Recent riots in Great Britain demonstrate what happens when the parasites decide they want more.

Meanwhile, even the working class is at war with one another. This is encouraged by the elites, but the current Administration has doubled down. The thugocracy of the Labor Unions terrorize non-union workers and companies large and small.

We need to help each other. — .
In America, everyone is at war with each other. America should be offering a helping hand to others in need. Not trying to fight each other.

Tea Party members, at least those who gathered in 2009 and much of 2010 before the Republican Party began to co-opt the movement, were blue collar and white collar, owners of small businesses, retirees, former military, salt-of-the-earth people from all political spectrums who would not support toppling foreign regimes, making war on countries that have not attacked us “for democracy,” or perpetual wars.

And while they indicated they are fed up with the status quo, Tea Party rallies were peaceful and orderly gatherings: Americans engaging in their right to petition government.

Now? Capitol protestors are “terrorists.” Right wing, left wing? Republican, Democrat? Engage in your Two Minutes Hate. The lamestream media talking heads are proud.

The elites love war abroad and at home. It distracts the masses from government’s ongoing theft and manipulation. Anger with one another allows them to continue their looting. It promotes threats and violence, which allows them to further clamp down on freedom.

Endless wars, abroad and at home, equal totalitarianism. It’s totalitarianism under the sweet-sounding name of “democracy“.

American Police State. Domestic arrest within a military empire. What would the Founders of the United States think of this? Do you think that they would approve?

Lest you think this is not the case, ABC News reports that …

"The Pentagon will deploy more than 1,100 troops to five vaccination centers in what will be the first wave of increased military support for the White House campaign to get more Americans inoculated against COVID-19."

You all think that America isn’t a Oligarchy-run Military Empire?

We need some angels to intervene and set things right.

The American cult of the individual denies not just community but the very idea of society. No one owes anything to anyone. All must be prepared to fight for everything: education, shelter, food, medical care. What every prosperous and successful democracy deems to be fundamental rights — universal health care, equal access to quality public education, a social safety net for the weak, elderly, and infirmed — America dismisses as socialist indulgences, as if so many signs of weakness.

How can the rest of the world expect America to lead on global threats — climate change, the extinction crisis, pandemics — when the country no longer has a sense of benign purpose, or collective well-being, even within its own national community? Flag-wrapped patriotism is no substitute for compassion; anger and hostility no match for love. Those who flock to beaches, bars, and political rallies, putting their fellow citizens at risk, are not exercising freedom; they are displaying, as one commentator has noted, the weakness of a people who lack both the stoicism to endure the pandemic and the fortitude to defeat it.

-The Unraveling of America

Anyways…

Let’s get on a more positive note. And let’s start talking about rebuilding America into something better.

The People the Suburbs Were Built for Are Gone

A new book documents the “retrofitting” of obsolete suburban malls, box stores, office parks, parking lots, motels, and more. by Shayla Love written on January 22, 2021, at 1:00am. Edited to fit this venue. All credit to the author.

Last summer, Donald Trump and Ben Carson, then Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, co-bylined an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal promising to “protect America’s suburbs,” describing how they reversed policies that would allow for the creation of denser living structures in areas zoned only for single-family homes.Advertisement

“America’s suburbs are a shining example of the American Dream, where people can live in their own homes, in safe, pleasant neighborhoods,” they wrote.

But the suburbs, in the sense of the idyllic American pastoral Trump and Carson referenced, have been changing for some time—not necessarily the physical homes, stores, roads, and offices that populate them, but the people who live there, along with their needs and desires. Previous mainstays of suburban life are now myths: that the majority of people own their homes; that the suburbs are havens for the middle class; or that the bulk of people are young families who value privacy over urban amenities like communal spaces, walkability, and mixed-use properties.

This mismatch has led to a phenomenon called “suburban retrofitting,” as documented by June Williamson, an associate professor of architecture at the City College of New York, and Ellen Dunham-Jones, a professor of architecture at the Georgia Institute of Technology. They have a new book out this week: Case Studies in Retrofitting Suburbia: Urban Design Strategies for Urgent Challenges.

Welcome to Metropica, a Supposed City of the Future

Allie Conti

Since the 1990s, Williamson and Dunham-Jones have been watching the suburbs evolve. They have found that much of the suburban sprawl of the 20th century was built to serve a very different population than the one that exists now, and so preserving what the suburbs once were doesn’t make sense.

Their book describes 32 recent instances in which suburban structures have been transformed into something new. Many of the cases in Williamson and Dunham-Jones first book from 2011 on the same topic were focused on underused parking lots being transformed into mixed-use spaces. But in this new book, the retrofitting projects have become more ambitious, as cities and towns turn old box stores, malls, motels, or office parks into places for people to live, work, eat, play, exercise, go to the doctor, or even watch Mexican wrestling.Advertisement

They have found that when the suburbs are retrofitted, they can take on an astonishing array of modern issues: car dependency, public health, supporting aging people, helping people compete for jobs, creating water and energy resilience, and helping with social equity and justice.

Motherboard talked with Williamson and Dunham-Jones about why and how we should retrofit the suburbs, and whether or not the COVID-19 has made the suburbs appealing again, or instead accelerated the desire to retrofit the burbs.

The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Motherboard: How do you define the suburbs—a slippery term with no concrete definition? You write in the book that you define something as suburban based on its “suburban form," not necessarily on location or city lines—what do you mean by that?

June Williamson: We’re architects and urban designers and so we are focused on the built environment. That means that when we’re looking at places, generally, that have been built out in the second half of the 20th century to be car dependent, not walkable, and have comparatively lower density.

Ellen Dunham-Jones: Similarly, you can look at the street networks. If you’ve got a grid, more or less, with small, walkable-sized blocks, that’s urban form. If you have a highway leading off into cul de sacs, that’s suburban form, which is a more treelike kind of pattern.

JW: That kind of development certainly characterizes most of the peripheral areas around the older urban cores in Northern American cities. But it can also be found within municipal boundaries of cities. We advocate for an erosion of oppositional thinking that you’re either in the city or the suburbs. When you look at a larger metropolitan area, suburban form can also be found near the center in need of retrofitting.

You argue that many of these suburban forms are obsolete today because they don't fit the needs of the people who live there now. Can you walk me through some of the major demographic changes that have led to these suburban forms becoming obsolete?

EDJ: One of the biggest shifts is that the U.S. now is a majority of one to two person households. And yet, the majority of land within regional urban boundaries is zoned for single-family houses. That already is something of a mismatch.

The expectation going forward is that something like 80 percent of new households that will form over the next 15 years will be these one to two person households. A lot of them would prefer an apartment or a condo—smaller units.Advertisement

Plus you have the aging of the society, that’s the other really big piece. Especially in the suburbs, a lot of elderly people loved their single-family house while they were raising the kids. But now that they’re empty nesters and retiring, it’s kind of lonely. They want to stay in their community with doctors and friends nearby. But a lot of them are looking for, frankly, a more urban lifestyle.News

Our Infrastructure Is Being Built for a Climate That’s Already Gone

Shayla Love

It's pretty interesting how the desires of both the younger millennials, Gen Z, and a lot of those aging boomers are converging on an interest in more walkable, mixed-use, compact urban places out in the burbs.

JW: Commuting has also been transformed dramatically over the past decade or so, too. The notion that people live in the suburbs and work in the cities just isn’t true anymore.

EDJ: We tend to think that the jobs are downtown. Since the 1980s, the majority of jobs have been more than three miles from the central business district. In places like Atlanta, where I live, it’s closer to 90 percent of jobs are way outside. The central business district often has high rises and so it’s really visible, but we’re really seeing something called job sprawl. I certainly see in Atlanta, we have a lot of reverse commuters in that situation.

So when you talk about retrofitting, you mean finding and altering underused or abandoned suburban buildings to better accommodate the demographics and desires of the people who live there now?

JW: Absolutely. And in most of the cases we’ve studied, this is happening because the built places have failed or are struggling to some degree. Advertisement

The dead and dying malls, the vacated office parks, the ghost box stores left behind. Rather than bring back the same thing, this is a tremendous opportunity.

It can be as simple as re-inhabiting, or an adaptive reuse—fixing up the building, or changing the parking lot for something that’s better suited to the times. Taking something that was commercial and turning it into housing.

It can also involve re-greening because so much of the suburbanization processes disrupted the regional ecologies and stormwater flow systems. Then it’s an opportunity for wider ranging benefits. There could be places of recreation or social exchange having small plazas and program parks. And then there is redevelopment. Taking a low density, car-dependent use-separated or mono-use place and mixing it up and investing in it.

I was really struck by the statistics in the book about how many parking spaces there are per household in certain cities. Like how there are 1.97 cars per U.S. household, but in Des Moines, Iowa, there are 19 parking spaces per household. In Jackson, Wyoming, there are 27. These all seem like really obvious places to re-think about how we're using land.

JW: These choices around parking we’ve made have been codified through regulations and naturalized as normal.

EDJ: We really have made it almost a right to park as opposed to a right to housing. Cars have much more protection than people do.Advertisement

There are these aging properties for the most part; a lot of them have become obsolete and those are places to retrofit. But sometimes [properties] are thriving. They’re doing well. Yet they still look at their parking lot as this underperforming asphalt. It’s not doing enough of the job. Sometimes there’s a mall that is doing well, and it makes more sense now to build a parking deck and build housing and bring in offices and make more mixed use. Tech

The Broken Algorithm That Poisoned American Transportation

Aaron Gordon

All of these: the parking lots, the dead space, the vacant spaces. Those are the opportunities for the suburbs to finally address really urgent challenges of equity, climate change, and health.

You’ve been documenting retrofitting since 2011, when your first book came out, and now this second book includes even more case studies. Is the retrofitting phenomenon increasing, or does it need a push?

EDJ: If you go into any architecture school or city planning school’s library, there are tons of books on downtowns. There’s remarkably little written about the suburbs or suburbia. Most of what is there are sort of condemning them as wasteful and ecological boring places.

We’re academics, we’re documenting this stuff, but we’re not exactly neutral. We are advocates. We’re advocates within our disciplines to to sort of say, hey, we really need to bring design to the suburbs

There’s so much opportunity. It is where most Americans live. We saw a lot of these projects happening and noticed that none of the architecture magazines would cover them because they weren’t cool looking enough. Advertisement

And yet this stuff was happening. We thought it was important both to say it’s important that the suburbs do retrofit and become more sustainable and resilient in just places. But it’s also really important to recognize this is actually happening. And that this should happen even more. A lot of communities are afraid to do something unless they know that some other community has already done it.

A former Big Lots box store and parking lot converted into the Collinwood Recreation Center in Cleveland, Ohio.

You discuss the many social challenges retrofitting can take on. Some are more obvious like reducing dependency on cars or becoming more environmentally friendly. But there are some less intuitive ways retrofitting can impact our lives, like improving public health.

JW: One of the observations in public health is that there are chronic diseases of our time in developed countries, and certainly in Northern America, related to obesity and the higher incidences of diabetes, and so on.

One way to address those kinds of diseases is simple physical activity, yet we’ve designed physical activity out of our environments. To design it back in is a kind of low cost way of getting people to move their bodies.

A lot of literature looks at how access to nature, being able to have a view of trees, but also being able to socialize with others is really important. That links back to the demographic prevalence of one and two person households. That leads to loneliness. How can our physical environments create places—not force people to be physically active or to socialize in any particular ways—but to support the possibility?Advertisement

Can you explain one specific facet of intentionally designed well-being called the "third place?"

JW: This is a sociological concept. The “first place” is home and then the “second place” is work. The third place is is a little harder to define.

You might know it as the coffee shop, barbershop, or pub—so it might be a privately owned place, a place of business. It’s where one habitually gathers with others, forms friendships, and is engaging in social life. These are the places that we can design into suburbs as a way to support the overall social body.

EDJ: The suburbs largely sold themselves on the value of the terrific private realm that they present. The suburbs emphasize privacy. As these demographics are changing, there’s more and more people recognizing, “I’m lonely. I would like a little bit more of a public realm.”

If your public realm is just a commercial corridor full of strip malls and parking lots, there’s not much opportunity.

What we see happening are both the incorporation of the third places, but also small programmed parks, little town greens that have places for yoga classes, farmers’ markets, concerts, movie nights, and those kinds of activities that don’t force people to talk to one another, but at least enable the building of community.

The atrium at Bell Works, formerly Bell Labs in Holmdel, New Jersey.

You also write how retrofitting the suburbs can be a tool for social equity, or minority community building—how does that work?

JW: When thinking about social equity, it’s about how people use their social relationships in their social network in order to get connected to opportunity. It really is worth a lot. And it’s one of the reasons we need to challenge the exclusionary practices that have been codified in suburban jurisdictions for decades now. And the coarse sorting that we find in suburbs.

Some of the ways to break out of that is in older retail properties, the rent might be less. There’s an opportunity for networks of immigrant groups with social and business relationships to form businesses, bring people in, and enliven a place. Advertisement

There is a number of examples of vanilla shopping malls that had seen better days that were dead and dying. They have been reinhabited and revitalized by reflecting the changing demographics of the neighboring areas.

One example is Grand Plaza in Fort Worth, what has been rebranded as a Latino mall. One of the large several story department stores was broken up into hundreds of stalls for very small businesses, like a mercato that you might find in Central America or Mexico. The central atrium space in the mall now hosts Mexican wrestling and other kinds of themed events that reflect the culture of the dominant ethnoburb demographics surrounding it.

These places can also become flash points in political movements. If you’re in the suburbs and you want to gather to have a peaceful protest, where do you go? One of the places you might go is the mall parking lot or along an arterial boulevard.

What is there still left to do when it comes to retrofitting the suburbs with social equity in mind?

EDJ: One of the other myths about suburbia is that the suburbs are middle class. Well, the middle class has been shrinking—we all know that. What we also see is that the suburbanization of poverty has really been tremendous. And yet it’s relatively invisible.

Poverty remains most highly concentrated in our cities. But there’s actually more Americans living in poverty out in the suburbs.Advertisement

We draw attention to some of the efforts that have been made. Sadly, we don’t yet see nearly enough examples of retrofitting that are really addressing the problem.

There have been some cases of aging garden apartments that are the housing of last resort for a lot of very, very poor people.

Those are just kind of aging out. In some cases, they’re being redeveloped into more expensive fancy apartments. We need a lot more attention to preserving and restoring a lot of those. It’s not solving a lot of ecological problems. These places are very auto dependent. But there’s such desperate need for more affordable housing out in the burbs.

JW: I don’t think we can emphasize enough that there are people in very precarious conditions across the metropolitan landscapes of North America, and that retrofitting is a way by increasing the mix and introducing supportive housing and other kinds of support services in places where people aren’t marooned if their car breaks down and so forth. It’s an important factor in this conversation. It’s not something that can be isolated as only a city or urban problem.

Remaking these garden complexes or old motels, if you’re going to add transit, make sure there’s access for lower income people, and also younger people who might be on the beginning stages of their kind of lifelong earning trajectory. They should be saving money and shouldn’t have all of their income poured into housing and supporting a vehicle.

There were a couple other case studies from the book I wanted to bring up. For example, I did not know that Bell Labs had been retrofitted!

JW: That’s a super interesting retrofit. Bell Labs is a storied mid-century modern research and development campus designed by Eero Saarinen, a famous architect who unfortunately died right near its completion.

All sorts of things were invented there: transistors and technologies that led to cell phones. But it lay vacant for many years.

It’s in an affluent exurb in New Jersey, and the municipality hoped to tear it all down and develop 50 or so McMansions there

But the Preservation Society and other groups rallied and a developer got interested, and now it’s become like a vertical downtown. It has a quarter-mile long atrium and dozens of businesses located on the ground floor. They have a farmer’s market, yoga, a hairdresser, a Montessori school, a branch of the local public library, and fireworks on the Fourth of July. It’s called Bell Works.

This kind of development concept is being repeated in another former AT&T property outside Chicago, so we’ll see how that goes.

EDJ: There’s well over 150 office parks that are now being urbanized in some way.

Bell Works is an example of mixing the uses of a space that used to be just offices, and where the assumption was that scientists would have epiphanies if they were isolated in their office looking at a pastoral landscape. Now, we tend to think of innovation as occurring in much more urban places, and it’s the chance encounters that trigger innovation.

It’s also being driven because employers recognize that the younger workers do not want to work in a cubicle in an office park. They do not want to work in a place that is only “work.”Advertisement

Another great example is the old box store that became a recreation center.

JW: Yes,in this case it was Big Lots in a relatively low-income neighborhood on the periphery of Cleveland that has been transformed into a recreational center.

It now has a running track through it, a pool, some outdoor recreational spaces, and it’s yards from the lake there, too.

There are opportunities to take these dead retail boxes all across the country—and there are thousands of them—and rethink not only the building itself, but the entire property and parking lots to support health, wellness, day care clinics, clinics for routine health care, libraries, and other kinds of sharing services.

Sometimes it's not about redeveloping these spaces, but about regreening them. Can you give an example of that kind of project?

JW: Back in the 19th century, Meriden, Connecticut lost all of its industrial use and job space, and so by the middle of the 20th century, a suburban, enclosed shopping mall had been built in the middle of downtown over in creek, and it failed miserably.

Every time there was a big storm event, the creek would flood and cause millions of dollars of damage to all the neighboring businesses and the town had become increasingly lower-income.

Formerly a mall and parking lot, Meriden Green, CT, now has relocated subsidized housing, and green infrastructure including a daylit brook and stormwater park.

What happened here was an incredible greening retrofit where the mall was demolished, the creek that had been put into concrete below ground was opened back up to the air. The ground was regraded—that’s a technical term, but basically the surface of the ground was made lower.

The whole property was turned into a park, which is a stormwater park. The next time there’s a big storm event, the park becomes like a big bathtub and water will drain there and eventually percolate into the soil and not cause all of the damages that it had in previous cycles.

There’s this beautiful amenity and then around it, lots of new housing is being built that then has the park amenity. There’s a train station right there that’s been rebuilt with increased service through central Connecticut. It has all of these kinds of connected benefits around taking away development.

Last summer, the New York Times wrote that "New Yorkers Are Fleeing to the Suburbs" because of the pandemic. There's been this narrative that people who live in urban areas are moving back to the suburbs—and they suddenly want the things that were previously obsolete. Do you think that's true, and would it put a stall on these kinds of retrofitting projects?

JW: Broadly, what we’ve seen in this past year is an intensification, or an acceleration, of some of the trends that were happening already. There was already the redistributing of populations to some of those locations, especially in metro areas like New York, which are so insanely expensive. If you could find something that was New York-like in New Jersey or Westchester or Long Island, it would make sense that those places might be attractive to people.

What we’re seeing right now, I think in New York certainly, is people who’d been thinking about this acting on it. But where are they moving in the suburbs? They’re not rejecting the urban lifestyle altogether. They’re being drawn to already urbanizing locations in the suburbs.

It’s not a complete rejection of one for the other, but it’s finding like for like. Still, the evidence is mostly anecdotal at this point. Time will tell.

I think it’s also understood that developers who are planning new projects in these suburban locations are looking to make mixed-use places, and are looking to add different housing types in their suburban projects.

EDJ: In the long run a lot of those suburbs that those folks are moving to, if they’re going to retain those households, they’re going to have to start providing more of the urban amenities.

I’m certainly seeing around Atlanta as one example, a lot more communities changing their zoning to allow for access to accessory dwelling units, to allow for what’s been called the “missing middle”—duplexes, quadplexes, townhouses—in existing neighborhoods with suburban neighborhoods that were single family [only]. Now they’re allowing that densification.

Those regulatory changes have happened just in the last eight months. There’s been a surge of that. And it’s very much in response to recognizing that there is the market, the demand. People want these more urban lifestyles, even if they are choosing to move to the burbs. A lot of people who have isolated themselves might still be craving places to be able to gather safely. And so it could accelerate the retrofitting of suburbia.

America is a real mess.

But it’s changing.

It is a constructed gulag for Americans and you all had best not get “out of line”. You must obey or suffer the consequences. I am reminded about how the jails and prisons are in Communist China. Did you know that they have been modeled after the Arkansas (American state) Hard-Labor Camps? Yeah, it was a surprise to me too. But when I was in the ADC, sure enough, there was a delegation from China there at Pine Bluff, and Brickey’s learning about how best to construct workable hard-labor camps.

You can see that they have taken a page from the American police state and improved upon it…

The Chinese Jail and Prison system. All modeled after the Arkansas hard-Labor system.

Now, the Arkansas hard-labor system was modeled by Nazi German immigrants after World War II who took former slave plantations such as Brickey’s North Arkansas Regional Unit and turned them into hard-labor camps. Which is why they greatly resemble the old “resettlement” camps that the Nazi’s constructed in Poland during World War II. Anyways, the Chinese see the efficiency of this system and have incorporated elements in their own prison system.

So yes, America is a model for the world!

Chinese Jail and Prison.

America is changing

Yes, it is.

After the crisis event during a fourth turning, the resulting America will be substantially changed afterwards. We can see that the changes are starting. And they are long over due. We do not know the full extent of the changes, but we do need to be aware that they are in process.

Forget your fantasies that America will relive the American Civil War, the American Reconstruction Period, or the growth of suburbia in the 1950’s and 1960’s. The resulting American will be quite different, and will NOT resemble any other nation on the globe. It will be a uniquely American change. Let’s pray and hope that it will be a good one

In the meantime, please keep your eyes open. Look for examples of change. That will provide you with insight on the future of America. It is your “weather vane” to judge the direction that America is heading towards. Keep in mind that the “news” is really a horrible medium to view changes. You need to take “deep dives” into other sources, and use your own eyes and ears to provide you guidance.

Fauci, Biden's top medical adviser, told CNN that the approaching deaths tally (of 500,000) was "a terribly historic milestone in the history of this country."

-Reuters

Evidence of the changes are all around us.

Cities starting to ban new gas stations.

Do you want more?

I have more posts along these lines in my Functional Notes Index.

Articles & Links

Master Index

You can start reading the articles by going HERE.
You can visit the Index Page HERE to explore by article subject.
You can also ask the author some questions. You can go HERE .
You can find out more about the author HERE.
If you have concerns or complaints, you can go HERE.
If you want to make a donation, you can go HERE.

Please kindly help me out in this effort. There is a lot of effort that goes into this disclosure. I could use all the financial support that anyone could provide. Thank you very much.

When the government wants to lace the air you breathe with LSD, you know that your nation is fucked.

Ah. Isn’t that the case?

Throughout history, nations rise when there is righteous leadership that cared for its citizens' welfare and do the greater good. When they are corrupt and self-serving, those nations fall. Learn from history because we live in a world governed by cause and effect. History will repeat itself.

-Tom Tan

But no one is addressing this enormous “elephant in the room”. They are all off in some la-la-land of finger pointing outside of America. The Liberal Democrats point their fingers at Russia and blame them for the mess that America is today. The Conservative Republicans point their fingers to China, and blame them. Looked from the outside inwards, you all look like crazed maniacs.

Republicans have been gushing hatred over China, especially since Trump lost the election.
 
Yes, there are the obvious reasons this board has mentioned many  times but it seems even more deep seated.  It's as if people like Laura  Ingraham are addicted to their hatred.  She's obsessed w/China and uses  China like a Club to try to discredit anyone to the left of Adolf  Hitler.  I love it when she then screams about the 'Cancel Culture'.  
 
I look at her twitter feed and she's totally unhinged.  She talks  about China like a deprived drug addict who finally found their stash.  I  feel like I'm missing something.
 
-Posted by: Christian J. Chuba | Feb 11 2021 20:04 utc | 8

Oh, but you all know all of that, don’t you?

Why is “democracy” so valuable?

And people are looking at these various systems of governance with a keen eye. Maybe there needs to be some changes they wonder…

Daniel Bell has put forward his views in favor of China's political meritocracy... against the one person one vote (Western Democracy model) as a mode of selection for political leaders. 

He has done this  in two books.

The China Model: Political Meritocracy and the Limits of Democracy
Princeton University Press, 2015. ISBN 9781400865505.
 
Dean of the School of Political Science and Public Administration at Shandong University and professor at Tsinghua University (Schwarzman College and Department of Philosophy). He was born in Montreal, educated at McGill and Oxford, has taught in Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai, and has held research fellowships at Princeton's University Center for Human Values, Stanford's Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioural Sciences and Hebrew University's Department of Political Science. 
 
Here:
https://youtu.be/e63ro_suARA

Crazy, Crazy Government

The war machine is still at full throttle and has been for more than two decades. Do you realize there are now adults who have never lived during a time when the United States was not at war with a Middle Eastern nation? We are at war with Eurasia, or is it Eastasia?

It’s both, and it projects to continue for decades.

When Bill Kristol watches Star Wars movies, he roots for the Galactic Empire. The leading neocon recently caused a social media disturbance in the Force when he tweeted this predilection for the Dark Side following the debut of the final trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. 

 Kristol sees the Empire as basically a galaxy-wide extrapolation of what  he has long wanted the US to have over the Earth: what he has termed  "benevolent global hegemony." 

 Kristol, founder and editor of neocon flagship magazine The Weekly Standard, responded to scandalized critics by linking to a 2002 essay from the Standard's blog that justifies even the worst of Darth Vader's atrocities. In "The Case for the Empire," Jonathan V. Last made a Kristolian argument that you can't make a "benevolent hegemony" omelet without breaking a few eggs. 

-SOTT

The elected elites love war at home, too. They are fomenting war among the American people, and it is breaking out. As surely as class warfare is behind the riots in the Netherlands, it is on the cusp of erupting here. It’s a strategy of divide the people into little groups. Then have the groups fight each other.

Divided we all fall. — Americans are intentionally divided into groups to attack each other.

The elites play classes off one another. They denounce the rich as evil, and the media and the inured play along, hating all “billionaires,” as if Capitalism didn’t afford them the opportunity to have the very platforms upon which they complain.

The elites stealthily promote their lie in this way, lumping into a group both hard-working and innovative entrepreneurs who made it by the sweat of their brow and the crony capitalists they created themselves, and then call them all “rich” as if it’s an epithet.

Among the many misperceptions of the American Revolution and the  resulting constitutional order is the belief that these admittedly  monumental achievements created a self-sustaining system of governance.  Even in times of chaos and upheaval such as those we are living through  today, we have always at some level convinced ourselves that ours is a  system that can withstand most any assault, foreign or domestic. We lean  on a legend – that the bundle of constitutional rights guaranteed us  and our revolutionary system of checks and balances will be enough by  themselves to sustain liberty over the fullness of time.
 
It’s been said, regarding any memorable occurrence, that if there’s  truth and legend, go with the legend because it’s always a better story.  But the truth is, while we expect that our institutions will hold under  duress, Thomas Jefferson  himself – among others in the founding generation – was doubtful the  great experiment in liberty attained through blood, sweat, and tears  would last more than a generation. He was skeptical of the  sustainability of a system in which 51% of the people may take away the  rights of the other 49%. Jefferson was expanding on the sentiments of  fellow founder Benjamin Franklin, who when asked what form of government  the framers of the Constitution had settled on, famously replied, “a republic – if you can keep it.”

-Liberty Nation

They take an arbitrary monetary figure, pulled out of thin air, and set it as the Rubicon. Cross it and somehow you were luckier than most, got a break someone else never got. Yachts and airplanes are demonized, while the elected elites vacation on yachts bought by others and are ferried about in private jets paid for by others.

They accept “campaign contributions” from Wall Street, then, with a wink and nod, demonize Wall Street. Then, they print billions of dollars to prop up Wall Street; rewarding it for bringing down the economy. This keeps the contributions flowing and themselves in power.

And when people get angry about it, and march on Washington, an example is made of them. As an effigy and as a warning to others…

It’s all a racket.

They demonize Big Oil, Big Medicine, Big Pharma and Big Tobacco (which deserve to be demonized, surely) yet they enrich those industries with special subsidies and tax breaks and laws passed to their benefit. Their puppets in office who create those privileges are rewarded with more campaign cash and, when their time on Capitol Hill is done, cushy jobs lobbying their replacements.

Their policies destroy the middle class.

No middle class any longer. — The middle class no longer exists.

They preach fairness and set their pawns up as the arbiters of fairness. They create a parasite class with an entitlement mentality. Then they work to grow the parasite class to keep themselves in power by taking more and more from the wages of the middle class.

Let’s look at America, the nation of an “untouchable” oligarchy that treats the American citizenry as the sheep that serve them. Let’s remind ourselves just what we wave our “red, white, and blue” flags up high for…

Lace the air with LSD

This article was contributed by Mike Jay. It is reprinted as found. All credit to the author, and note that any editing involved went towards fitting this into the MM format.

It was during the fallout from Watergate that the American public first heard of MK-Ultra, the most notorious of the secret mind control programmes that the CIA ran through the 1950s and 1960s.

After Nixon’s men were caught breaking into the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee in June 1972, Richard Helms, then director of the CIA, refused to help with the cover-up. In February 1973, after his re-election, Nixon fired Helms and replaced him with James Schlesinger. In an initiative to regain public trust as the crisis escalated, Schlesinger announced he was ‘determined that the law shall be respected’ and that anyone aware of illegal CIA activities was obliged to report them.

Nixon was finally forced to resign in August 1974. His successor, Gerald Ford, made Nelson Rockefeller, a reliable intelligence insider, his vice president, and asked him to produce a report on the CIA’s alleged historical abuses.

Rockefeller’s report was issued in June 1975. For the most part it was vague and non-incriminating, but it did conclude that the CIA had in the past conducted ‘plainly unlawful’ investigations, including the testing of ‘potentially dangerous drugs on unsuspecting United States citizens’.

There were references to secret sites and experiments on prison inmates, and some passages that begged explanation; in one incident, ‘an employee of the Department of the Army’ had crashed to his death through a 13th-storey hotel window after being dosed with LSD. But the commission had apparently reached a dead end. All records had been destroyed, and ‘all persons directly involved … were either out of the country and not available for interview or were deceased.’

Seymour Hersh, who had already written a front-page story for the New York Times about the CIA’s illegal domestic surveillance programme, determined that the man who had fallen from the window was Frank Olson, a chemist employed by the CIA. Hersh disclosed his findings to Olson’s family, who convened a press conference and announced that they would be suing the agency.

Ford’s chief of staff, Donald Rumsfeld, was alerted to the danger by his deputy, Dick Cheney. The Olsons received a settlement of $750,000 in exchange for dropping their legal action, and were invited to the White House, where Ford made them a public apology.

As the Rockefeller report foundered, a Senate commission under the Idaho member Frank Church dredged deeper in the CIA’s records. The files were heavily redacted but one name surfaced repeatedly: Sidney Gottlieb, who appeared to have been the director of a secret chemical division within the agency.

Gottlieb, it turned out, was now in India, where he and his wife were spending their retirement working as volunteers at a leprosy hospital. The Church Committee summoned him to testify, which he did in camera, under an alias and with a guarantee of legal immunity; the press was told that no photographs of him existed.

It was the Church Committee’s report in April 1976 that brought MK-Ultra to public attention. The programme, which ran from the early 1950s through to the mid-1960s, had investigated forms of mind control that might be deployed on civilian populations.

A particular interest had been taken in LSD, which was tested on such ‘expendable’ populations as prisoners and refugees, on the general public and, extensively, on the programme’s own agents.

Many of the subjects were dosed without their knowledge or consent – including Frank Olson, who had ‘leaped to his death’ in ‘what appeared to be a serious depression’ after his Cointreau was spiked with LSD at a CIA retreat. The Church Committee concluded that the full extent of MK-Ultra’s work, especially outside the US, would never be known, since records of it had been destroyed.

As it turned out, however, there was much more to come. In the late 1970s, John Marks, a journalist who specialised in intelligence matters, filed a Freedom of Information request that uncovered a trove of 16,000 documents, most of which hadn’t been sent for shredding because they were filed as financial records. In the course of examining thousands of invoices and bills of sale, Marks and his team of researchers unearthed some unexpected gems.

The diary of George Hunter White, a dead Federal Bureau of Narcotics agent, was particularly startling. White had worked as Gottlieb’s fixer in the underworlds of New York and San Francisco, conducting drug experiments on unknowing subjects in brothels or at parties he held in CIA safehouses.

In his diary, White wrote frankly about the corruption, drugs, sex and violence in which he happily participated: ‘Where else could a red-blooded American boy lie, cheat, rape and pillage with the sanction and blessing of the All Highest?’

