At a fundamental level, most Americans don't even realize that they live in an Empire. The credit for this astonishing ignorance goes to the tightly controlled corporate media and the education system. With this topic completely eliminated from the vernacular, half of the logic disappears in the discussions about wars. As a result, any discussion of the fact that the military-industrial complex thrives on wars is also totally omitted. Experts who stand to gain from wars are paraded on TV to inform the public about the great dangers of a foreign enemy. Then there are politicians who are all bought and paid for by the lobbyists from the military-banking-security complex. Corporate media also obediently regurgitates all the talking points of the Deep State.
Americans just absorb and internalize all the biased information from pundits, politicians and the media without any filters. The question, "Can this be propaganda?" never crosses most people's minds. So, if you don't discuss imperialism and war-profiteering, what else is there do think about? Only the country we want to attack.
And what do Americans know about the country we want to attack? Virtually nothing. They don't know the geography, history, culture or the geopolitics of the country that is being demonized. The only information people get are slogan-filled, sensational talking points, which are also just recycled over the decades: Hitler ... dictator ... murderer ... freedom/democracy blah blah. For an added effect, throw in support for terrorists. That's all Americans need to hear. Woohoo! Let's bomb!
The targeted country never gets a chance to defend itself. Americans never listen to the foreign leader or the foreign media. That would just be a crazy idea! So America turns into a Grand Jury. American experts present the case and Americans always indict the defendant. Then polls show that a vast majority of Americans are sufficiently brainwashed to support a military action, and the bombs start flying away.
There is a reason that the social engineering elites broadcast World War II movies a zillion times a month on cable TV. This propaganda has two myths: America fights against evil and America always wins. This programming is so effective that certain words trigger a Pavlovian response in the public. If you analyze all the mainstream articles about the "enemies" we have attacked in the last few decades, you'll see the usage of same words, phrases and themes.
Americans don't see the patterns or the plots, since they have the memory of a goldfish. Question: Didn't we just attack Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Yemen, Libya and Syria? Answer: I can't remember! All I know is Iran is evil! The elites can sell a series of wars, one by one, and Americans will buy them. Heck, the elites can lay out the plan and say, "We are going to attack these countries in the coming years," but it just doesn't register.
The goldfish memory, along with complete apathy towards foreign affairs, also results in guilt-free wars. Question: Was Libya prosperous under Gaddafi? After the American bombing campaign, is it completely devastated and torn apart by civil war and jihadist groups? Answer: I don't know, I don't care!
The guilt is also washed away by fake humanitarian gestures such as accepting refugees. The modus operandi is to destroy a hundred homes in a foreign country and accept one family as a refugee. Or better yet, send ten families to Europe. Getting rid of a dictator and welcoming people into your country ... that's a double dose of oxytocin (the empathy hormone)!
There are also no tangible consequences for supporting wars. First, it's not like the Vietnam War when regular Americans from Middle Class families fought and died. Second, the government simply borrows more money to wage new wars. If you are not physically or financially harmed, it's easy to support wars. Borrow and bomb!
America's military adventures are treated like TV series. If "Season 1: Libya" ends, Americans can't wait for "Season 2: Syria." They know that the episodes will be gripping and dramatic. Terrorists, a nation being totally ruined in a civil war, an evil dictator struggling to survive, the CIA arming and training freedom fighters ... it's gonna be a blockbuster! Just as they turn off their critical thinking while watching "reality" shows, people simply consume the Hollywood-style scripts written by war propagandists and the fake news media. Theoretically, people could dismantle the mainstream narratives with a little bit of research. But no, that would ruin all the fun.
Most Americans don't realize that sanctions are acts of war, and proxy wars are just as bad as real wars. America's sanctions cripple nations and choke the economies, because the U.S. controls the global financial system. For example, half a million Iraqi children died in the 1990's after the US/UN sanctions. As for the illegality of proxy wars, how would Americans feel if Syria sent guns and missiles to Antifa or the KKK? Without thinking through all these, Americans cheer on sanctions and arming rebels in other countries. (By the way, what's the difference between rebels and terrorists? Depends on which direction their weapons are aimed).
