So much food for thought in this. First, the 1970s and 1980s also saw the rise of the neocons who invaded and eventually took over the space then occupied by traditional conservatives. Although I think this piece - https://www.unz.com/runz/the-neocons-and-their-rise-to-power/ - gives too much of a pass to Cheney and Rumsfeld, it's probably an accurate depiction otherwise: "By 2000, the Neocons had gained almost total control of all the major conservative/Republican media outlets and the foreign policy wings of nearly all the similarly aligned thinktanks in DC, successfully purging most of their traditional opponents. So although Cheney and Rumsfeld were not themselves Neocons, they were swimming in a Neocon sea, with a very large fraction of all the information they received coming from such sources and with their top aides such as “Scooter” Libby, Paul Wolfowitz, and Douglas Feith being Neocons.."
"Furthermore the political circumstances of the 9/11 Attacks and the Iraq War that soon followed provided the Neocons an opportunity to purge all their critics, conservative and liberal alike, from the mainstream media:"
"After having controlled American foreign policy for more than three decades, promoting their allies and protégés and purging their opponents, the adherents of that world view now constitute nearly the entire political establishment, including control of the leading thinktanks and publications. By now, I doubt there are many prominent figures in either party who follow a sharply different line. Furthermore, over the last two decades, the national security-focused Neocons have largely merged with the economically-focused neoliberals, forming a unified ideological block that represents the political worldview of the elites running both American parties."
"Also around that time [ late 1960s and the 1970s], Commentary magazine, edited by Norman Podhoretz and based in the same city, moved in a similar direction, replacing its enthusiasm for the radical New Left with sharp criticism, and becoming the leading American publication associated with the early neoconservative movement... Commentary was also the flagship publication of the American Jewish Committee and Podhoretz himself deeply identified with Jewish issues. Those factors impacted his editorial line, which naturally included a major focus upon Israel and the Middle East along with the plight of Soviet Jewry. Partly for such reasons, a hawkish foreign policy including heavy emphasis on the Cold War soon became important Neocon concerns."
-
And second, the zionist connection. Paul Wolfowitz was a disciple of Leo Strauss (https://www.voltairenet.org/article215855.html): "According to many accounts, [Strauss] had formed a small group of faithful students to whom he gave oral instruction. There is no written record of this. He explained to them that the only way for the Jews not to fall victim to a new genocide was to form their own dictatorship. He called them Hoplites (the soldiers of Sparta) and sent them to disrupt the courts of his rivals. Finally, he taught them discretion and praised the “noble lie”. Although he died in 1973, his student fraternity continued."
As I wrote, I highly suggest reading the two other essays I linked for they go deeper into the past to reveal trends that are now occurring. Imperialist Christianity remains a very big problem, is over 1600 years old and is at the root of almost all current injustices.
I'm still reading "Dire Straits", which has been a real eye-opener for me as I had no idea of this history. But I think I recommended "Peace with Russia" in a comment on one of your recent posts. Both of these build on a sense I've had at least for the past 2 or 3 years that the world events we're seeing are signs of an ongoing spiritual war, an uncomfortable feeling since I've never considered myself especially religious.
Spirit resides outside religion in Nature and as such is natural. Religions differ from philosophies in that they proclaim a God-head/Creator of some sort to answer the question, How did we get here along with all other life, which is why ALL cultures have their own specific type of Creation Myth--Western "culture" has cancelled most of those other voices in the quest to create a "unipolar" religion. Ultimately, to be areligious is to be natural. And when properly looked at, what's happening isn't a "spiritual war"; it's a war to establish the hegemony of one religion over all others--that's why the megalomania tinged "founders" of the Christian church allied with Rome and sought to become the "state religion" so it could dominate along with the Empire. If the history of the Crusades was taught properly, few would want to be members of the religion that waged them.
And then there's this horrifying 2018 piece from Ron Unz, "American Pravda: Oddities of the Jewish Religion" (https://www.unz.com/runz/american-pravda-oddities-of-the-jewish-religion/), based on the writings of "Israeli Communist named Israel Shahak, whose views seemed totally at odds with those of everyone else, and who was consequently treated as a fringe figure."