This was not the CIA as the American public was encouraged to imagine it: a dapper Ivy League fraternity coolly dedicated to safeguarding the nation. The picture that emerged was of a game without rules, played recklessly and with impunity by, as Stephen Kinzer characterises it, a ‘cast of obsessed chemists, cold-hearted spymasters, grim torturers, hypnotists, electr0-shockers and Nazi doctors’.

With the publication in 1978 of Marks’s The Search for the Manchurian Candidate: The CIA and Mind Control, the story took up the position it has occupied ever since at the intersection of politics, conspiracy theory, psychology, drug culture, science fiction and espionage. Kinzer retells many of Marks’s stories, but organizes them around the fuller, though still partial, biographical picture of Gottlieb that has emerged since his death in 1999. The result is a bustling narrative that sets MK-Ultra in its institutional framework of federal government, the military and the intelligence services, swerving all the while between madcap farce and grim atrocity.

The story begins during the occupation of Germany at the end of the Second World War, when agents of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the forerunner to the CIA, discovered that the Nazis had been designing biological weapons such as anthrax bombs, and subjecting prisoners at Dachau and Buchenwald to experiments involving drugs, lethal pathogens, toxic gases and extremes of temperature. Some of this was exposed at the Nuremberg trials; OSS officers, meanwhile, were discreetly gathering research materials for their own purposes.

Nazi Party members were officially prohibited from entering the US, but arrangements were made under a secret programme codenamed Operation Paperclip to ‘bleach’ episodes involving slavery, torture and murder from the records of scientists who might be useful to US intelligence. More than seven hundred such scientists and engineers were quietly recruited to work at Camp Detrick, Maryland, headquarters of the US Army Biological Warfare Laboratories.

The OSS was abolished by Truman in 1945, the president having decided that the US didn’t need a secret intelligence agency in peacetime. But by 1947 he had changed his mind, and the CIA was formed.

The new agency began to undertake covert operations in Eastern Europe and paid close attention to the dramatic 1949 Soviet show trial of the Hungarian priest Cardinal József Mindszenty, in which Mindszenty confessed to absurd conspiracies such as attempting to steal the crown jewels and to re-establish the Austro-Hungarian empire, while swaying, staring blankly and reciting his testimony as if by rote. To those who knew him, it seemed as if Mindszenty had become a different person.

To the CIA, it was evidence that the Soviet Union had developed new techniques for personality modification and mind control. There were similar reports from China, where the Communist Party allegedly referred to such techniques as hsi nao, ‘washing the brain’.

In 1951, Allen Dulles, a former OSS officer, was appointed the CIA’s deputy director for plans. Dulles, who was convinced that the future would belong to the world power that could master the new ‘brainwashing’ technologies, was instrumental in shifting the agency’s research priorities from chemical and biological warfare to the inner battlefield of the mind. He had been one of the men responsible for drafting the National Security Act, the law that brought the CIA into being, permitting it to use ‘all appropriate methods’ in its operations. In 1950 the CIA had launched Project Bluebird to investigate the use of chemical and biological agents to control the minds of individuals.

When Dulles got hold of the programme, he renamed it Artichoke, and it was expanded to study the effects of exposure to gases, irradiation by infrared or ultraviolet light, high and low pressure environments, sonic torture, alteration of diet, electric shocks and a variety of psychological techniques, hypnosis chief among them.

The experiments were carried out on defectors, refugees and prisoners of war. These were the ‘expendables’ – people whose disappearance wouldn’t draw attention. The work was carried out at what would now be called ‘black sites’; it is in this period, as Kinzer points out, that the CIA began the habit of detaining people in other countries, beyond the reach of US law.

By early 1952 there were Artichoke teams in France, occupied Germany, Japan and South Korea; more were added later. Directives were issued specifying that interrogations be carried out in a ‘safe house or safe area’, with an adjoining room for recording equipment, and a bathroom, which might be found necessary thanks to the effects that ‘Artichoke techniques’ could have on subjects.

Kinzer tells the story of one site in particular, at Oberursel, a ‘sleepy German town’ north of Frankfurt. During the war the Nazis had used it as a transit camp for captured enemy pilots. The US army took it over in 1946, renamed it Camp King and used it for ‘special interrogations’, involving torture, beatings and drug injections, carried out by Counterintelligence Corps officers known as ‘rough boys’. The disposal of bodies was, one CIA officer recalled, ‘no problem’.

The ‘rough boys’ were too unrefined for Bluebird and Artichoke work. And the work was so secret that even Camp King wouldn’t do. In 1951 the CIA acquired a large house just a few miles away – Villa Schuster, named for the Jewish family that had lived there until the 1930s – and converted it for use by specialist teams flown over from the US to carry out their experiments without external supervision.

They did, however, benefit from the guidance of Camp King’s staff doctor, Walter Schreiber, the former surgeon general of the Nazi army, who had overseen research at concentration camps in which prisoners were frozen, injected with hallucinogens, and cut open to chart the progress of gangrene.

When he was given a contract to work in the US under Operation Paperclip (it didn’t work out, and after a scandal he ended up in Argentina), Schreiber was replaced at Camp King by another war criminal, Kurt Blome, the Nazis’ director of research into biological warfare, who had tested nerve gases and viruses on concentration camp inmates.

Sidney Gottlieb had been working for nearly ten years in government laboratories, and was a research chemist at Camp Detrick, when Dulles chose him to lead the CIA’s mind control research programme.

Gottlieb was born with a club foot, and had been rejected for war service; Kinzer writes that this had left him with a ‘store of pent-up patriotic fervour’. In other respects, he was a conspicuous outsider in the patrician ranks of the CIA: a Jewish immigrant from the Bronx who had made his way via City College, ‘the Harvard of the proletariat’, to a doctorate in biochemistry.

In private he was a nonconformist, living in a cabin in the Virginia backwoods with his wife, Margaret, who had grown up among Presbyterian missionaries.

As chief of the newly constituted Chemical Division of the Technical Services Staff, Gottlieb set about expanding and refining Dulles’s programme. The trials on ‘expendables’, in his estimation, had thus far produced nothing of value.

He set up new experiments to test the effects of electrical shocks, neurosurgery, sensory distortion and hypnosis, but his attention was increasingly taken up with mind-altering drugs.

His team tested cocaine on mental patients, heroin on students and cannabis on themselves; they also investigated amphetamines, mescaline, barbiturates and sodium pentothal, variously to disinhibit, disorientate, act as a ‘truth serum’, wipe memories or induce states of terror.

The experiments were carried out at Artichoke sites around the world. Kinzer quotes an earlier study which recorded Gottlieb’s trips to Tokyo, where four Japanese suspected of working for the Russians were injected with ‘a variety of depressants and stimulants’, then shot and dumped at sea; to Seoul, where 25 North Korean prisoners of war were given the same treatment; and to Munich, where ‘scores of “expendables”’ were given massive amounts of drugs in a series of failed experiments, after which they were ‘killed and their bodies burned’.

On becoming president in 1953, Eisenhower made Dulles director of the CIA. In a memo written at the time and since declassified, Dulles’s newly appointed chief of operations at the Directorate of Plans, Richard Helms, set out the terms of a new programme of research into ‘covert chemical and biological warfare’.

One aim in particular was singled out: ‘the development of a chemical material which causes a non-toxic aberrant mental state, the specific nature of which can be reasonably well predicted for each individual. This material could potentially aid in discrediting individuals, eliciting information, implanting suggestion and other forms of mental control.’ The programme was given a new codename: MK-Ultra.

Gottlieb’s budget was freed from the usual financial constraints, his research from external clearance or oversight. From time to time there were attempts to bring the CIA to heel. In 1953, for example, the US secretary of defence, Charles Wilson, issued a memo stating that all experiments involving volunteers required their consent, in compliance with the Nuremberg Code.

But this clearly wasn’t going to fly with the men in charge of finding ways to force individuals to provide information against their will, erase their memories or change their personalities.

In 1956 a proposal that Congress monitor CIA activities was firmly quashed by the White House. The assumption, as one CIA officer expressed it later, was: ‘We’re at war, so anything is justified. We’re smarter than most people, we operate in secret, we have access to intelligence, and we know what the real threats are. No one else does.’

From April 1953, when Dulles formally approved MK-Ultra, Gottlieb operated with impunity and on a much larger scale. Each of the programme’s many elements was called a ‘subproject’ and given a number.

Subproject 5 contracted a researcher at the University of Minnesota to test the use of hypnosis to induce anxiety, thwart lie detectors and increase cognitive capacity;

subproject 124 tested the use of carbon dioxide to induce trances;

subproject 63 studied the ‘use of alcohol as a social phenomenon’;

subproject 140, conducted at a hospital in San Francisco, tested the potential psychoactive effects of thyroid-related hormones. Scores of subprojects were devoted to investigating the use of drugs, alone or in combination with other techniques, to manipulate behaviour.

Kinzer has fun describing subproject 4: the use of a celebrity stage magician, John Mulholland, to teach CIA agents the techniques of misdirection and sleight of hand, the better to distract targets while drugging them. The manual Mulholland produced resurfaced in 2007, the ‘only full-length MK-Ultra document known to have survived intact’.

Artichoke work had been carried out in CIA safehouses abroad. Under MK-Ultra, the work was brought home. Two adjoining apartments were purchased at 81 Bedford Street in New York (subproject 3). George Hunter White was recruited by Gottlieb in June 1953 to trawl Greenwich Village posing ‘alternately as a merchant seaman or a bohemian artist’ and gathering up ‘drug users, petty criminals and others who could be relied on not to complain about what had happened to them’.

At one of the apartments in Bedford Street, White would serve his guests drinks surreptitiously laced with drugs, while in the other Gottlieb’s men filmed the effects through a mirror.

Two years later, in Operation Midnight Climax (subproject 42), White set up another safehouse in San Francisco, this time as a brothel, so that Gottlieb could gather evidence of ‘how people behave during and after sex’.

Gottlieb’s particular preoccupation was with a new psychoactive drug, LSD. (In 1951 he had asked Harold Abramson, a physician on his team, to supervise him in a self-experiment with the drug. Gottlieb reported ‘an out-of-bodyness … a sense of well-being and euphoria’.)

Some of his colleagues were interested in the potential effects of dispersing it on the battlefield, but Gottlieb believed LSD was the drug most likely, as Kinzer puts it, ‘to give initiates a way to control other human beings’ – a doomsday weapon in the new field of ‘brain warfare’. At first, there was a problem getting hold of it in sufficient quantities. A Swiss company, Sandoz, held the patent, and was said to be sitting on a stockpile of ten kilograms, a ‘fantastically large amount’.

In an attempt to corner the world’s supply of the drug, Dulles signed off on the $240,000 it would cost to buy everything Sandoz had, and sent two of his officers to Switzerland to bring it back. But when they arrived, it turned out the intelligence was wrong; the ten kilograms, they discovered, was actually ten grams. So Gottlieb still had a supply problem. He paid an American pharmaceutical company, Eli Lilly, to devise a way of synthesising LSD from scratch.

That was part of subproject 6.

It took longer than a year, but by the end of 1954 Eli Lilly was in a position to produce the drug in ‘tonnage quantities’. The CIA, Kinzer writes, ‘was its main customer’.

The research into the effects of LSD extended way beyond observations at 81 Bedford Street. Gottlieb found a willing partner in Harris Isbell, the director of research at the Addiction Research Centre in Lexington, Kentucky.

The hospital ‘functioned more like a prison’, Kinzer writes, with a cohort of mostly African American inmates – a new group of ‘expendables’ – on whom Isbell could experiment at will. Gottlieb was interested in how much LSD was needed to ‘shatter the mind …

…leaving a void into which new impulses or even a new personality could be implanted’.

Isbell’s patients were fed escalating doses, some of them for days and weeks on end. Another enthusiastic collaborator, Carl Pfeiffer at Emory University, as part of his work on subproject 47, administered LSD to twenty inmates of the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary nearly every day for 15 months. Robert Hyde at the Boston Psychopathic Hospital paid hundreds of students from Emerson, Harvard and MIT $15 each to drink a vial of liquid that might induce an ‘altered state’; in the aftermath, one of the subjects hanged herself in a clinic bathroom.

As well as these knowing allies – and thanks to sympathizers at the National Institute of Mental Health and a network of philanthropic foundations willing to act as fronts for the dispersal of agency money – Gottlieb was also able to recruit scientists who had no idea they were working for the CIA. Kinzer gives a list of more than thirty universities, institutes and hospitals, many of them among the most renowned in America, that received funding to carry out Gottlieb’s research programme.

In the late 1950s, MK-Ultra entered its most baroque phase, as Gottlieb was tasked with coming up with ways to dispose of foreign leaders. His Heath Robinson schemes included using an aerosol to lace the air with LSD in the Havana studio where Fidel Castro made his radio broadcasts, sprinkling Castro’s boots with thallium salts to make his beard fall out and contaminating his cigars with botulinum. At one point Gottlieb turned up in Congo with a poison kit, ready for use in a CIA plot to kill Patrice Lumumba. None of these plans came to fruition. They resembled the popular fiction with which they had always been in dialogue.

Kinzer points out that the CIA’s belief, in the late 1940s, that the communists had discovered the key to mind control, was conditioned by the ‘ubiquitous fantasy’ of this possibility in American popular culture, movies in particular, from film representations of Svengali, Dracula and Frankenstein, to George Cukor’s Gaslight (1944), the Sherlock Holmes movie The Woman in Green (1945) and Invasion of the Bodysnatchers (1956). The border between fiction and reality in the early years of the Cold War was blurred further as novelists began to mine the seam of science and skulduggery.

A pulp thriller from 1955, The Splintered Man, featured a CIA agent subjected to a nightmarish interrogation under LSD in East Berlin; it ended with an exhortation to US intelligence not to be left playing catch-up in the battle for the mind. The Bond movies led CIA officers to investigate the real-life feasibility of Q’s gadgets.

Richard Condon’s book The Manchurian Candidate (1959), in which a brainwashed sleeper agent is triggered by post-hypnotic suggestion to make an attempt on the life of an American presidential candidate, caught the zeitgeist best of all.

John Frankenheimer’s film adaptation came out in 1962; a year later it was seen as an eerie prefiguring of the Kennedy assassination. In fiction, the reality of covert mind control was taken for granted: if it wasn’t real, where was the story? Yet even as mind control technologies became a staple of popular culture in the 1960s, the faith of Gottlieb and his team in their potential was fading.

As the CIA psychologist John Gittinger later recalled, by 1963 ‘it was at least proven to my satisfaction that “brainwashing” so-called – as some kind of esoteric device where drugs or mind-altering kinds of conditions and so forth were used – did not exist … The Manchurian Candidate, as a movie, really set us back a long time, because it made something impossible look plausible.’

Privately, Gottlieb was at last coming to the same conclusion. He had abundantly demonstrated something that nobody had ever seriously doubted: that drugs, electroshock and other mental tortures could shatter minds and wipe memories. But he had been unable to put new personalities or memories in their place.

As Kinzer says, when Gottlieb started out on MK-Ultra, there were only two possibilities: ‘Either there is no such thing as a mind control drug or there is indeed such a thing and it is waiting to be discovered.’ The first was unthinkable: Gottlieb ‘had been hired to explore, not to give up’. So he pressed on through the 1950s with seemingly unshakeable conviction.

But ‘as of 1960,’ he later admitted in a memo, ‘no effective knockout pill, truth serum, aphrodisiac or recruitment pill was known to exist.’ Gottlieb’s master weapon, LSD, made subjects highly suggestible, but their beliefs and behaviors had proved impossible to control.

Yet his operations continued to expand. By the late 1960s he was running more behavioral laboratories than ever and his experiments were just as ambitious, not to say horrifying. In Saigon in 1968 a CIA team implanted electrodes in the brains of three Vietcong prisoners.

They were given knives and locked together in a room for a week, while the agents tried to rouse them to violence with radio signals from their remote-control handsets. They didn’t succeed. The team returned to Washington and, just as in Project Artichoke twenty years earlier, the prisoners were shot and burned.

Then came Watergate, the loss of Richard Helms’s protection, and John Schlesinger’s initiatives to detoxify the CIA. Before his departure in 1973, Helms ordered that all MK-Ultra’s records be destroyed. Gottlieb retired quietly later that year, first to his cabin in Virginia, then to India with Margaret to take up voluntary work. By 1977 the tide had turned decisively against him. During the Church Committee hearings the new director of the CIA, Stansfield Turner, assured Senator Edward Kennedy that ‘it is totally abhorrent to me to think of using a human being as a guinea pig …

I am not here to pass judgment on any of my predecessors, but I can assure you that this is totally beyond the pale.’ Summoned back to give evidence to the committee, Gottlieb testified that MK-Ultra had been a project ‘of the utmost urgency … to investigate whether and how it was possible to modify an individual’s behaviour by covert means’. Under cross-examination he displayed a vagueness that for some recalled Jozsef Mindszenty’s show trial, shot through with a streak of paranoia: ‘I feel victimised … My name is selectively left on released documents where all or most others are deleted.’

Gottlieb retreated to a large eco-home of his own design in the Blue Ridge mountains, where he died in 1999. He was harried by lawsuits to the end, and the cause of his death was never confirmed; many suspected suicide. There was no consensus about how, ultimately, he judged himself. To his neighbours, he seemed at peace: ‘an old hippie’, as one recalled, who rose early to meditate, wore sandals and cycled into town to collect his mail.

Others thought he must be in denial: it was as if he had ‘lost his former self’, the Washington Post reported, ‘walking backwards, sweeping his trail clean with a branch’. ‘Gottlieb was living as if he was in an ashram in India,’ wrote Seymour Hersh, who visited him in retirement. ‘He was trying to absolve himself, to expiate. If he’d been Catholic, he would have gone to a monastery.’ John Marks wasn’t so sure that Gottlieb was troubled by his conscience. ‘He was unquestionably a patriot,’ Marks told an obituarist. Gottlieb ‘never did what he did for inhumane reasons.

He thought he was doing exactly what was needed. And in the context of the time, who could argue?’ Kinzer wonders whether the contrast between his folksy lifestyle and his CIA work was as jarring as it seemed: both could be seen as expressions of a desire to live unconstrained by the usual rules and limits. Gottlieb, he concludes, ‘was not a sadist, but he might as well have been’.

Kinzer floats the argument, as others have before him, that MK-Ultra inadvertently gave rise to the psychedelic counterculture, as LSD ‘escaped from the CIA’s control’. The dots are there for all to join: Ken Kesey and Allen Ginsberg first took LSD in CIA-funded experiments; a covert CIA operative was present on the trip to Mexico in 1957 when Gordon Wasson encountered the ‘magic mushroom’; Gottlieb’s physician, Harold Abramson, became an early proponent of LSD psychotherapy. But there are other ways of telling the story that don’t involve the CIA at all. The most conspicuous influence on the emerging psychedelic culture was Aldous Huxley’s The Doors of Perception, published to great acclaim in 1954. Ginsberg, like many of his generation, had previously taken psychedelics on his own initiative.

From its base in Switzerland, Sandoz, as well as supplying the CIA with LSD, was at the same time giving it away free to interested psychiatrists; one such was the Hollywood therapist Oscar Janiger, whose celebrity clientele, including Cary Grant, Anaïs Nin and Jack Nicholson, spread the word enthusiastically in magazine interviews, essays and movie scripts. Timothy Leary was turned on to LSD by maverick enthusiasts who acquired the drug directly from Sandoz, as Leary himself did for his experiments at Harvard.

What seems remarkable today is not how much influence MK-Ultra had, but how little. The methods of coercive interrogation used more recently, such as those at Abu Ghraib or Bagram, haven’t owed much to the scientific techniques Gottlieb was investigating. Instead, they have more in common with what the ‘rough boys’ were up to at black sites in postwar Germany before Gottlieb’s men arrived.

MK-Ultra’s enduring influence is in popular fiction, where many of its ideas came from in the first place. Covert mind control programmes, usually run by the CIA, are a familiar plot device across the spectrum, from literary fiction (Thomas Pynchon, David Foster Wallace) to mass-market movies (The Ipcress File, The Parallax View, Jacob’s Ladder, the Bourne franchise) and TV (The X-Files, Stranger Things).

The story is always the same: mind control is real, and those who know its secrets operate with impunity. The second assumption reflects historical truth, and resonates still in a post-Watergate world. The first was a chimera, and by the time the Cold War reached its apex, Gottlieb and his colleagues no longer believed it themselves.

Some thoughts

Aren’t you proud to be an American!

Look here, if this is how the government treats the citizenry, and it’s “not really bad“, then what happens when things get bad?

Lacing the citizens with LSD and other mind altering chemicals are only the things that we KNOW ABOUT. What about the things that we don’t know?

You know, America IS GOING to pick a fight…

Whether it is Russia or China, most Americans haven’t an idea. But here, I will tell you all the “secret” that the American “news” is hiding from you; it’s BOTH simultaneously.

Thursday, February 04, 2021, 22:52
 
China, Russia stress adherence to non-interference
 
By Xinhua
 
China and Russia said Thursday that the principle of non-interference  in other countries' internal affairs, one of the basic norms governing  international relations, should be upheld.
 
In a phone conversation between Chinese State Councilor and Foreign  Minister Wang Yi and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the two  sides also pledged to jointly preserve global and regional strategic  stability.
 
...
 
The two heads of state have also agreed to celebrate this year the 20th  anniversary of the signing of the China-Russia Treaty of  Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation, pointing out the direction  for deepening the comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination  between the two countries, Wang said.
 
Both sides should take this opportunity to add new dimensions to this  important treaty and send a clear message to the world that the two  countries will safeguard the security of themselves and along their  peripheries, he added.
 
http://www.chinadailyhk.com/article/156995
-Posted by: Mao | Feb 11 2021 21:38 utc | 20

Yupper.

It’s not gonna be “goat herders” and “mud huts” getting blown up. It’s not going to be some American marines or SEAL’s taking HELO jumps into Chinese territory or an amphibious landing on one of the atolls surrounding China. It’s not going to be “US Navy sitting off the coast of China and launching cruse missile and plinking at targets”.

It’s gonna be on a completely different level. And if you all think that China is all blue-clad bicycle-riding peasants, you are going to be in for a big shock.

Chinese J-20 fighter. It is roughly equivalent to the F-22 Rapor fielded by the USA.

And, let’s have another look. You all aren’t gonna see these images on Rush Limbaugh, Hal Turner, Drudge Report, CNN, or FOX news. You will not see them on the BBC, the ABC, or on “60 minutes”.

Americans need to believe that they are invincible. They need to believe that they are the strongest, the best, and that no one would dare fight back.

That is the only way that the American citizenry won’t revolt at the prospect of another global war. Especially one that involved biological and nuclear weapons of mass destruction.

…don’t you know.

Chinese J-20 Jet Fighters.

Conclusion

Any nation that poisons it’s people with LSD or forces them to take chemical injections, while picking fights with very powerful, nuclear armed, nations is not a place where you want to live. And while the “news” make a lot of “noise” about all these people wanting to come to America for “freedom” and “democracy”, the ones that are actually coming are the illiterate, the destitute and the impoverished. In their minds, ANYTHING is better than the lives that they are leaving.

The illiterate arrive in America to help make it great.

I cannot predict the future.

However, the behaviors of the United States elite (the ruler class) are indicative of some severe faults. Faults, mind you, that are not easily corrected. And thus you all can expect some “fallout” to come your way from their failures in governance.

America is not a strong nation any longer. It is a “ripe” nation. It is a tree heavy with juicy fruit, and just waiting to be harvested.

This reminds me of the cities that thought that they could fight off Genghis Khan with their knights in shining armor. Nope. It’s did not work out good for them. And it worked out even worse for their families back in the cities. Women and children suffered a fate that no one should endure.

Rather than submit, the Abbasid caliph challenged the Mongols to  attempt to storm his city, if they dared. The nomadic army from Asia—led  by Hulagu Khan, one of Genghis Khan’s grandsons—did indeed dare. 

Doing  what they are most famous for, the Mongols thrashed Baghdad. 

In 10 days  of unremitting violence and destruction, Baghdad and its inhabitants  were completely and utterly vanquished. Almost without exception, the  population was either put to the sword or sold into slavery. The River  Tigris ran red—to cite one of the most over-quoted, and overwrought  phrases in history—with the blood of slaughtered men, women, and  children.
 
After this, every building of note in Baghdad—including mosques,  palaces, and markets—was utterly destroyed, among them the world-famous  House of Wisdom. Hundreds of thousands of priceless manuscripts and  books were tossed into the river, clogging the arterial waterway with so  many texts, according to eyewitnesses, that soldiers could ride on  horseback from one side to the other. Of course, the river turned from  red to black with ink.

-Great courses daily

America and Americans have never suffered defeat. The closest was the Southern States during the “Reconstruction Period”. But even that, many still kept their language, were able to keep their records and heirlooms, and build up a life for themselves. They never suffered a complete SACK of their cities, their societies, their cultures and their identity. They do not realize what a real defeat looks like.

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If you enjoy what you see, it would be helpful if you could assist in hosting this forum. A donation would be appreciated.

The true and historical manner to wage a revolution. You need to get filthy drunk.

The American Revolution was built on a foundation of booze, led by tavern addicted Founding Fathers who could drink any frat boy under the table.

Yes, and we will explain it right here.

Throughout history, nations rise when there is righteous leadership that cared for its citizens' welfare and do the greater good. When they are corrupt and self-serving, those nations fall. Learn from history because we live in a world governed by cause and effect. History will repeat itself.

-Tom Tan

I’ve discussed this all before. You need to have a responsible government. One that decides to work FOR the people it is supposed to represent. And then, once that government gets it’s internal affairs in order, it makes alignments and agreements with other nations to build up trust. And that meas no CIA-style, NED-style, or NID-style interference and American-style “color-revolutions”.

Don’t you know.

Thursday, February 04, 2021, 22:52
 
China, Russia stress adherence to non-interference
 
By Xinhua
 
China and Russia said Thursday that the principle of non-interference  in other countries' internal affairs, one of the basic norms governing  international relations, should be upheld.
 
In a phone conversation between Chinese State Councilor and Foreign  Minister Wang Yi and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the two  sides also pledged to jointly preserve global and regional strategic  stability.
 
...
 
The two heads of state have also agreed to celebrate this year the 20th  anniversary of the signing of the China-Russia Treaty of  Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation, pointing out the direction  for deepening the comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination  between the two countries, Wang said.
 
Both sides should take this opportunity to add new dimensions to this  important treaty and send a clear message to the world that the two  countries will safeguard the security of themselves and along their  peripheries, he added.
 
http://www.chinadailyhk.com/article/156995
-Posted by: Mao | Feb 11 2021 21:38 utc | 20

Indeed.

As a direct consequence of Donald Trump wanting to throw the entire world into an enormous bonfire (global nuclear winter), the rest of the world reacted…

New and strong alliances have formed.
America has become severely isolated.
People are questioning the value and worth of having a “democracy“

But America isn’t giving up. The neocons are (seriously and really) “foaming at the mouth for a fight with China, or Russia (as the fall-back” default). Phew! It makes me want to hurl.

Caught In The Act - New York Times "Selectively Misquotes" Scientists To Fit Its "Prescribed Narrative"

The New York Times continues Trump's anti-China campaign by claiming that China hindered a WHO investigation into the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and is withholding data.

On W.H.O. Trip, China Refused to Hand Over Important Data
The information could be key to determining how and when the outbreak started, and to learning how to prevent future pandemics.

Chinese scientists refused to share raw data that might bring the world closer to understanding the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, independent investigators for the W.H.O. said on Friday. The investigators, who recently returned from a fact-finding trip to the Chinese city of Wuhan, said disagreements over patient records and other issues were so tense that they sometimes erupted into shouts among the typically mild-mannered scientists on both sides.

China’s continued resistance to revealing information about the early days of the coronavirus outbreak, the scientists say, makes it difficult for them to uncover important clues that could help stop future outbreaks of such dangerous diseases.

“If you are data focused, and if you are a professional,” said Thea Kølsen Fischer, a Danish epidemiologist on the team, then obtaining data is “like for a clinical doctor looking at the patient and seeing them by your own eyes.”

...

Peter Daszak, a member of the W.H.O. team and the president of EcoHealth Alliance in New York, said the trip was emotionally draining, as he and the team came to terms with the trauma of the early days of the pandemic. The team interviewed some of the first people to fall ill with Covid-19 in Wuhan, as well as medical workers.

“The world doesn’t realize, you know, that they were the first to get this thing,” Dr. Daszak said, “and they didn’t know how bad it was.”

While the Times claims that the Chinese have more data than they provided (they don't) and insinuates that they have something to hide, the researchers quoted in its piece reject both as nonsense.

Linking the NYT propaganda piece Peter Daszak refuted its basic tone:

Peter Daszak @PeterDaszak - 11:27 UTC · Feb 13, 2021 This was NOT my experience on @WHO mission. As lead of animal/environment working group I found trust & openness w/ my China counterparts. We DID get access to critical new data throughout. We DID increase our understanding of likely spillover pathways.

New data included env. & animal carcass testing, names of suppliers to Huanan Market, analyses of excess mortality in Hubei, range of covid-like symptoms for months prior, sequence data linked to early cases & site visits w/ unvetted live Q&A etc. All in report coming soon!

Quoting Daszak's tweet Thea Fischer pitched in:

Cont. reading: Caught In The Act - New York Times "Selectively Misquotes" Scientists To Fit Its "Prescribed Narrative"

Posted by b at 17:23 UTC | Comments (69)

The neocons are still living in their fantasy world, and the reality is starting to peer through the veil. America looks like a real ignorant, and stupid, piece of evil elephant shit.

The New York Times told blatant lies there including quoting Dominic Dywer whom they claimed was part of the WHO team. 
 
Here Dwyer admits he was never on the team but part of a group of "independent experts".
 
"We go there as an international group and we're not part of the WHO, we're just independent experts."
 
https://amp.abc.net.au/article/13140456?__twitter_impression=true
 
Thea Fischer who was actually on the WHO covid origins team said the  quoting of her out of context to convey a message exactly opposite to  her experience was intentional (also known as lying). 
 
NYT usually are subtle and crafty with their lies. With some countries like China they are bald faced liars.
 
Posted by: Doryphore | Feb 13 2021 20:20 utc | 29

Here is Reuters taking the don't trust China narrative farther:
 
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-who-china/china-refused-to-provide-who-team-with-raw-data-on-early-covid-cases-team-member-says-idUSKBN2AD090
 
So now we will be endlessly debating "raw data". 
 
This type of psychological terror (deliberate sowing of confusion and  distrust)  inflicted on the general public constantly is, in my view,   criminal. 
 
Posted by: JB | Feb 13 2021 20:36 utc | 30

Ugh! It makes me want to drink a beer.

Why is “democracy” so valuable?

And people are looking at these various systems of governance with a keen eye. Maybe there needs to be some changes they wonder…

Daniel Bell has put forward his views in favor of China's political meritocracy... against the one person one vote (Western Democracy model) as a mode of selection for political leaders. He has done this  in two books.

The China Model: Political Meritocracy and the Limits of Democracy
Princeton University Press, 2015. ISBN 9781400865505.
 
Dean of the School of Political Science and Public Administration at Shandong University and professor at Tsinghua University (Schwarzman College and Department of Philosophy). He was born in Montreal, educated at McGill and Oxford, has taught in Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai, and has held research fellowships at Princeton's University Center for Human Values, Stanford's Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioural Sciences and Hebrew University's Department of Political Science. 
 
Here:
https://youtu.be/e63ro_suARA

Ah. The founders of America were terrified of democracies. They wanted the United States to be a Republic.

You must be swimming in that great delicious "democracy". How's it working out for ya?  

The Founders explicitly stated that democracies are dangerous and they always devolve into oligarchies, and if they still don't collapse from the corruption within, they become military empire that all tend to be consumed in great wars that pretty much destroy the nation irrevocably.  That's why they made the United States into a Republic. You know, like China is today. 

But don't my word for it. Read the Federalist Papers. Read what they had to say in their own words. It's on-line and it's free. great stuff, too.  It discusses in great detail things that are important.  

https://guides.loc.gov/federalist-papers/full-text

"The idiocy of  believing supposed democracy meaning  each individual vote is equal in an economy of staggering wealth inequality where politcal power ... blah blah"

Everyone's  vote in U.S. democracy is absolutely equal, the same as every  spectator's cheer is equal at a football match. It doesn't matter  whether you're cheering for the home team or the visitors, everyone's voice in the stadium has equal validity and value. Of course, it doesn't  determine the outcome of the game, but the crowd gets to feel it participated in the victory or defeat.

Maybe there's idiocy to be mined in conflating process with outcome.

