Today’s Simplicius article focused on Zelensky’s dilemma to lower the draft age to satisfy the blood-hungry Outlaw US Empire politicos who demand such an act in exchange for more weapons that don’t work, thus making clearer than ever their policy of fighting Russia to the last Ukrainian.
Time to roll out a Zappa quote “The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it’s profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theater.”
Zappa and Carlin were several of a rather large group of very perceptive people from 1960s-early1990s. Millions laughed at themselves while Carlin told them unmentionable truths, and Zappa's unconventional rock made those who listened think. Then came computers and everything that was learned was forgotten.
DARPA's child, the internet posed as a source of communication and liberation. I remember reading Stewart Brand's "The Media Lab" which sparked my interest in a second career in IT. And then the Empire struck back. What was it, "Don't be Evil", well Eric Schmidt got his call, went to Bilderberg and the pattern of control became clearer. It's return on venture capital and all the attached strings. I expect that shortly the whole internet will be an unusable panopticon.
“The whole internet will be an unusable panopticon” our dissolute future exemplified in the total commodification of the commons and the internet is written here! Unwitting participants in a virtual marketplace people sold as serfs to the highest bidder techno feudalism has arrived wielding the ultimate force majeure excommunication from meta-land its sins and pleasures! Alternative media will be driven to the sour infertile borderlands where it is predicted to wither and die and control of the information real estate is absolute. Resistance cannot wait it must be now!!
Very good article Karl and much appreciated. But a quibble, it is Jeremy Corbyn and Julian Assange. I agree that Assange was lucky to survive his special treatment. The rule of law is now meaningless in the West.
I would ask why the Soviet Union is considered an empire and its Cold War satellites as colonies, as in "Many are thinking that they didn't get freed from Soviet Colonialism to become serfs to US Colonialism." After the Red Army conquered all the way to Berlin, the conquered countries were left pretty much bereft. The Soviets installed governments from local people—communists. But, these satellites were costly economically and politically. Thus, instead of the periphery feeding the center, the center fed the periphery. This does not indicate empire, and not productive colonialism. Please explain what I miss.
In WW2, almost all the nations in Europe fought for the Nazis against the USSR—those nations were defeated, not liberated as Soviet forces moved Westward. In other words, those nations were not liberated. They were occupied, had a completely different political-economic system forced upon them, and were denazified to a certain extent. Stalin opted to rebuild USSR before the conquered lands and used their resources to do so as best he could. East Berlin went many years before any rebuilding began.
The key historical fact that’s missing from most Western WW2 histories is almost all of Europe fought for the Nazis, and the British opted to not enter into a defensive pact with USSR, which forced Stalin’s hand to make a deal with Hitler. So, while they became allies, British pre- and post-war behavior proves very well they were as anti-Soviet as Hitler. Operation Unthinkable is proof.
So, yes, there was the Great Russian Empire that lasted until 1917, which was replaced by the Soviet Union. Then you had the Soviet Empire that lasted from 1945-1989/90-91, which included all the Central and Eastern European colonies of conquered nations. Notably, Yugoslavia wasn’t, although it was its own little empire since it also contained Hitler allies. Today’s NATO contains all the nations that allied with Hitler plus a few more and it attacked one of the few anti-Hitler European nations—Serbia—as soon as it could once the USSR collapsed, which sent a very strong signal to those Russians who were watching—not Yeltsin.
Yes, yes! This is exactly what I have been thinking about Syria’s rapid collapse: “ virtually even Empire, large and small, has imploded from the inside due to domestic contradictions and corruption. while external forces played a role but weren’t primary.” I remember well the end of South Vietnam, people clinging to the landing skids of helicopters lifting from the U.S. embassy roof—and scenes from Afghanistan all too similar. Really not that shocking when one considers Syrian generals have been receiving $45 per month for years in comparison to the reportedly $2000 per month the average jihadi soldier has been receiving in Iblid. I believe seemingly sudden emergent change of all kinds usually is predominantly due to internal, rather than external factors [planetary asteroid strikes being an exception]. The worsening social and economic rot within the US is apparent to those who look, though many in the US will be shocked when precipitous decline emerges here—as you predict.