"Once I actually began reading his books, and considering his claims, my shock increased fifty-fold. Throughout my entire life, there have been very, very few times I have ever been so totally astonished as I was after I digested 'Jewish History, Jewish Religion: The Weight of Three Thousand Years,' whose text runs barely a hundred pages. In fact, despite his solid background in the academic sciences and the glowing endorsements provided by prominent figures, I found it quite difficult to accept the reality of what I was reading. As a consequence, I paid a considerable sum to a young graduate student I knew, tasking him to verify the claims in Shahak’s books, and as far as he could tell, all of the hundreds of references he checked seemed to be accurate or at least found in other sources...Almost everything I had known—or thought I had known—about the religion of Judaism, at least in its zealously Orthodox traditional form, was utterly wrong."
"Even with all of that due diligence, I must emphasize that I cannot directly vouch for Shahak’s claims about Judaism. My own knowledge of that religion is absolutely negligible, mostly being limited to my childhood, when my grandmother occasionally managed to drag me down to services at the local synagogue, where I was seated among a mass of elderly men praying and chanting in some strange language while wearing various ritualistic cloths and religious talismans..."
"For example, traditionally religious Jews pay little attention to most of the Old Testament, and even very learned rabbis or students who have devoted many years to intensive study may remain largely ignorant of its contents. Instead, the center of their religious world view is the Talmud, an enormously large, complex, and somewhat contradictory mass of secondary writings and commentary built up over many centuries, which is why their religious doctrine is sometimes called “Talmudic Judaism.” Among large portions of the faithful, the Talmud is supplemented by the Kabala, another large collection of accumulated writings, mostly focused on mysticism and all sorts of magic."
"Given the nature of the Talmudic basis of traditional Judaism and my total previous ignorance of the subject, any attempt on my part of summarize some of the more surprising aspects of Shahak’s description may be partially garbled, and is certainly worthy of correction by someone better versed in that dogma. And since so many parts of the Talmud are highly contradictory and infused with complex mysticism, it would be impossible for someone like me to attempt to disentangle the seeming inconsistencies that I am merely repeating. I should note that although Shahak’s description of the beliefs and practices of Talmudic Judaism provoked a fire-storm of denunciations, few of those harsh critics seem to have denied his very specific claims, including the most astonishing ones, which would seem to strengthen his credibility."
The elementary issue is that of a select group being deemed "The Chosen" that God somehow didn't really make in its image otherwise why should it be different--select, elect, chosen, etc. As I've continually argued for decades, there's only one "race"--the Human Race--that sprang forth from a "bush" of hominid ancestors, and what differences there are no deeper than the depth of the skin.
You see the "chosen" facet even within Christian denominations, like the whole idea of certain people being predestined for Heaven and the corollary that you don't get that reward based on works alone. Seems like that would incentivize misbehavior.
Thank you. To think they're going to lay all of this at Biden feet. Talk about being a sacrificial cow. 200 years is a good start. It's like they're trying to drive this thinking person to beyond insanity. Trying to make sense of a world where the more I read and see the less I trust history......of anything. Going by my instincts now and hoping/trusting they will lead me down the right path.
A while back you referenced an unnamed Israeli who mentioned that the Israeli policy objective was to suck the US into its war with its neighbors. That appears to be a more manifest plan, some months later.
I do not know where the restraints within the US policy making apparatus would come from. DoD has been put on ignore since at the SMO in Ukraine, perhaps much longer than that.
Kamho does not have a brain and unlike the Scarecrow character in The Wizard of Oz is not looking for one. She is likely aware of her unelectability in November.
US military I think pretty clearly not excited about the possibility, but they don't make policy. Even Blinken/Sullivan seem to make some attempts to at least postpone this eventuality. Though they had no compunctions about supporting Israel's ethnic cleansing and genocide in the occupied territories, and so now there's no way for Israel to go back.
Netanyahu & co can of course see that Israel is now going to pay the price internationally for a generation or two. That will be seen now as a fixed cost. So they will try to squeeze as much strategic benefit as possible while they have a Biden or a Trump administration on their side. They'll likely have the entire next US presidential term to do it.
US can't actually beat Iran, and would get mauled trying (plus likely kicked out of Iraq). But that's not Netanyahu's problem. They just want the Destruction of Lebanon.
More than the destruction of Lebanon... They want it all. Just as the Venetians wanted it all in the 1500's and were flogged within a inch of their existence. They don't care as a insatiable greed drives them relentlessly. The are repeating centuries old follies and believe they will succeed a lo a behold the USA has to choose between two dumb stooges. Read alaistare crooks once more to appreciate the enormity of this trap.