John Rachel

Now for some perspective…

How did America move from a “freedom loving (and living) Republic” to a tyrannical military empire controlled by a minority of ultra-wealthy oligarchs? It all started off right. They were saying the right things, and drinking the right beverages…

Vintage Budweiser advertisement. — Saying the right things and drinking the right beverages.

The following is a reprint of “Colonial Americans were pretty much always drunk The American Revolution was built on a foundation of booze, led by tavern addicted Founding Fathers who could drink any frat boy under the table.” written on Christmas eve, December 24, 2020. Reprinted as found with some tasty MM modifications because, well, I am drinking some fine libations in honor of the Founders of the United States. Never the less, all credit to the authors.

Images of our Colonial forefathers usually involve powdered wigs, petticoats, and the thrill of throwing tons of tea into the Boston Harbor.

Woo, woo!

Although we often think of their era as proper and civilized, it turns out that the people who led the American Revolution knew how to party.

They were party animals! You bet-ya.

In fact, the American Revolution was built on a foundation of booze, led by tavern addicted Founding Fathers who could drink any college frat boy under the table.

Now…

Don’t you all just LOVE history?

Beer saved the Mayflower

The first settlers brought with them the English tradition of beer drinking.

Even during the famous 1620 voyage of Pilgrims on board the Mayflower, beer saved the voyage. The water aboard ship reportedly become brackish and potentially deadly while the beer on board remained drinkable.

The latter part of the voyage kept sailors and passengers alike happy with a good supply of beer. We tend to think of the Pilgrims as sober-faced, upright people who avoided fun at all times, but they obviously packed a lot of beer on board before embarking on a lengthy trip aboard the very crowded 110-foot Mayflower.

The Pilgrims were planning to go to Virginia but ended up in Massachusetts, landing on a cold, snowy, wind-blown coast on December 19, 1620. A minor inconvenience, you’d think.

The change in plans apparently was caused by the lack of water and the dwindling supply of beer on board the ship. Captain Christopher Jones recognized the need to preserve the dwindling stocks for his sailors on the return journey (which would be far too dangerous to undertake until the following spring), and so the passengers were encouraged to land near the top of Cape Cod.

Jones knew that the fresh water found in Massachusetts would be insufficient for the return voyage. First, the water might go bad on the return voyage; secondly, he and his sailors were not accustomed to drinking water.

His crew were not accustomed to drinking... water.

These instructions to keep beer on board the Mayflower for the return trip did not go down well with the Pilgrims. William Bradford complained that he and his companions “were hastened ashore and made to drink water, that the seamen might have the more beer.”

Pilgrim William Wood complained that he did not dare drink the water in the wilderness, preferring beer.

He wrote his opinion of fresh water: “I dare not prefere it before good beere.” (Wellsprings: A Natural History of Bottled Spring Waters by Frank Chapelle).

Used to beer, the Pilgrims were quite upset that they had to drink water instead.

The Pilgrims in Massachusetts were not the first Europeans in North America to enjoy alcohol.

The Dutch also had a functioning brewery in what is now Lower Manhattan by 1613, beating the Mayflower immigrants, who would not have anything resembling a formal brewhouse until at least 1621. Even before that, the Roanoke colony tried brewing with corn as early as 1584 (obviously before going missing).

The Pilgrims’ first encounter was an order for beer

A Native American startled the Pilgrims on March 16, 1621, by walking into Plymouth Colony and greeting them in English.

His name was Samoset, and soon it became clear that he was just looking to fill his mug, specifically with beer.

"Hi dudes! My name is Sam, but you can call me Sam-o-set. Hey, I don't hope that you would mind having a few brewskies with me? I'm awfully tired and really thirsty."

Samoset knew European ways and the taste of a cold one because he was a sagamore (lower-level chief) hailing from an Eastern Abenaki tribe in Maine, where European fishermen had already established some trade routes.

He had picked up some English, as well as a hankering for the fishermen’s beer.

Native Americans produced their own alcoholic beverages before settlement, but these were often weaker drinks used mainly for ceremonial purposes.

And yes, Samoset was the guy that introduced the Pilgrims to Squanto, one of the primary translators who helped arrange the first Thanksgiving with the local chief.

Eight ounces a day

“Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants to see us happy.” 

– Benjamin Franklin

Oh baby!

A look into the daily drinking habits of our forefathers will explain how integral alcohol was to our history. Consider this: it is estimated that there were more taverns per capita than any other business in colonial America. In fact, the Colonial Williamsburg web site says:

Colonial Americans, at least many of them, believed alcohol could cure the sick, strengthen the weak, enliven the aged, and generally make the world a better place. They tippled, toasted, sipped, slurped, quaffed, and guzzled from dawn to dark.

Many started the day with a pick-me-up and ended it with a put-me-down. Between those liquid milestones, they also might enjoy a midmorning whistle wetter, a luncheon libation, an afternoon accompaniment, and a supper snort. If circumstances allowed, they could ease the day with several rounds at a tavern.

Alcohol lubricated such social events as christenings, weddings, funerals, trials, and election-day gatherings, where aspiring candidates tempted voters with free drinks. Craftsmen drank at work, as did hired hands in the fields, shoppers in stores, sailors at sea, and soldiers in camp. Then, as now, college students enjoyed malted beverages, which explains why Harvard had its own brewery. In 1639, when the school did not supply sufficient beer, President Nathaniel Eaton lost his job.

Colonial Americans drank more alcohol that in any other era, and certainly more than the national average today. It is estimated that the average American at the time drank eight ounces of alcohol a day.

A typical day started with a few shots of rum — coined an “Antifogmatic”— which would combat the morning fog. Back-breaking physical labor was a daily reality for the working class citizens of Colonial America, and this often led to another shot of rum by mid-morning, which was called a “cooler.” A little before lunch, our ancestors would enjoy a hard cider or two, and this would continue until it was time to visit the local tavern.

Upon dinnertime, they would enjoy a hearty meal and some brews with friends; claret, ratafias (a fortified wine or a fruit-based beverage), creams, punches, and other concoctions were also standard.

Before they went to bed?

The day would not be complete without a glass of wine to ease hardworking Americans into blissful sleep.

It’s no wonder that the rest of the world looked upon America as “bright and shining star” to emulate.

The American Revolution was fueled by spirits

“Wine is necessary for life.” 

– Thomas Jefferson

Although there were endless meetings and debates that paved the way for America during colonial times, our forefathers’ love for a good drink was just as vital. Indulging in a cold lager was not only embraced — it was pretty much expected.

Some of the most revered men of the American Revolution professed their love for a refreshing, relaxing beverage.

Thomas Jefferson planted vineyards at Monticello and encouraged others to take up the practice; he was also known to import thousands upon thousands of bottles of his favorite wine.

As for Washington, he operated his own whiskey distillery and it was said that he could dance the night away with four bottles of wine under his belt. His Revolutionary War personal expense account for alcohol from September 1775 to March 1776 amounted to over six thousand dollars (Washington & Kitman, 1970).

Franklin’s Return to Philadelphia, 1785, painted by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris (1863-1930) — with some, uh, later enhancements.

“My manner of living is plain…a glass of wine and a bit of mutton.” 

– George Washington

Not only did alcohol provide a good time, it also caused some serious controversy — to the point of a war breaking out.

Wine almost sank ships — the Liberty Affair

American patriot John Hancock caused quite the stir when he smuggled Portuguese Madeira into the American colonies and things didn’t go exactly as smoothly as he had intended. The seizure of his ship sparked a riot and the burning of a British customs boat.

Here’s how the International Wine & Food Society describes the events:

Asked to name the key events that led to the American Revolution, many will bring up the Boston Massacre of 1770 or the Boston Tea Party of 1773. But another incident that proved to be just as critical in fostering the revolution was the Liberty Affair—an important turning point in American history during which Madeira played a central role.

Before John Hancock became famous for his signature, he was a Boston merchant and alleged smuggler who constantly thumbed his nose in the face of British tax collectors. On May 9, 1768 however, his sloop Liberty arrived with 25 pipes (large wooden barrels) of “the best sterling Madeira,” just one quarter of the vessel’s carrying capacity. 

Believing that he had unloaded the rest without paying the required duties, the ship was seized and Hancock was charged with smuggling. This resulted in one of the worst riots in Boston’s history when colonists, already infuriated with the Royal Navy for impressing them [the taking of men into a military or naval force by compulsion], violently revolted in the defense of Hancock and his supposedly smuggled wine. Call it the Boston Madeira Party!

Cheers to that!

Conclusions

Did you know that America is trying to ban alcohol again? Yup it’s true.

Florida bans drinking alcohol at bars

I had to read that twice. Then what the fuck are you supposed to drink at bars? Coke-cola? Sometimes I just read the American “news” and just shake my head. Is this all that delicious “democracy” that I keep hearing about? Is this what “freedom” is all about?

Pennsylvania to ban alcohol sales at bars and restaurants

I guess that Pennsylvania is going to be “better” than Florida. I meet your ban and I raise you a double ban. Take that you sheeple!

Airlines ban alcohol on planes

Don’t even think about flying to PA or FL to have a good time. It ain’t gonna happen. No way. No how.

Well, drinking white wine (I am drinking 53 degree hard grain right now (also known as “white wine”) makes me want to say “phooey” to all this stuff about “saving” America and recovering it to something worthwhile. As I drink I see the wisdom of the forefathers.

If it is working, you did good.
If it is broken, it is up to the people in-charge of running it, to fix it.

If that does NOT happen, then your system (that you put in place) is a failure. And you know what? You need to start again, all over.

I know, I know. Drinking is “taboo” in the United States.

But outside of it, it’s part of life. It makes and helps you see the insanity that the Untied States has become.

The forefathers of the United States were smart.

Drunk, but smart.

But their wisdom is lost. It’s all off in dusty unread volumes in the back of old libraries. No one pays what they said, and give it any attention. For goodness gracious, people talk about how great “democracy” is!

That is so amazing. That is the LAST THING that they wanted to happen to the Untied States that they created. They warned about it. They pleaded. They wrote; “what ever you do… DON’T ever, ever establish a “democracy”. Because if you do you will create an oligarchy. And if you don’t stop it, it will evolve into a military empire and everyone’s lives will become “toast”.

Be toast - Idioms by The Free Dictionary
https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/be+toast

toast, to be. To be doomed or unworthy of further consideration. 

This slangy usage dates from the twentieth century. It can be applied to a person, a group, an idea, a project, and so on. It must be distinguished from being the toast of something, such as “the toast of the Academy Awards,” which means a person receiving much acclaim.

The “last thing”.

They also smoked weed” don’t you know…

…(have you) ever watched the movie “Dazed and Confused”?

Or maybe the MM audience are all too “high brow”.

But they were correct.

Do your best, and show the way. If others abuse it, it’s not your role to change them. Let them learn from their mistakes. Let them make them and suffer the consequences. And while all this is going on, you all just go off to your nice “safe place”, cavort with pretty girls (or guys if that is your desire), sing a few songs, try to dance a jig or two, and eat some delicious food with some fine, fine libations.

Oh…

And please, make sure that you have some pet pals (dogs, cats, and horses) would be really nice. Make sure that you have some treats on hand. And let those “fuck ups” that are running your nation into the ground… suffer the consequences of their ignorance.

It’s time for some cheese and crackers, and some nice frothy cold beer. (Hey! Doesn’t that green lamp base to the right look like a 1960’s style bong to you all?) Ah. Remember the days when couch end tables were filled with magazines… Oh, those were the days.

I’ll tell you what.

Go be with others that share your appraisal of the current state of “fuck up”, and just enjoy life. You all will be gone soon enough. Don’t you know…

Trump did not drink alcohol. — Obama,love him or hate him, at least he drank beer.

And you know, the Chinese love to have fun too…

And yes they really do. Anyone that drinks beer and alcohol can’t be all bad. In fact, I argue that all of the disruption during 2020 was due to the non-drinking teetotalers of the American neocon administration. And that’s my strong opinion.

You all need to have a good time.

We all need to have a good time. It’s what humans do.

But there are people who have evolved past the basic needs of being human. Instead, they have become a different kind of creature. And I have discussed this at length elsewhere, don’t you know. We as humans need to get a little crazy and a little silly at times. I strongly believe this.

We as humans need to get a little crazy and a little silly at times. I strongly believe this.

But on a much more serious note. Take care of whom is running the nation. There are many, many psychopaths out there, and they all seem to evolve towards positions of power and control. You know, if you continue to let sociopaths and psychopaths run the United States Government, then this is what you all can look forward to…

Change the uniforms, and change the name of the targeted group. It’s coming to America you all. If you are port of the “undesirable group” this will be your fate. Sure as shit. Who’s gonna be the objects of this assault? Oh, you know. You know.

You know.

Don’t you?

Lately

Lately I have been researching my family history. Ah. It’s a long story. I’m West Prussian and Irish. A mutt. An American mutt living in China. But still, looking at my history shows some things that put a real smile on my face, and some perspective.

It also explains my love of beer, whiskey, and pretzels. Glorious, hot, fresh, steamy horseradish-covered pretzels.

Oh and don’t forget the kelbassa.

Kielbasa
Food

Kielbasa is any type of meat sausage from Poland, and a staple of Polish cuisine. In American English the word typically refers to a coarse, U-shaped smoked sausage of any kind of …

Wikipedia

Oh, and I do love a good strudel, some fine Polish sausages, and some big-chested beer girls. Not to mention a tad bit of accordion music, and some jig dancing. Those Lederhosen also helps me get into the mood.

Lederhosen
Costume

Lederhosen are short or knee-length leather breeches that are worn as traditional garments in some regions of German-speaking countries. The longer ones are generally called Bundhosen or Kniebundhosen. Once common workwear across Central Europe, these clothes—or Tracht—are particularly associated with Bavaria and the Tyrol region.

Wikipedia

And some Beer People.

Beer people having fun. Here’s some more beer girls.

Beer.

This was a post about beer, and some nonsense about America thrown in for things to talk about while drinking beer. I hope that you enjoyed my daily rant.

Phew! This tires me out. It’s time for a beer.

Do you want more?

I have more posts in my Food Index…

FOOD

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Trump: A Communist Perspective for the Politically Ignorant

Today Trump is vacating the office of President of the United States.

Here’s some great commentary that I would like to post. There are so many good people trying to get their “arms around the current American political situation” that it would take days to list them all. Here, I have take a few precious ones and compiled them to generate a picture of confusion and understanding. Like a bunch of folk riding a rickety old roller coaster and worried if the next bend will collapse or not.

Right off the top – MoA

The following is the “pulse of the nation” taken from the Moon Over Alabama…

The U.S. seems to have gone completely crazy these days.

 Two full divisions worth of soldiers are closing off Washington DC to  'protect' a mostly virtual inauguration from a non-existing threat.
 26,000 National Guard members to secure Washington for inauguration

 The FBI is investigating the loyalty of those troops as if it were really in doubt.
 FBI vetting troops stationed in Washington ahead of Inauguration Day

 The leadership of the Democratic Party has gone completely nuts:
 QAnon  for Democrats? Hillary Clinton & Nancy Pelosi suggest Putin ORDERED  Trump to launch Capitol siege in unhinged interview

 Hillary Clinton @HillaryClinton - 22:38 UTC · Jan 18, 2021 .@SpeakerPelosi and I agree:
Congress needs to establish an  investigative body like the 9/11 Commission to determine Trump's ties to  Putin so we can repair the damage to our national security and prevent a  puppet from occupying the presidency ever again. 

 They are even more crazy than the outgoing pompous Secretary of State:

 Nick Schifrin @nickschifrin - 17:14 UTC · Jan 19, 2021 BREAKING: Huge announcement from @SecPompeo: "I have determined that  the PRC, under the direction and control of the CCP, has committed  genocide against the predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and other ethnic and  religious minority groups in Xinjiang." 

 "I have determined ..." Who does the guy think he is?

 Meanwhile reality delivered this low blow:
 L.A. Suspends Air Quality Rules to Cremate Backlog of Covid-19 Victims

 A fail to get a grip on this.

Drudge Report

The headings from the Drudge Report are atypical…

Of course, the internet, is of course, filled with comments by Americans about America.

Comments by Americans

In general, few Americans view America as a healthy nation embracing good and well-deserved improvements with a new Administration. While most are happy to see Mr. Trump leave, most view America as a complete “cluster fuck”…

A half century of downward mobility — crippling of the real economy  in which productivity was rewarded — and neglect causing deterioration  of infrastructure (including meeting basic human needs like health  care), have brought the U.S. to a state of collapse. 

Almost everyone  seems to sense this and we feel powerless to rectify the situation  through accepted channels, thus some people believe they have a  ‘patriotic’ duty to use other means. 

The combination of disenfranchised  minorities and disgruntled middle class becomes dangerous (to the  established order) as soon as both groups realize they can’t win by  blaming and fighting each other. 

We haven’t reached that stage yet,  judging from the comments I’ve read in the mainstream media, however  it’s just a matter of time until they do. 

The divide-and-rule political  game keeps people attached to ideology of left vs right until it becomes  clear that we all lose by adhering to this mode of thinking. 

The war  racket and a whole range of other exploitative financial policies are  driven by the top echelon of elites, who also control the narratives  through media propaganda. 

Their game is failing and they’re resorting to  draconian control measures to prop it up, but this can’t continue much  longer. 

As I see it, the collapse of the Western financial system could  happen suddenly or gradually, or it could bring the ultimate destruction  of human civilization. 

In any case, I believe our degradation of the  natural world will be the real catalyst leading either to human  extinction; or else if we’re lucky and smart enough, will induce us to  massively downsize our population and industrial activity in order to  let the ecosystem heal itself.
 
-Posted by: norecovery | Jan 14 2021 19:05 utc | 9

and

Whether or not the Trump voters will be surpressed doesn't matter  (anymore). 

The fact is and remains that A LOT OF US citizens are  unhappy. And that will create more and more unrest in the (near) future.  Both the Democratic and the Republican party have become establishment  parties who don't care about the  petite bourgeoisie and/or the average  Joe Sixpack.
 
-Posted by: Willy2 | Jan 14 2021 19:33 utc | 11

and

The only thing they (RINO's, the non Trumpers) are afraid of loosing is their seat on the gravy train express.  

They are afraid of loosing  their seat at the sleaziest brothel in the world, totally bought and  controlled by powerful interest groups and foreign governments with  Israel being by far the biggest one that controls that chamber. 
 
-Posted by: Tom | Jan 14 2021 20:06 utc | 18

and

The Democrats have proven themselves complete idiots for years and  years and years. The Republicans are batshit crazy. 

The last election  from the Democratic POV was to remove what they perceive as an  existential threat to 'democracy' which is another word for 'deep  state.' It is no wonder the rush to judgment to confirm what they  already believe about DJT. Critical thinking and common sense are not  attributes the elite political class possess. They are all vainglorious  grifters.
 
The USA is FUBAR and none of the king's horses and none of the king's men etc. etc. etc.
 
-Posted by: gottlieb | Jan 14 2021 20:17 utc | 21

and

Russiagate, Ukrainegate and now Insurrectiongate convinced a lot of  Americans - and not just Trump supporters - that the system is broken.
 
If they keep up with this lunacy, people will conclude that the system is - not just broken but - irrevocably broken.
 
At that point, even police state suppression won't help them.
 
-Posted by: Mike from Jersey | Jan 14 2021 21:20 utc | 28

and

The Trump supporters do not care that he is a murderer and a  scoundrel as well as yet another US President that started yet another  war against a Muslim country.
 
They think that US can survive a centuries-long war against Islam.
 
That is a major flaw in their estimation of US power and fragility of what they have in the United States.
 
1.2 billion Muslims, 1.2 billion Chinese, and a 130 million Russians believing that the United States is their enemy.
 
No amount of domestic political change in the United States can address this.
 
In 1976, a 17-year old American boy could travel alone in Iran,  Afghanistan, Pakistan, etc. without any fear; he would be welcome  because of the correct foreign policy of the United States.
 
Americans have lost that and are discussing the deck arrangements on Titanic.
 
-Posted by: fyi | Jan 14 2021 21:24 utc | 30

and

There are many, like me, who supported Trump only because he was the  only one who actually did anything that might benefit regular Americans.

 And while some have clearly eaten the worm with Trump - I personally still don't consider him a saint or a savior. 

 If he were to pardon Snowden or Assange, it would be exclusively as a f*** you to the intelligence community.

 However, in the grand scheme of Trump things, that is very low on his  list of things to do. Said list being headed mostly by ways to make  money...

 The really sad part is not that Trump became President - that is actually a plus for the American system.

 The really sad part is that Trump was a better President for regular  Americans than any of his 3 immediate predecessors and will have been  better than his successor even despite the pettiness, the  bull-in-china-shop, the ego, etc etc.

 That is the real indictment of the United State of America at this point in time.
 
-Posted by: c1ue | Jan 20 2021  9:59 utc | 99

and

I think this is the overarching view of what's happening in the US  and the world today. Oligarchic power and riches are now so great and so  globally mobile that nation-states are simply getting in the way of the  plunder.

 ~~

 In my opinion, the very rich of this world actually do have a  solution to climate change and resource depletion, and they didn't have  to think very hard to see what to them is obvious. As they break up  societies to make the plunder easier, they also imperil millions and  ultimately billions of people, who will quickly die and relieve the  burden on planetary resources. 

 This is why chaos is success for them. There is no plan to save  anything except their own riches. Everything and everyone else can fade  away. We spoke of steady-state economies the other day, and the very  rich are now prepared to live in one - their own. New world order is a  red herring anymore. They don't want to rule anything. They just want it  all to go away.

 They, the rich, have come up with the obvious, brilliant solution to  all recent problems of this world. We the people are the largest  ingredient of these planetary problems. Obviously, we'll have to go. And  as this happens, the rich will exuberantly - with great zest - increase  their own wealth from the very crumbling of former societies.

 -Posted by: Grieved | Jan 20 2021  1:04 utc | 64

and

For the Trump-phenomenon to continue, the duopoly must not be allowed to carry on casting an illusory shadow of balance which the two-party tyranny employs and which many in America prefer to believe is our noble, default modus operandi.

The rush to restore civility to the GOP will be the overarching goal of the next four years by msm and BigTech. Democrats view of Rinos will soften as an atmosphere of cooperation will seemingly return. It will be Joe Biden's inaugural address on repeat for FOUR YEARS!!! Get your barf bags ready! Can we reuse them like our cloth masks?

...

But that doesn't mean that Deplorables will fall back in line. On the contrary, I believe that DJT will be the last GOP President, unless the establishment gets so desperate that they engineer a Rino win for Presidency in four years. I'm thinking Pence.

But the Deplorables will not vote another GOP Rino in.

By sowing now, Deplorables are happy to let the Democrat party reveal themselves completely as parasites by further destroying our nation. A true-Nationalist party will then emerge naturally and the Deplorables will reap the benefits of their patience. As of right now, I do not see the progressive (socialist) side of the left willing to get their hands dirty by invoking the name of Nationalism. In their own elitism, they too share disdain for the common conservative which will restrict them from forming any kind of coalition.

As a result, the splitting of the Dems into factions seems inevitable down the road, although this will lag behind the Deplorables' ability to consolidate into their own party to upset the hold of the GOP. The America-First Party will be coming up just as the neoliberal establishment is coming down due to factionalism.

A hard road ahead. But rejoice! The gears of history are spinning again and you can see the hands of time advancing in its dialectical form.

-Posted by: NemesisCalling | Jan 20 2021 7:21 utc | 94

and

I am one of the outlier heathens. We will not so easily conform,  reform or deform into the highly suppressed shapes and tiny spaces TPTB  insist we all must passively retreat into. We are more than their  obedient, mindless consumer droids or random points of collected data,  to be unceremoniously herded, harvested and then, casually discarded  when they are satisfied that there is little to nothing left of 'value'  for them to wring out of our collectively ransacked consumer carcasses. 
 
Yet...We Are Legion! 
 
-Posted by: Dee Plora Belle | Jan 14 2021 20:19 utc | 22

Comments by Communists

And so now, let me add some comments by Mr. Billy Bob, who (I guess) is a self-proclaimed “communist”. I think that he isn’t. But that’s just me. What ever he wants to call himself, his comments are golden…

I have not been a very active participant here but I try and keep up with most of the discussion and truly appreciate the honor of being invited to join the group.  

I was recently awarded a perhaps well deserved 30 day facebook ban for calling someone a "stupid c u next tuesday". They kept insisting on the existence of millions interred in "concentration camps" and after hundreds of comments their bad faith engagement brought out the worst in me.

So I've been working on an early encapsulation of the Trump era and since I can't currently share it on facebook, I thought I would share it here.  Any feedback would be appreciated. 

- Billy Bob

Trump: A Communist Perspective for the Politically Ignorant

Trump was the timely beneficiary of overwhelming disgust with the two party system and its inability to further working class interests. The existing system provides a facade of democracy while promoting capitalist class interests and shielding the actual policy makers from any accountability for their lack of furthering working class interests. If managed properly, the capitalist class can play both sides against each other in perpetuity without having to offer any concessions to the working class.

Instead of engaging in the slippery slope of concession granting, the billionaire owned mass media stokes racial and cultural divisions resulting in the desired fragmentation of the working class. With the working class bifurcated into two broad groups, the mass media manipulates these groups through the propaganda technique Bernays called “continuous interpretation” in which daily events are explained through the red or blue partisan lens with the intent of rendering public opinion compatible with establishment interests while keeping the electorate divided.

With red and blue falsely depicted as opposite ends of the political spectrum, blue achievement is seen as red loss and vice versa. This tug of war is stage-managed by class conscious establishmentarians who’s prime directive is to ensure that neither side “wins” thereby maintaining the system’s viability and perpetuity. Though differences exist between the two parties, they amount to little more than strategic disagreements over how to best consolidate capitalist class power and maintain their system. Their respective platforms are in a continuous state of flux and not adhered to in any event if contradiction and hypocrisy can result in partisan gain.

Such a system would not exist if not for the overwhelming political ignorance of the American public–an ignorance which is facilitated and encouraged by the ruling capitalist establishment that has every incentive not to develop an informed and politically astute citizenry.

While extreme political ignorance was necessary for Trump’s ascendancy, even more so was the crisis of legitimacy which culminated following eight years of Barack Obama’s non-existent “Hope and Change” presidency. Trump exploited this crisis as fully as he possibly could by loudly denouncing the status quo as a swamp which needed to be drained. It was his anti-establishment rhetoric which appealed to voters and which enabled him victory over his establishment rival.

Trump’s populous demagoguery and his willingness to tarnish the sanctity of ruling class institutions of power and control like the rigged electoral system, or the fake-news mass media, ensured his popularity among a broad segment of the electorate but it also ensured that he would not be tolerated by the class conscious establishment consensus.

For four years they struggled to control and contain the demagogic outsider while they worked to harness his popularity (and unpopularity) in furtherance of their own partisan interests. Team blue took the gloves off and immediately attempted to depict Trump as evil and incompetence personified.

Just nineteen minutes into his term, the Washington Post announced his impeachment was underway: [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/01/20/the-campaign-to-impeach-president-trump-has-begun/] No punches were pulled and no opportunity was missed with which to dishonestly present Trump in the absolutely worst light imaginable.

Team red on the other hand was far more nuanced in their approach as they had much more to gain and much more to lose. While a few on team red opposed Trump outright from the very beginning, most attempted to managing the situation in a way which harnessed Trump’s popularity while engaging in damage control over his destructive rhetoric.

Trump’s greatest supporters and defenders were indeed among the worst right wing sycophants that our society has produced. Folks like Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, and Mark Levin, hitched their wagon to Trump’s popularity in an effort to use their platform to keep Trump’s demagoguery within the velvet ropes of traditional republican discourse and polite partisan behavior. They defended him from the outrageous and dishonest attacks of team blue and became the voice of reason during the Russiagate, and Ukrainegate hoaxes. Nevertheless, Trump’s minuscule base of establishment support never stood a chance of forcing any significant institutional change.

Trump correctly perceived the crisis of legitimacy that had been growing among the citizenry and he appeared to honestly believed that he could do a better job of running the country and furthering the interests of the American people but he maintained this narcissistic belief despite lacking the most basic understanding of how things work or why things are as they are.

He seemed truly clueless regarding the capitalist class consensus and their view of the working class as a threat that must be pacified through the liberal application of divisive propaganda via the mass media. Trump seemed clueless regarding their need to project global power through perpetual war, sanctions, trade agreements, and the military encirclement of noncompliant states.

He discovered early on that the status quo which he railed against resulted from an entrenched perspective of the capitalist class best interest and although “being friends with Russia”, making peace with North Korea, or ending the forever wars in the mid-East or Afghanistan could easily win over a majority of the population, there was no way the ruling class would allow Trump to damage and weaken their imperial grip through the implementation of such policies.

So although Trump was in many ways an instinctive and gifted politician who managed to navigate his way through the political jungle by opportunistically capitalizing on the widespread disgust of the status quo, and despite the fact that he truly believed he could do better for the prosperity of the country (including the working class) than what had been wrought by the status quo, he failed to recognize the basic reality that presidents are figureheads and exist for no other reason than to represent the interest of the ruling capitalist class consensus. He naively and indeed foolishly believed that the ruling class would permit him to pursue an agenda that was even mildly at odds with their own.

Honest intelligent folks can agree to disagree on precisely what Trump’s deeply held convictions were, whether he had any at all, and what changes he would have made had he been allowed a free hand to do as he saw fit. But proclaiming Trump to be principle-less and solely interested in his own political and economic success, fails to satisfactorily explain many of Trump’s actions.

All that can be said with certainty is that Trump had a poor grasp of the Marxian political reality grounded in oppositional *class* interests and the changes which he advocated for and which were rejected by the ruling capitalist class consensus, amounted to little more than a strategic shift away from the existing globalist order and towards a new nationalist order where Trump himself would be the arbiter of what policies and agreements were in the nation’s best interest.

Additionally, honest folks can disagree over the origins of the COVID virus and the extent to which it was exploited in furtherance of ruling class interests. Honest folks can disagree regarding the extent to which the 2020 election were rigged against Trump. Both are open questions and it is misguided to pretend to have certainty regarding either. But neither of these things is that important or relevant with regards to the political reality which we all ought to recognize and embrace. Embracing truth necessitates the rejection and dismissal of the contrived narratives designed to obfuscate reality and benefit capitalist class interests.

Democracy in this country has never existed. It has always been a tyranny of wealth. Free speech, free press, free trade, and other liberal aspirations are truly non-existent in this country. Trump was not hated because he was Hitler reincarnate nor was he hated because of his principled pursuit of working class interests. He was hated because he was not a figurehead that would play the game according to their rules and within the bounds of their democratic facade. He was happy to denounce their corrupt system for his own political benefit but he did so while lacking the knowledge, wisdom, or ability to improve the situation.

Americans ought to be more politically savvy and recognize that the propagandistic tactics being used against right wing demagoguery, will be the exact same tactics used against authentic and principled folks committed to social progress. The four year long dishonest demonization of Trump culminating with the farcically apoplectic response to the protests at the capital will be used to justify the curtailing of civil liberties and a bipartisan assault on the legacy of DJT. His burning effigy will be raised high as an example to all that dare to threaten the status quo.

Conclusions

I cannot predict the future, and I am just as confused with what is going on in America as everyone else. So my comments on this contemporary train of events are going to be necessarily simplistic.

The United States is not acting like a healthy nation.

No one is happy in the United States except the Wall Street Bankers, the Sycophantic leeches in Washington DC, and the global oligarchy. Other satisfied individuals include long-duration federal workers, special interest groups that cater to the Democrat Party, and the ignorant.

I would hazard a guess that huge segments of the United States population is unhappy. This remains true whether or not they voted for Biden or not.

Thus, anything that President Biden tries to do will not generate any kind of satisfaction. People will look upon the efforts in a pessimistic manner. Which means, boys and girls, that the unhappiness will need to run it’s course…

…I see nothing good in the future of America.

This is true regardless of whether or not I agree with the new polices of Mr. Biden and Congress or not.

And while I am happy to see the neocon, war-mongering assholes that ran the United States as some kind of high-technology mafia / military empire leave “packing”, I am not rejoicing. Instead I tremble in fear. Because none of the underlying problems that are systemic to America are being addressed, and this always leads up to catastrophe.

It's one thing cheering on about "freedom" and "democracy" when your only interaction is with the glowing blue computer screen. It's another thing entirely when you are sitting on "ground zero" and Mike Pompeo is announcing that your city must be destroyed.

Historically.

Absolutely.

Catastrophic.