There's hardly any self-reflection in America. America's foreign-policy establishment is like a guy who gets into bar fights every weekend, and he always blames others. Since Americans don't care about history or geopolitics, they believe that this entertainment will go on forever.
The fact is that America is like an alpha monkey that spends all day beating up younger male monkeys. This continues for a while until the alpha gets a little old and starts napping a lot. That's when the female monkeys in the harem sneak away to enjoy some romance with the younger males. Translating this jungle reality into geopolitics, the challengers are Russia and China. And, yes, America's vassal states around the world are already forging trade and military ties with Russia and China, and are exploring ways to get out of the Petrodollar system.
America's foreign policy cannot be based on the "Harvey Weinstein Doctrine." Weinstein thinks that because he's rich and powerful, he has the right to plunder women. When women refuse to sleep with him, he destroys their careers. America cannot demand loyalty and obeisance from other countries anymore. And we certainly shouldn't bully and bomb countries just because they choose to be independent. Weinstein doesn't believe in courtship, and the U.S. has discarded the subtle and patient art of diplomacy.
America can be an Empire or a Republic, but not both. An Empire is very expensive to maintain; it makes a lot of enemies around the world; and it sacrifices the homeland in order to desperately preserve its power abroad. And it always, eventually, collapses. America can be - or rather, can only be - prosperous and strong without engaging in perpetual wars and aggression. Unfortunately, there is no sign that the people in charge of the Empire have any plans to change their deluded ways. There's nowhere to go but down.
Chris Kanthan is the author of three new books, Deconstructing the Syrian war., Geopolitics for Dummies and What the heck happened to the USA. Chris lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, has traveled to 35 countries, and writes about world affairs, politics, economy and health. His other book is Deconstructing Monsanto. Follow him on Twitter: @GMOChannel
Reader Comments
Since 9/11, the U.S. has been consistently and constantly at war. The change has been subtle. The government has constrained the freedom of movement of the U.S. population with an omnipresent government always surveilling and groping citizens. The end result has been expensive operations designed to gain land and natural resources for elite interests who plunder these areas for oil, gas, or rare minerals to put into iPhones.
Mr. Kanthan stated: "There's hardly any self-reflection in America." Excellent. Unfortunately, the total self-absorption of Americans--complete and utter self-absorption dealing with the narrow parameters of their families, friends, and business colleagues--remains the over-riding and most salient defining point of their character today. I do not excuse fellow Americans for the constraints on their time. After 16 years of war mongering for no reason which threatens our sovereignty or safety as a nation, people need to start entertaining some questions. If nothing else, they should want to know what kind of world they're passing to their children. I.e., how broke will this nation be when their kids are in their 20's or 30's?
When I point out to people that we have been in the Middle East entering one sovereign nation after another in the alleged fairy tale (indeed!) of eliminating terrorists (pointing out the U.S. support for Jabhat al-Nusra and the military actions our forces have taken which have supported these forces on the ground), they appear nonplussed or semi-comatose. If you ever wonder if "their" props are effective--poisons and toxins transmitted through the air, earth, food, medicines, and vaccinations plus the overwhelming magnetic-electric net thrown over the earth with all kinds of frequencies/electrical energies (sonar, ELF, HAARP, etc.) bombarding our electric bodies, you see their effectiveness in this blissful, uncaring ignorance of U.S. citizens.
--- It's Spider-Man, actually.
An inducement to self-inflation, enticing and entrapping a sense of specialness set over others.
This has been the core curriculum to which all other 'US American history' pays homage - at least to get published, printed and given a market.
The USA has been and is being USED and used up. The switch to another host is changing forms.
Awakening in true responsibility is perhaps through an excruciating sense of humiliation - that is lived through to a true or un-contrived humility. Our primary or core responsibility is neglected or denied in taking on what is not ours - and then having to manage or defend it as if it was. There is a great power in the Gift of life - but it is not held OVER you so much as coming through who you accept and extend the being of. The function of aligning in true may not seem as 'powerful' as controlling it - or at least controlling the narrative definition of your experience of it. But what seems to be is but a passing show in ever shifting meanings.