Yes annexation of Lebanon, or at least a good chunk of it, is part of Netanyahu's vision. Hardly the first attempt, this one. But it won't work - hence destruction -- since it is not a huge country, bombing it senselessly is something the US can plausibly still deliver. And the (AFAICT) the West's political system on the whole lacks the guts to stop it, even knowing full well it's a dumb move. And I also agree that this is set to take down the empire, making US persona non grata all the way out to Indonesia and Malaysia
IMO, the Big Picture displaying who the Terror States are to the Global majority is quite clear. Hopefully, they will be seen as having behaved this way for many decades before that will drive a movement to make sure they are incapable of any continuance of that behavior. Orban said "Europe needs peace" but needs to make that The World Needs Peace, and that means ending hegemony for all time.
Thanks Karl, very nicely framed. One might expect that the debate performance by Biden, revealing beyond any doubt that the man is so heavily impaired that he cannot speak coherently or walk down a few steps without help, never mind function effectively as the chief executive, would be the “snap” that rattles a nation of somnambulists awake. One last chance, in the eleventh hour, to come to our senses and change course. But I can’t even imagine that happening now, regardless of who is the next president. These are the wages of lesser evilism. We don’t have any visionaries in the Outlaw US Empire ™ at the moment, but there are a few decent people. Certainly not the cackling idiot cah-mah-lah (and to cast her aside would probably create its own shitstorm), but Sherrod Brown is a decent fellow, and even wins in Ohio as a progressive.
Like many, I'm voting for Jill Stein because I'm a "values voter" and she come closest. What's most interesting, however, is the fear Trump strikes in the hearts of Euro-vassals. Unfortunately, Trump made one very major promise and utterly failed to deliver on it, actually it was worse as he completely capitulated to the Swamp by visiting its HQ as soon as he was inaugurated to assuage them of any issues they might harbor. And then he turned its servant. So, essentially, Trump is no worse or better than Biden, especially when you consider the team he hired. The reason Russia has no illusions regarding who become POTUS is policy continuity remains steady, unchanging. And there's only two ways that will change: The US citizenry overthrows the bastards or a nuclear war wipes them and most of us out.
good post karl... thanks... there is a lot of shit to clear and it isn't going to be an easy task as the shitmakers continue regardless.. turning manure into compost is the rest of the worlds task here...
An excellent article. And very helpful to me as I write one of my lonnnnnnnng "special articles" for coffee buyers at my Substack News Forensics site. That special article deals with the political shift that you remark on, starting in the 70s and which Todd talks about it as the growth of social and political nihilism. Todd is not the only one to write about this. In one way or another, you have Michael Hudson, Piketty, Wallerstein, Arrighi, Susan Strange, even Taleb. All these writers are looking at different parts of the elephant -- but elephant it is! In fact, Smith saw the elephant for what it is. back in the 18th Century. From the year 2000 on, the US and by extension its imperial provinces, the UK, Europe, Canada, and Japan are full fledged "ideocracies" -- ,meaning "soft" or subtle inverted totalitarian oligopolies. The nihilism Todd talks of subverts public moral or critical pushback of the kind that eventually derailed the Vietnam War. Nobody care.s. Yet, that nihilism is more symptom, and cause.
Your excellent article adds perspective and I will credit you when I finish the special article.
Thanks Julian. I think you might profit from the essay I just translated and look into current and past editions of "The Scout" for more although translating them is a pain. My best to you!
It's been an inter-generational project connected to the money power, the very idea seems preposterous to the minds of those under the control of the instruments of oligarchy. Now we see some limited admissions - things must be going very badly (praise the lord and pass the ammo (figuratively pls).
Emmanuel Todd is a ray of hope and intelligence in a world that seems hell bent on suicide. I am not optimistic. Were it not for the adults (Putin and Xi) I think things could really go "ballistic". As the fraud of "democracy" is revealed little by little (in France the National Rally won the election with 10 million votes, the Popular Front second with 7 and the Macronians with 6 million-Just the opposite of the seats in the new assembly) the real culprit who perpetuates this insanity lies in the media.
Thank you Karl and almost all of the contributions in the comments for the fulsomeness of the article(s) and additional information provided. I do not include mere criticisms of the author's, of the sources used, style or format to be anything more than attempt to discourage examination by others.