A small toddler that is a bully, becomes a small town hood, that becomes a career criminal, that is eventually “put down” when his actions are deemed too dangerous by the community.

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As Trump leaves the Presidency, America’s Geo-Political relationships (and future) lay in ruins

Love him or hate him, President Trump has severely altered the geography of the American domestic political scene. He has also severely altered the international relationships that America has with other nations; friend and foe. (Well documented.) Some people laud this as beneficial, while others decry this as something horrible. For me, personally, it’s a “mixed bag”.

"a mixed bag"
COMMON IDIOM

If something is a mixed bag, it contains things that are of very different types or qualities. The newspapers carry a mixed bag of stories on their front pages. The programmes are a mixed bag as they have to cater for all tastes. Note: The bag referred to here is a hunting bag containing the different kinds of animals and birds that the hunter has shot.

-The Free Dictionary

On one hand, it was a relief to see an “outsider” enter Washington, DC and “shake things up”. I was getting tired of feeling like no one in government cared about me, or my problems and issues. Trump entered office and acted like a “big wrecking ball”. He “shook things up”, and really “upset the apple cart”. That was a relief. It gave me hope that real change in America was possible.

shake something up
to cause changes to something, esp. in order to make improvements.

upset the apple cart
wreck an advantageous project or disturb the status quo. 

go under the wrecking ball
To be destroyed or demolished.
Fig. to be wrecked or torn down.

But on the other hand, he and his small army of neocon conservatives completely demolished whatever international standing that America has held. They (the neocons) were under the delusion that somehow 2020 was actually 1960, and that America was a vibrant and healthy nation, a manufacturing powerhouse, and beloved all over the world. All of which was false.

And in their glee to “reestablish America as a global leader – 1960s style” they torn down all the Agreements that America was part of. They did so in the belief that better, more pro-America agreements would be put in their places. And sadly, that has not been the case.

Now a new President will come into office; Mr. Biden.

I cannot predict what will happen. Actually. I know that the American “news” organizations are flooding the internet with stories about how [1] Biden will be tougher on China than Trump, [2] that Biden is going to issue forth Marxism in the United States, [3] Ban Guns, and [4] so on and so forth… But no one really knows what will happen.

It could become a complete police state, but jeeze guys, isn’t that what it is already?

America today. — America is a military empire and it’s citizens live within a Police State.

Anyways, I find that this fascinating.

Why?

Two reasons.

[1] The American government owns all mainstream, alt-Left and Alt-Right media. They are pushing these narratives. Why? Why are they doing it?

That’s right. I can see an anti-China propaganda campaign as a lead up to a hot war. That always happens. That is what happened with Syria and what happened with Vietnam. But if there is no hot war, or the intention of going into a hot war, then why do it?

What is the purpose of the devotion of time, money, and resources to get Americans all riled up against a common enemy if it is not war? Why is the media (Alt-Left, Alt-Right and mainstream) all geared up so that just about every second or third article is Hate-China?

It’s getting to be that Americans are becoming fearful of the most popular, and the most populous nation on the planet. Why? (You might want to see what the rest of the world thinks about America today.)

Who and what really controls the American "news". — Who and what really controls the American “news”.

[2] Both the Democrat Party and the Republican Party are a uni-party. They show different faces to the electorate, but actually are in the same club.

The uni-party are the same with only very minor differences in ideology. That is true. Look at the voting records. Not the individual votes. But rather the final votes when the votes have been counted.

Oh, sure, Congressman Royalasshole decided to vote “no” on congressional resolution Fuck-Americans-in-the-ass, but his party did. Oh, by just one or two votes. Imagine that! Back-door dealings…

Hey Congressman Smartlydressedolderdickhead made the arrangements. Most could vote to please their constituents, but, as long as the party voted as the oligarchy favored, then all was well.

It’s a uni-party.

So what is actually going on?

My personal belief is that President Trump was an intentional plant. He was popularly elected, but it was intended for him to be elected. Hillary Clinton was a very polarizing figure, ran a weak election campaign, and lost.

I believe that it was intended for him to be elected over Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Further, that it was intended for him to has a short four year term in office, intentionally. Leading up to Biden who is the intentional follow-up President that came into office.

From my point of view, as an outsider – I no longer live inside the American media echo chamber, it appears to be crystal clear that America is being run as a big Ponzi scheme and that the entire election process is just one big hoax. No citizens have any control over anything.

And you are free to agree or disagree. But it really seems to me that the forces aligned for a Biden win, whether legitimate or not, are aligned that way intentionally.

The arrival was foretold in the ancient murals. — Very powerful force, with very powerful resources, are manipulating American citizenry in very precise and elaborate ways. The outcome, no matter how you look at it, is planned.

What is going on?

I personally believe that most people are good. And that most American are good. That they live in a nation that has become hostile to them in various ways. For some, it dates way back decades or centuries, for others it is recent. But both sides of the political spectrum see America a very sick and in need of change. The difference is that both sides see different ways of accomplishing that objective.

Far Left = Marxism is the solution.
Mainstream = The status quo is perfect as it is.
Far Right = A return to a Republic is the solution

All are false.

It is no secret (but not at all publicized in the United States) that China threw away it’s mantle of Marxist Communism back in the 1970’s. It nearly destroyed the nation, and torn it apart in ways that Americans have a hard time understanding. Over 30 million people died under Chinese Marxism. And the Chinese leadership said “never again” and changed the government.

Someone should have woken up the neocons and got them out of their comfortable echo chamber. Their narrative about what China is hasn’t been updated since the 1970’s and they are spouting nonsense that anyone outside of the USA can see clearly. China is many things, but Marxist Communist it is not.

No. American Marxism will not be an improvement. It will be a disaster.

Likewise, a return to a Republic is not the solution either. We know from history how the American Republic turned into a Democracy. How it became an Oligarchy, and then evolved into a Military Empire. Trying to hit a “reset button” in the hope of a return to what was intended is a mistake. It’s just going to allow others to establish a better, stronger and more powerful oligarchy.

No. A return to the past is not the solution either.

Now, I advocate something radical.

I strongly suggest that the federal government be dissolved. It be destroyed and the individual States regain their sovereign identities.

I think that the citizens will have better control over their lives and that the benefits that the Federal Government provides won’t even be noticed when it is gone. In fact, I argue that the benefits of having a Federal Government is actually tiny on a vast majority of folk in the United States today.

How are the citizens of West Virginia benefiting from the war in Yemen?
How do the people in Tennessee benefit for the billions of federal taxes for a High Speed Train in California?
In what way does the ATF benefit the people of North Dakota?

Flags. — Selected flags of the various States.

Rather than fight each other over ideology, I argue that now is the time for Americans to come together and forge a new government, and stop looking to the past for answers. Whether it is Marxism, or a 1776 Republic.

While everyone might have different personal ideologies, I argue that most people want to be left alone. they want to work, play, and raise their families. And that they really don’t care all that much about who is doing what in Washington DC.

So What is the Big Picture?

Provided that I am correct, that it’s all a big show for the masses, then what is actually going on? What is the big plan?

Well, by looking at the results of the Trump Administration’s actions on an international scale, it seems rather obvious. He has pretty much torn up almost all the agreements, trampled on our relationships with long-term allies, and has engaged on a war footing with the largest and most important nation on the planet. Why?

Look what he is doing…

Isolate America from the rest of the world.
Contain any upset and internal turmoil domestically to American shores.
Minimize the economic “footprint” of any economic collapse that will happen inside of America.
Limit any external damage that might occur as the American monster empire goes into it’s death throes.

America & International Relations

That is the only thing that makes sense when you look at things objectively. And not from some kind of partisan divide.

American news. — Don’t believe ANYTHING out of the American “news”. Both the Alt-Left and the Alt-Right are controlled by the American State Department. They push narratives to control the citizenry.

Why is this going on?

Well, it seems obvious. The United States is long, long over due for a reset. And no matter how you look at it; it is going to occur.

Theories of Collapse

It is going to occur. The reset will happen. The oligarchy realizes this. So they have planned accordingly. From their point of view, it is best to let the trends run their course, but in such a way that they control the outcome. And that is why all this is going on.

The Climax of the Fourth Turning in 2025.

Jim Quinn at The Burning Platform sees a catastrophic end to the ongoing disintegration :

The dichotomy between what is happening in the real world and what is happening in the world of the financiers will lead to violent upheaval on a timeline not anticipated by the ruling class. There is a good reason gun stores were overwhelmed with business at the outset of this over-hyped flu pandemic. Trust in the government, central bankers, the corporate media, and “experts” is disintegrating rapidly. The anger and disillusionment grows by the day and pockets of resistance are propagating throughout the country...

The only thing that matters is we will experience a disastrous outcome in the very near future from this reckless issuance of debt. The civic decay has entered the confrontational stage, with sides taken, weapons at the ready, awaiting the spark which will ignite the dynamite.

Reopen the nation, American Thinker – Hundreds of thousands of businesses are on the verge of bankruptcy and permanent closure. 33+ million are unemployed, and the federal government is creating massive unsustainable debt. This nation has made the biggest blunder in its history. The time has come for the politicians from the President to the Governors and Mayors to stop hiding behind the scientist/bureaucrats and fully reopen the nation. Focus on that segment of the population most at risk, without compulsory isolation or de facto imprisonment. And restore the civil liberties that have been wantonly eroded.

Know your history. — Spicy times ahead. Read some history.

Picture above; as the Ottoman empire started to collapse, they disarmed the citizenry. Then found scapegoats or villains. They collected them, marched them off and killed them.

Spicy times ahead.

The importance of isolating America from the rest of the world

America is being isolated in so many, many ways. Most Americans are unaware of this, as they do not live internationally. But what is actually happening is that President Trump’s policies have make it very “uncool” to have anything to do with America.

Global stability is maintained by strong routes of communication, give and take, and trade. This ensures that countries can address concerns early on before things get blown out of control, and spiral down a dangerous path towards war. It’s a very human thing, this idea of clear communications and open productive dialog.

It’s like a family. What happens when one member decides to stop talking, starts doing what they please without the consent of others in the family? What happens when they arbitrarily decide to eat what they want and spend the family budget as they feel fit, without input form the rest of the family?

But when you have a problematic family member, one with a mental illness, and alcohol addiction, or problems with the police, the family has a responsibly to isolate him/her and get them help where their problems can be resolved. For some this is a 12-step program, for others it is incarceration in a jail or a mental hospital. But no matter what the situation, the person needs to be placed in a “safe place”, isolated and attended to by experts.

Other nations do not want “spill over” from American domestic turmoil to affect their economies. They collectively desire to minimize the effects of any problems.

That is what the United States is being set up for now.

And people are noticing.

From the woodpile report; July will tell the truth about the economy. I’ve chosen November as the month of general truth, whether the years following will be of manageable coping, of unexampled disaster, or something in between.

We could see a return to pre-Covid conditions, the economy revive, preps largely unneeded. Or hard times will persist but get no worse than they are now, with normalcy slowly returning, preps helpful but not critical. Or daily life could worsen long term and become the new normal, modest preps necessary but sufficient until a slow turnaround takes hold some years out.

Or systemic disruption and shortages could multiply, the recession deepen into a depression  , extensive preps needed to make it from one month to the next. Or it could become a general disaster with outright starvation, government rule by decree, cities uninhabitable, regional withdrawals into fiefdoms, and only extensive preps being enough to avoid personal catastrophe. Or we'll see a rapid and unstoppable national and global collapse, criminal raids on a regional scale, rule by force, preps depleted or confiscated and the widespread rise of outright survivalism.

Preppers attempt to maintain some or most of their present circumstances in tough times. The survivalist has his own definition of preps. He practices to survive by anticipating and training for the worst of the possibilities. 

Survivalism comes first, not last, because in the end preps assume the prepper survives to use them.

There are entirely reasonable variations on these themes. This is merely my personal arrangement.

He also goes on to say…

It appears we're at the start of an economic collapse similar to that of 1929 and into the 1930s. What we're seeing in Minneapolis and  elsewhere appears to add the danger of organized violence.

A widespread decampment from big cities began some time ago and appears to be accelerating. Bloomberg reports RV sales are up 30%  in some urban places. 

The causes are fascinating but in the end what matters is how their migration to the "flyover country" they so despise may affect your personal plans.

July, when the long term direction of the economy will be plain to see, may be your last opportunity to shape your preparations more exactly, meaning food, shelter and protection. November is the month of the presidential election, when all sides reveal their intentions and one is chosen. It's also when winter weather begins. 

Time is running out.

The alarm bells are ringing all over the United States…

Lockdowns, Mises Institute – Those who have claimed that lockdowns are “the only option” had virtually no evidence at all to support their position. Indeed, such extreme over-the-top measures such as the general lockdowns required an extreme level of high-quality, nearly irrefutable evidence that lockdowns would work and were necessary in the face of a disease with an extremely high fatality rate. But the only “data” the prolockdown people could offer was speculation and hyperbolic predictions of bodies piling up in the streets. The lockdown crowd destroyed the lives of millions to satisfy the hunches of a tiny handful of politicians and technocrats.

Peter Grant at Bayou Renaissance Man mentions the unmentionable in his essay, Bailing out the states: the momentum and the prospect for violence builds. Excerpts:

If their residents find that government largesse is no longer flowing; and if they believe that they're entitled to such largesse; then they're going to get out of control and try to take what they want. The results are likely to be catastrophic for law and order, and civil society.

I think the ordinary people of America realize this. After all, that's why they bought more guns in March than any other month in previous US history. They're getting ready to defend what's theirs—and I believe they're right in anticipating the need to do so...

You want to know why my friends want me to upgrade their rifles? You want to know why I've been warning about COVID-19 as a threat to personal security, and suggesting ways to keep your shooting skills honed, even during the lockdown? ... Look no further.

American Gun News – Another Maryland Man Red-Flagged to Death by the Cops … cops shot him through a window while asleep in bed. They also shot his pregnant girlfriend

Power grab, Sovereign Man – If you think about 9/11 in particular, its remarkable how much power the government grabbed, and how many freedoms they took away. What I’m most concerned about at this point is not the virus, nor even the economic devastation.They have us all cowering in our homes, stripped of the most basic freedoms to do just about anything. People are being thrown off their own private property because they’re not an ‘official resident’ of the town. Others have been arrested for attending a funeral. Others threatened with jail for their social media posts. There’s going to be a huge impact on our freedom from this astonishing growth of unchecked government power.

…

The oligarchy, and I mean the top most, highest levels of the 1%, are aware of all these trends and they expect things to get worse. They see and view what America is entering as something that is unavoidable, but can be controlled somewhat.

The most important thing for them is to limit the damage.

Keep it on a local scale within America. Try to avoid spillover to the rest of the world. And that requires that America be isolated to various degrees from the rest of the world. Disentangled.

Isolation

As I see it, there is an effort for complete isolation.

When I mean complete isolation, I am referring to [1] a drop in international obligations and trades as well as [2] a long drawn-out rise in being fearful of other nations. Treaties would be torn up or ignored. All done to “improve” America. And news would make Americans fearful, afraid, and full of hate towards other nations, and other peoples.

You simply cannot deny this.

The year of 2020 has been a non-stop China-hate-fest. Every other article is China doing something wrong, and how dangerous they are. Coupled with that is systems of isolation and a break-up of channels of communication. Students are no longer permitted in the USA, Chinese applications and communication channels are banned (such as QQ, Wechat, and Tiktok) plus an onslaught on the American means of communication. Zoom now requires the Chinese to pay a hefty fee to use it, and Skype is putting access limitations on it’s use within China.

Americans have been so dumbed down that they don’t even realize it is happening. You would think that they would at least ask themselves “Why this flood of anti-China articles now? What happened to the most favored trading nation status?”

America is so dumbed down that this is what passes for "news" in the United States today. — America is so dumbed down that this is what passes for “news” in the United States today.

You can argue the Mike Pompeo narrative; “China IS bad. So all this is necessary”. But I argue that it’s a big lie. It’s all part of a large orchestrated effort to isolate America from the rest of the world.

What follows is a brief compilation of the many, many treaties that President Trump and his small band of neocons have broken, collapsed, argued for re-posturing, or simply abandoned and no longer functionally obeys the Agreements that the United States has already signed. Combined, it paints a damning picture of intentional isolation from the global, and Geo-Political landscape.

Broken Treaties leading towards American isolation.

Let’s walk down the long hallway of broken treaties, collapsed agreements, and ignored responsibilities. Let’s look down that hallway and see whether or not the United States people are being screwed by it’s leadership… all in the name of “Making America Strong Again”.

As we walk down this hallway, let's look for clues to see whether or not Americans are being screwed by the oligarchy as part of their long term plan. — As we walk down this hallway, let’s look for clues to see whether or not Americans are being screwed by the oligarchy as part of their long term plan.

President Donald Trump's decision to begin the process of withdrawing the United States from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty will end an arms control agreement with Russia that has been a centerpiece of European security since the Cold War.

The move, meant to penalize Russia for noncompliance, is likely to alarm the international community, particularly Europe, and cause fears that the US and Russia could enter a new nuclear arms race.

Trump's time in office has seen the President remove the US from multiple international organizations and has not hidden his frustration with international trade groups and security alliances. 

-CNN

China

China really doesn’t figure strongly here. Trump has made it clear that he wants to sever all ties with China, and isolate them. To this end he has constructed the ‘QUAD” to encircle China and threaten them with military support. It’s sort of like this…

Trump’s long list of global trade deals, agreements exited or renegotiated

President Donald Trump campaigned on deals. Making deals — like an Israel-Palestine peace accord. And breaking deals — like the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Iran Deal, both of which he labeled disasters.

Since entering the Oval Office in 2016, Trump — a self-professed negotiator —has delivered on many of his promises to abandon international pacts that previous administrations had authorized.

KORUS

The Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS) went into effect on March 15, 2012. Most Korean industrial and consumer goods currently enter the United States free of duty and the merchandise processing fee (MPF) and by 2016 that figure grew to over 95 percent.

Then Trump ended it as soon as he came to office.

He renegotiated in such a way that South Korea will no longer have the United States as it’s largest export target. Instead there are limits to what South Korea can ship to America. That way, when or if, America collapses, the economy of South Korea will not be so broadly affected.

This makes sense from an Oligarchy point of view. Not so much for a MAGA (Make America Great Again) point of view.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership

KORUS wasn’t the only treaty that Trump broke as soon as he came to office.

Just days after assuming office, Trump delivered on a campaign promise and announced that the U.S. would be pulling out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a trade agreement between 12 Pacific Rim countries that took seven years to negotiate and was signed by then-President Barack Obama in his second term. Its goals were to boost exports, remove tariffs and non-tariff barriers, and open access to more markets.

It was a turn toward protectionist measures. By abandoning a deal that would give American companies an opportunity to seek cheap labor abroad, Trump signaled that his priority is to reduce the number of jobs leaving the country.

In a memorandum announcing the move, Trump favored bilateral negations and said they were to be pursued whenever possible to “promote American industry, protect American workers, and raise American wages.”

The end result was that the huge trade connections that America has had with 11 other nations collapsed. The trade back and forth between these countries started to decline and now are only a fraction of what they once were.

If Trump did nothing, and TPP stayed intact, a collapse of the American economy as a result of internal turmoil or economic malfeasance would result in economic turmoil in those 11 nations as well. Pulling out provides a “safety valve” for those nations so that if anything were to happen to the USA, the damage would be domestic and not international in scope.

The Paris Agreement

On June 1, 2017, Trump announced that the U.S. would withdraw from the Paris Agreement, an international climate accord that the U.S. signed under the Obama administration that aims to combat global warming by gradually reducing emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, which come from the burning of fossil fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas.

Trump cited “onerous energy restriction” on the U.S. and the possible job losses it could cost as reasons for dropping out of the deal. Industrial sectors such as cement, coal, and iron and steel, Trump said, could be affected by America’s inclusion in the accord. He said there were plans to begin negotiations to reenter the deal or enter an “entirely new transaction on terms that are fair to the United States, its businesses, its workers, its people, its taxpayers.”

Trump said the deal “punishes the United States,” which he claimed was the world leader in environmental protection, without imposing any “meaningful obligations” on the world’s leading polluters. Historically, the U.S. has ranked as one of the worst emitters of carbon dioxide, but it’s been noted as recently as this year that its contribution to CO2 levels globally has been on the decline.

After Syria signed on to the accord in 2017, the U.S. became the only country in the world that wasn’t a party to the landmark deal.

What is not spoken of isn’t anything regarding climate, or the environment. There are two impacts that this has that are significant here;

American influence in an entire slew of subsequent treaties will be absent.
Other nations will not be economically dependent on this treaty as a source of income.

People all over the world rely on American funding through treaty. Trump has gone about severing as many of those ties as possible.

The Iran Deal

Throughout the 2016 presidential election campaign, then-candidate Trump promised that once he was in office he would tear up the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran — better known as the Iran nuclear deal. The president called it the “worst deal ever.” Pushed into passage by the Obama Administration, the Iran nuclear deal reduced economic sanctions against Iran as long as the country ended its pursuit of nuclear weapons.

In May, the White House announced that because the JCPOA “failed to protect America’s national security interests” it would be pulling out of the historic deal.

The White House accused the Iranian regime of archiving its past nuclear weapons work and continuing to enrich uranium and develop ballistic missiles. The administration left some room for a new deal to be struck but said that a return to the negotiating table would depend on a number of preconditions such as the Iranian regime completely abandoning their intent to develop nuclear weapons—something Trump alleges they never stopped pursuing.

In the meantime, the administration has renewed sanctions against Iran. These measures, according to the White House, would target several of the country’s economic sectors such as energy, petrochemical, and finance.

So what? What does this matter?

Iran who is one of the leading economic influences int he Middle East will continue to be economically removed from the United States. People! This is not about nuclear weapons, bombs or war. This is about preventing the entire Middle East from getting economically entangled with the United States when it is on the verge of a major shut-down.

G7

The Group of Seven (G-7) is an intergovernmental organization that meets periodically to address international economic and monetary issues. G-7 countries consist of the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Canada, and Japan.

This is an important group. It discusses international trade, money and related issues. Trump is not pulling out of it, as it really doesn’t make trade decisions, but it is very noteworthy that Trump has insisted that Russia be part of it, and China be out of it.

What is he thinking? What is on his mind?

UNESCO

In Oct. 2017, the State Department announced that the U.S. withdrawal from the United Nations cultural organization UNESCO, which serves a number of functions around the globe such as promoting literacy and protecting historic and cultural sites through the World Heritage Center.

It was a symbolic gesture on part of the Trump administration, seeing as the Obama White House cut off funding for UNESCO in 2011, after the group voted to include Palestine as a member. The reasons the State Department gave for leaving the organization include what it views as mounting debt within the organization, a need for “fundamental reform,” and continuing bias against Israel.

Again, America’s ties to major world organizations is being severely reduced, curtailed and severed.

NAFTA

On Aug. 27, President Trump ended nearly 25 years of the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, the trade pact linking U.S., Canada, and Mexico. He announced a new, bilateral agreement with Mexico known as the U.S.-Mexico Trade Agreement.

Canada was initially left out of the new deal, which was designed to replace the NAFTA, an agreement that Trump says carried bad connotations. Signed in 1993, NAFTA eliminated tariffs on most goods traded among the continent’s three largest countries and made it easier for companies in those countries to move goods across borders. The old trade pact is often blamed for the flight of U.S. manufacturing jobs to Mexico and the deindustrialization of the American economy.

The new deal includes controversial stipulations such as the “rule of origin,” which requires that cars must be built with at least 75 percent parts made in North America (up from 62.5 percent under NAFTA) and that 40 to 45 percent of an automobile must be manufactured by employees earning at least $16 an hour.

This is a mixed bag. I see the economic ties to Mexico loosened, but not severed. Any collapse of America will affect Mexico. But not as terribly as before.

Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty

On Oct. 20, Trump announced to reporters his intention to pull out of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, a 1987 pact between the United States and Russia that required both countries to destroy ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of between 310 and 3,400 miles, along with any supporting equipment.

Nuclear detonation. — Nothing quite ruins your day like global thermonuclear war.

Trump claims that Russia has violated the Cold War-era treaty, set to expire in two years, and said that the U.S. will begin weapons development unless Russia and China—who is not a party to the pact—agree to a new deal.

Days after the announcement, White House National Security Advisor John Bolton met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin and said there was no chance the Trump administration would reverse its decision. Bolton suggested the INF treaty was outmoded.

“There’s a new strategic reality out there,” Bolton said. “This is a cold war bilateral ballistic-missile-related treaty — in a multipolar ballistic-missile world.”

The USA has 6000+ nuclear weapons. Russia has 7000+ nuclear weapons. But it’s a multipolar because China has 300. What the fuck?

Including China guarantees that this treaty will die. China wants no part of nuclear negotiations. (Their weapons are just enough to deter, not to MAD smash.) Knowing this, Trump has set the treaty to end. Why?

Why?

United Nations Human Rights Council

Calling it a “cesspool of political bias,” Nikki Haley, then-Ambassador to the United Nations, announced in June that the United States was pulling out of the United Nations Human Rights Council, leaving the U.S. without a vote and sidelined from the Geneva-based group that aims to promote human rights around the world.

The Trump administration made the move amid criticism surrounding its practice of separating immigrant children from their parents at the border. The Human Rights Council called on the White House to end the practice because it “runs counter to human rights standards.”

Again, severing the agreements with other nations. Closing of economic ties and destruction of lines of communication.

UNRWA

In August, the Trump Administration said that it would halt U.S. contributions to the United Nations’ aid program for Palestinian refugees. The decision is part of the administration’s efforts to rein in foreign aid and restrict assistance to the West Bank and Gaza. The move came one week after the White House revoked more than $200 million in economic aid to the Palestinian territories.

The U.S. is “no longer willing to shoulder the very disproportionate share of the burden of UNRWA’s costs,” said State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert, referring to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees. The U.N. agency provides health care to approximately 3 million Palestinians, education assistance to 500,000 children, micro-loans to another 400,000 beneficiaries, among other aid.

Again, severing the agreements with other nations. Closing of economic ties and destruction of lines of communication.

WTO

The World Trade Organization is a global organization made up of 164 member countries that deals with the rules of trade between nations. Its goal is to ensure that trade flows as smoothly and predictably as possible.

As part of his broader attempts to renegotiate the United States’ global trade deals, President Trump has threatened to withdraw from the WTO, calling it a “disaster.”23 If the U.S. were to withdraw, trillions of dollars in global trade would be disrupted.

Again, severing the agreements with other nations. Closing of economic ties and destruction of lines of communication.

WHO

The World Health Organization (WHO) was first proposed in 1945 as a public health agency to be formed as part of the United Nations. WHO’s constitution was ratified on April 7, 1948, marking its official establishment.

WHO categorizes its work into three broad areas of focus:

Advocating for universal health coverage
Preparing for public health emergencies and coordinating a global response
Serving vulnerable populations

As an agency of the United Nations, WHO’s governing body – the World Health Assembly (WHA) – includes representatives of every United Nations Member State. WHO’s structure includes an executive board comprised of 34 technically qualified representatives from the various Member States. These members generally possess an extensive background in clinical or public health.

The WHA currently consists of 194 members, one designee from each Member State. Meetings of the WHA and Executive Board may be attended by “non-State actors” (non-governmental organizations, academic institutions, philanthropic organizations, and others) who may observe and make statements to the body, but cannot vote.

During the middle of a global pandemic that is crushing the United States, Trump pulls out of the very agency set up to deal with this problem.

NATO

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is an alliance of 28 countries that border the North Atlantic Ocean. The Alliance includes the United States, most European Union members, Canada, and Turkey. The United States contributes three-fourths of NATO’s budget.

Again, severing the agreements with other nations. Closing of economic ties and destruction of lines of communication.

Open Skies

**BREAKING**

The United States will officially pull out of another arms control pact with Russia on Sunday, marking the end of a six-month notification process informing Moscow, U.S. officials told Fox News. -FOX News 22NOV20

The Trump administration is set to pull out of the Open Skies Treaty, which was signed between former Cold War foes in 1992 to set up unarmed, reconnaissance flights over each other’s territory to collect data on military forces.

However, the U.S. has accused Russia of violating the agreement for years, barring flights over Russian territory, including Kaliningrad where nuclear weapons are suspected of being present and in range of major European capitals.

Conclusion

As I see it, there are no “real” political parties. Just actors playing a role. And who would be best at playing this particular role, right now, than a reality show television star and casino owner; Donald Trump. He plays a role. He is an actor. And people are treating him as “the real thing”, when all he is is just a puppet for the oligarchy.

We need to be careful and see things as they really are.

Do not be confused. — You need to be careful not to confuse who you are dealing with or what they actually are.

Instead of thinking Progressive Marxists vs. Traditional Conservatives, perhaps we should be thinking in terms of …

… serfs vs. the massive oligarchy.

A reset is in process. It is going to happen whether you want it to or not. The only thing that you can do is escape to safe havens (like the oligarchy did, or what I did), or hunker down and steel-yourself for some discomfort.

I have mapped out, here, what I believe is going on.

The oligarchy realizes that the United States is due for a most contentious clamorous collapse. It will not be uniform. Some areas will remain unscathed, while other areas will be dangerous, even lethal. 

As the USA collapses like a big, dangerous out of control monster, it will thrash about and cause all sorts of discord. This is what the oligarchy fears.

And so, President Trump, their "plant" has set up systems so that the collapse of the United States will be isolated to America (as much as possible). 

Now, President Biden will try to calm things down, perhaps do his best to control the hard-Left, and the minor oligarchy members (Congress and other billionaires; the PTB) from aggravating the hard-right. He will have a tough time at it. 

But you will probably see him trying to settle and calm things, rather than to stir things up.

Predictions;

America will undergo a reset. 2023 to 2025 at it’s peak, with a long slow return to stability starting to manifest around 2030.
Some areas will be affected terribly, others no so badly.
Internationally, it will have an effect on the globe, but not as terrible as one might fear.
A hot war with a major nuclear-armed power is a strong possibility. I believe that it will be Russia.
China will get some dings. But it will not be anything like what will happen to America.
If a hot war occurs, the United States (as we know it) will be no longer.
What will replace America could be anything. Though my bets are on a fractured nation into five or more separate nations, all tied together by treaty. Each one with it’s own laws and ways of doing things.

Remember boys and girls, America can’t build a simple wall on it’s territory, spend 77 billion dollars for s simple train line, or keep the COVID-19 in check. What makes anyone think that it can rebuild after a devastating nuclear war? It cannot.

The loss and destruction of America will not any sense, but that is the human species for you. You need not be surprised.

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A few warnings about what is happening from people who have been there, and see America through the lens of experience.

Yesterday, I published a post by a Hard-Right conservative Russian who had some dire warnings for America and Americans. I published it with some caveats, as some of his terminology was repugnant to my readership (and me). Never the less, if you distill everything, he had something good to say.

He said “Organize”.

Now, I took his article and massaged it with Metallic finesse. And I laid it all out that it is the PTB (sitting comfortably in their mansions) that are the enemy. They want us to fight among ourselves.

Don’t.

To which I (sort of) twisted his message. I said yes, we must organize. But, organize, on both sides. Come together on both sides. Fight against the common enemy the PTB that are causing all this turmoil in the first place.

And that was my message.

The way for humanity to get through this trying and difficult time is to work together and subdue the evil psychopaths that have hoarded all the gold and are using it to destroy humanity and remake it in THEIR image.

Well…

Now let’s give equal time to some words of wisdom from the Left. And yes, I’m going to twist this message in a metallic way as well…

“We Don’t Know How to Warn You Any Harder. America is Dying.”

The title for this comes from Umair Haque, who has seen what is happening here now in America, and warns that those who have seen the end result elsewhere first hand are being ignored. He is crying out to be heard.

We Don’t Know How to Warn You Any Harder. America is Dying.

We Survivors of Authoritarianism Have a Message America Needs to Hear: This is Exactly How it Happens, and It’s Happening Here.

…We survivors of authoritarianism have a terrible, terrible foreboding, because we are experiencing something we should never do: deja vu. Our parents fled from collapsing societies to America. And here, now, in a grim and eerie repeat of history, we see the scenes of our childhoods played out all over again. Only now, in the land that we came to. We see the stories our parents recounted to us happening before our eyes, only this time, in the place they brought us to, to escape from all those horrors, abuses, and depredations.