That's an incredible comment and analysis! I'm Dutch and I loathe Rutte aka Rotten Rutte. Rotten to the core, a more stupid, idiotic spokesperson would be hard to find. Completely bought and paid for by his masters. Actually all these titles, "Secretary General", "Vice-president of European Commission" (Kallas) are simply PR people for the MICIMATT. All it is; humongous money laundering for Raytheon, Lockheed Martin etc. They don't care about half a million dead Ukies or 200,000 dead Palestinians, and even more disabilities, as long as the money keeps flowing. Let's call war, coups and foreign policy for what it is: money laundering. Btw Karl, I send you a message through Substack. Keep up the great work, thank you for your outstanding analysis.
'Internal implosion' - [if, and ] when, the Dollar Financial System (the quicksand on which Neoliberalism stands) collapses - this event will send a tsunami of economic shock waves throughout the rest of the world. This global situation will be truly chaotic -apocalyptic even.
To quote Mao - 'There is great disorder under Heaven; the situation is excellent'.
The 'great war for civilization', following Hudson, is well and truly under way - supported by any perusal of the present situation.
For a Eurasian "Civilization" to emerge then The US Empire will, somehow and including the possibility of military means, be removed [or simply leave] from West, South West (ME), and East Asia.
I wish I had your strong faith in 'solidarity' [which has been weakened by the radical individualism propagated in education and media in the West for decades] as a key driver of such change.
The solidarity is visible in those orgs and their members. Putin’s comments at the AI conference after the Indian tech spoke are visible signs of that, and there’re many more. But that’s all outside the G-7 Scrambled Brain region.
Point taken. Pardon my ethnocentric focus on 'The West' - well the part with which I'm most familiar - Western Europe.
I also have both living and working experience in both the 'Arab World' and in Africa - both of which remain largely under colonial, neo-colonial or hegemonic jackboots.
all the theories about this 'great war for civilization' are theoretical. Books, articles, interviews and YT video lectures by self-anointed pundits and experts are not reality. Rule #1 is keeping feet firmly planted on the ground.
Dreams and ambitions are vital for progress, but they must be tempered with a firm grasp of reality. As the old saying goes, 'Keep your feet on the ground, but let your heart soar high.' It reminds us that while imagination fuels vision, true success comes from practical steps and acknowledging the world as it is—not as we wish it to be. Grounded realism ensures we build something lasting, instead of chasing illusions that crumble when faced with life's challenges.
Yes, but the reality is that sociopolitical realities are a form of collective dream. Shared aspirations expressed in words like Russia, China, America etc are collective dream-like notions. When the collective quotient fractures into disparate pieces, then things devolve until a collective dream shared by all arises again.
In short, your world as-it-is is dreamed up so most objectivists are as deluded as the idealists they deplore!
I could not understand how people were blind to an exchange of one imposition of power with another (and there is always a space to argue that serfdom is worse) — “Many are thinking that they didn't get freed from Soviet Colonialism to become serfs to US Colonialism”. The problem is what ‘people’ stands for….because, surely, elites are feeling exempt from it. There is a long way to go….
IMO, the term “elite” is very wrong, for they are not elite when it comes to anything except perhaps corruption and crime. There needs to be a better descriptive term as I just mused about in a comment at MoA. Parasites. Veblen’s Leisure Class is another that IMO falls short. Might need to coin a new word.
Yes, the term exists, but I was talking not only about those who are plundering societies resources, but also those who are beneficiaries of this system. I suppose we used to call them bourgeoisie.
Even the lower classes benefited from Imperialism. Wolff points out how that becomes a problem when Empire declines as vertical mobility is curtailed during the deindustrialization process and service jobs replace factory jobs. Billy Joel's "Allentown" in 1978 speaks to that, and now we're over two generations later. If you read my Government Meeting report, you'll see where the opportunities are, and not just in Russia.