Alastair Crookes' use of the article by Gerry Baker to suggest a seed change or revelation of 'the blob' and its malign influence may be a little optimistic because, as Steve Ogle notes, all of the blob's 'sins' are laid specifically at the Bidon Team's feet. The general, historical and philosophical arguments may fade away relative to the literal examples in Mr Baker's original article via diminishing echoes of the original in any later articles that stem from it. So that only Bidon's 'sins' remain. That remains to be seen. My hope is that the spotlight remains on the blob.
Haven't finished the postil article yet but have reached the bit that indicates the first 'iron curtain' came about with the division of Orthodox and Catholic spheres of influence. Also I second james with regard to the Dire Straits article recommended by Uncle T.
(I am unable to 'Like' individual comments hence the generalised 'Like')
Yes, the "blob" must continue to be exposed to light like any other classical evil like Vampires. The Donors attempts to get Biden to quit are being done so they can continue the myth of democracy and not to again expose the fact that the DNC can choose whoever it wants regardless public input or actions during Primaries or the Convention as the court ruling has told those of us who know of it whereas the general public remains ignorant. I hope he continues to resist so it forces the blob to further expose itself.
The paramount purposes of Russia’s special military operation in support of the inhabitants of the Eastern oblasts, now integrated into Russian Federation, is “demilitarise and deNazify” Ukraine.
Similarly, Hezbollah and its fellow resisters’ paramount objectives would be to demilitarise and deZionise Israel, to allow the emergence of a single democratic Palestinian State, the dismantling of the blood-feud orthodox Zionist sovereignty, and the curing of the belligerent addiction of the Western group-thinkers.
Attacking civilians has no place in this strategy. It is a waste of military supplies, diversion of military plans and intentions. and would create a series of atrocities to fuel blood-feud. [Blood-feud is the continual compulsive exchange of atrocities.]
The Land of Palestine and its inhabitants is the precursor and successor to the Land of Israel, which will cease to exist in reality if not rhetorically.
Nelson Mandela aimed to dismantle the blood-feud of apartheid South Africa through the restorative justice of its Truth and Reconciliation Commission. This can be copied post-Israel.
All this in the framework of a mutualist ideology, currently being developed in BRICS+ and SCO. Western belligerent hegemony is terrified by mutualist polities, and has been destroying them wherever they have arisen for the last three-quarters of a century.
Agree 100%! I've made comparisons between Russia's SMO and Hamas's Al-Aqsa Flood before that Russia has been very hesitant to acknowledge. Hopefully the Haaretz and Lancet reports will force Russia to alter its narrative of Oct 7 and decouple its rhetoric from that of the Wes--that Hamas's attack was terroristic and not a fundamental right of resistance to occupation and slow-motion genocide. But before anything about peace and reconciliation can begin, the siege of Occupied Palestine must succeed to the point where the Zionists capitulate, and that's going to be a very hard goal to accomplish. IMO, there also needs to be a deep examination of the real nature of the Jesus figure and its actual place in history that ties into the Class War between Creditors and Debtors he attempted to mitigate that's denied by the Roman church.
Crooke, and Baker are being overrated and their accuracy exaggerated here. eg "....it seems probable that he is referring to the 1970s era of the Trilateral Commission and the Club of Rome."
That is not probable. 99.9% chance baker was talking about the last 4+ years and that's it. Like biden and harris, and baker, crooke has nothing coherent or accurate to say here about anything. None are the wiser after reading his articles which go in circles. as does the i'view with the judge. What does he say? Can anyone offer a summary of his major compelling conclusions they didn't already know beforehand?
So much food for thought in this. First, the 1970s and 1980s also saw the rise of the neocons who invaded and eventually took over the space then occupied by traditional conservatives. Although I think this piece - https://www.unz.com/runz/the-neocons-and-their-rise-to-power/ - gives too much of a pass to Cheney and Rumsfeld, it's probably an accurate depiction otherwise: "By 2000, the Neocons had gained almost total control of all the major conservative/Republican media outlets and the foreign policy wings of nearly all the similarly aligned thinktanks in DC, successfully purging most of their traditional opponents. So although Cheney and Rumsfeld were not themselves Neocons, they were swimming in a Neocon sea, with a very large fraction of all the information they received coming from such sources and with their top aides such as “Scooter” Libby, Paul Wolfowitz, and Douglas Feith being Neocons.."