We survivors are experiencing this terrible feeling of deja vu right now as a group, as a class. We talk about it, how eerie and grim this sense of deja vu is. It’s happening all over again! Do you remember this part of your childhood? When the armed men roamed the streets? When the secret police disappeared opponents? When the fascist masses united — and that was enough to destroy democracy for good? We talk about it, believe me — but you don’t hear it because we have no real voice. America’s pundits are named Chris and Jake and Tucker. They are not named Eduardo and Ravi and Xiao and Umair. But Chris and Jake and Tucker can’t help you now. They don’t know what the hell they’re dealing with. They literally have no idea because they have no experience whatsoever.

The only people who do right now in America are us survivors. Let me remind you, by the way, what happens we speak out: we lose whatever credibility and status we have. The moment I began to warn of this, I lost my column in HBR, my cable news appearances, and so forth. Don’t cry for me. Understand me, my friend, know me. If we had a voice, we survivors, we would be warning you as loudly and strongly as we possibly could.

All of us. We would say:

This is not a joke. This is not a drill. When we survivors of authoritarianism experience, as a group, a class, a cohort, something that we never, ever should — the horrific deja vu that the horrors of our childhoods, that our parents knew, are happening, all over again, here, something is much, much more wrong than you know.

This is what four more years looks like.

READ THE WHOLE THING. It may be the most important thing you read all day or all week or all month.

Consider just this one warning:

Why? They point to the complete breakdown of the rule of law. The rule of law only means something when an authoritarian can’t simply disappear people from the streets, ordering his paramilitary to do it, ignoring the constitution, discarding due process — with total impunity. But all that is exactly what Trump can do.

He now has the nascent powers of a Gaddafi or a Saddam. No, I’m not kidding. He doesn’t have the full powers, to be sure — but he certainly has the beginnings of them. Maybe he can’t have people tortured in jail yet — but he can have almost anyone he likes in America picked up and disappeared.

So how far away do you think even worse abuses of power are? When a tyrant can have almost anyone in a country they like disappeared, how far away do you really think torture is? Rape? Murder? I’m not being hyperbolic. I’m trying to speak to you like an adult. Will you listen?

Those words take on real urgency when you see something like this coming from the Trump administration.

Via Talking Points Memo:

Acting Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Chad Wolf stated that the Justice Department is looking into arresting leaders of Black Lives Matter (BLM) amid protests over the shooting of Jacob Blake by police officer Rusten Sheskey.

“Do you think the Department of Homeland Security is getting the help it needs from the Justice Department?” Fox News host Tucker Carlson asked. “Why haven’t we seen the leaders of antifa and BLM arrested and charged for conspiracy under, say, [Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Law], like the heads of the mafia families were?”

“This is something I talked to the AG personally about and I know that they are working on it,” Wolf replied, referring to Attorney General Bill Barr.

The DHS chief also stated that the Justice Department is “targeting and investigating the head of these organizations, the individuals that are paying for these individuals to move across the country.”

Carlson pressed Wolf on why the “funders” of the anti-police brutality protests “haven’t been punished.”

“Again, I would say that again the Department of Justice, who has the lead in all of those investigations, are certainly moving as quickly as possible,” Wolf said.

There is no evidence that the protesters are being paid by BLM leaders or anyone else, for that matter, nor is there evidence that BLM is directly responsible for violence at the protests.

It can happen here. It IS happening here.

Conclusion

That was the Hard-Left message.

Both the Hard-Right and the Hard-Left narratives are dripping with emotion and angst. Both are yelling at Americans. Both are saying “Wake Up!” Things can go really, really bad.

The Hard-Right offered a solution; Organize.

The Hard-Left also offered a solution; Embrace democracy more.

Scene from Aliens. You need to know what you are dealing with before your rush in and try to improve upon it.

Hum. Do you see where I am going with this? Both sides are correct. Both sides see that there is a problem. Both sides are terrified with what might happen. Both sides are concerned and offer solutions. But what are they?

More democracy.

WTF?

What is going on.

In both cases the people on both sides of the political spectrum look at the same failed model for answers and solutions. They look towards “democracy” to be the savior in this issue and the means to stop this mess.

It's like sheep that are unhappy with their lot in life. They look at the field next door. They see the taller, and greener grass, and the the other sheep, and they want to revolt and be like that other farm. They want to exchange their shepherd for another shepherd.

Here’s a big secret for you all…

“Democracy” is NOT the answer.

All democracies turn into oligarchies. And oligarchies turn into military empires. With various political solutions cropping up from time to time.

It's pretty well discussed. You all should read the Federalist Papers. The founders of the United States pretty much laid all this out for everyone to see. No one listened, of course. But it is the historical record.

So what is the answer?

Well, if I were to wave a magic wand, and place an ideal governance upon the United States, the LAST thing that I would do is have a democracy.

Democracy is a failed model. It has an expiration date; a “half-life” before it devolves into something else.

No.

Democracy is the LAST thing that you want.

You want something else.

You want small government. That way it can be participative.
You want quick and responsive “feed back mechanisms” on the local level.
You want management by merit and ability.
You want rotating management with short terms of office.

Now, I can tell you what you do not want…

You don’t want the same system with different ideologies.
You don’t want a larger system.
You don’t want a bigger, more powerful system.
You don’t want a militarized system.

Now, China is doing it right. For how long is unknown. I do not know how long this current bout of Chinese governance will last for. But I do know that it shows the rest of the world that [1] things CAN be governed by merit over popularity. That [2] small levels of governance at the local level does work, and [3] that a policing mechanism for the leadership ranks (the Corruption Police) is necessary to control fraud.

So right now, in these early stages of the popular American revolt, everyone is thinking about changing the individuals and their party platforms that comprise the government. They are not talking about changing the way the government operates.

And they should.

Nothing will change otherwise.

If you want real change, real substantive change, then you need to nuke it all from orbit and start from scratch all over again.

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The shocking evidence that the United States is a full-on Oligarchy.

If you ever have the misfortune to read the comment sections of the social media on the internet, you will discover that 99% of American do not know what the United States is. Some say that it is a “Republic”. While others say that it is a “Democracy”. There are reasons why people use these terms, but they are all wrong. Today, the United States behaves functionally as an Oligarchy. And this post will prove it.

Now, you the reader might ask, why is this important?

Well, it is very important for the very simple reason that oligarchies do not last. They never last, and when they collapse it is often catastrophically.

Thus to fully appreciate what this post is saying, you need to recognize that no one can live on “borrowed time” for long. Eventually, everyone “must pay the dues” that accrue. This was true back three thousand years ago and it is true right now.

This post was written in January 2020, right before the COVID-19 coronavirus forced China to go into a full military DEFCON ONE lock-down, and right before the economic collapse of the United States in early March 2020.

The following is a reprint of an article titled “Oligarchy in America: How the 0.1% Rob Everyone Else Blind – 31 Shocking Data Points” with a sub-title that says “The rich are getting richer, and everyone else is getting poorer” . It was written by Jon Hellevig on Friday 17JAN20. It was edited to fit this venue, but aside from that, no other changes were made. All credit to the author and original editors.

The rich are getting richer, and everyone else is getting poorer.

There is no hiding anymore, the United States has become an oligarch owned banana republic with nukes, and with a monopoly currency which has allowed it to rig the markets for half a century. But now we are only a couple of hours from curtain – Midnight in America.

With the stock market at all-time highs, virtually no unemployment (or so they say), and brisk GDP growth (supposedly) in the last decade, economic analysts would declare that the US economy is in excellent shape.

This was written just before the United States collapsed economically in March 2020.

But, it isn’t in “excellent shape”.

The stock market is a central bank inflated asset bubble, and what GDP growth there has been, is an illusion brought about by the very same financial bubble and by pumping the economy up with record federal borrowings to finance the deficits that America cannot afford.

Rigged statistics showing artificially low inflation serve to hold together the Trumped-up American economic narrative. (About the rigged inflation statistics, see this report). And the low unemployment figure is nothing but a chimera based on misleading.

The US Economy is failing

Actually, as of 20MAY20, it has failed. And people are now considering just how far it will collapse. Even the most optimistic are thinking in terms of months. When the reality might very well be decades.

In reality, the US economy is failing – and the country with it. At least two-thirds of the population has seen dramatic declines in living standards and half are back to levels of developing nations – without the development.

People are turning into impoverished serfs.

The big story covered up by all the happy macroeconomic figures repeated by rote by the US establishment – everybody from the president to cable television pundits and Trump fanboys – is the gradual impoverishment of the American worker.

In the early 1970's, the wages of workers stopped matching the rise in productivity. Now, the rise in productivity was necessary to meet investor dividends. As inflation was eating away at profits. Thus, the only area where the costs to make things were cut were in employee wages. Thus, for most workers, inflation-adjusted wages were frozen at 1970 levels. — In the early 1970’s, the wages of workers stopped matching the rise in productivity. Now, the rise in productivity was necessary to meet investor dividends. As inflation was eating away at profits. Thus, the only area where the costs to make things were cut were in employee wages. Thus, for most workers, inflation-adjusted wages were frozen at 1970 levels.

That’s an inconvenient truth increasingly difficult to hide as the American dream has turned into a nightmare for huge swathes of the population.

The rich are now obscenely wealthy.

As the figures we present below show, the rich are really getting richer, the middle class has been decimated, and half of Americans are poor and destitute of any financial wealth.

Keep in mind that an Oligarchy is rule by the rich. It is in their best interests to have a dual-tiered government and system. One for them, and one for everyone else. Thus, it makes sense that in an oligarchy, the rich get richer, while the poor get poorer.

The super-rich are gobbling up an ever-increasing slice of the American pie at the cost of all the rest who get nothing but table scraps on one side and leftover crumbs on the other, if anything.

The rich are getting richer. The poor are getting poorer, and gap between both is getting bigger and bigger.

The resulting stratification of society has brought back a medieval servant economy, where the have-nots are doing odd jobs, cleaning houses, fetching groceries, running errands and deliveries for the feudal rich and the remaining shrinking middle class.

Thanks to the Fed (the American oligarch owned central bank) pushing easy money into the hands of the privileged elite…

… now the super-rich Dismal Decimal – the top 0.1% – …

…have by now amassed as much wealth as they had just before the Great Depression. A depression that started with the stock market crash in 1929.

A lesson not learned.

Back to square one. How will it end this time?

Information Data Source

This article is based on an Awara Accounting study titled “Widening Income and Wealth Gap and Stagnating Wages in America.” Links and source references to all the facts presented here can be found in said study.

BTW all the data in this report is derived from official US government sources and American experts analyzing them.

Just how the Oligarchy has rigged the game against the citizens…

During the last decades, the financial rewards from the rigged markets first flew exclusively into the pockets of Top 10%, but later it was increasingly Top 1%, which pocketed most, perfectly illustrated by the charts below.

1. Income for the rich just accelerates upward.

The income of Top 1% has grown five times as fast as that of Bottom 90% income since 1970, who now earn double the amount of income than 160 million poor of the lower 50% stratum.

The fortunes of Top 1% and Bottom 50% are now reversed.

2. The rich now own almost all the available money.

Top 1% now holds as much wealth as Bottom 50% combined.

Income inequality obviously leads to wealth inequality, but here the figures are yet more striking in showing the magnitudes of the grab at the top. Since 1989, Top 1% captured $21 trillion in wealth, while Bottom 50% lost $900 billion, actually pushing them down to negative wealth, meaning they have more debt than they have assets.

On a net analysis, half of Americans own nothing of real value.

The Change began under President Reagan.

Until the creeping coup under Reagan, income equality was improving

It was bad enough in 1995 when Top 1% earned as much as Bottom 50%, but today the richest 1% already take 20% of all income leaving the bottom half with only 12%. As the chart shows, back in 1978 – before the neoliberal creeping coup really got going – the trends were reversed. Below chart compares income growth since 1920 of Top 1% to Bottom 90% (that is, all the rest except Top 10%). We see that right after Ronald Reagan entered the presidency with his Chicago School snake oil influenced backers, the income growth of the 1% started its dizzying growth, which is continuing to this date.

Up until around 1982 the income growth for the top 1% of earners was rather flat. But after President Reagan, it accelerated dramatically.

4. Rich became super-rich.

Money isn't the only system being used to isolate the oligarchy from the common people.

"Phoenix is the conceptual model for the DHS (US equivalent of RSHA under the NSDAP- my note). Both are based on the principle that governments can manage societies through implicit and explicit terror. The strategic goal is to widen the gap between the elites and the mass of the citizenry, while expunging anyone who cannot be ideologically assimilated."

-Dr. T. P. Wilkinson

Back in 1962, the share of Top 1% of America’s wealth at 33% was equal to that of Bottom 90%, but in the early 1980s the share of Bottom 90% started a steep descent and by 2016 their share had dwindled down to 21%.

Especially after the Federal Reserve shifted its market rigging low-interest-rate money-pumping policy into high gear from the beginning of 2000s, the superrich have experienced a massive rise in their fortunes, as illustrated by below chart.

The Rich became super-rich, while the middle class became poor.

But by today Top 1% are losers compared with Top 0.1% – the Dismal Decimal – who are where the music plays.

5. Top 0.1% now holds as much wealth as Bottom 90% combined.

A recent study revealed that the concentration on the top is yet much more pernicious.

It’s not any more a question of Top 10%, and not even Top 1%, as it is the Top 0.1% – the Dismal Decimal – that has now concentrated the wealth of the nation (and half the world) in their greedy hands.

Top 0.1% now holds as much wealth as Bottom 90% combined.

As the below chart shows, we are essentially back to the Roaring Twenties…a lesson not learned.

Actually, in the aftermath of the Great Depression, America entered an unprecedented era of four decades of prosperity with a more equal distribution of wealth as Bottom 90% recovered strongly in distribution of wealth at the expense of Top 0.1% parasites.

6. Top 0.1% earnings grew 347% between 1979 and, while Top 1% “only” gained 157% – the rest gained nothing

Top 0.1% earnings grew 347%
Top 1% earnings grew 157%
The rest 98.9% grew 0%.

The advent of opportunity for most Americans has become a zero-sum game.

7. The share of total income is oligarch in nature.

The next chart takes a longer perspective – while widening the sample to Top 10% – and shows their share of the total income since 1910 to 2010.

The Roaring Twenties – the period before the 1929 stock market crash and the ensuing Great Depression – experienced the same level of glaring inequality as today’s America.

With Franklin D. Roosevelt’s reforms the egregious average income inequality was tamed and stayed relatively low until Reagan’s fatal presidency. And it’s been downhill ever since – or uphill, if we look at it from the perspective of the rich.

The percentage share of the total national income for the top 10%.

8. The GDP

The only economic figure that has managed to look good is the GDP, but that is so only until you bother to find out where it comes from – from the Federal Reserved fueled asset bubble and massive federal budget deficits financed by record national debts.

For an excellent exposé of how rigged and debt-ridden the US economy is, I refer to my earlier report published on the Saker blog: “New World Order in Meltdown, But Russia Stronger Than Ever” found at https://thesaker.is/new-world-order-in-meltdown-but-russia-stronger-than-ever/

Shortly: The US economy must be seen as a giant Ponzi scheme, which will implode sooner or later. And we are getting to that sooner part now.

20MAY20. We have arrived.

8a. Stock Market

Trump habitually and regularly brags about the stock market reaching another all-time high. But that’s really being out of touch with the electorate.

Stock market gains exclusively flow to the rich increasing inequality and the cost of living for the rest.

Thing is that, beyond the richest 10% very few Americans have a stake in the stock market.

In 2016, the richest one percent held more than half of all outstanding stock, financial securities, and all other sorts of equity. The remainder of those asset categories were held by the rest of Top 10%, who owned over 93% of all stock and mutual fund ownership.

What wealth the remaining 90% may own is largely residential housing, the homes where they live.

According to Jonathan Tepper, the wealthiest 1% own nearly 50% of stock and the top 10% more than 81%. The so-called middle class owns only 8% of all stock.

This also kills the myth that record highs on the stock market would be good for American retirement savings – with the richest few holding all the shares there’s nothing in it for the overwhelming majority.

8b. Pension plans.

A recent report also showed that only 10% of Americans are invested in pension plans. That is down from 60% in 1980.

And those who are, are traditionally more weighted towards bonds and money-market instruments, which suffer from the rigged markets with the artificially low interest rates.

The pension savers are hence literally paying for the super gains flowing into the pockets of Top 1%.

On the other hand the super low interest rates are out of grasp for the all but Top 1% who gobble up the wealth of the nation with that largesse delivered to them by their Federal Reserve.

At the same time the common household is paying double-digit rates on their credit card debt traps.

9. Household wages have been stagnant.

Below Top 10% wages and total household income have been stagnant, at best.

10. Stagnation of incomes for the bulk of Americans.

Average income of the bottom 50% has stagnated at around $16,000 since 1980, while the income of the top 1% has skyrocketed by 300% to approximately $1,340,000 in 2014

11. Almost half of Americans are impoverished.

45% of Americans earn annually only 18,000 or less. A recent study found that 53 million Americans or 44% of the working age population earn a median average annual salary of only $18,000. Basically then, at least half of the Americans are working-poor.

12. Zero change in income for the middle class.

Middle-class households had in 2015 basically the same income as they had in 1979

13. Only the rich got richer.

In the two decades from 1997 to 2017, only Top 5% of households saw their income increase

14. Most American wages did not change at all.

For most American workers, real wages have barely budged in decades. By end of 2018, the real inflation-adjusted average wage had about the same purchasing power it did 40 years ago.

15. Minimum wages have not changed.

As the below chart illustrates, the real average hourly wage which was $20.27 in 1964 had only inched up to $22.27. David Stockman calculated that the real hourly worker’s wage was in 2019 still at 1972 levels.

16. Men’s wages at all levels have fallen.

For full-time employed men real wages have fallen 4.4% since 1973, according to economist Paul Craig Roberts. The total average income of men at $51,212 in 2015, was lower in real terms than it had been in 1974.

17. Rise is “gig work”.

As of 2014, the average hours worked per week had fallen from around 39 hours in 1970s to under 34 hours. Economist Mike Shedlock calculated that the actual hours worked and the average hourly earnings would deliver a weekly income of $690, well below its $825 peak back in the early 1970s. If we multiply the hypothetical weekly earnings by 50, we get an annual figure of $35,497. That would in 2014 have translated to a 16.4% decline from its peak in October 1972.

18. All productively benefit has gone to the rich.

All labor productivity growth since the 1970s have gone to the robber capitalists. From 1973 to 2013, hourly compensation of a typical (production/nonsupervisory) worker rose just 9% percent while productivity increased 74%.

19. CEO pay has skyrocketed.

Nowhere is income inequality and the egregious worsening trend as manifest as in the case of CEO pay.

In the 1970s, CEOs made 30 times what typical workers made, but by 2017 the CEOs made 361 times the workers’ pay. According to the Economic Policy Institute CEO compensation has grown 940% since 1978, while typical worker compensation has risen only 12% during that time.

The Fed fueled financial market orgy is the main cause for the windfall riches of CEOs as stock options and the accompanying share buybacks make up a huge part of CEO pay packages. This rising pay of executives was the main factor in Top 0.1%’s super grab of household income

20. Americans struggle for the basics

A 2017 study found that 40% of US adults struggle to pay for basic necessities like food, healthcare, housing, and utilities.

21. Most Americans live paycheck to paycheck.

Most Americans have depleted all their spare resources as a staggering 78% of full-time workers are reported to live from paycheck to paycheck.

22. Most American have zero savings.

Nearly 70% of Americans have virtually no savings. Bottom 55% have zero savings, while the following 24% – the core of the former middle class – have only $1,000 stashed away.

Infographic: Most Americans Lack Savings | Statista

You will find more infographics at Statista

Of course the Oligarchy doesn’t want this information to be widely disseminated. And so they counter with this…

It’s Simply Not True That Most Americans Don’t Have $1,000 …

23. Most Americans own nothing of value.

Correspondingly Bottom 70% of Americans don’t own any real wealth (beyond rapidly depreciating durables).

24. The other side of the (non-existent) coin is that the same 50% of Americans would obviously struggle to come up with $400 for an unexpected expense. By extension, the former middle class – those with the miserly savings of $1,000 – would also have real troubles in coping with any kind of bill for medical treatment without dipping into more debt. Considering the above reported findings (see the chart) only the Top 10% would be financially secure in a medical emergency.

25. According to shocking findings by the American Cancer Society, 137.1 million US residents suffered medical financial hardship in 2018. Americans had to resort to borrow a total of $88 billion in 2018 only to cover for essential medical treatment.

26. A third of young adults, or 24 million of those aged 18 to 34, lived with in their parents’ home because they cannot afford a home of their own.

27. The income and wealth gap pictures get worse yet when we look at the age distribution of wealth. Younger generations are earning less and own next to nothing (that is, if you are not the golden youth of the 10%). Baby Boomers born between the end of the Second World War and 1964 currently hold wealth that is 11 times higher than that of millennials.

Median Income for Younger and Older Families in Inflation-Adjusted Dollars

28. Growth of “real” Jobs is zero.

The number of full-time jobs with life-sustaining wages – what economist David Stockman calls breadwinner jobs – have not been growing since 2000, by 2014 their number was still 3.5 million or 5% lower than it was at the peak in early 2001. In the same period 4 million part-time and gig jobs were created.

While the official unemployment figure is presently near historical lows – and at levels what some economists would like to call full employment – there are some big problems with it.

1. Problems with the official unemployment statistics. The officially touted unemployment figure (so-called U3 unemployment) record only those who have been looking for a job during the last 4 weeks, while discouraged long-term unemployed are cleansed from the statistics and left unrecorded as if they would not be in the workforce at all – makes stats look beautiful for the powers that shouldn’t be.

2. The labor participation rate has been falling.

3. New job creation has amounted to only a third of the annual increase in working age population.

4. Part-time and gig jobs count as full-time employment. Any person who takes a part-time or gig job for just a few hours a month is recorded among the employed, although they would rightly be considered unemployed merely clutching at straws.

5. Connected with the previous point, there is also a more general problem with the quality of jobs created. Most jobs created in the last two decades are low-paid low-skill jobs that do not provide a life-sustaining income considering the cost of living in the United States.

More than one third (36%) of U.S. workers are in the gig economy, doing part-time work or side hustles for companies like Uber, Lyft, Etsy, Amazon Mechanical Turk, Freelancer.com, Ebay or just any odd job they can get from time to time.

29. Debt Peonage.

To make up for the shrinking earnings, the American regime is pushing the American population into 21^st century debt peonage.

Ensnared in the debt trap, US households had nearly $14 trillion in outstanding debt at the end of the third quarter 2019. That debt load now equals 73% of GDP. By end of 2019, consumption debt alone (not including asset acquiring mortgages) was up by $2 trillion since 2014.

Since 2004, the weight of the student loan millstone has gone up fivefold from only $250 billion to today’s $1.5 trillion.

That’s due to the huge price inflation in higher education. The cost of both public and private college escalated by 40% over the general consumer price inflation between 2005 and 2015.

30. Huge increase in the cost of living in the USA.

We mistakenly believe that the increase in the cost of living is universal around the world. Nope. It isn’t. Only the cost of living in the United States and Zimbabwe have increased exponentially. The rest of the world, not so much.

Because of the huge rise in the last few decades in cost of living in the US, in Russia, you get the same standard of living for a fraction of the American cost. A Moscow average monthly salary equal to $1,600 (annual $19,200) gives the same purchasing power as a monthly salary of $6,000 in Chicago (annual $72,000). Meaning, you live in Moscow (at least as well for a monthly paycheck of $1,600 as you live in Chicago for a paycheck of $6,000.

Russia vs America real income comparison

31. The “American Dream” is dead.

The present oligarch controlled rigged crony capitalist system has killed the American dream, the belief that anyone, regardless of parents’ social status and incomes can attain success and wealth by hard work and ingenuity.

The gates for upward mobility have been shut for the overwhelming majority.

The monopolization of practically all sectors of the economy, the ever increasing bureaucratic restrictions on doing business, the extreme concentration of ownership, and the rigged financial markets have made it increasingly hard for people outside the top echelon of penetrating the financial membrane protecting the elites.

A 2017 study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland found that the probability that a household outside the top 10% made it into the highest tier within 10 years was twice as high during 1984-1994 as it was during 2003-2013.

The United States is an oligarchy

This concentration of the income and wealth on the top, proves that the United States is an oligarchy.

A 2014, study by Princeton University https://www.businessinsider.com/major-study-finds-that-the-us-is-an-oligarchy-2014-4 demonstrated how the US is a political oligarchy.

With this report showing the insanely widening income and wealth inequality, my aim is to show, that the country is an economic oligarchy, too.

In fact, economic super riches are the precondition for their political power, too.

In America, as always, the oligarchy has achieved their uncontested power in a hermeneutical feedback loop, where the initial wealth of the superrich has bought them increased political power, which has given them increased riches, which has bought them more political power, and so on, until today, when they own practically the whole economy and the entire government.

Clearly the source of higher inequality has been Fed policies, which has pushed cheap money into the pockets of the already rich, who have exclusively then benefited from soaring stock and real estate prices.

Fittingly, we got end of 2019 a report revealing that the world’s richest people increased their wealth in the year by $1.2 trillion, a staggering 25%, most of which belong to the oligarchs of the United States.

Intentional or Accidental?

The question – which I have set to explore in my series of Capitalism in America – is whether there has been a game plan, a long-term strategy or whether intermittent achievements have just spurred the oligarchs on to new economic and political power grabs in the course of establishing their totalitarian rule.

I tend to think, there has been a long-term plan ever since the establishment of the Federal Reserve.

Thank you President Wilson.

The economic and political history of the United States provide so much circumstantial evidence, which supports the view that there has been a conspiracy of the Wall Street elite.

I shall return to this hypothesis in further installments to this series of Capitalism in America.

It is however clear – whether through a long-term plan or by a series of ad hoc interventions – the US financial elite has by now completed a creeping coup, which have delivered them absolute economic and political power.

In my investigation of the oligarchization of America – the creeping neoliberal oligarch coop, which set in full force since Reagan – I have so far completed these instalments:

The first installment was a study showing how all corporate ownership has been concentrated in the hands of the oligarchy, titled Extreme concentration of ownership in the United States http://blogengine.hellevig.net/post/2019/05/13/Extreme-concentration-of-ownership-in-the-United-States-.aspx

The second part was a study revealing how the oligarchy has totally taken over US media, titled The Oligarch Takeover of US Media http://blogengine.hellevig.net/post/2019/05/13/The-oligarchy-wields-totalitarian-control-over-the-media-through-just-a-few-corporations.aspx

The third installment was a report published on the Saker blog titled New World Order in Meltdown, But Russia Stronger Than Ever https://thesaker.is/new-world-order-in-meltdown-but-russia-stronger-than-ever/

The fourth installment, The Oligarch Takeover of US Pharma and Healthcare https://thesaker.is/the-oligarch-takeover-of-us-pharma-and-healthcare-and-the-resulting-human-crisis/ was also on the Saker blog.

Next due is a fifth report showing how from point of view of political science the oligarchy has destroyed the social fabric of the US economy and deliberately enacted laws that favor the few over the people. Of particular interest here is how the oligarchy has rigged the political system by institutionally solidifying the mendacious Janus- faced two-party system in order to remove any potential challenge to their rule.

Conclusion

Three points;

Point One

There are two classes in the United States; the rich and the poor.

Actually there are nine classes. But for this discussion it's the 0.1% against the 99.9%.

The 9 classes are...

The Oligarchy
The wealthy
The Per Diem
The upper class
The middle class
The Gig class
The low class
The Felon Class
The Sex Offender Class.

The door has slammed shut for most Americans. It is already decided. You are part of one group or the other. The days of being able to leave the “impoverished” and join the ranks of the wealthy are over. It is a fine childhood fantasy, but it will never happen. They best you can do is be slightly better than your peers. That’s all that you can possibly hope for.

Point Two

The United States is stratified by finances. There are two main class groupings of people; the rich and the poor. The government is controlled by the rich, which is a textbook definition of an oligarchy.

oligarchy

noun, plural ol·i·gar·chies.
a form of government in which all power is vested in a few persons or in a dominant class or clique; government by the few.
a state or organization so ruled.
the persons or class so ruling.

America, the United States, is an Oligarchy.

Part Three

The oligarchy, and the PTB (The Powers That Be) are one and the same. Nothing that is written here is unknown to them. They know about all of this, and they do expect everything to crash, or go through a “big reset”.

They plan on this, and have predicted it. They expect it to happen, and fully expect to survive through it. In their viewpoint, they will end up better placed afterwards.

Though, to the vast bulk of Americans, it is new information. Often dismissed as “conspiracy rubbish”.

It isn’t.

So what does all this mean?

The United States is neither a Republic or a Democracy. It is an Oligarchy.
Those that are in the Oligarchy realize that all Oligarchies collapse, and they have been trying to manage this collapse for the last decade.
In fact, they want this collapse to happen, for they believe that not only will they survive it, but that their position, and the world, and society would be better afterwards.
Those not part of the PTB Oligarchy will suffer.
However, those that are resilient, able to discern, and adaptable will be able to “ride the waves of discord” and survive just as well as the oligarchy can.

You just need to change your ideas and attitudes about who you are and what your role is.

Last minute note…

https://www.yicaiglobal.com/news/american-families-only-half-as-rich--as-those-in-chinese-cities

Some food for thought (and controversy): Is the median net worth of American families really only HALF the net worth of Chinese families? 

When looking at median net worth (rather than average!) this seems to be the case and points to significantly higher inequality in the US compared with China, which has its fair share of inequality nonetheless. 

In addition, Chinese families are sitting on very valuable self-owned properties (often more than one actually), are less indebted and have higher savings. 

What conclusions shall we draw from these perplexing numbers? 

-Dr. Shirley Yu

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Americans today are living within a failed state.

This is a pretty good article written by George Packer that was printed in the Atlantic and has pretty much been circulating everywhere. My friends from both sides of the political spectrum are discussing it, and urging me to read it. So I have, and I found his points… oh so delicious. Here is his article and I think that you all would see that he makes some good points no matter what side of the political spectrum you are on.

The COVID-19 event, regardless of what caused it, has exposed America for what it is. And the picture is decidedly not pretty.

You might not agree with everything that he has to say. You might not like the dish of food that he serves to you, but you must admit that the COVID-19 has exposed America to be fully and completely incapable of governing during a serious emergency. And while the idea for “Make America Great Again” is laudable, it is unfortunately beyond the reach of everyone inside the monstrous American government.

It’s a good read. All credit to the author.

We Are Living in a Failed State

George Packer

When the (COVID-19) virus came here, it found a country with serious underlying conditions, and it exploited them ruthlessly. Chronic ills—a corrupt political class, a sclerotic bureaucracy, a heartless economy, a divided and distracted public—had gone untreated for years. We had learned to live, uncomfortably, with the symptoms.

It took the scale and intimacy of a pandemic to expose their severity—to shock Americans with the recognition that we are in the high-risk category.

America responds to the COVID-19

The crisis demanded a response that was swift, rational, and collective.

The United States reacted instead like Pakistan or Belarus—like a country with shoddy infrastructure and a dysfunctional government whose leaders were too corrupt or stupid to head off mass suffering.

The administration squandered two irretrievable months to prepare.

From the president came willful blindness, scapegoating, boasts, and lies. From his mouthpieces, conspiracy theories and miracle cures. A few senators and corporate executives acted quickly—not to prevent the coming disaster, but to profit from it.

When a government doctor tried to warn the public of the danger, the White House took the mic and politicized the message.

American Citizens caught in the middle.

Every morning in the endless month of March, Americans woke up to find themselves citizens of a failed state. With no national plan—no coherent instructions at all—families, schools, and offices were left to decide on their own whether to shut down and take shelter.

When test kits, masks, gowns, and ventilators were found to be in desperately short supply, governors pleaded for them from the White House, which stalled, then called on private enterprise, which couldn’t deliver.

States and cities were forced into bidding wars that left them prey to price gouging and corporate profiteering.

Civilians took out their sewing machines to try to keep ill-equipped hospital workers healthy and their patients alive. Russia, Taiwan, and the United Nations sent humanitarian aid to the world’s richest power—a beggar nation in utter chaos.

Presidential Leadership

Donald Trump saw the crisis almost entirely in personal and political terms.

Fearing for his reelection, he declared the coronavirus pandemic a war, and himself a wartime president.

But the leader he brings to mind is Marshal Philippe Pétain, the French general who, in 1940, signed an armistice with Germany after its rout of French defenses, then formed the pro-Nazi Vichy regime. Like Pétain, Trump collaborated with the invader and abandoned his country to a prolonged disaster.

And, like France in 1940, America in 2020 has stunned itself with a collapse that’s larger and deeper than one miserable leader.

Some future autopsy of the pandemic might be called Strange Defeat, after the historian and Resistance fighter Marc Bloch’s contemporaneous study of the fall of France.