There are the owners and then there are enablers. Law firms, and accounting consultancies prepare legislation which gets passed into the bureaucracy for processing into the legislature. Then there are all the think tanks, academics, the media, and "entertainment" industry. Then there is what is quaintly termed "small business", readily identifiable as they don't get bailouts or corporate welfare.
Yes, elite is not the right word, but neither is it that simple that they are our 'enemy'. As you say, even the 'lower' classes benefit from Imperialism. Do we blame just the CEOs or is everyone who's made a great living out of, eg, BAE Systems, animal testing, 'cures' where preventions are known (most things) and access to First Nations land and resources etc etc. It's hard to revolt when we've done so well out of the neocolonial patriarchal project.
Having to physically go to war might cause a revolution in Northern Europeans and the British I should imagine. Though I could be wrong. The US might not be able to fight a war themselves, but they excel at propaganda and emotional blackmail.
Progressive historian William Appleman Williams wrote about Empire as a Way of Life, a theme that's present in many other historians's writings given the general public is mostly unaware of what they're supporting. In the late 1950s into the early 1970s, there appeared to be a rise in the realization of what the public were accomplices to, but that diminished when Vietnam was exited and was never rekindled. Defeat in Ukriane might help a ressurection of that reality.
I hope so, though the US leaving Afghanistan didn’t do much to dent the Empire’s PR. Ukraine has all but been forgotten because of Gaza. The pro-Palestinian protests have been pretty strong and consistent even among the anti-Putinestas. People are seeing right through the pro-Israel media. I think the arrogance and violence of the IDF will do more to create anti-Imperialist revolt than the devastation of thousands of Ukrainians.
West Asian crises has existed far longer than Russia’s SMO, which is one reason, plus NATO’s clearly losing, which is a very hard fact to erase. The West Asian land bridge has been a site of conflict for many thousands of years. It’s possible this overall event will be the last upheaval as the Zionists are essentially the last nomadic people.
All this is true, though it’s a question of perception. You may say NATO losing is clear, but just like the persecution by Ukrainian neonazis of the Donbass people, which was even reported in the Daily Metro, things can go into the memory hole and disappear literally overnight.
When the SMO is over presumably the sanctions on Russia and destruction of the German economy by the US will continue? Perhaps there will be even more anti-Russian propaganda and a bigger effort to ‘free’ the EU of dependence on Russian gas- such as through a pipeline from Egypt and Qatar through Syria?
The reporting of the genocide on tiktok and the support for Palestinians is very strong. However, the Empire wouldn’t care if they had to throw Israel under the bus if it could first grab the gas off the coast of Gaza and build this pipeline (which would help for a while but is small compared to Russia’s gas resources)
Empires die when people stop believing in them - not just ideology but simply the Empire's ability to do anything for them, or indeed against them.
At which point people cast around for new relationships, as they did with the Goths in France, Spain and Italy in the fifth century, as the western empire's power to convince waned.
It's this catastrophic failure of belief that ends empires.
US' Cold War draft, which populated the war in Vietnam (because nationalizing the guard as in WW II and Korea was unpolitic) draft us at 19 years old. Because of that no one in USA understands starting at 25!!
Bloody war needs youths who can not conceive that they can die!
Syria: Assad lacked anything like Saddam's Republican Guards, Sadr's militias in Iraq and the IRGC (etc.) in Iran. Assad made a lot of mistakes and it seems Iran at least tried to warm him.
I suspect the Iraqi and Iranian Shi'a militias are building up and tightening security. Last Sunday shows the Sunni radicles (Wahhabi, Salafis, whatever) are working for the US.
Sunday also shows the quid pro quo for cease fire in Ukraine is withdrawal of all NATO assets bigger than 5,56 NATO ball!
So interesting that health care cost is 20% of US GDP. The Imperialist big pharma/animal ag/agrochemical model keeps the population fat, sick and on drugs. It's going really well! Trouble is all these sick people aren't so productive and soon the US will not be able to maintain the burden of vaccine and pesticide induced autism or animal fat, junk food and loneliness induced alzheimers, Parkinson's, obesity and CVD or antibiotic induced 'autoimmune' diseases. Big pharma and her biggest client, big animal ag's greed is eating itself.