"Furthermore the political circumstances of the 9/11 Attacks and the Iraq War that soon followed provided the Neocons an opportunity to purge all their critics, conservative and liberal alike, from the mainstream media:"
"After having controlled American foreign policy for more than three decades, promoting their allies and protégés and purging their opponents, the adherents of that world view now constitute nearly the entire political establishment, including control of the leading thinktanks and publications. By now, I doubt there are many prominent figures in either party who follow a sharply different line. Furthermore, over the last two decades, the national security-focused Neocons have largely merged with the economically-focused neoliberals, forming a unified ideological block that represents the political worldview of the elites running both American parties."
"Also around that time [ late 1960s and the 1970s], Commentary magazine, edited by Norman Podhoretz and based in the same city, moved in a similar direction, replacing its enthusiasm for the radical New Left with sharp criticism, and becoming the leading American publication associated with the early neoconservative movement... Commentary was also the flagship publication of the American Jewish Committee and Podhoretz himself deeply identified with Jewish issues. Those factors impacted his editorial line, which naturally included a major focus upon Israel and the Middle East along with the plight of Soviet Jewry. Partly for such reasons, a hawkish foreign policy including heavy emphasis on the Cold War soon became important Neocon concerns."
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And second, the zionist connection. Paul Wolfowitz was a disciple of Leo Strauss (https://www.voltairenet.org/article215855.html): "According to many accounts, [Strauss] had formed a small group of faithful students to whom he gave oral instruction. There is no written record of this. He explained to them that the only way for the Jews not to fall victim to a new genocide was to form their own dictatorship. He called them Hoplites (the soldiers of Sparta) and sent them to disrupt the courts of his rivals. Finally, he taught them discretion and praised the “noble lie”. Although he died in 1973, his student fraternity continued."
As I wrote, I highly suggest reading the two other essays I linked for they go deeper into the past to reveal trends that are now occurring. Imperialist Christianity remains a very big problem, is over 1600 years old and is at the root of almost all current injustices.
I'm still reading "Dire Straits", which has been a real eye-opener for me as I had no idea of this history. But I think I recommended "Peace with Russia" in a comment on one of your recent posts. Both of these build on a sense I've had at least for the past 2 or 3 years that the world events we're seeing are signs of an ongoing spiritual war, an uncomfortable feeling since I've never considered myself especially religious.
Spirit resides outside religion in Nature and as such is natural. Religions differ from philosophies in that they proclaim a God-head/Creator of some sort to answer the question, How did we get here along with all other life, which is why ALL cultures have their own specific type of Creation Myth--Western "culture" has cancelled most of those other voices in the quest to create a "unipolar" religion. Ultimately, to be areligious is to be natural. And when properly looked at, what's happening isn't a "spiritual war"; it's a war to establish the hegemony of one religion over all others--that's why the megalomania tinged "founders" of the Christian church allied with Rome and sought to become the "state religion" so it could dominate along with the Empire. If the history of the Crusades was taught properly, few would want to be members of the religion that waged them.
Not to mention all the other horrific things they were guilty of.
And then there's this horrifying 2018 piece from Ron Unz, "American Pravda: Oddities of the Jewish Religion" (https://www.unz.com/runz/american-pravda-oddities-of-the-jewish-religion/), based on the writings of "Israeli Communist named Israel Shahak, whose views seemed totally at odds with those of everyone else, and who was consequently treated as a fringe figure."
"Once I actually began reading his books, and considering his claims, my shock increased fifty-fold. Throughout my entire life, there have been very, very few times I have ever been so totally astonished as I was after I digested 'Jewish History, Jewish Religion: The Weight of Three Thousand Years,' whose text runs barely a hundred pages. In fact, despite his solid background in the academic sciences and the glowing endorsements provided by prominent figures, I found it quite difficult to accept the reality of what I was reading. As a consequence, I paid a considerable sum to a young graduate student I knew, tasking him to verify the claims in Shahak’s books, and as far as he could tell, all of the hundreds of references he checked seemed to be accurate or at least found in other sources...Almost everything I had known—or thought I had known—about the religion of Judaism, at least in its zealously Orthodox traditional form, was utterly wrong."