Despite countless examples around the U.S. of individual courage and sacrifice, the failure is national. And it should force a question that most Americans have never had to ask: Do we trust our leaders and one another enough to summon a collective response to a mortal threat?

Are we still capable of self-government?

A major crisis

This is the third major crisis of the short 21st century.

The first, on September 11, 2001, came when Americans were still living mentally in the previous century, and the memory of depression, world war, and cold war remained strong. On that day, people in the rural heartland did not see New York as an alien stew of immigrants and liberals that deserved its fate, but as a great American city that had taken a hit for the whole country. Firefighters from Indiana drove 800 miles to help the rescue effort at Ground Zero. Our civic reflex was to mourn and mobilize together.

Partisan politics and terrible policies, especially the Iraq War, erased the sense of national unity and fed a bitterness toward the political class that never really faded.

The second crisis, in 2008, intensified it.

At the top, the financial crash could almost be considered a success. Congress passed a bipartisan bailout bill that saved the financial system. Outgoing Bush-administration officials cooperated with incoming Obama administration officials. The experts at the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department used monetary and fiscal policy to prevent a second Great Depression.

Leading bankers were shamed but not prosecuted; most of them kept their fortunes and some their jobs. Before long they were back in business. A Wall Street trader told me that the financial crisis had been a “speed bump.”

Ah, but the American middle class…

All of the lasting pain was felt in the middle and at the bottom, by Americans who had taken on debt and lost their jobs, homes, and retirement savings.

Many of them never recovered, and young people who came of age in the Great Recession are doomed to be poorer than their parents.

Inequality—the fundamental, relentless force in American life since the late 1970s—grew worse.

This second crisis drove a profound wedge between Americans: between the upper and lower classes, Republicans and Democrats, metropolitan and rural people, the native-born and immigrants, ordinary Americans and their leaders.

Social bonds had been under growing strain for several decades, and now they began to tear.

The reforms of the Obama years, important as they were—in health care, financial regulation, green energy—had only palliative effects.

The long recovery over the past decade enriched corporations and investors, lulled professionals, and left the working class further behind. The lasting effect of the slump was to increase polarization and to discredit authority, especially government’s.

No one noticed.

Both parties were slow to grasp how much credibility they’d lost.

The coming politics was populist. Its harbinger wasn’t Barack Obama but Sarah Palin, the absurdly unready vice-presidential candidate who scorned expertise and reveled in celebrity. She was Donald Trump’s John the Baptist.

Trump came to power as the repudiation of the Republican establishment.

But the conservative political class and the new leader soon reached an understanding. Whatever their differences on issues like trade and immigration, they shared a basic goal: to strip-mine public assets for the benefit of private interests.

Republican politicians and donors who wanted government to do as little as possible for the common good could live happily with a regime that barely knew how to govern at all, and they made themselves Trump’s footmen.

Like a wanton boy throwing matches in a parched field, Trump began to immolate what was left of national civic life.

He never even pretended to be president of the whole country, but pitted us against one another along lines of race, sex, religion, citizenship, education, region, and—every day of his presidency—political party.

His main tool of governance was to lie.

A third of the country locked itself in a hall of mirrors that it believed to be reality; a third drove itself mad with the effort to hold on to the idea of knowable truth; and a third gave up even trying.

The American government

Trump acquired a federal government crippled by years of right-wing ideological assault, politicization by both parties, and steady defunding.

He set about finishing off the job and destroying the professional civil service.

He drove out some of the most talented and experienced career officials, left essential positions unfilled, and installed loyalists as commissars over the cowed survivors, with one purpose: to serve his own interests.

His major legislative accomplishment, one of the largest tax cuts in history, sent hundreds of billions of dollars to corporations and the rich. The beneficiaries flocked to patronize his resorts and line his reelection pockets. If lying was his means for using power, corruption was his end.

This was the American landscape that lay open to the virus: in prosperous cities, a class of globally connected desk workers dependent on a class of precarious and invisible service workers; in the countryside, decaying communities in revolt against the modern world; on social media, mutual hatred and endless vituperation among different camps; in the economy, even with full employment, a large and growing gap between triumphant capital and beleaguered labor; in Washington, an empty government led by a con man and his intellectually bankrupt party; around the country, a mood of cynical exhaustion, with no vision of a shared identity or future.

COVID-19 exposed America for what it is.

If the pandemic really is a kind of war, it’s the first to be fought on this soil in a century and a half.

Invasion and occupation expose a society’s fault lines, exaggerating what goes unnoticed or accepted in peacetime, clarifying essential truths, raising the smell of buried rot.

The virus should have united Americans against a common threat.

With different leadership, it might have.

Instead, even as it spread from blue to red areas, attitudes broke down along familiar partisan lines. The virus also should have been a great leveler. You don’t have to be in the military or in debt to be a target—you just have to be human.

But from the start, its effects have been skewed by the inequality that we’ve tolerated for so long.

When tests for the virus were almost impossible to find, the wealthy and connected—the model and reality-TV host Heidi Klum, the entire roster of the Brooklyn Nets, the president’s conservative allies—were somehow able to get tested, despite many showing no symptoms.

The smattering of individual results did nothing to protect public health.

Meanwhile, ordinary people with fevers and chills had to wait in long and possibly infectious lines, only to be turned away because they weren’t actually suffocating. An internet joke proposed that the only way to find out whether you had the virus was to sneeze in a rich person’s face.

When Trump was asked about this blatant unfairness, he expressed disapproval but added, “Perhaps that’s been the story of life.”

Most Americans hardly register this kind of special privilege in normal times. But in the first weeks of the pandemic it sparked outrage, as if, during a general mobilization, the rich had been allowed to buy their way out of military service and hoard gas masks. As the contagion has spread, its victims have been likely to be poor, black, and brown people. The gross inequality of our health-care system is evident in the sight of refrigerated trucks lined up outside public hospitals.

Right now…

We now have two categories of work: essential and nonessential. Who have the essential workers turned out to be?

Mostly people in low-paying jobs that require their physical presence and put their health directly at risk: warehouse workers, shelf-stockers, Instacart shoppers, delivery drivers, municipal employees, hospital staffers, home health aides, long-haul truckers.

Doctors and nurses are the pandemic’s combat heroes, but the supermarket cashier with her bottle of sanitizer and the UPS driver with his latex gloves are the supply and logistics troops who keep the frontline forces intact.

In a smartphone economy that hides whole classes of human beings, we’re learning where our food and goods come from, who keeps us alive. An order of organic baby arugula on AmazonFresh is cheap and arrives overnight in part because the people who grow it, sort it, pack it, and deliver it have to keep working while sick.

For most service workers, sick leave turns out to be an impossible luxury. It’s worth asking if we would accept a higher price and slower delivery so that they could stay home.

Dangerous parasites

The pandemic has also clarified the meaning of nonessential workers. One example is Kelly Loeffler, the Republican junior senator from Georgia, whose sole qualification for the empty seat that she was given in January is her immense wealth. Less than three weeks into the job, after a dire private briefing about the virus, she got even richer from the selling-off of stocks, then she accused Democrats of exaggerating the danger and gave her constituents false assurances that may well have gotten them killed. Loeffler’s impulses in public service are those of a dangerous parasite.

A body politic that would place someone like this in high office is well advanced in decay.

Political Nihilism

The purest embodiment of political nihilism is not Trump himself but his son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner.

In his short lifetime, Kushner has been fraudulently promoted as both a meritocrat and a populist. He was born into a moneyed real-estate family the month Ronald Reagan entered the Oval Office, in 1981—a princeling of the second Gilded Age.

Despite Jared’s mediocre academic record, he was admitted to Harvard after his father, Charles, pledged a $2.5 million donation to the university.

Father helped son with $10 million in loans for a start in the family business, then Jared continued his elite education at the law and business schools of NYU, where his father had contributed $3 million.

Jared repaid his father’s support with fierce loyalty when Charles was sentenced to two years in federal prison in 2005 for trying to resolve a family legal quarrel by entrapping his sister’s husband with a prostitute and videotaping the encounter.

Jared Kushner failed as a skyscraper owner and a newspaper publisher, but he always found someone to rescue him, and his self-confidence only grew.

In American Oligarchs, Andrea Bernstein describes how he adopted the outlook of a risk-taking entrepreneur, a “disruptor” of the new economy. Under the influence of his mentor Rupert Murdoch, he found ways to fuse his financial, political, and journalistic pursuits. He made conflicts of interest his business model.

So when his father-in-law became president, Kushner quickly gained power in an administration that raised amateurism, nepotism, and corruption to governing principles.

As long as he busied himself with Middle East peace, his feckless meddling didn’t matter to most Americans. But since he became an influential adviser to Trump on the coronavirus pandemic, the result has been mass death.

In his first week on the job, in mid-March, Kushner co-authored the worst Oval Office speech in memory, interrupted the vital work of other officials, may have compromised security protocols, flirted with conflicts of interest and violations of federal law, and made fatuous promises that quickly turned to dust.

“The federal government is not designed to solve all our problems,” he said, explaining how he would tap his corporate connections to create drive-through testing sites.

They never materialized.

He was convinced by corporate leaders that Trump should not use presidential authority to compel industries to manufacture ventilators—then Kushner’s own attempt to negotiate a deal with General Motors fell through.

With no loss of faith in himself, he blamed shortages of necessary equipment and gear on incompetent state governors.

To watch this pale, slim-suited dilettante breeze into the middle of a deadly crisis, dispensing business-school jargon to cloud the massive failure of his father-in-law’s administration, is to see the collapse of a whole approach to governing.

It turns out that scientific experts and other civil servants are not traitorous members of a “deep state”—they’re essential workers, and marginalizing them in favor of ideologues and sycophants is a threat to the nation’s health.

It turns out that “nimble” companies can’t prepare for a catastrophe or distribute lifesaving goods—only a competent federal government can do that.

It turns out that everything has a cost, and years of attacking government, squeezing it dry and draining its morale, inflict a heavy cost that the public has to pay in lives.

All the programs defunded, stockpiles depleted, and plans scrapped meant that we had become a second-rate nation. Then came the virus and this strange defeat.

Our fight against the COVID-19

The fight to overcome the pandemic must also be a fight to recover the health of our country, and build it anew, or the hardship and grief we’re now enduring will never be redeemed.

Under our current leadership, nothing will change.

If 9/11 and 2008 wore out trust in the old political establishment, 2020 should kill off the idea that anti-politics is our salvation. But putting an end to this regime, so necessary and deserved, is only the beginning.

Facing a stark choice.

We’re faced with a choice that the crisis makes inescapably clear. We can stay hunkered down in self-isolation, fearing and shunning one another, letting our common bond wear away to nothing.

Or we can use this pause in our normal lives to pay attention to the hospital workers holding up cellphones so their patients can say goodbye to loved ones; the planeload of medical workers flying from Atlanta to help in New York; the aerospace workers in Massachusetts demanding that their factory be converted to ventilator production; the Floridians standing in long lines because they couldn’t get through by phone to the skeletal unemployment office; the residents of Milwaukee braving endless waits, hail, and contagion to vote in an election forced on them by partisan justices.

We can learn from these dreadful days that stupidity and injustice are lethal; that, in a democracy, being a citizen is essential work; that the alternative to solidarity is death. After we’ve come out of hiding and taken off our masks, we should not forget what it was like to be alone.

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A functional comparison of governmental structure between the USA and China.

Here we take a look at the two governments of China and America. We look at what they are and how they work. In this article we discard the notion that “democracy is the best” and “communism is worst“, because (after all) America is not a democracy, and China is not communist. Instead, we throw away the labels and look at the substance.

You must accept the world that you find yourself in.

-Les Brown

To read this post without disgust, you need to suspend your disbelief. You need to acknowledge that China is capable of doing things that are now impossible for America to do. Like a high speed rail network. Like tackling a pandemic. Like lifting the entire nation out of poverty without using “hand outs”.

For America to compete within the global arena it will absolutely need to change the way it does things. It will need to revolutionize it’s governmental structure. It needs to do this. The path that the United States is on is not sustainable.

And that change, for America, will be uncomfortable and will result in a SHTF event because there are too many people that are fat and comfy living well with things as they are today.

This article is a reprint of the article “China and America: Scoping Out the Megacepts” by Fred Reed initially posted on February 7, 2020. All credit to the author.

China and America: Scoping Out the Megacepts

Today, regarding China and America, we will have Thought Most Potent, adequate to lube a diesel, curdle milk, or seal a driveway. Whole departments of international studies will close their doors in despair. Ha.

Why, we ask, does it seem that the Middle Kingdom advances speedily on so many fronts, while the US doesn’t? The clear conclusion seems to be that China is superior, not across the board, but in enough ways to ensure its soon global primacy.

Apparently the only way a Washington incapable of reform can stop this is with war…

The Lie of “democracy”.

To begin, China has a superior political system. Most importantly, it is not a democracy. An American conceit is that democracy is good and more democracy, better.

Unfortunately, the truth is that more democracy means worse results. Placing governance in the hands of the empty-headed, dimwitted, and inattentive, these being the most numerous classes, inevitably leads to disaster.

Further, democracy is a self-deepening evil: That is, it tends to worsen with time.

Those who profit by the votes of the appallingly ignorant majority urge the enfranchisement of the yet dimmer, as for example those too feckless to have identification, the barely literate, pubescents of sixteen years, and acknowledged felons (as distinct from those felons as yet undetected in government).

This is said chirpily to be “Inclusive,” and is…

… which is what is wrong with it.

The dumber welcome the yet dumber. Down and downer we go until, in all likelihood, fire hydrants and stray cats have the vote.

Why is this good?

Those who laud patriotism without necessarily being able to spell it say…

…” well, at least we are not a horrid authoritarian country like China.”

Americans are suckled from birth on the notion that authoritarianism is bad, and quickly conflate authoritarians with dictators, who are then said to be just like Hitler.

China is not a dictatorship.

But China is not a dictatorship.

It is an authoritarian oligarchy of technocrats. This has advantages. For example, an authoritarian government can put the intelligent and qualified in positions of responsibility.

This China does.

Xi Jingping holds degrees in chemical engineering and law. Trump is a real-estate con man blankly ignorant of technology, history, geography, and government.

China’s managers are heavy on engineers, scientists, and economists, America’s on provincial lawyers and petty demagogues.

Freedom!

Americans are also told that they have more freedoms than do the Chinese.

They do, but the gap is less than we might like to think, and closing.

Freedom of speech? In America you cannot say anything against backs, feminists, transgenders, Israel, Jews, Hispanics, black crime, affirmative action, or abortion, or in favor of the police, the Second Amendment, white rights, or the South. Politically disapproved sites, mostly conservative, are rapidly being shut down.

None of this is being done by the formal government. (Yet) It is being done. Lincoln said that you cannot fool all of the people all of the time. The American principle is that you can fool enough of the people enough of the time.

Rule by Mob Rabble.

In a democracy the rabble, sensing their numerical advantage, will always try to pull their superiors down.

They will not make an effort, probably futile, to rise.

A central strain in American culture is hostility to elitism, which means a preference for the better to the worse. The deep resentment of the superior leads to a celebration of inadequacy seen in affirmative action, the abolition of standardized tests and advanced placement courses for the bright, and the lowering of academic standards.

We call this “inclusiveness.”

I suspect the Chinese call it “lunacy.”

China finds its very brightest young and sends them to the best schools in China or the US. The notion that virtue requires that a country suffer mildly retarded brain surgeons or barely numerate physicists is peculiarly American.

Democratic elections.

Elections, inevitable in democracies, are a terrible idea.

An election is a competitive shooing of fools in directions profitable to those doing the shooing. Democracy is thus a mechanism for the promotion of rogues and rascals.

It works.

America now has a most wonderfully ineffectual and embarrassing government.

The holding of elections–these being combinations of raffles, vaudeville, and popularity contests–every two, four, or six years ensures that the beneficiaries will concentrate their thoughts more on shooing than doing.

China has an Industrial Policy.

China, with a stable government able to focus on governing, can look to the future and plan for the long term.

America cannot.

Pols don’t think beyond the next election. They cannot do what would be good for the country but only what suits the passing fads of hoi polloi.

Thus China has an industrial policy.

America has a collection of predatory corporations clawing their way to the public trough.

China can decide to do something, and actually do it.

Congress can’t buy a box of paper clips without fourteen lawsuits, a floor fight, two environmental impact studies, and a Supreme Court decision on the disparate racial impact of paper clips.

Chinese Authoritarian Government.

If I may wade into the quicksand of cultural analysis, authoritarian government seems emotionally to suit the Chinese. We think of it as repressive, the Chinese as orderly.

In Asia there are various sayings such as,”The nail that stands up is beaten down,” while the Johnny Paycheck song resonates more with Westerners “You can take this job and shove it.”

The choice I suppose is one of personal preference.

However, consensus allows the Chinese to do rapidly things they think important.

Note that following the outbreak of the Coronavirus, China had the genome sequenced and online for the world in a month. They also very quickly developed a mass-produced test kit in giving results in eight to fifteen minutes, a hospital built in ten days.

Can you imagine the US federal government doing anything at all in ten days? Remember the response to Katrina?

Group Consensus Advantage.

Consensus does not mean oppression or servility. Go to a Chinese city such as Chongqing, which I recently visited. You will find it clean, well run, with virtually no crime or police presence, lively restaurant districts and nightclubs.

People are proud of this and proud of China.

What do you suppose they think when pondering an America laboring under the crippling diversity, under racial, sexual, ethnic, linguistic, and religious hostility and, most recently, the assaults of the libidinally weird?

Under governmental chaos?
Uncontrolled crime?
The tens of thousands of homeless defecating on the streets?
The 2.2 million in prison, which would equate to 8.8 million in China?
Dozens of cities with illiterate black minorities?

Another unearned but real advantage: China is pretty much a Han mono-culture except for Uighurs and Tibetans, who are geographically isolated. This makes for a degree of domestic tranquility that, while imperfect, is far calmer than the American chaos.

Foreign Relations…

In foreign relations, China again seems to have the edge in wisdom. America’s approach to the world is military and coercive, controlled by a vast and profitable arms industry with a Cold War mentality.

China’s outlooks (and that of most of the world) is commercial.

This is an imperfect description but catches the center-line.

China spends on China, America on the Pentagon.

In Africa, America sends troops and builds drone bases. China constructs infrastructure and buys up resources.

China and Russia prepare to commercialize the Northern Sea Route; the Pentagon to send warships to counter them. (How do you counter a trade route with an aircraft carrier? Bomb the water?)

Advantages and advantages…

Some of China’s advantages result from fertility rather than judgement, but they nonetheless are advantages.

Economically, China has a huge domestic market, larger than those of the US and Europe combined. This provides a cushion against American sanctions.

For example, while Europe dithers over whether to shun Chinese 5G equipment on orders from Washington, Huawei rapidly builds for at least a billion people, keeping the factories running and providing economies of scale.

China is also a vast market for Western firms. Population gives China clout. For instance, it is the planet’s largest buyer of semiconductors. How happy are American firms at being shut out of that market?

Innovations…

Americans often say that the Chinese cannot “innovate.” This may be true.

Or may not be.

They are, however, very good at engineering. Of this there is no doubt. .

They did not invent high-speed rail but have a superb system, did not invent maglev but are working on trains that will travel at 480 mph, did not invent semiconductors but design world-class chips.

Conclusion

So, brothers and sisters, America’s choices seemingly are…

[1] To start a world war (favored by Bannon, Pompeo, and Bolton).

This is the path that America is currently on with the numerous biological warfare attacks on China. It will not be limited to China, it will involve Russia.

[2] Gut the military budget to make America great again (not a chance).

[3] Have America become a reasonably important middle-sized country that can, in peace and tranquility, focus its its attention on transgender bathrooms.

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Washington DC as “Caddyshack” with Donald Trump winning the tournament.

Many people from myself to Rush Limbaugh have compared Donald Trump’s arrival in Washington D.C. to the movie “Caddyshack”. It’s said jokenly, but the fact remains that there are some real truths in this analogy. Like Rodney Dangerfield, Donald Trump was an outsider, and his strange and (seemingly) uncouth actions upset the fine cushy empire established by the local elites. Here is an article that discusses this phenomenon.

Donald Trump, love him or hate him, is exactly what America needs right now. We need to seriously shake up what the United States has become, tear it apart and rebuild it up from scratch. He’s the first step in this process.

Donald Trump as Rodney Dangerfield in Caddyshack
Sep 17, 2019

RUSH: Now, normally I would not make a big deal out of this, either. But this, I’m gonna call your attention to. I’m gonna go back to May 22, 2018. So it’s, what, 15 months ago (a year and a half ago, let’s call it that), and I was describing for people… You know, I love analogies. I love to persuade. There are many different techniques that one can use to persuade. I love the analogy or comparison. I was trying to explain to a caller the way the Washington establishment has reacted to Trump, and this is what I said (audio sound bite number 1) to the caller.

RUSH ARCHIVE: You know another way to look at Trump? How about the movie Caddyshack? Here you have these phony club members led by Ted Baxter, and he’s running around. They’ve got this little country club and everybody in it thinks they’re the best of the best in town. Rodney Dangerfield decides to join and gets in and blows the club up. He’s got this gigantic golf cart, drives it on the greens, blows a big horn, has a gigantic golf bag. The leaders of the country club are beside themselves. They try to kick the guy out, and they can’t. They lose every effort against him. That’s Trump: Rodney Dangerfield in Caddyshack.

RUSH: Yeah, Ted Baxter was great in that movie. He’s christening a new yacht for his family, and it’s like a 12-foot dinghy. And Rodney Dangerfield has this giant 80-footer and capsizes it while driving by waving. This is Trump, okay? So let’s now go to Thursday on a podcast called Recode Media. There’s a guy — the host is Peter Kafka — and he’s talking to the New York Times chief television critic, James Poniewozik, about his new book, Audience of One: Donald Trump, Television, and the Fracturing of America. The question: “There’s a great comparison you have in the book. For our younger audience who hasn’t seen Caddyshack, explain Rodney?”

PONIEWOZIK: Al Czervik, who Rodney Dangerfield plays, is this obnoxious, boorish rich guy who all the stuck-up people — the other stuck up rich people in the country club — hate. His character is opposed, in the movie, to Ted Knight’s character, Judge Smails, who is the, you know, stick-up-his-ass, uptight rich guy who sort of runs the country club and cannot stand him. This all came to mind during the 2016 debates to me, when I’m watching Donald Trump in action in the debates and seeing him go up against Jeb Bush. He’s like the Clampetts against Mr. Drysdale. He’s Rodney Dangerfield against Ted Knight. It’s the rich guy that you want to be against the (bleep) snotty rich guy that everybody hates.

This article is a full reprint of “The Deep State Starring in “Caddyshack on the Potomac” ” by Victor Davis Hanson. It’s pretty brilliantly (as usual), and discusses the Deep State, Hubris, Nemesis, and (of course) Donald Trump. I strongly recommend that the reader visit the author of this piece and get to know his works. You can go HERE.

The Deep State Starring in “Caddyshack on the Potomac

[T]hey never say to themselves, “I’m not elected.” The constitution says an elected president sets foreign policy.

Period.

So there’s this sense that they, as credential experts, have a value system, and the value system is they have an inordinate respect for an Ivy League degree or a particular alphabetic combination after their name: a J.D., a Ph.D., an MBA, or a particular resume.

I worked at the NSC, then I transferred over to the NSA, and then, I went into the State Department.

And we saw that in really vivid examples during the Adam Schiff impeachment inquiries, where a series of State Department people, before they could even talk, [they] said…

“I’m the third generation to serve in my family.  
This is my resume. 
This is where I went to school. 
This is where I was  posted.”

And in the case of Adam Schiff, we saw these law professors, who had gone in and out of government, and they had these academic billets.

And to condense all that, it could be distilled by saying the deep state makes arguments by authority:

“I’m an authority, and I have  credentials, and therefore, ipse dixit, what I say matters.”

And they don’t want to be cross-examined, they don’t want to have their argument in the arena of ideas and cross-examination.

They think it deserves authority, and they have contempt—and I mean that literally—contempt for elected officials.

[They think:] “These are buffoons in private  enterprise. They are the CEO in some company; they’re some local Rotary  Club member. They get elected to Congress, and then we have to school  them on the international order or the rules-based order.”

They have a certain lingo, a proper, sober, and judicious comportment.

... Caddyshack would be an even sharper dissection of the divide between the Haves and the Have Nots in America than the script for Animal House  that he and Ramis co-wrote. 

In fact, the script had many  autobiographical references to incidents experienced by Ramis and the  Murray brothers, all of whom caddied at local country clubs as  teenagers. 

In 1988, Bill Murray told the New York Times Magazine,  “The kids who were members of the club were despicable; you couldn’t  believe the attitude they had. 

I mean, you were literally walking  barefoot in a T-shirt and jeans, carrying some privileged person’s  sports toys on your back for five miles.” 

- 10 reasons that Caddyshack may just be the best summertime comedy ever.

So you can imagine that Donald Trump—to take a metaphor, Rodney Dangerfield out of Caddyshack—comes in as this, what they would say, stereotype buffoon and starts screaming and yelling.

And he looks different.

He talks different.

And he has no respect for these people at all.

Rodney Dangerfield in Caddyshack. Reminds me of Donald trump in Washington DC.

Maybe that’s a little extreme that he doesn’t, but he surely doesn’t. And that frightens them.

And then they coalesce.

And I’m being literal now. Remember the anonymous Sept. 5, 2018, op-ed writer who said,

“I’m here actively trying to oppose Donald Trump.”

He actually said that he wanted him to leave office. Then, Admiral [William] McRaven said…

“the sooner, the better.”

This is a four-star admiral, retired. [He] says a year before the election … Trump should leave:

“the sooner,  the better.”

That’s a pretty frightening idea.

Trump is like Rodney Dangerfield in the movie Caddyshack.

And when you have Mark Zaid, the lawyer for the whistleblower and also the lawyer for some of the other people involved in this—I think it’s a conspiracy—saying that one coup leads to another. …

People are talking about a coup, then we have to take them at their own word. …

I think that people feel that for a variety of reasons—cultural, social, political—that Trump is not deserving of the respect that most presidents receive, and therefore any means necessary to get rid of him are justified.

” It would also seem that, of all the other older members of the cast,  Dangerfield bonded the most with the younger actors, mainly because of  their mutual appreciation for recreational drugs. In that same 2007  interview, Colomby revealed that the laundry room of the motel where the  cast and crew were booked became the designated partying area, and that  occasionally after hours Dangerfield would ask him, “Hey, Scott, you  wanna do some laundry?” 

 - 10 reasons that Caddyshack may just be the best summertime comedy ever.

And for some, it’s the idea that he’s had neither political or military prior experience.

For others, it’s his outlandish appearance, his Queens accent, as I said, his Rodney Dangerfield presence.

And for others—I think this is really underestimated—he is systematically undoing the progressive agenda of Barack Obama, which remember, was supposed to be not just an eight-year regnum, but 16 years with Hillary Clinton.

That would’ve reformed the court.

It would have shut down fossil fuel exploration, pipelines, more regulations—well, pretty much what Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are talking about right now.

That was going to happen.

And so for a lot of people, they think…

“Wow, if Donald Trump is elected in 2020..."

—and he will be, according to the fears of Representatives Al Green or [Alexandria] Ocasio-Cortez or Nancy Pelosi; remember, they keep saying this impeachment is about the 2020 [election]—

“...we’ve got to ensure the  integrity.”

That’s what Nadler said today.

But if Trump is elected, that would mean eventually in five more years, [we’d have a] 7–2 Supreme Court, 75 percent of the federal judiciary [would be] conservative and traditional and constructionist. …

We are the world’s largest oil and gas producer and exporter, but we probably would be even bigger.

And when you look at a lot of issues, such as abortion, or identity politics, or the securing of the border, or the nature of the economy or foreign policy, they think America as we know it will be—to use a phrase from Barack Obama—“fundamentally transformed.”

So that’s the subtext of it.

Stop this man right now before he destroys the whole progressive project—and with it, the reputation of the media. Because the media saw this happening and they said, “You know what?”—as Jim Rutenberg in the New York Times or Christiane Amanpour have said—“… you really don’t need to be disinterested.”

Trump is beyond the pale, so it’s OK to editorialize in your news coverage.

Trump is beyond the pale, and the "blue bloods" are shitting their pants. — Trump is beyond the pale, and the “blue bloods” are shitting their pants.

And so the Shorenstein Center has reported that 90 percent of all news coverage [of Trump] is negative.

So they’ve thrown their hat in the ring and said, we’re going to be part of the Democratic progressive agenda to destroy this president. But if they fail, then their reputation goes down with the progressive project.

And that’s happening now.

CNN is at all-time low ratings, at least the last four years. And the network news is losing audiences, and most of the major newspapers are, as well.

So there’s a lot of high stakes here. And if Donald Trump survives and were to be reelected, I don’t know what would happen on the left. It would make the 2016 reaction look tame in comparison.

Conclusion

A great little read. All credit to the authors. All I did was edit to fit this blog, and added some pictures. Source links: RTWT and HT: The News Junkie.

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What it was like in France immediately before the French Revolution occurred. And why it matters now in America.

History repeats. It’s often frightening just how it repeats.

We do not really know how the French aristocracy felt and acted during the months leading up to the French revolution. Few penned records survive. We do know, however, that the wealthy elite dismissed the reports. They called them “deplorable peasants” and instead of admonishing them to “learn to code” they told them “to eat cake”.

Rather than get involved in a discussion of how the successful French kept themselves isolated from the “ignorant Neo-peasant riff-Raff”, let’s look at how a similar situation is manifesting today in America.

The following is a great write-up. It is titled “Our Elites Are Steering Us Towards Civil War” and it was written by Glenn Ellmers when he posted it on 01.07.2020. All credit to the author. I would suggest everyone to visit the original site and give them a look around. Some really good stuff there.

They are as clueless as the ancien régime.

Along with the Upper West Side of Manhattan and a few other redoubts, my suburban neighborhood near the Maryland border represents the heart of what some pundits call the “blue church.”

It is increasingly a dream world.

I drop in periodically at Politics and Prose, a prominent bookstore in Northwest D.C., to browse and shop. Lately I find it more and more difficult to avoid eavesdropping on the conversations of the elderly white women (lifelong Democrats, of course) who make up 80% of the regular clientele.

Not that I try especially hard to tune out, because it is fascinating to hear what they say in their unguarded chit-chat.

No Japanese soldier on a remote Philippine island in 1947, oblivious to the emperor’s surrender, was more disconnected from the real world than these educated, well-spoken women. They read the Washington Post and listen to NPR every day, and therefore have no idea that they are imprisoned on a kind of island of the mind.

The bookstore’s regular customers, mostly retired professionals, are the kind of well-to-do urbanites that used to be called limousine liberals. But my bibliophile neighbors, with their casual shoes and canvas tote bags, generally prefer a Prius to a limo. Even so, they enjoy lives of comfortable physical ease, security, and culturally enriched leisure. One might think this would make them nice. And on many topics (grandchildren, for instance) they are.

But their conversations turn easily and often to politics—in particular, the illegitimacy of our odious president and the racist underclass that elected him—and then their tone becomes suddenly and shockingly nasty. That nastiness arises in part, no doubt, from an aversion to an uncomfortable truth: that the cozy world of these coastal urban elites is far from natural or normal.

It is the product of an artificial, often dishonest patchwork of legal, political, and cultural practices that have been distinctly unfair to millions of disenfranchised Americans.

It was said of the ancien régime—the nobility that reigned prior to the French Revolution—that “they learned nothing and forgot nothing.”

In his monumental book on Lincoln and the principles of self-government, A New Birth of Freedom (2000), the late Claremont professor Harry Jaffa expounds on this observation:

“They could forget nothing, namely their undeserved and socially useless  privileges; and they could learn nothing, namely that their fellow  countrymen would no longer tolerate the continuance of their  privileges.”

One might think that this world of artificial nobility is dead and gone. But in deep-blue sanctuaries like my local bookstore—that bubble of bubbles, the summa bubblica of America’s leftist oligarchy—a version of this same decayed aristocracy is still holding on.

These liberal ladies (and a few distinctly milky gentlemen) are harmless enough in one sense. They aren’t abusing the working class in any direct or obvious way—certainly not in their own minds! Unlike the French gentry, they do not dwell in ostentatious luxury while serfs labor in hunger. Even less are they complicit in anything like the gruesome brutality of chattel slavery in the Old South.