Compliments on the article - very succinct. I agree particularly about your description of the so-called 'Thatcher revolution' as the first stage of Britain's sell-off of the post war Welfare State, which New Labour completed. Thanks for the three links as well.
Pity about the Middle Earth spammer though - I had hoped it had given up it's pointless intellectual hubris.
What I have read sofar depicts a grim picture of the future. At the same time, we can’t continue with the situation that the west is also a parasite to the rest of the world, able to weaken the global south for a long time where many died and a multitude suffered. So I probably am selfish when I say grim as I do fear the future of Europe.
The future is what the present and previous two generations are able to make of it—those 45-50 and younger. Of course, they need to become very well informed, and that’s where the problem arises for the West and all info sources are closely controlled except for a few outliers. The Global majority have different info sources emanating from BRICS/SCO sources that are far better. I provide reports on what’s happening in Russia and elsewhere so those who happen upon the Gym can so how open and freewheeling it is, which is contrary to the BigLie Narrative. But the Gym only touches a few thousand lives whereas it m\needs to be read by millions.
I gave you a like. The second paragraph is a lie. The Zionists ate supplied with all the means they require—they don’t do it themselves whatsoever. No credibility after that false premise. But what that lie does prove is the Zionists are a tool of the Outlaw US Empire, not its master as too many believe.
Time to roll out a Zappa quote “The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it’s profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theater.”
Zappa and Carlin were several of a rather large group of very perceptive people from 1960s-early1990s. Millions laughed at themselves while Carlin told them unmentionable truths, and Zappa's unconventional rock made those who listened think. Then came computers and everything that was learned was forgotten.
DARPA's child, the internet posed as a source of communication and liberation. I remember reading Stewart Brand's "The Media Lab" which sparked my interest in a second career in IT. And then the Empire struck back. What was it, "Don't be Evil", well Eric Schmidt got his call, went to Bilderberg and the pattern of control became clearer. It's return on venture capital and all the attached strings. I expect that shortly the whole internet will be an unusable panopticon.
“The whole internet will be an unusable panopticon” our dissolute future exemplified in the total commodification of the commons and the internet is written here! Unwitting participants in a virtual marketplace people sold as serfs to the highest bidder techno feudalism has arrived wielding the ultimate force majeure excommunication from meta-land its sins and pleasures! Alternative media will be driven to the sour infertile borderlands where it is predicted to wither and die and control of the information real estate is absolute. Resistance cannot wait it must be now!!
And then there was matrix.
Yes, AI can easily be used as a Big Brother tool, and we know the Outlaw uS Empire will use it in that manner and worse.
Should have mentioned the excellent Carlin "Big Club".
Zappa!! How 'bou Country Joe and the Fish!
This was for all us 10 year olds in 1969 USA!
https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?q=country+joe+and+the+fish+vietnam+song&mid=0E2EA3F9BFED54D3E7FD0E2EA3F9BFED54D3E7FD&mcid=5B3AC06E81004E10B640295FAF36CE96&FORM=VIRE
That should be 19 year olds!
Those three dots by your post - they allow you to edit it directly.
Very good article Karl and much appreciated. But a quibble, it is Jeremy Corbyn and Julian Assange. I agree that Assange was lucky to survive his special treatment. The rule of law is now meaningless in the West.
Thanks for pointing those typos out. I've now edited and corrected them.
"Killing the Host" sums up the problem in 3 words.
Have you read it?
Not yet, I just ordered it from Amazon.
I would ask why the Soviet Union is considered an empire and its Cold War satellites as colonies, as in "Many are thinking that they didn't get freed from Soviet Colonialism to become serfs to US Colonialism." After the Red Army conquered all the way to Berlin, the conquered countries were left pretty much bereft. The Soviets installed governments from local people—communists. But, these satellites were costly economically and politically. Thus, instead of the periphery feeding the center, the center fed the periphery. This does not indicate empire, and not productive colonialism. Please explain what I miss.