"Even with all of that due diligence, I must emphasize that I cannot directly vouch for Shahak’s claims about Judaism. My own knowledge of that religion is absolutely negligible, mostly being limited to my childhood, when my grandmother occasionally managed to drag me down to services at the local synagogue, where I was seated among a mass of elderly men praying and chanting in some strange language while wearing various ritualistic cloths and religious talismans..."
"For example, traditionally religious Jews pay little attention to most of the Old Testament, and even very learned rabbis or students who have devoted many years to intensive study may remain largely ignorant of its contents. Instead, the center of their religious world view is the Talmud, an enormously large, complex, and somewhat contradictory mass of secondary writings and commentary built up over many centuries, which is why their religious doctrine is sometimes called “Talmudic Judaism.” Among large portions of the faithful, the Talmud is supplemented by the Kabala, another large collection of accumulated writings, mostly focused on mysticism and all sorts of magic."
"Given the nature of the Talmudic basis of traditional Judaism and my total previous ignorance of the subject, any attempt on my part of summarize some of the more surprising aspects of Shahak’s description may be partially garbled, and is certainly worthy of correction by someone better versed in that dogma. And since so many parts of the Talmud are highly contradictory and infused with complex mysticism, it would be impossible for someone like me to attempt to disentangle the seeming inconsistencies that I am merely repeating. I should note that although Shahak’s description of the beliefs and practices of Talmudic Judaism provoked a fire-storm of denunciations, few of those harsh critics seem to have denied his very specific claims, including the most astonishing ones, which would seem to strengthen his credibility."
St. Paul. The very origin of all bigotry. Wish he'd stuck to being Saul.
The elementary issue is that of a select group being deemed "The Chosen" that God somehow didn't really make in its image otherwise why should it be different--select, elect, chosen, etc. As I've continually argued for decades, there's only one "race"--the Human Race--that sprang forth from a "bush" of hominid ancestors, and what differences there are no deeper than the depth of the skin.
You see the "chosen" facet even within Christian denominations, like the whole idea of certain people being predestined for Heaven and the corollary that you don't get that reward based on works alone. Seems like that would incentivize misbehavior.
For hundreds of years, it was clear you could buy your way into heaven. Indulgences they were called.
Yes, I remember that. Wasn't it one of Martin Luther's main criticisms?
Expecting common sense from western leaders seems pretty futile. What will it take to bring about a just peace in the world, I wonder.
Rid the planet of eschatological ideologies and the idea that one group is chosen over all others.
Hear, hear!
Thank you. To think they're going to lay all of this at Biden feet. Talk about being a sacrificial cow. 200 years is a good start. It's like they're trying to drive this thinking person to beyond insanity. Trying to make sense of a world where the more I read and see the less I trust history......of anything. Going by my instincts now and hoping/trusting they will lead me down the right path.
A while back you referenced an unnamed Israeli who mentioned that the Israeli policy objective was to suck the US into its war with its neighbors. That appears to be a more manifest plan, some months later.
I do not know where the restraints within the US policy making apparatus would come from. DoD has been put on ignore since at the SMO in Ukraine, perhaps much longer than that.
Kamho does not have a brain and unlike the Scarecrow character in The Wizard of Oz is not looking for one. She is likely aware of her unelectability in November.
IMO, the only interests that would approve of war with Hezbollah and/or Iran are the Zionist Evangelicals with their eschatological goals.
US military I think pretty clearly not excited about the possibility, but they don't make policy. Even Blinken/Sullivan seem to make some attempts to at least postpone this eventuality. Though they had no compunctions about supporting Israel's ethnic cleansing and genocide in the occupied territories, and so now there's no way for Israel to go back.
Netanyahu & co can of course see that Israel is now going to pay the price internationally for a generation or two. That will be seen now as a fixed cost. So they will try to squeeze as much strategic benefit as possible while they have a Biden or a Trump administration on their side. They'll likely have the entire next US presidential term to do it.
US can't actually beat Iran, and would get mauled trying (plus likely kicked out of Iraq). But that's not Netanyahu's problem. They just want the Destruction of Lebanon.
More than the destruction of Lebanon... They want it all. Just as the Venetians wanted it all in the 1500's and were flogged within a inch of their existence. They don't care as a insatiable greed drives them relentlessly. The are repeating centuries old follies and believe they will succeed a lo a behold the USA has to choose between two dumb stooges. Read alaistare crooks once more to appreciate the enormity of this trap.