Still, they do partake in their own shallow way of an intellectual and moral presumption that is not at all harmless. Like every privileged class in history, they are convinced that they deserve what they have, however slight their own efforts may have been in the smooth glide-path of their lives.

The recognition of unearned privilege can sometimes turn psychologically sideways, with sublimated guilt erupting into destructive revolutionary fervor. Rarely, alas, does it flower into genuine humility and charity. But the complacent retirees with whom I rub elbows are not directing their unconscious guilt (if they have any) into overthrowing the system.

To the contrary, the oligarchy they represent frantically wants to preserve, or bring back, the pre-2016 uni-party establishment in which they flourished. Because they cannot comprehend that their fellow countrymen will no longer tolerate their socially useless sinecures, they retreat ever further into monasteries of self-deception.

But this cannot continue; something must give, and it seems ever likelier that the way forward will be rough.

In New Birth and other writings over the course of his long career teaching political philosophy, Jaffa explained that the American Founders solved the crisis of religious warfare (which had plagued Europe for centuries) through the separation of church and state. The power of government would no longer be used by believers who were in authority to persecute different believers who were out of authority.

Yet the danger of religious warfare can return in secular form when people no longer agree on the basic principles of republican government and regard each other as political heretics rather than fellow citizens. “Elections,” Jaffa wrote, “may properly decide only between those whose differences of opinion are not differences of principle.”

For example, in 1861 the Confederacy endorsed the idea of slavery as a “positive good.” This doctrine of “you work, I eat” replaced the equal natural rights doctrine of the Declaration of Independence as the South’s new faith. Driven by this alternate conception of politics based on inequality, many of the slave states rejected the results of Lincoln’s election in 1860, and the nation was plunged into war.

Today, we face a parallel problem.

The true believers (who, not coincidentally, were also the true beneficiaries) of the blue church administrative state have also become alienated from the idea of republican government and shared citizenship.

This can be seen most clearly in their unwillingness to accept the results of the 2016 presidential election, and the demonization of Trump voters.

Like most privileged elites, their faith is immune to facts or persuasion. It is simply too hard to give up the notion of natural or divine sanction for the socio-economic superiority they have enjoyed.

With each passing day, this crumbling oligarchy seems to become more fanatical, more fixated on its own righteousness, and more impatient with the supposed iniquity of its political opponents. But the rejection of dialogue and compromise undermines the very possibility of a common citizenship. Without a shared dedication to republican principles, self-government cannot continue.

The peaceful transfer of power that accompanies a free election is only possible on the basis of civic friendship and trust; each side must believe that, win or lose, the rights of the minority will be protected by those who take power. On both sides today, that trust seems to be slipping.

While most Americans acknowledge the fact that America is deeply divided, many of our leaders remain in denial about the potential result of this growing, fundamental distrust.

We are confronting again the dire situation New Birth describes prior to the Civil War:

“both parties [see] the contest as a zero-sum enterprise in which the  advantages of one side [are] losses to the other. From this viewpoint,  ballots can never really substitute for bullets.”

Not for the first time in our nation’s history, if this state of affairs continues force may be embraced as the only alternative when reason fails. Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.

We must fervently hope that things will change before they become violent. But if the clueless attitudes of our sclerotic elite remain unaltered, it is not hard to see what’s on the horizon.

Conclusion

History repeats. I can easily see parallels between what is going on in Washington DC today, and what transpired in France right before the French Revolution. Of course no one in Washington and the establishment will agree with me. But for me, a “deplorable” outsider, it is clear as the nose on my face.

People, prepare for some spicy times ahead. This situation is not sustainable and a change will happen.

Whether it will be a revolution that follows the bloody French model, or a Orwellian dystopia, no one knows. All that I do know is that the next four years; 2020 through 2024 will be exciting and pivotal.

They really do want an armed conflict. 

The Sleeping Giant is even more alert... And the puppet master Bloomberg will be guarded by several heavily-armed Stasi as he visits his kingdom.  The kingdom of “peasants” he wishes to disarm. 

“... Mike Bloomberg’s planned visit to Virginia, intimating the bill was passed as a way of paying homage to him: “With their billionaire benefactor coming to Richmond next week to headline a Democratic Party fundraiser, however, it is clear that House leaders would rather bow to out-of-state interests than listen to their constituents and fellow lawmakers.” 

-Intro to the article; VA Democrats pass bill requiring destruction of 'High Capacity" magazines.

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What we can expect to happen when the Deep State “Swamp” declares war against American Citizens.

Unless you have been living under a rock for the last few decades, you should be aware that most Americans are quite unhappy. The progressive liberals hate the nation, the country and what it stands for. They want it to burn, be destroyed and replaced with a social utopia. The conservatives hate what the nation has become. They want a full return to the original intended government, and a leadership that obeys it. Meanwhile, the wealthy and the powerful, in full control of the government, is playing both sides against each other.

A conflict is inevitable.

There should be no question at all that our nation is at an impasse. There is a serious question of direction. As in what direction should the nation follow?

Embrace a Marxist paradise with the genocide of deplorables.
Scrap all the progressive “improvements” and return the government back to the original intent.

The Conflict.

Basically, there are those who see America as a thing to be preserved and another who see it as a thing needing to be destroyed.

Patriots want a return to the original principles of the founding.
Progressives want everything torn down and replaced with a Marxist utopia.

The Marxist Plan.

It was said by a number of Marxist thinkers over the decades and most notably William Ayers, that for America to be destroyed, it was a thing to be destroyed first from within, then by getting help from the outside.

And while Marxist and Anarchist apologists will be quick to minimize those statements through saying its simply from a man caught in the winds of his time, its incredibly important to note that this is the prevailing thought among higher-level academia. An academia which has groomed the brokers of power in all of our nation’s ruling agencies.

Ayers is but one man with a relatively small group, an incredibly high percentage of academics in this nation not only sided with him but not-so-quietly cheered such abhorrent actions on, shaping higher education for the decades to come.

Which brings us to the present day.

William Ayers was behind the Antifa riots in Berkley, California.

In every sociology program in America, undergrads are taught Max Weber’s theories on authority in a society and, perhaps more importantly, his theories on Bureaucracy. Normally juxtaposed to Gramsci’s theory of the superstructure, it is stressed in lectures that in order to control a society, control over the bureaucracy must first be established.

The American Government today.

Once that control is slowly implemented, there is no need for a sudden revolution. Control is already obtained. Crime becomes a tool of political power rather than a question of morality. Through this power the ability to define one’s enemies- and thus eliminate them- is simple.

Where we find ourselves today is the veil of objectivity in such a bureaucracy having been ripped away.

The corporate mass-media has recently discovered a “deep state” that they claim to be not some evil group of assassins who work for the super-rich owners of the country and murder their own president (JFK) and other unpatriotic dissidents (Malcom X, MLK, RK, among others) and undermine democracy home and abroad, but are now said to be just fine upstanding American citizens who work within the government bureaucracies and are patriotic believers in democracy intent on doing the right thing.

The ongoing impeachment farce has brought a vibrant highlight to that power wield upon anyone or anything they deem a worthy target. If the denizens of the ‘interagency group’, an unelected, unaccountable group of ring-knockers who apparently view themselves outside the authority of anyone but they, who decided to target the President for literally nothing at all, what will they do to you?

Indeed, all this political posturing is a war that is raging all around us.

When the dust clears, how will it affect you?

The Fourth Amendment.

I don’t believe its far-fetched to say the Fourth Amendment is finished.

There are no Fourth Amendment protections for Americans.

There is no such thing as privacy when so many freely chose to live their lives online. Where they are always volunteering an incredibly high amount of data on themselves. Which is a data set known as patterns of life in the intelligence world…

And when such a time occurs as say, a threatening of a mass disarmament and criminalization of firearms ownership and the right to organize and train under arms…

… that without protections against the machine, armed networks of potential guerrillas may very well be unknowingly compromised before such a thing can even get off the ground.

Revolt is fated to end before it’s even vocalized.

The tools of tyranny.

The tools that are available, even open source, are powerful enough to easily map networks of potential troublemakers. This can be easily conducted beginning with collecting social media data and then confirming it all by conducting physical surveillance.

America is a full-on police state in the very definition of what a police state actually is.

The process behind this is known as the Target-Centric Intelligence Cycle.

It follows five steps.

Find
Fix
Finish
Exploit
Assess.

It begins with a target of interest. All data is collected on the potential target with the aim of creating a plan of attack. Finishing the target is the actions-on stage. The target is either apprehended or neutralized, depending on the desired result, giving way to exploitation and assessment- whatever effects were felt in the larger targeted community, while resetting the cycle based on new targets of interest.

With the tools at their disposal, this process can be done almost entirely remotely with the only physical surveillance necessary is to confirm the data on the targets, and usually just before conducting the actions-on raid of the cycle.

Think about that one for a second.

The interesting thing about collective action and social movements is that once it gathers a fever pitch, its far too much of a risk for the superstructure to wield collective force. Some would argue that the use of force even reveals the waning influence of the superstructure. Right or wrong, the optics of such a move are never good and in my personal experience, only galvanizes a people against that power.

So the question remains then- what happens when a government decides on a dirty war against those it deems a threat?

They hate us.

We know without a doubt at this stage that the real power structure in this nation absolutely hates you and I.

By their own words they have nothing but contempt for us, for our points of view, for our way of life.

They hate us. They all have come from "privilege", and have come to despise us common people. — They hate us. They all have come from “privilege”, and have come to despise us common people.

Indoctrinated by the very same America-hating academics who serve on advisory committees…

… to the very agencies which created the powers for themselves…

… the communist revolution of gaining control of Gramsci’s superstructure has been applied to the principles of bureaucracy outlined by Weber.

Your future home - if you are lucky. — Your future home – if you are lucky.

Now, with the tools they have at their disposal, how would such an organization commit itself to a dirty war- not risking overt action but rather simply eliminating voices of dissent quietly?

Simple implementation.

So-called ‘martial law’ doesn’t have to be declared nor would it be desirable. Ties between government agencies and elements of underground criminal organizations are very real- and will be used.

Rather than risk their own officers, target packets will be handed off to the local gang and a robbery gone wrong just might happen. Do not forget that they’ve imported millions of undocumented- and thus disposable- people for more than just votes.

Maybe your drive-by-wire car all of a sudden uncontrollably accelerated into a tree.

And while all of this looks like a pattern to the folks who are awake, but being covert in nature, its an entirely deniable way to wage a war on anyone deemed a threat.

Maybe outright killing a target is too dramatic.

Maybe you’ll get caught on false charges and given a draconian sentence, while career offenders are released for ‘processing errors’.

You could be taken into custody for jay-walking, having a photo on your computer, or driving while talking on a cell-phone. Then, you could spend five or ten years in prison.

Maybe your bank accounts will get frozen or assets seized. Without hard proof (or even with it), naysayers are opening the door to lawsuits you can’t afford to fight while the rest continue their normalcy bias.

The normalcy bias, or normality bias, is a belief people hold when there is a possibility of a disaster. It causes people to underestimate both the likelihood of a disaster and its possible effects, because people believe that things will always function the way things normally have functioned. This may result in situations where people fail to adequately prepare themselves for disasters, and on a larger scale, the failure of governments to include the populace in its disaster preparations. About 70% of people reportedly display normalcy bias in disasters. 

- Normalcy bias - Wikipedia

They’ve been waging a dirty war, and its about to get even worse as more people wake up to the totality of the situation.

Break the Cycle.

Break the cycle. Its way more than just about firearms, the President, or your so-called rights.

Its a fight for survival.

The weight of an unaccountable class of people are bearing down on the rest of us, and its high time to shrug them off.

Recognize that we are an enemy to them. They are at war with you and I.

We are a threat to the "deep state" oligarchy and their "swamp". This is a fact that will not go away. We can never coexist peacefully. — We are a threat to the “deep state” oligarchy and their “swamp”. This is a fact that will not go away. We can never coexist peacefully.

One thing is absolutely certain- they won’t back off any of this and they have no interest in stopping.

The bureaucracy which wholly serves the Leftist cause in the United States wants voices like ours gone and they’ve propagandized us as no longer being human.

And when they fail to yield to protests and non-violent demonstrations, you must be prepared for what comes next.

Genocide.

Conclusion & Takeways

What is the point of this aimless and wandering post?

Peaceful coexistence between Marxists and deplorables is impossible.
The oligarchy owns the “Deep State”.
The vast numbers of the “Deep State” are Marxists.

Therefore…

Deplorables are going to be silenced, firstly. (Already in process.)
Then they will be treated as second or third class citizens. (Also already in process.)
Then they will be disarmed. (Already in process.)
Finally they will be exterminated.

Gear up. You have to be an idiot not to see the “writing on the wall”.

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If America implements conflict against Russia or China, it will lose bigly. An interview with Andrei Martyanov.

This is an interesting interview with Andrei Martyanov. He is a Russian military expert who emigrated to the United States. In it he argues that the stranglehold of American propaganda by the mainstream media has created a dangerous situation – one in which the “fake news” is believed by the American leadership.

ANDREI MARTYANOV is an expert on Russian military and naval issues. He was born in Baku, USSR in 1963. He graduated from the Kirov Naval Red Banner Academy and served as an officer on the ships and staff position of Soviet Coast Guard through 1990. He took part in the events in the Caucasus which led to the collapse of the Soviet Union. 

- Losing Military Supremacy: The Myopia of American Strategic Planning

He explains that the American leadership, knowing full well that the media is a propaganda tool, actually believes much of the propaganda that they create. This is true on all levels.

The American leadership actually believes this “news”. Not only the “fake news” from CNN, MSNBC an WaPo but also from the conservative and alternative “Right wing” media.

He argues that this is extraordinarily dangerous.

This belief in American propaganda is dangerous because it creates a situation where foolish men in leadership positions can make some very serious mistakes.

The majority of travelers I have met see foreign lands entirely through  the filter glasses of their home front. Their worldview is shaped by  government schools, Hollywood actors, television programming, mainstream  pressing, and the resulting illusion of “us being the good guys.” When  they travel, they carry a lifetime supply of brainwash shampoo with  them. A backpack full of sheep’s wool over their eyes. And a dumbed-down  uniform of sweatshop t-shirts, shorts and sandals that sores the eye of  the beholder.

-Doug Casey, International Man

Mistakes, Leadership mistakes, that could absolutely devastate the United States. The leadership of a healthy and functioning nation needs good and accurate intelligence. It cannot rely own it’s own propaganda to base decisions upon.

History is full of stories of the destruction of cities, nations and empires that fell due to the bad Intel, and decisions by the top leadership. Read about the destruction of Hungary by Genghis Khan, if you don't believe me.

Or, consider the Marketing strategy of Gillette with their "Men are inherently foul pigs" campaign (to sell razors).

Or, consider Hollywood and their bevy of all-female re-writes of famous movies. Movies that no one will watch. Like "Oceans 8".

Or, consider what happened to NFL football, when the team owners permitted the players to protest against America.

Now, consider what might happen to America if it believes the narrative that both Russia and China are backwards, third-world shit holes and are no match for the United States military...

Ah. Andrei . You do not need to believe him. You just need to consider that he has some good ideas and makes some valid points.

Now, I find that he has some good points, especially his appraisal on the ignorance of the Washington “insider” class. His ideas are able to explain much of the strange decision processes that originate out of Washington DC today.

Andrei wrote…

Time after time the American military has failed to match lofty  declarations about its superiority, producing instead a mediocre record  of military accomplishments. 

Starting from the Korean War the United States hasn’t won a single war against a technologically inferior, but  mentally tough enemy.

Vietnam
Syria
Lybia
Somalia
Yemen
Lebanon
Iraq

The technological dimension of American “strategy” has completely overshadowed any concern with the social, cultural,  operational and even tactical requirements of military (and political)  conflict. 

With a new Cold War with Russia emerging, the United States  enters a new period of geopolitical turbulence completely unprepared in  any meaningful way—intellectually...

... economically, 

... militarily...

...or culturally

... to face a reality which was hidden for the last 70+ years  behind the curtain of never-ending Chalabi moments...

... and a strategic delusion concerning Russia, whose history the US viewed through a Solzhenitsified caricature kept alive by a powerful neocon lobby, which  even today dominates US policy makers’ minds.

The book  Losing Military Supremacy: The Myopia of American Strategic Planning  explores the  dramatic difference between the Russian and US approach to warfare,  which manifests itself across the whole spectrum of activities from art  and the economy, to the respective national cultures; 

Losing Military Supremacy: The Myopia of American Strategic Planning   illustrates the  fact that Russian economic, military and cultural realities and power are no longer what American “elites” think they are by addressing  Russia’s new and elevated capacities in the areas of traditional warfare as well as cyberwarfare and space; 

Losing Military Supremacy: The Myopia of American Strategic Planning  studies in depth several ways in which the US can simply stumble into conflict with Russia and what must be done to avoid it. 

Martyanov’s former Soviet military background  enables deep insight into the fundamental issues of warfare and military  power as a function of national power—assessed correctly, not through  the lens of Wall Street “economic” indices and a FIRE economy, but  through the numbers of enclosed technological cycles and culture, much  of which has been shaped in Russia by continental warfare and which is  practically absent in the US. 

-Amazon

Indeed, a point that I have “hammered” over and over again, is the idea that the most dangerous propaganda is the news reports that we WANT to believe.

Propaganda works best when we WANT to believe the lies told to us.

Such as 11 million Uighur Muslims are in reeducation concentration camps in Xinjiang China. That America must "do something" to free the poor Muslim innocents! All, yes ALL of conservative news is full of these stories and the figure of 11 million is bantered about without question.

Except...

No one can point out where these concentration camps are. 

You cannot find them on Google Earth. And you should. After all, the population of New York City is 6 million people. So a concentration camp housing 11 million people would be over twice the size of New York city. It would be pretty fucking big. Bigger than the largest city in America, and then some.

You would be able to see it from the Moon.

If there were 11 concentration camps in Xinjiang, China, (each one million people in size) then you would be able to easily locate all eleven Atlanta, Georgia sized complexes on Google Earth. Where are all these concentration camps?

Simple math.

Simple thought process.

... Propaganda. Don't fall for it.

Anyways, he makes a great point.

Our American leadership has taken to actually believing what is being repeated day in and day out by the lying American mainstream press. And this is very dangerous.

You might not like his opinions, but please just view his point of view as something that you will not hear from the mainstream, or alt-conservative news. As such it is a valuable alternative view point.

One that should be taken seriously.

The interview.

Yvonne Lorenzo interviews Andrei Martyanov …

Yvonne Lorenzo: I’d like to discuss the central thesis of your first book, Losing Military Supremacy. Aside from a civil war in the late 1800s, the United States has never experienced the effects of a devastating war fought on its own soil by foreign nation and believes it is invulnerable and won’t be attacked. To the contrary, Russians to this day know the price of war. If you would be so kind to summarize, if possible, the key points you wished to make known about Russia.

"America believes that it is invulnerable and won’t ever be attacked."

The Severodvinsk, the first of Russia's multirole Yasen K-560 submarines, by the pier of the Sevmash shipyard in Severodvinsk, Arkhangelsk Region. — The Severodvinsk, the first of Russia’s multirole Yasen K-560 submarines, by the pier of the Sevmash shipyard in Severodvinsk, Arkhangelsk Region.

Andrei Martyanov: In a sense, my new book, The Real Revolution in Military Affairs, is a continuation of my first one—Losing Military Supremacy.

The difference is that I get more in depth into the tactical, operational and technological issues—to a degree that is possible in what amounts to a geopolitical study—to demonstrate and drive my point home…

… that the current American political elites are utterly delusional on the nature of modern warfare…

Crew of the Alexander Nevsky nuclear submarine topside at a welcome ceremony for the Navy's new Borei-class project 955 vessel at Kamchatka's Vilyuchinsk base. — Crew of the Alexander Nevsky nuclear submarine topside at a welcome ceremony for the Navy’s new Borei-class project 955 vessel at Kamchatka’s Vilyuchinsk base.

… especially in a peer-to-peer scenario of which the United States hasn’t faced since WW II.

My point is very simple…

…the ignorance of the American ruling class of modern warfare is such that it has become a clear and present danger for the world…

John Bolton neocon in the Trump administration.

… since, while improbable at this stage, it is totally plausible to see at some point of time someone in the US political top losing it…

…and unleashing a confrontation with Russia, or China…

…being fully convinced, mostly by Hollywood or [Tom] Clancy-esque pseudo military fiction…

The Hunt for Red October is a 1990 American submarine spy-thriller film directed by John McTiernan, produced by Mace Neufeld, and starring Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, Scott Glenn, James Earl Jones, and Sam Neill. The film is an adaptation of Tom Clancy's 1984 bestselling novel of the same name. It is the first installment of the Jack Ryan film series. — *The* *Hunt* *for* *Red* *October* is a 1990 *American* *submarine* *spy-thriller* *film* *directed* by *John* *McTiernan*, *produced* by *Mace* *Neufeld*, *and* *starring* *Sean* *Connery*, *Alec* *Baldwin*, *Scott* *Glenn*, *James* *Earl* *Jones*, *and* *Sam* *Neill*. *The* *film* is an *adaptation* of *Tom* *Clancy’s* 1984 *bestselling* *novel* of *the* *same* *name*. It is *the* *first* *installment* of *the* *Jack* *Ryan* *film* *series*.

…that the United States and NATO can attack Russia and survive.

That, America could attack Russia or China and it would remain unscathed and devastate the rest of the world and America would not suffer at all.

That’s the danger…

…especially in a country whose elites completely lost their mind and are delusional…

Rulership class in America are bat-shit crazy.

…or reside in what I define as a Perpetual Chalabi Moment.

American leadership, on both sides of the political spectrum, plus the oligarchy that controls them are completely delusional and out of touch with the American citizens, the rest of the world, and the comparative technological strengths of America.

The arms race.

The US did lose the arms race.

The arms race was not lost in 2018 or even 2015, however; it was lost much earlier and it was mostly due to the US media-propaganda machine…

… which kept it secret from the US public.

It still continues to do so but it is increasingly difficult to keep it under wraps when information, including imagery of what Russia does in this field becomes increasingly available.

Ships from Russia's Caspian Flotilla launching Kalibr-NK cruise missiles against Daesh targets in Syria. — Ships from Russia’s Caspian Flotilla launching Kalibr-NK cruise missiles against Daesh targets in Syria.

But that is just part of the issue: I write about predictors—the real economy, scientific development, education, etc.—for war’s outcomes [are] non-stop.

Other people have written about these predictors. Not once do they agree with the narrative coming out of the American mainstream media.

In the end, when I state that the US elites have no clue about the size and complexity of Russia’s economy, it is one thing…

…but when I state that they basically have no clue about their own economy, not Wall Street’s cooking of books, I can rely on some serious American professionals in the field.

President Trump, right, talks with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during a Cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, on July 18, 2018. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

After all, it was Trump’s White House which initiated Assessing and Strengthening the Manufacturing and Defense Industrial Base and Supply Chain Resiliency of the United States.

The report was prepared by an Inter-agency Task Force in September 2018 and reads as an epitaph to the US machine-building complex…

… and the issue is not just massive de-industrialization…

America has still not recovered from the de-industrialization of the last forty years. It is not going to recover in only one or two years.

… or the lack of a labor force which can fill in for departing old-timers…

…with many in the new generation of Americans being mostly interested in pot and drugs or in avoiding any productive labor…

…nor money alone can solve the problem of America’s declining military strength, which was always overstated to start with.

It is the culture, an institutional one, which is responsible for this decline.

Russia presents new MiG-35 fighter jet to the public.

The decline of American culture

The United States is very good at building extremely expensive and dubiously effective (against a competent enemy) power projection forces, which by definition are offensive and aggressive.

Once one gets into the issues of actual defense, the picture changes dramatically for the United States.

Read this assessment of the true and actual American defense picture from townhall.com.  "We Are Going To Lose The Coming War With China" by Kurt Schlichter. It opens up in a separate tab.

It is enough to mention the whole non-stop hysteria about Turkey buying and activating the S-400 complex, with India already having a 5 billion dollar contract signed with Russia, and many Arab states lining up for Russian-made air and anti-missile systems, not to mention combat aircraft, such as a contact for SU-35s between Egypt and Russia signed, following next.

All of it creates an extremely emotional reaction in the United States, but the fact that Russian military technology is in some key defense fields better than anything out there was never in doubt.

S-400 complex launching system with potential targets that it is designed to strike.

It is enough to recall Vietnam, but in the time of radio and printed media it was easier to control narratives.

The American media blitz on this subject is constant and unyielding.

Today it is extremely difficult.

Russia always built weapons to effectively kill the enemy—such is Russia’s experience with warfare, much of which being invasions of foreign powers.

The United States has zero historic experience with defending the US proper against powerful and brutal enemies.

While the Revolutionary war had some moments of brutality, as did the American civil war, neither wars EVER approached the level of absolute depraved scorched earth devastation that Russia, Europe, and China have experienced.

It is something that America has NEVER experienced.

Mexico never invaded. Canada never invaded. Russia never invaded. Cuba never invaded. Bermuda never invaded.

It is a cultural difference, a profound one and it manifests itself across the whole spectrum of activities, not just the respective military-industrial complexes.

In other words, Russians MUST build top of the line weaponry, because the safety of Russia depends on it.

Tom Clancy Delusion

Yvonne Lorenzo: You’ve written about what I’d call the “Tom Clancy Delusion” on your blog. This recent article, “The CIA’s Jack Ryan Series Is ‘Regime-Change’ Propaganda Aimed At Venezuela” noted:

 Dr. Matthew Alford of the University of Bath, author of National  Security Cinema: The Shocking New Evidence of Government Control in  Hollywood, told MintPress that the new Amazon product is a “disgrace of a  series,” unfairly demonizing a nation at a time when the United States  has its boot on the throat of Venezuelan society.

“The  new Jack Ryan series comes in the context of four movies stretching  back decades that have all had Department of Defense and/or CIA support  at the scriptwriting phrase,” he noted, labeling Jack Ryan as a classic  “national security entertainment product”.

The  character of Jack Ryan first appeared in Cold War era Clancy stories  such as The Hunt for Red October and The Cardinal of the Kremlin, where  the heroic Ryan battles the dark forces of the Soviet Union. 

The series  was put on hiatus but has recently returned, bringing with it much of  the same Cold War mentality and rhetoric. 

Ryan has been previously  played on screen by Hollywood stars such as Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford  and Ben Affleck.

Alford’s  book, which he co-wrote with Tom Secker, describes the enormous  influence that the national security state has on popular culture. 

Based  on Freedom of Information requested documents, the two calculated that  between 2004 and 2016, the Department of Defense was directly involved  in the production of 977 Hollywood movies or television shows, many of  which were carefully scripted, edited and curated by government agents  in order to present a certain viewpoint of the world to the public. 

For  example, the writers of Homeland were revealed to have private meetings  with ex-CIA officials before each season.

Russia's Radical Sukhoi S-37 Fighter Plane — Russia’s Radical Sukhoi S-37 Fighter Plane.

From  big budget movies like Ironman and Transformers to surprisingly banal  television productions like The Biggest Loser, Mythbusters or American  Idol, virtually every movie or television show featuring the military or  intelligence figures has been edited, scripted or funded by the  Department of Defense in order to cast the government in the best  possible light. 

Those that do not comply with the Department of  Defense’s requests are not given privileged access to, or use of,  military resources and may be attacked by the state as being unpatriotic  or deceptive.

The  constant flow of pro-security state messages has an effect on the  public. 

Researchers found that respondents who were shown torture scenes  from the television series 24 were more likely to subsequently support  the government’s policies of torture in sites like Guantanamo Bay and  Abu Ghraib. 

This held even for liberal college students.

Andrei Martyanov: The first person of repute who challenged Tom Clancy’s fantasies was professor Roger Thompson in his seminal 2006 book Lessons Not Learned, in which he correctly asked a question how an insurance agent who never served a day in uniform and had undergraduate degree in English can write competently on any issue related to modern combat and technology.

In Clancy’s case it was clear that he was promoted, he openly writes about it in his book, by former Secretary of the Navy John Lehman, for purely propaganda reasons.

Secretary of the Navy John Lehman swearing in Grace Harper.

Most of what Clancy wrote was cringe-worthy pop-literature, which could be described as incompetent military-intelligence porn.

Ouch!

Clancy never made it a secret that his Jack Ryan character was written from…Tom Clancy himself. A good testimony about late Clancy himself.

Why Jack Ryan was written as a spy as opposed to as insurance agent remains a complete mystery to me, but, I guess, whatever sells books for the late Tom Clancy.

These digs… oh, boy!

In Soviet/Russian military environment Clancy’s “literature” overwhelmingly was treated with ironic smile at best, and with Homeric laughter at worst.

Yup. How the rest of the world feels about this kind of literature, and movies.

But that pretty much describes the “level” of American “knowledge” and awareness of Russia in general and her military in particular—a caricature.

It is, however, one thing to promote caricatures in pop-art, totally another when a caricature becomes a working model for decision making at the top political level.

That is dangerous.

And his point is very, very valid…

As General Latiff of DARPA correctly noted—most of what the US public and political class know about war is from entertainment, from Hollywood to the literature of such “professionals” like the late Clancy.

The Generals won’t save us.

Yvonne Lorenzo: I quoted (retired) Major Danny Sjursen earlier. He wrote a piece title, “The Generals Won’t Save Us From The Next War” for the American Conservative. I want to reproduce an excerpt and then ask you to comment. Your disdain for the political class is well known but what about the generals in power? How capable and knowledgeable are they? How competent?

Why should any sentient citizen believe that these commanders’ former  subordinates—a new crop of ambitious generals—will step forward now and  oppose a disastrous future war with the Islamic Republic? 

Don’t believe  it! 

Senior military leaders will salute, about-face, and execute  unethical and unnecessary combat with Iran or whomever else (think  Venezuela) Trump’s war hawks, such as John Bolton, decide needs a little  regime changing.

John Bolton. Donald Trump’s National Security Advisor John Bolton said that it would be great if the United States could get their hands on that Venezuelan oil, and that statement alone tells you everything that you need to know about why the US is trying so hard to interfere in Venezuelan affairs.

Need  proof that even the most highly lauded generals will sheepishly obey  the next absurd march to war? Join me in a brief trip down an ever so  depressing memory lane. 

Let us begin with my distinguished West Point  graduation speaker, Air Force General and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs  Richard Myers. 

He goes down in history as as a Donald Rumsfeld lackey  because it turns out he knew full well that there were “holes” in the  Bush team’s inaccurate intelligence used to justify the disastrous Iraq  war. 

Yet we heard not a peep from Myers, who kept his mouth shut and  retired with full four-star honors.

Air Force General and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Richard Myers .

Then,  when Army Chief of Staff General Eric Shinseki accurately (and somewhat  courageously) predicted in 2003 that an occupation of Iraq would  require up to half a million U.S. troops, he was quietly retired. 

Rummy  passed over a whole generation of active officers to pull a known  sycophant, General Peter Schoomaker, out of retirement to do Bush the  Younger’s bidding. 

It worked too. 

Schoomaker, despite his highly touted  special forces experience, never threw his stars on the table and called  BS on a losing strategy even as it killed his soldiers by the hundreds  and then the thousands. 

Having heard him (unimpressively) speak at West  Point in 2005, I still can’t decide whether he lacked the intellect to  do so or the conscience. 

Maybe both.

After  Bush landed a fighter plane on a carrier and triumphantly announced  “mission accomplished” in Iraq, poor Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez,  the newest three-star in the Army, took over the hard part of conquest:  bringing the “natives” to heel. 

He utterly failed, being too reliant on  what he knew—Cold War armored combat—and too ambitious to yell “stop!”  

Soon after, it came to light that Sanchez had bungled the  investigation—or cover-up (take your pick)—of the massive abuse scandal  at Abu Ghraib prison.

General John Abizaid was one of the most disappointing in a long line of subservient generals. 

It seems Abizaid knew better: he knew the Iraq war  couldn’t be won, that it was best to hand over control to the Iraqis  posthaste, that General David Petraeus’s magical “surge” snake oil  wouldn’t work. 

Still, Abizaid didn’t quit and retired quietly. 

He’s now  Trump’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, which is far from comforting.

Lieutenant  General H.R. McMaster was heralded as an outside-the-box thinker. 

And  indeed, he was a Gulf War I hero, earned a Ph.D., taught history at West  Point, and wrote a (mostly) well-received book on Vietnam. 

Yet when  Trump appointed him national security advisor, he brought only  in-the-box military beliefs with him into the White House. 

He then  helped author a fanciful National Defense Strategy that argued the U.S.  military must be ready at a moment’s notice to fight Russia, China,  Iran, North Korea, and “terror.” 