In WW2, almost all the nations in Europe fought for the Nazis against the USSR—those nations were defeated, not liberated as Soviet forces moved Westward. In other words, those nations were not liberated. They were occupied, had a completely different political-economic system forced upon them, and were denazified to a certain extent. Stalin opted to rebuild USSR before the conquered lands and used their resources to do so as best he could. East Berlin went many years before any rebuilding began.
The key historical fact that’s missing from most Western WW2 histories is almost all of Europe fought for the Nazis, and the British opted to not enter into a defensive pact with USSR, which forced Stalin’s hand to make a deal with Hitler. So, while they became allies, British pre- and post-war behavior proves very well they were as anti-Soviet as Hitler. Operation Unthinkable is proof.
So, yes, there was the Great Russian Empire that lasted until 1917, which was replaced by the Soviet Union. Then you had the Soviet Empire that lasted from 1945-1989/90-91, which included all the Central and Eastern European colonies of conquered nations. Notably, Yugoslavia wasn’t, although it was its own little empire since it also contained Hitler allies. Today’s NATO contains all the nations that allied with Hitler plus a few more and it attacked one of the few anti-Hitler European nations—Serbia—as soon as it could once the USSR collapsed, which sent a very strong signal to those Russians who were watching—not Yeltsin.
Yes, yes! This is exactly what I have been thinking about Syria’s rapid collapse: “ virtually even Empire, large and small, has imploded from the inside due to domestic contradictions and corruption. while external forces played a role but weren’t primary.” I remember well the end of South Vietnam, people clinging to the landing skids of helicopters lifting from the U.S. embassy roof—and scenes from Afghanistan all too similar. Really not that shocking when one considers Syrian generals have been receiving $45 per month for years in comparison to the reportedly $2000 per month the average jihadi soldier has been receiving in Iblid. I believe seemingly sudden emergent change of all kinds usually is predominantly due to internal, rather than external factors [planetary asteroid strikes being an exception]. The worsening social and economic rot within the US is apparent to those who look, though many in the US will be shocked when precipitous decline emerges here—as you predict.
That's an incredible comment and analysis! I'm Dutch and I loathe Rutte aka Rotten Rutte. Rotten to the core, a more stupid, idiotic spokesperson would be hard to find. Completely bought and paid for by his masters. Actually all these titles, "Secretary General", "Vice-president of European Commission" (Kallas) are simply PR people for the MICIMATT. All it is; humongous money laundering for Raytheon, Lockheed Martin etc. They don't care about half a million dead Ukies or 200,000 dead Palestinians, and even more disabilities, as long as the money keeps flowing. Let's call war, coups and foreign policy for what it is: money laundering. Btw Karl, I send you a message through Substack. Keep up the great work, thank you for your outstanding analysis.
'Internal implosion' - [if, and ] when, the Dollar Financial System (the quicksand on which Neoliberalism stands) collapses - this event will send a tsunami of economic shock waves throughout the rest of the world. This global situation will be truly chaotic -apocalyptic even.
To quote Mao - 'There is great disorder under Heaven; the situation is excellent'.
The 'great war for civilization', following Hudson, is well and truly under way - supported by any perusal of the present situation.
For a Eurasian "Civilization" to emerge then The US Empire will, somehow and including the possibility of military means, be removed [or simply leave] from West, South West (ME), and East Asia.
I wish I had your strong faith in 'solidarity' [which has been weakened by the radical individualism propagated in education and media in the West for decades] as a key driver of such change.
Keep up the good work Karl.
The solidarity is visible in those orgs and their members. Putin’s comments at the AI conference after the Indian tech spoke are visible signs of that, and there’re many more. But that’s all outside the G-7 Scrambled Brain region.
Point taken. Pardon my ethnocentric focus on 'The West' - well the part with which I'm most familiar - Western Europe.
I also have both living and working experience in both the 'Arab World' and in Africa - both of which remain largely under colonial, neo-colonial or hegemonic jackboots.
Hope for Civilization remains Eurasian IMHO.
all the theories about this 'great war for civilization' are theoretical. Books, articles, interviews and YT video lectures by self-anointed pundits and experts are not reality. Rule #1 is keeping feet firmly planted on the ground.