Yes, Megalomania and Pleonexia. I do wish Dr. Hudson would finish his third volume that deals with the time period we're discussing.
Yes annexation of Lebanon, or at least a good chunk of it, is part of Netanyahu's vision. Hardly the first attempt, this one. But it won't work - hence destruction -- since it is not a huge country, bombing it senselessly is something the US can plausibly still deliver. And the (AFAICT) the West's political system on the whole lacks the guts to stop it, even knowing full well it's a dumb move. And I also agree that this is set to take down the empire, making US persona non grata all the way out to Indonesia and Malaysia
IMO, the Big Picture displaying who the Terror States are to the Global majority is quite clear. Hopefully, they will be seen as having behaved this way for many decades before that will drive a movement to make sure they are incapable of any continuance of that behavior. Orban said "Europe needs peace" but needs to make that The World Needs Peace, and that means ending hegemony for all time.
"....the enormity of this trap...."
As Nasrallah (IIRC) said "we know them better than they know themselves"
Thanks Karl, very nicely framed. One might expect that the debate performance by Biden, revealing beyond any doubt that the man is so heavily impaired that he cannot speak coherently or walk down a few steps without help, never mind function effectively as the chief executive, would be the “snap” that rattles a nation of somnambulists awake. One last chance, in the eleventh hour, to come to our senses and change course. But I can’t even imagine that happening now, regardless of who is the next president. These are the wages of lesser evilism. We don’t have any visionaries in the Outlaw US Empire ™ at the moment, but there are a few decent people. Certainly not the cackling idiot cah-mah-lah (and to cast her aside would probably create its own shitstorm), but Sherrod Brown is a decent fellow, and even wins in Ohio as a progressive.
Like many, I'm voting for Jill Stein because I'm a "values voter" and she come closest. What's most interesting, however, is the fear Trump strikes in the hearts of Euro-vassals. Unfortunately, Trump made one very major promise and utterly failed to deliver on it, actually it was worse as he completely capitulated to the Swamp by visiting its HQ as soon as he was inaugurated to assuage them of any issues they might harbor. And then he turned its servant. So, essentially, Trump is no worse or better than Biden, especially when you consider the team he hired. The reason Russia has no illusions regarding who become POTUS is policy continuity remains steady, unchanging. And there's only two ways that will change: The US citizenry overthrows the bastards or a nuclear war wipes them and most of us out.
good post karl... thanks... there is a lot of shit to clear and it isn't going to be an easy task as the shitmakers continue regardless.. turning manure into compost is the rest of the worlds task here...
Superb analysis. Thank you!
Powerful.
thanks uncle tungsten for the dire straits article... a must read article.. thank you..
https://warwickpowell.substack.com/p/dire-straits
Yes, and greetings to Uncle Tungsten - - you’re missed at the bar!
An excellent article. And very helpful to me as I write one of my lonnnnnnnng "special articles" for coffee buyers at my Substack News Forensics site. That special article deals with the political shift that you remark on, starting in the 70s and which Todd talks about it as the growth of social and political nihilism. Todd is not the only one to write about this. In one way or another, you have Michael Hudson, Piketty, Wallerstein, Arrighi, Susan Strange, even Taleb. All these writers are looking at different parts of the elephant -- but elephant it is! In fact, Smith saw the elephant for what it is. back in the 18th Century. From the year 2000 on, the US and by extension its imperial provinces, the UK, Europe, Canada, and Japan are full fledged "ideocracies" -- ,meaning "soft" or subtle inverted totalitarian oligopolies. The nihilism Todd talks of subverts public moral or critical pushback of the kind that eventually derailed the Vietnam War. Nobody care.s. Yet, that nihilism is more symptom, and cause.
Your excellent article adds perspective and I will credit you when I finish the special article.
https://julianmacfarlane.substack.com/ You can read ,my other articles here. But the "special" one goes on to people who buy me and my cat Ichi coffe at buymeacoffee.com!
Again, many thanks for your insight and hard work.
Thanks Julian. I think you might profit from the essay I just translated and look into current and past editions of "The Scout" for more although translating them is a pain. My best to you!
It's been an inter-generational project connected to the money power, the very idea seems preposterous to the minds of those under the control of the instruments of oligarchy. Now we see some limited admissions - things must be going very badly (praise the lord and pass the ammo (figuratively pls).
What an excellent read.