Perhaps at the same time! 

No nuance, no  diplomatic alternatives, no cost-benefit analysis, just standard  militarism. 

These days, McMaster is running around decrying what he  calls a “defeatist narrative” and arguing for indefinite war in the  Middle East.

Then  there was the other Washington insider and “liberal” favorite, one of a  trio of “adults in the room,” General Jim Mattis. 

Though sold to the  public as a “warrior monk,” Mattis offered no alternative to America’s  failing forever wars. 

In fact, when he decided his conscience no longer  allowed him to stay in the Trump administration, his reason for leaving  was that the president had called for a reduction of troops in  Afghanistan after 18 senseless years. 

U.S.-supported Saudi terror  bombings that killed tens of thousands of Yemeni civilians? A  U.S.-backed Saudi blockade that starved at least 85,000 Yemeni children  to death? Yeah, he was fine with that. 

But a modest troop withdrawal  from a losing 18-year-old war in landlocked Central Asia, that he  couldn’t countenance.

Then  there’s the propensity for politics and pageantry among senior military  officers. 

This was embarrassingly and unconscionably on display in the  tragic cases of Private First Class Jessica Lynch and Corporal Pat  Tillman. 

When, during the initial invasion of Iraq, the young Lynch’s  maintenance convoy got lost, she was captured and briefly detained by  Saddam’s army. 

Knowing a good public relations opportunity when they saw  it, Bush’s staff and the generals concocted a slew of comforting lies:  Lynch was a hero who had fought to her last bullet (she’d never fired  her rifle), she’d been tortured (she hadn’t), her combat-camera equipped  commando rescue had come just in the nick of time (she was hardly  guarded and in a hospital). 

Who cares if it was all lies, if this young  woman’s terrifying experience was co-opted and embellished? The Lynch  story was media fodder.

More  tragic was the Pat Tillman escapade. 

Tillman was an admirable outlier,  the only professional athlete to give up a million dollar contract to  enlist in the military soon after 9/11. 

Tillman and his brother went all  in, too, choosing the elite Army Rangers. It was quite the story.  

Rumsfeld even wrote the new private a congratulatory letter. Then  reality got in the way. Tillman was killed in Afghanistan during a  friendly fire incident that can only be described as gross incompetence.  

Almost immediately, President Bush’s staff and much of the Army’s top  brass went to work crafting the big lie: a heroic narrative of Tillman’s  demise, replete with dozens of marauding Taliban fighters and a one-man  charge befitting the hard-hitting former NFL defensive back. 

Promoted  to corporal posthumously, he was awarded the Silver Star. Some of his  fellow Rangers were instructed to lie to the Tillman family at the  memorial service regarding the manner of Pat’s death.

Only  Bush’s neophytes and the Army’s complicit generals didn’t count on the  tenacity of Tillman’s parents. 

They waged something nearing war with the  U.S. military for several years until they found out the truth,  unearthing a cover-up that implicated Bush’s civilians and many of the  military’s four-star generals (including Stanley McChrystal, John  Abizaid, and Richard Myers). 

The Tillman family got their congressional  hearing, but the sycophantic representatives on the Hill refused to  seriously criticize the top brass and no one was seriously punished.

Andrei Martyanov: I don’t know the exact answer to this question. I am positive that there are many highly educated and competent people in US Armed Forces but there is no denial of the fact that some segments of the US top brass are more politicians than military leaders. It is not unique to the United States Armed Forces, but the record of failures is in the open and everyone can make their own conclusions.

Fighting Russia is the goal of the political class

Yvonne Lorenzo: Your latest book, The (Real) Revolution in Military Affairs provides further detail on Russia’s technological advancements. A layman, I see America as principally using bombing as artillery and proxy fighters (see Syria) on the ground—not too competent. I’ve read enough to be dangerous—having no military background—but wars can’t be won by bombing campaigns alone, even against a mediocre target (I think you called Iraq’s army third-rate).

Fighting Russia, which appears to be the goal of the political class, is not what they will expect, even if the confrontation doesn’t rise to a nuclear exchange.

I’d appreciate your summarizing some of the key points of this book but I have to ask, having read some of The Saker’s writings…

… can Russia be overwhelmed by thousands upon thousands of slow missiles, like the TLAMs…

The Tomahawk Land Attack Missile ( TLAM ) is a long-range, all-weather, jet-powered, subsonic cruise missile that is primarily used by the United States Navy and Royal Navy in ship- and submarine-based land-attack operations. It was designed and initially produced in the 1970s by General Dynamics as a medium- to long-range, low-altitude missile that could be launched from a surface platform. The missile's modular design accommodates a wide variety of warhead , guidance, and range capabilities. 

- Tomahawk (missile) - Wikipedia

*Tomahawk Land Attack Missile ( TLAM )* .

… or will Russia use their “800 Pound Gorilla” in your parlance, that is…

A leaked memo confirms that Russia is developing Kanyon, the world's most powerful nuclear weapon, with twice the power of any ever tested. 

This is 2x, or double the destructive power of the most dangerous and largest nuclear weapon ever designed;  The Soviet RDS-202 hydrogen bomb (code name Ivan  or Vanya), known by Western nations as Tsar Bomba. 

Russia's New 'Satan' Nuclear Weapons System Could Wipe Out Texas or France.  Russia has for months been testing a giant nuclear weapons delivery system that can carry 10 heavyweight warheads—enough power to wipe out Texas or France. This is the RS-28 Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile known in Russia as "Satan 2" 

Mar 06, 2018 · Russia announced it is about to test its Satan 2 missile, a nuclear weapon so powerful it could destroy a country size the of Texas or France in seconds. While its official name is RS-28 Sarmat, NATO officials have given the weapon the nickname Satan 2, the Mirror reports.

… does Russia have enough weapons, from cruise missiles, to defensive, to hypersonic, not to be overwhelmed…

… and are American generals aware of the risk if it does should they engage in hostilities?

Rumors of Kanyon (or Ocean Multipurpose System Status-6, as it’s known in Russia) first started swirling in 2015 following a leak on Russian television. Soon after, the nation confirmed the weapon’s existence, while claiming the leak was a mistake.

However, as defense analyst and military historian H. I. Sutton told Futurism, this leak of the latest nuclear posture review is the first official recognition of Kanyon by U.S. officials.

“The unclassified posture review document doesn’t really tell defense analysts anything new, but it does establish Kanyon as a military fact,” said Sutton. “Until now, many observers had regarded the system as ‘fake news.’ I think that this was partly because the stated specifications are so incredible and partly because it is hard to understand how it will be used.”

Incredible Devastation

“Incredible” is perhaps putting it mildly.

Based on leaked Russian documents, Kanyon is a nuclear-armed autonomous torpedo capable of traveling 10,000 kilometers (6,213 miles) with a 100-megaton thermonuclear weapon as its payload. That’s at least twice as powerful as any nuclear weapon ever tested. According to nuclear bomb simulator Nukemap, it would instantly kill 8 million people and injure an additional 6.6 million if dropped on New York City.

Kanyon’s weapon wouldn’t be dropped, though. It would arrive via the ocean and bring with it a massive artificial tsunami that would blanket the coastal area in radioactive water. If the warhead is “salted” with the radioactive isotope Cobalt-60, as some have reported, a detonation could render contaminated areas uninhabitable by humans for an entire century.

“Kanyon is unique in every respect,” said Sutton. “There really is nothing like it in any navy’s inventory.”

- US Report Confirms Russia Is Developing the World’s Most Powerful Nuclear Weapon. The 100-megaton thermonuclear weapon isn't "fake news."

The latest nuclear weapons that China and Russia field are smarter, more technically advance, faster, and superior to their American counterparts in every way. — The latest nuclear weapons that China and Russia field are smarter, more technically advanced, faster, and superior to their American counterparts in every way.

I noted your comments on Professor Cohen’s latest on Ukraine posted to Unz.com on November 14th but his most recent video in PushBack from The Grayzone he said that in all the years he studied Russia and America he’d never thought the two nations would go to war.

Yet now he fears this possibility. I’d appreciate your thoughts.

America WILL NOT survive World War III, and it is foolish to believe that it will.

Willy Wimmer discussed on RT ‘We are on a path of war again’: 30 years after the Berlin Wall fell, Europe betrays its own hopes (By Willy Wimmer). He said:

It is a kind of Anglo-Saxon policy not to have cooperation on the  European continent – mainly between the Russians, the French, the Poles  and the Germans. They want to have a line of confrontation in this area  and therefore are against all promises. [As a result] NATO was extended  to the East.

I  was responsible for the organization of the German Armed Forces on the  German territory following reunification. 

We did not want foreign troops in former East Germany. 

We did not want to have British or French troops there; we wanted to have only German ones. 

We wanted to explain  to the world that there was no desire to enlarge NATO up to the new  borders with Russia that were created in 1992.

It was against all the ideas we had after reunification. 

What is happening now is some kind of Anglo-Saxon policy that was created even before WWI.  

We are on the path of war again. 

That is so much against the will of  our people.

What is happening now is some kind of Anglo-Saxon policy that was created even before WWI.

We are on the path of war again. — What is happening now is some kind of Anglo-Saxon policy that was created even before WWI. We are on the path of war again.

This is also against the will of the Dutch, the French, the Spanish and the  Italians. 

We see it as a disaster that a US president that is willing to  cooperate with the Russian President Vladimir Putin – President  [Donald] Trump – has to face such a disastrous policy organized by the  US deep state, which is against our national interests and the national  interests of all other western Europeans…

***

But,  when you now come to Rostock, Dresden or Leipzig they are learning  Russian again, they go to theaters to watch Russian performances and  listen to Russian music. 

They have re-established their links with  Russia, and if they could do what they want to do, they would be the big  economic partners of Russia these days.

Things  have really changed for the Russian Federation and with regard to  Russia. 

People in Dresden, Saxony’s capital, are absolutely proud that  Russian President Vladimir Putin once served there. 

That is the reality  these days, despite what the American mainstream media say.

Would Russia engage in tank battles and soldier-to-soldier combat if NATO attacked, or would they use stand-off weapons that you discuss just to obliterate command  and control centers, the sources of munitions, etc.? 

Mr. Wimmer clearly  sees that some Germans, as opposed to the “vassal” government, want better relations with Russia as opposed to war, including cold war.

Andrei Martyanov: The issue of TLAMs: in a conventional configuration, I don’t think that they can do much damage to Russia, especially considering Russia’s unique anti-air and anti-missile defense.

A few possible leakers in conventional configuration will not do much damage; a few leakers in a nuclear configuration, however, is a completely different game. Hence Russia’s worry about Aegis Ashore installations in Romania and Poland. That’s the main worry.

"Leakers" missile weapons systems that are able to bore through national defenses.

In a conventional scenario, Russia will not be overwhelmed and even conventional response-head on (otvetno-vstrechnyi) strike will be extremely damaging to NATO and the US.

That first strike (in Russian parlance, a retaliatory strike, or otvetno-vstrechnyi udar) follows Russia’s military doctrine, which mandates such strikes to compensate for Russia’s conventional inferiority vis-à-vis NATO and the United States. 

- Eastern European Missile Defense: Russia's Threat ...

Valeri Gerasimov was explicit couple of years ago in his interview about Russia having enough stand-off weapons at every strategic direction to provide a reliable deterrence.

Even in conventional exchange Russia can launch weapons at the US proper with Russian bombers not leaving Russia’s aerospace.

The X-101 cruise missile has a range in excess of 5,500 kilometers. Russia continues to increase her deterrence with 3M22 Zircon getting ready to be tested from Admiral Gorshkov frigate very soon, with Kazan SSGN of project 885 planned to launch the hyper-sonic Zircon from underwater early next year.

All this changes deterrence dynamics completely because the United States cannot defend her coasts and in depth against such systems.

In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, officers and soldiers of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy hold a welcome ceremony as a Russian naval ship arrives in port in Zhanjiang in southern China's Guangdong Province, Monday, Sept. 12, 2016 — In this photo released by China’s Xinhua News Agency, officers and soldiers of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy hold a welcome ceremony as a Russian naval ship arrives in port in Zhanjiang in southern China’s Guangdong Province, Monday, Sept. 12, 2016

Russia can intercept the bulk of US and NATO cruise missiles; the US cannot do so against Russia.

Yvonne Lorenzo: As I write this on December 3rd, 2019, Vesti News posted this video on the Zircon: Putin Unveils Zircon Hypersonic Missiles! Stresses Importance of Beefing Up Russia’s Navy!

Yvonne Lorenzo: Let me ask you about Colonel Douglas Macgregor. A recent piece for Strategic-Culture, Douglas Macgregor: America’s De Gaulle, Unheeded Prophet of Houthi Victory and Saudi Fall described him thus:

The brilliant Houthi military victory over the Saudis fulfilled the  predictions in military doctrine made by America’s own De Gaulle, a  retired US Army Colonel, Douglas Macgregor with an outstanding combat  and command record who has been treated over the past 20 years by most  of his own country’s four star generals and civilian theorists with  contempt: Just as the French Army ignored DeGaulle’s armored warfare  doctrines 90 years, when they were being read and applied passionately  by the generals of Germany.

Macgregor  observed after the Houthi victory in September that that there was no  reason for surprise. Sure enough, two and a half years earlier, in  testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) on March 7,  2017, he stated:

“The skies over the battlefield will be crowded with loitering munitions, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or drones). These agile cruise missiles are designed to engage beyond line-of-sight ground targets. With proximity-fused, high-explosive warheads, these systems will remain airborne for hours, day or night. Equipped with high resolution electro-optical and infrared cameras, enemy operators will locate, surveil, and guide the drones to targets on the ground… When these loitering missiles are integrated into the enemy’s Strike Formations armed with precision guided rocket artillery that fires high explosive, incendiary, thermobaric, warheads including sub-munitions with self-targeting anti-tank and anti-personnel munitions warfare as we know it changes.”

Macgregor  was even more prescient in predicting the previous Houthi precision  missile strikes that wiped out half the production capacity of Saudi  Arabia’s oil refineries earlier in September. 

Those attacks  humiliatingly exposed the ultra-expensive, endlessly praised US missile  defense systems sold to Riyadh as worthless dinosaurs.

Yet,  writing in his book “Transformation Under Fire” published back in 2003,  Macgregor had said: “The idea is to link maneuver and strike assets  through a flatter operational architecture empowered by new terrestrial  and space-based communications throughout the formation… Long-range,  joint precision fires and C4ISR [Command, Control, Communications,  Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance] offer the  possibility to reach over enemy armies to directly strike at what they  hope to defend or preserve. 

Precision strategic strikes closely  coordinated and timed with converging Army combat forces would present a  defending enemy with an insoluble dilemma.”

As you see, he’s retired and  never became a general. 

At least he appears to oppose war with Russia and Iran and China, from his appearances on Tucker Carlson that I’ve seen. Can you comment on the above piece and how Russia might respond if America used such techniques? It seems to me Russia would also be able  to implement such techniques.

Andrei Martyanov: Douglas Macgregor is a brilliant man but his testimony is about…

… fighting an enemy which does not posses C4ISR [Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance] capabilities comparable to that of the United States.

Russia does and we have to be very clear on that distinction.

Fighting a modern combined arms war against such opponents as North Korea or even Iran the United States will have massive leverage, at least initially, before boots get on the ground, in terms of stand-off operations.

Once boots hit the ground, well, then it will change. But fighting peers, such as China, let alone Russia—…

…I simply cannot see how the United States will stay away from escalation to a nuclear threshold, because the scale of losses will be catastrophic both in men and materiel.

 It’s EXTREMELY unlikely that the US can stop modern nuclear weapons from  Russia.  There is ZERO evidence that any of the US anti-missile  technologies would be sufficient to stop a MIRV warhead – let alone  multiple MIRV warheads – traveling at the speeds a modern missile can  achieve. In a war with Russia, literally hundreds if not thousands of  warheads would be heading towards the US. No missile defense system  known can handle that. 

- Richard Steven Hack on 09/19/2017 at 3:40 PM

In the end, Macgregor is on the record:

In 110 days of fighting the German army in France during 1918, the U.S.  Army Expeditionary Force sustained 318,000 casualties, including 110,000  killed in action. 

That’s the kind of lethality waiting for U.S. forces in a future war with real armies, air forces, air defenses and naval power.

Only… on American soil.

Ignoring  this reality is the road to future defeats and American decline. It’s  time to look beyond the stirring images of infantrymen storming  machine-gun nests created by Hollywood and to see war for what it is and  will be in the future: 

the ruthless extermination of the enemy with accurate, devastating firepower from the sea, from the air, from space  and from mobile, armored firepower on land.

The United Sates is not in a position to take this scale of losses, not to mention having its rear, from staffs to munition depots and airfields being under relentless and devastating fire impact from operational to a strategic depth—a condition the US Army simple has no experience with. 

As even RAND people admitted:

“We lose a lot of people. We lose a lot of equipment. We usually fail to achieve our objective of preventing aggression by the adversary,” RAND analyst David Ochmanek told a security conference on Thursday. “In our games, when we fight Russia and China, blue gets its ass handed to it.”

In war games with either Russia, China or both, almost always, the United States loses.

I’ve been writing about this for years.
 
It’s good that some people are beginning to get it. I hope—although I don’t hold my breath—their opinions will be heard at the political top.

Yvonne Lorenzo: Recent articles have posted on cooperation between Russia and China, not just the well know business deals but cultural and Chinese students coming to Russia. See these articles, “Top Russian nuclear university eyes future cooperation with China” and “Film about WWII sniper ‘Lady Death’ kicks off ‘2019 Russian Film Exhibition’ in Beijing” posted on China’s Global Times.

I’d appreciate your thoughts about the Russian-Chinese relationship/partnership.

Andrei Martyanov: The answer is extremely simple—Russian-Chinese cooperation is not only natural, but it was inevitable, considering the state of the combined West and, especially so, of the United States.

Yvonne Lorenzo: Andrei, you posted this on your blog on November 26th, 2019, “New S-400 Contract For Turkey?” which I want to discuss not only because of your observations, but because in the past (and I’m not picking on him) Paul Craig Roberts wrote in effect that Russia must be more aggressive with America to avoid a shooting war, quoting him, “The Russian government’s failure to stand up to Washington’s bullying guarantees more bullying. Sooner or later the bullying will cross a line, and Russia will have to fight.”

However, in this post of yours I cited above you commented:

So, [the] Turks are already running, it seems, detection routines with  F-16 and F-4 as targets. 

Turks will, already do, want more. 

The Turks  know what comes next, and it is S-500—they want it. 

The reason is  simple: look at [a] map of Turkey and see how much [of the] Eastern  Mediterranean she will be able to cover—pretty much all of it. Just in  case. 

And it is not just for reasons of Greece and gas fields, but for  reasons of Israel. The Turkish path towards a leadership in [the]  Islamic world lies through the fate of Palestine.

So,  a lot of thing are riding on those systems for Turkey and, just a  hunch, SU-35s will follow.

I’m surprised the Turks haven’t start testing against any F-35s, unless Turkey had to return them to America; 

I’d love  to see the reaction if they did, which so far has included this:  

“‘Erdogan thumbs his nose at Trump’: US senator says Turkey crossed  ‘another red line’ with S-400 test, calls for new sanctions.”

As you also wrote recently: “How about State Department creating a new Office of S-400 Weekly Complaints and Threats Towards Turkey (OSWCTTT). Should be a pretty nice sinecure for some bureaucrat. Should pay well too—rent and real estate prices inside the Beltway are atrocious. Foggy Bottom especially.”

And I see in the way they’ve turned Turkey away from American dominance, or Western dominance, that Russia’s diplomatic team, of course under the leadership of President Putin, have performed a Jujitsu move against the West more effective than using force.

Of course, the Turks are no angels as this article, “ISIS Captives Offer a Convenient Pawn in Turkey’s Syria Chess Game” by the respected Vanessa Beeley notes although I suspect they won’t turn on Russia.

What are your thoughts?

Andrei Martyanov: As a Russian proverb says: “Diplomacy is the art to say to your counterpart that he is an idiot in the politest manner.”

In reality, the Russian version is very profane, so I softened it a bit. Russians do not operate on the so called “values-based,” ideological that is, principle in foreign policy. Russians actually DO consider the other side’s interests and concerns and that is what makes Russian diplomacy so effective.

This, plus, of course, military power. As another Russian saying goes: “If you do not want to talk to Lavrov, you will talk to Shoigu.”

With Turkey, Russia does accommodate many Turkish interests; the Turks feel that.

This is as much as I can respond to, because I am not in the position to pass deep and knowledgeable judgment on Turkey’s policies since I do not know the region that well.

I am sure, however, that Turks have a very good idea about what Russia offers technologically and economically.

The Turkish officer crews for S-400 underwent an extensive training in Russia so they do not need any additional argumentation in favor of the system they were trained on.

The F-35 is irrelevant here, apart from the fact that Turks cannot use, I believe, from the top of my head, those two aircraft which they had and which will be returned to the US.

Yvonne Lorenzo: In this interview with John Pilger, “American Exceptionalism Driving World to War – John Pilger,” he discusses the risk of “hot war” instigated by America against Russia. Here’s an excerpt:

Question: You have worked for over five decades as a war reporter and  documentary film-maker in Vietnam, elsewhere in Asia, Africa and Latin  America. 

How do you see current international tensions between the US,  China and Russia? 

Do you think the danger of war is greater now than in  previous times?

John  Pilger: In 1962, we all may have been saved by the refusal of a Soviet  naval officer, Vasili Arkhipov, to fire a nuclear torpedo at US ships during the Cuban Missile Crisis. 

Are we in greater danger today? 

During  the Cold War, there were lines that the other side dared not cross.  

There are few if any lines now;

The US surrounds China with 400 military  bases and ...
...sails its low-draught ships into Chinese waters and...
...flies its drones in Chinese airspace. 

American-led NATO forces mass on the same Russian frontier the Nazis crossed...
...the Russian president is insulted as a matter of routine. 

There is no restraint and none of the diplomacy that kept the old Cold War cold. 

In the West, we have acquiesced as bystanders in our own countries, preferring to look away (or at our smart phones) rather than break free of the post-modernism entrapping us with its specious “identity” distractions.

Question:  You traveled extensively in the US during the Cold War years. You witnessed the assassination of presidential candidate Robert Kennedy in  1968. 

It seems the American Cold War obsession with “communism as an  evil” has been replaced by an equally intense Russophobia towards  modern-day Russia. 

Do you see a continuation in the phobia from the Cold  War years to today? What accounts for that mindset?

John  Pilger: The Russians refuse to bow down to America...
...and that is intolerable. 

They play an independent, mostly positive role in the  Middle East, the antithesis of America’s violent subversions...
...and that  is unbearable. 

Like the Chinese, they have forged peaceful and fruitful alliances with people all over the world...
...and that is unacceptable to the US Godfather. 

The constant defamation of all things Russian is a symptom of decline and panic...
...as if the United States has departed the  21st century for the 19th century...
...obsessed with a proprietorial view of the world. 

In the circumstances, the phobia you describe is hardly  surprising.

Andrei Martyanov: As in any event, war between Russia and the US is possible, but how probable it is, is a completely different matter. Some probability of Russia and the United States actually fighting each other certainly exists.

It is not very high, I think, but it does exist.

We all have to do our utmost to prevent this scenario becoming a reality.

Paradoxically, Russia’s very real military strength today is a guarantor or, at least, a robust deterrent against such a nightmarish scenario.

As I said, the US military does understand the implications, even when American politicians don’t.

I always repeat that I feel much better when Gerasimov and Milley talk to each other than when Lavrov is forced to explain basic things to Pompeo.

Yvonne Lorenzo: Hypersonic weapons, impressive as they are, rely on Newtonian physics. There was—to me—a term that you would call “Runglish”, Russian-English, discussing “New physical principles” which I finally understood to mean “new principles of physics” relating to the new Peresvet laser, which I think you’ve speculated on its purpose but is highly secret.

However, all this technology is used for military purposes; what I find it sad about deteriorating relations with Russia because the best of the West and Russia could accomplish a great deal sharing and developing non-military technology.

I’m reminded of this wonderful video of a Russia cosmonaut’s interactions with an American astronaut and seeing the world below they have disdain for politicians.

I Need More Space: Russian Cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin’s long road to the stars

What are your thoughts and how can Russians and American in this environment of “Russophobia” which is a polite, diplomatic word for hatred of Russians, cooperate as we two are doing now for peaceful and good purposes?

I worry both your doors and mine, for simply communicating with one another, will be kicked in one day by someone from the government, as happened with Max Blumenthal.

Can we both pessimistic and hopeful?

Andrei Martyanov: As I stated repeatedly, the combined West committed cultural suicide in Russia.

Yes, Russians are open to mutually beneficial cooperation, with space being one of those exhibit A cases where international cooperation manifests itself in the most profound and positive way.

Primary military targets that would be obliterated by first nuclear strikes.

Sadly, with the current US political “elites” who are Russophobic in the extreme, any prospects of serious Russian-American cooperation look very grim.

The world is in the process of unprecedented geopolitical realignment which increasingly degrades the position of the United States and Russia is at the center of this process.

The Obama Administration destroyed Russian-American relations totally and I don’t see any improvement, bar some symbolic gestures, such as, I hope, President Trump visiting Moscow on May 9th next year, because the American political class’s Russophobia is systemic and was nurtured for generations.

Plus, the United States is not an agreement-capable entity because it is ungovernable, as the last three years so dramatically demonstrated.

The first thirty cities to be attacked with nuclear weapons during a Russia or China first-strike event. Say, if America puts troops in the Ukraine, or conducts Naval operations near the Chinese coast.

Russia is aware of that—no agreement signed with the United States is worth the paper it is written on.

"... no agreement signed with the United States is  worth the paper it is written on." I think that China would agree.

We can only hope that things will change for the better in the future but this change may come only through the United States reassessing its role in history and the world…

…a process which may take decades, serious tribulations and, hopefully, emergence of new American elites that would be able to formulate real American national interests.

Nuclear Targets Map in the United States.

***

After I asked Andrei my last question, this Russian video posted on YouTube: so much for future cooperation between America and Russia in space, because of sanctions Americans cannot be carried to the space station by Russians any longer:

US Will Be Stranded On Earth! Baikonur Cosmodrome Sends Very Last American Into Space!

I’d like to thank Andrei for his kind answers to my questions and highly recommend his books and his writings on his blog and on Unz.com for those who wish to escape the Matrix and find a knowledgeable Russian perspective on events and military matters; Martyanov is the antidote to Tom Clancy disease.

Radioactive fallout map of America. Assuming a minor nuclear exchange using small, but accurate nuclear warheads.

I want to close by noting Andrei Martynov’s recent blog post “Ishenko Delivers” that referenced an article by Rostislav Ishenko entitled “In Bulgaria, a Russian Soldier” the title itself a reference to the song “Alyosha,” which I am familiar with from the album Wait for Me by the late exceptional baritone Dimitri Hvorsostovky. The below passage Ishenko wrote is moving, as is the song.

It was 1970. I was five years old. 

I came to visit my grandmother. To  the White Church. Near Kiev. 

My grandmother is from the Urals. 

My  grandfather (on my father’s side) started the war near Stalingrad, and  ended on the Dnieper (six wounds, four of them heavy, two shell shocks,  medals “For Military Merit” and “For Courage,” the Order of the “Red  Star” and “World War II” degrees). 

The commander of a machine gun  company. He fought for an incomplete year. From October 1943 he was no  longer sent to the front (and his division arrived near Stalingrad in  November 1942). 

He died (in 1956) at 36 years old, from the consequences  of a concussion (as a young major, in a colonel’s position).

In  1970, I was five years old (to be exact, then four and a half).  

Grandmother was a teacher of French. At the same time and a class  teacher. I came to visit her. Contrary to usual, I didn’t go straight  home, but (for some reason unknown to me) I went to the school where she  taught. 

I think that she needed to complete the work with the class,  and the school was five to seven minutes’ walk from home. 

Here I am, as a  future student, and they brought me to see how the children learn.

For  about fifteen minutes I studied desks in an empty classroom (which at  that time did not differ from the gymnasium at the beginning of the  century) and read what was written on the board. 

And then she went with  her grandmother to the porch of the school, where her class (and other  classes) performed. 

Now I don’t remember what the holiday was, but I  suspect it is May 9th. Because I went out onto the porch (they rather  took me out, I was too small to go out myself), just as the girls from  my grandmother’s class (8–10, already without pioneer ties and, as for  me, adult aunts) sang “Alyosha.” 

I haven’t heard the song so often since  then, but I remember it well, because, in the words, “He doesn’t give  flowers to girls, they give him flowers,” the entire female team of the  school, which was standing next to me, wept.

It  was the 70th year. 

My grandmother was 48 years old. 

Exactly at that age  (in 2014) I left Kiev. 

The city where four generations of my ancestors  lived, in which my mother survived the occupation (and met the Red Army  at the age of three), became not just a stranger, but a hostile one. 

I  can be forced to return there, but I cannot be persuaded or persuaded to  do so voluntarily. 

It’s like in a war. 

All who survived and won are  proud of the Victory, and while their fellow soldiers were alive, they  met and remembered the days of old. 

But they themselves did not dream of  returning to the dugout under shelling, nor did they want to experience  the “pleasure” of the attack (to their full height on the prepared  defense) for their children.

Russians have in their collective memory the trauma of a war that killed millions, a subject Martyanov has discussed in depth especially in his first book;

…in that respect, they are different from Americans and I question the sanity of the rulers…

…especially the feckless political class…

…of the West who make the Russians foes.

Launch of American ICBM's from the underground silos. — Launch of American ICBM’s from the underground silos.

Perhaps only the people of the two nations—if they are enough in number in America—can prevent war from coming, because I am uncertain if the American military can reign in the powers that control them.

Or perhaps it is the fate for Russia to humble America, the way she did Nazi Germany, not necessarily by military might—at least I pray.

I suspect the process has started already.

Sadly, we know which side is most at fault for this deterioration of relations between our nations.

Reminders… China.

China and Russia will mutually work together militarily to counter American aggression.

As a history buff I must point out that ALL Major Wars started from  misconceptions (they enemy is weak, cannot hit the broad side of the  barn etc) AND starred new disruptive weapons (the Machine Gun in WW1 vs  Calvary/Infantry charges, Aircraft carrier in WW2 vs the MIGHTY  Battleship).  

Will WW3 find the USA under EMP?  Will Russian and Chinese high tech  ECM systems shut off our High Tech Weapons? Ask the commanders of the  two recent US Navy collisions if they think ECM jammed their Command and  Control Systems.  Both of the Ships were very high tech Aegis Warships,  yet were rammed by slow moving clumsy Cargo Ships. 

Will we get our  heads handed to us like the Germans?  

You know that in both world wars the Germans did not expect to lose you know.

Prepare for bad times my friends the petrodollar is almost done. The cost of everything is about to rise quickly.
  
 -NH Michael

Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged Russia to strengthen bilateral comprehensive cooperation and mutual political support during a meeting with President Vladimir Putin at the G20 Summit in Hangzhou. This action has prompted political analyst Rostislav Ishchenko to assert that both countries are moving towards a political and military alliance.

"De  facto a political and military alliance between Russia and China has  existed for a long time and it is not a secret to anyone. Rumors have repeatedly surfaced that it could be  formalized. But at the recent G20 summit the Chinese leader has for the  first time mentioned the need to 'formalize relations' as openly  as Chinese political and diplomatic traditions permit."

- Ishchenko,  head of the Center for Systems Analysis and Forecasting, wrote  for RIA Novosti.

Xi Jinping said that both countries should support each other in their efforts to protect national sovereignty and security. The Chinese president added that both nations should step up cooperation in such areas as infrastructure development, energy, aviation, aerospace and cutting-edge technology.

In addition, Russia and China should foster bilateral military exchanges and security cooperation.

Reminders… American Mainstream media

The US is likely to provoke a major war, partly in an attempt to unite a  culturally divided country. But not just a sport war such as we’ve had  in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan. Probably with China, possibly Russia or  Iran. Perhaps with all three. The US won’t do well, since it will find  that its aircraft carriers, F-35s, and the like are equivalent to  cavalry before WW1 and battleships before WW2. 

- Doug Casey’s Top 7 Predictions for the 2020s

Americans, all jazzed up with the mainstream media news, and the mainstream pro-military movies, and a neocon government, is all but “chomping at the bit” to fight and (of course) win a war with either, Russia or China or both…

Lord help us all.

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just clean up the mess and get on with life Yes. I love it. Great. -MM

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