Dreams and ambitions are vital for progress, but they must be tempered with a firm grasp of reality. As the old saying goes, 'Keep your feet on the ground, but let your heart soar high.' It reminds us that while imagination fuels vision, true success comes from practical steps and acknowledging the world as it is—not as we wish it to be. Grounded realism ensures we build something lasting, instead of chasing illusions that crumble when faced with life's challenges.
As my dad would say, hope for the best but prepare for the worst.
Yes, but the reality is that sociopolitical realities are a form of collective dream. Shared aspirations expressed in words like Russia, China, America etc are collective dream-like notions. When the collective quotient fractures into disparate pieces, then things devolve until a collective dream shared by all arises again.
In short, your world as-it-is is dreamed up so most objectivists are as deluded as the idealists they deplore!
A salutatory piece, Karl. Yes, much appreciated!
I could not understand how people were blind to an exchange of one imposition of power with another (and there is always a space to argue that serfdom is worse) — “Many are thinking that they didn't get freed from Soviet Colonialism to become serfs to US Colonialism”. The problem is what ‘people’ stands for….because, surely, elites are feeling exempt from it. There is a long way to go….
IMO, the term “elite” is very wrong, for they are not elite when it comes to anything except perhaps corruption and crime. There needs to be a better descriptive term as I just mused about in a comment at MoA. Parasites. Veblen’s Leisure Class is another that IMO falls short. Might need to coin a new word.
The word already exists - Robber Barons.
Yes, the term exists, but I was talking not only about those who are plundering societies resources, but also those who are beneficiaries of this system. I suppose we used to call them bourgeoisie.
Even the lower classes benefited from Imperialism. Wolff points out how that becomes a problem when Empire declines as vertical mobility is curtailed during the deindustrialization process and service jobs replace factory jobs. Billy Joel's "Allentown" in 1978 speaks to that, and now we're over two generations later. If you read my Government Meeting report, you'll see where the opportunities are, and not just in Russia.
There are the owners and then there are enablers. Law firms, and accounting consultancies prepare legislation which gets passed into the bureaucracy for processing into the legislature. Then there are all the think tanks, academics, the media, and "entertainment" industry. Then there is what is quaintly termed "small business", readily identifiable as they don't get bailouts or corporate welfare.
Yes, elite is not the right word, but neither is it that simple that they are our 'enemy'. As you say, even the 'lower' classes benefit from Imperialism. Do we blame just the CEOs or is everyone who's made a great living out of, eg, BAE Systems, animal testing, 'cures' where preventions are known (most things) and access to First Nations land and resources etc etc. It's hard to revolt when we've done so well out of the neocolonial patriarchal project.
Having to physically go to war might cause a revolution in Northern Europeans and the British I should imagine. Though I could be wrong. The US might not be able to fight a war themselves, but they excel at propaganda and emotional blackmail.
Progressive historian William Appleman Williams wrote about Empire as a Way of Life, a theme that's present in many other historians's writings given the general public is mostly unaware of what they're supporting. In the late 1950s into the early 1970s, there appeared to be a rise in the realization of what the public were accomplices to, but that diminished when Vietnam was exited and was never rekindled. Defeat in Ukriane might help a ressurection of that reality.
I hope so, though the US leaving Afghanistan didn’t do much to dent the Empire’s PR. Ukraine has all but been forgotten because of Gaza. The pro-Palestinian protests have been pretty strong and consistent even among the anti-Putinestas. People are seeing right through the pro-Israel media. I think the arrogance and violence of the IDF will do more to create anti-Imperialist revolt than the devastation of thousands of Ukrainians.
West Asian crises has existed far longer than Russia’s SMO, which is one reason, plus NATO’s clearly losing, which is a very hard fact to erase. The West Asian land bridge has been a site of conflict for many thousands of years. It’s possible this overall event will be the last upheaval as the Zionists are essentially the last nomadic people.
All this is true, though it’s a question of perception. You may say NATO losing is clear, but just like the persecution by Ukrainian neonazis of the Donbass people, which was even reported in the Daily Metro, things can go into the memory hole and disappear literally overnight.