Emmanuel Todd is a ray of hope and intelligence in a world that seems hell bent on suicide. I am not optimistic. Were it not for the adults (Putin and Xi) I think things could really go "ballistic". As the fraud of "democracy" is revealed little by little (in France the National Rally won the election with 10 million votes, the Popular Front second with 7 and the Macronians with 6 million-Just the opposite of the seats in the new assembly) the real culprit who perpetuates this insanity lies in the media.
Thank you Karl and almost all of the contributions in the comments for the fulsomeness of the article(s) and additional information provided. I do not include mere criticisms of the author's, of the sources used, style or format to be anything more than attempt to discourage examination by others.
Alastair Crookes' use of the article by Gerry Baker to suggest a seed change or revelation of 'the blob' and its malign influence may be a little optimistic because, as Steve Ogle notes, all of the blob's 'sins' are laid specifically at the Bidon Team's feet. The general, historical and philosophical arguments may fade away relative to the literal examples in Mr Baker's original article via diminishing echoes of the original in any later articles that stem from it. So that only Bidon's 'sins' remain. That remains to be seen. My hope is that the spotlight remains on the blob.
Haven't finished the postil article yet but have reached the bit that indicates the first 'iron curtain' came about with the division of Orthodox and Catholic spheres of influence. Also I second james with regard to the Dire Straits article recommended by Uncle T.
(I am unable to 'Like' individual comments hence the generalised 'Like')
Almost forgot. Love the art work as well.
Yes, the "blob" must continue to be exposed to light like any other classical evil like Vampires. The Donors attempts to get Biden to quit are being done so they can continue the myth of democracy and not to again expose the fact that the DNC can choose whoever it wants regardless public input or actions during Primaries or the Convention as the court ruling has told those of us who know of it whereas the general public remains ignorant. I hope he continues to resist so it forces the blob to further expose itself.
The paramount purposes of Russia’s special military operation in support of the inhabitants of the Eastern oblasts, now integrated into Russian Federation, is “demilitarise and deNazify” Ukraine.
Similarly, Hezbollah and its fellow resisters’ paramount objectives would be to demilitarise and deZionise Israel, to allow the emergence of a single democratic Palestinian State, the dismantling of the blood-feud orthodox Zionist sovereignty, and the curing of the belligerent addiction of the Western group-thinkers.
Attacking civilians has no place in this strategy. It is a waste of military supplies, diversion of military plans and intentions. and would create a series of atrocities to fuel blood-feud. [Blood-feud is the continual compulsive exchange of atrocities.]
The Land of Palestine and its inhabitants is the precursor and successor to the Land of Israel, which will cease to exist in reality if not rhetorically.
Nelson Mandela aimed to dismantle the blood-feud of apartheid South Africa through the restorative justice of its Truth and Reconciliation Commission. This can be copied post-Israel.
All this in the framework of a mutualist ideology, currently being developed in BRICS+ and SCO. Western belligerent hegemony is terrified by mutualist polities, and has been destroying them wherever they have arisen for the last three-quarters of a century.
Agree 100%! I've made comparisons between Russia's SMO and Hamas's Al-Aqsa Flood before that Russia has been very hesitant to acknowledge. Hopefully the Haaretz and Lancet reports will force Russia to alter its narrative of Oct 7 and decouple its rhetoric from that of the Wes--that Hamas's attack was terroristic and not a fundamental right of resistance to occupation and slow-motion genocide. But before anything about peace and reconciliation can begin, the siege of Occupied Palestine must succeed to the point where the Zionists capitulate, and that's going to be a very hard goal to accomplish. IMO, there also needs to be a deep examination of the real nature of the Jesus figure and its actual place in history that ties into the Class War between Creditors and Debtors he attempted to mitigate that's denied by the Roman church.
Crooke, and Baker are being overrated and their accuracy exaggerated here. eg "....it seems probable that he is referring to the 1970s era of the Trilateral Commission and the Club of Rome."
That is not probable. 99.9% chance baker was talking about the last 4+ years and that's it. Like biden and harris, and baker, crooke has nothing coherent or accurate to say here about anything. None are the wiser after reading his articles which go in circles. as does the i'view with the judge. What does he say? Can anyone offer a summary of his major compelling conclusions they didn't already know beforehand?
I agree. Dont think, Bakers perspective of deceit goes beyond the current presidency. The blame will be laid at Bidens feet, and that's it.