When the SMO is over presumably the sanctions on Russia and destruction of the German economy by the US will continue? Perhaps there will be even more anti-Russian propaganda and a bigger effort to ‘free’ the EU of dependence on Russian gas- such as through a pipeline from Egypt and Qatar through Syria?
The reporting of the genocide on tiktok and the support for Palestinians is very strong. However, the Empire wouldn’t care if they had to throw Israel under the bus if it could first grab the gas off the coast of Gaza and build this pipeline (which would help for a while but is small compared to Russia’s gas resources)
Empires die when people stop believing in them - not just ideology but simply the Empire's ability to do anything for them, or indeed against them.
At which point people cast around for new relationships, as they did with the Goths in France, Spain and Italy in the fifth century, as the western empire's power to convince waned.
It's this catastrophic failure of belief that ends empires.
US' Cold War draft, which populated the war in Vietnam (because nationalizing the guard as in WW II and Korea was unpolitic) draft us at 19 years old. Because of that no one in USA understands starting at 25!!
Bloody war needs youths who can not conceive that they can die!
Syria: Assad lacked anything like Saddam's Republican Guards, Sadr's militias in Iraq and the IRGC (etc.) in Iran. Assad made a lot of mistakes and it seems Iran at least tried to warm him.
I suspect the Iraqi and Iranian Shi'a militias are building up and tightening security. Last Sunday shows the Sunni radicles (Wahhabi, Salafis, whatever) are working for the US.
Sunday also shows the quid pro quo for cease fire in Ukraine is withdrawal of all NATO assets bigger than 5,56 NATO ball!
The chance of nuclear war before Jan 21 is.....??
Nil, IMO.
I pray a lot!
So interesting that health care cost is 20% of US GDP. The Imperialist big pharma/animal ag/agrochemical model keeps the population fat, sick and on drugs. It's going really well! Trouble is all these sick people aren't so productive and soon the US will not be able to maintain the burden of vaccine and pesticide induced autism or animal fat, junk food and loneliness induced alzheimers, Parkinson's, obesity and CVD or antibiotic induced 'autoimmune' diseases. Big pharma and her biggest client, big animal ag's greed is eating itself.
Yes, it’s killing the host as Hudson termed it. Note how Russian state policy is the polar opposite.
Compliments on the article - very succinct. I agree particularly about your description of the so-called 'Thatcher revolution' as the first stage of Britain's sell-off of the post war Welfare State, which New Labour completed. Thanks for the three links as well.
Pity about the Middle Earth spammer though - I had hoped it had given up it's pointless intellectual hubris.
What I have read sofar depicts a grim picture of the future. At the same time, we can’t continue with the situation that the west is also a parasite to the rest of the world, able to weaken the global south for a long time where many died and a multitude suffered. So I probably am selfish when I say grim as I do fear the future of Europe.
The future is what the present and previous two generations are able to make of it—those 45-50 and younger. Of course, they need to become very well informed, and that’s where the problem arises for the West and all info sources are closely controlled except for a few outliers. The Global majority have different info sources emanating from BRICS/SCO sources that are far better. I provide reports on what’s happening in Russia and elsewhere so those who happen upon the Gym can so how open and freewheeling it is, which is contrary to the BigLie Narrative. But the Gym only touches a few thousand lives whereas it m\needs to be read by millions.
In other words what you are saying is the same as the US Declaration of Independence said.
Close. Update the language and it could be used today, which is something I said 40+ years ago.
https://open.substack.com/pub/bmanalysis/p/israel-and-the-fall-of-syria-and?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=16u68
Check out this analysis, Karl. Id like to hear your thoughts on it. You can see mine in his comments section.
I gave you a like. The second paragraph is a lie. The Zionists ate supplied with all the means they require—they don’t do it themselves whatsoever. No credibility after that false premise. But what that lie does prove is the Zionists are a tool of the Outlaw US Empire, not its master as too many believe.
The AIPAC lobby is the laundry spin dryer for the deep state apparatus; it takes the money and it recirculates as donations.