The gist of the article is the inability and refusal to look within. Lost in the mask, the image, and the maintenance and defence of the false at expense and sacrifice of the true. But only in this moment of reactive identity. Only in this moment of curiosity stifled. Only in this moment of attention as a representation of perhaps blind 'choices' as to who you are.
The powerlessness seeks power from fear of lack, but true power embodies itself invisibly. How could this be, excepting by releasing the a tempt to wield it - so as to open to being truly moved rather than persisting in a presentation of image-seeking validation?
My periodic work in the U.S. over the years has shown me that Americans have long memories for what is important to them and individually most Americans love being the Alpha predator and would fight blindly to maintain that status. Do I believe those Americans understand the real reasons why the U.S. is hated? No. I have asked a few and they come back with the line;
"Those other countries are just jealous. Why, just look how many people try to get into the U.S. every year!!"
I had hope that through the course of a generation or two the average American would change their stand and maybe see some room for compromise. Then came Bush and then Obama and now Trump. I have lost all hope and y'all are going to find out the hard way that hubris combined with ignorance will take you from first to worst in the flash of an atom.
and most of all, SAD, SAD, SAD!R.C.
Yes, it's depressing how well it works.
How can awareness of a 'mind-capture' or deceit-device serve a truly positive, inspiring , freeing and integrative outcome?
It would be depressing if an experience also dictated all the meaning it has for you - for you would then be a 'lower-mind programmable golem'. The idea that we are free to tell and wake everyone else is the ruse by which we remain asleep. I can tell you nothing you are not already the willingness of discovering and accepting. But then do I want to 'tell' anyone anything or simply give witness to an appreciation in place of a grievance - and associated 'power-struggle'.
The 'control' operating over millennia has been supported in its timing, but just because your 'thinking' has become associated with personal control does not mean it is truly representative of you or witnessing for you, or serving the true of you. Thinking itself has to be in a sense relinquished or rested from, in order to open perspective. The only basis for this is from a lighted awareness within, that thinking - as we generally use the term - covers over - like a jamming signal.
You can assign the power for this to past conditioning - but only until you awaken in present choices in place of conditioned habits. If you want to awaken responsibility where it belongs instead of struggling within what is not yours.
If you love perpetual war - your mind will be forever engaged and engaging of attention in struggle - whatever patterns or forms of expression that takes in any particular relationship.
So by all means persist in depression as the witness to what works for you ;-)
But is it the solid and dependable sense of self that it seems.
Yes, 'my reality' is broken - and yes - it is my thinking about reality that is revealed unreal - and both manipulative AND manipulating. Maybe there's another way of looking at this? Why not open curiosity from the box of the 'known'?
It's never too late to wake from being buried a lie.
The primary mind programming technique is to provoke fear in the target(s) as fear evokes the survival instinct and forces one to operate at a level of "lower emotional thinking". This trait common to all conscious beings, not just the juvenile ones, and this same technique has been used, not just in America, but globally and repeatedly for thousands of years by those who desire to control others with relative ease.While i agree with your comment. I disagree with one part of it. This trait common to all conscious beings, ... No, this trait is common to all unconscious beings.
as a person who works on high voltage equipment, as well as gas fired equipment. I am very familiar with "Fear". most folks want NOTHING to do with things that can kill them...or harm someone else. if they are not careful. and this is well and proper.
early in my career. I had to conquer my "Fear" of the unknown. and I discovered that THAT. is what "Fear" really is...
the unknown.
"Fear" ANY fear. can only be conquered with effort.
I dare say that Sparky's comment, as keenly summarized by his final agreement with graeme15b's ** point, is correct.
Likewise, your existential, "What, me? Worry?" 'criticism' could be applied to practically every response here and is hardly constructive.
R.C.
* Which so far seem to be the creme de la creme of SOTTites, (who, by definition, are more open minded than your typical Ursa ) which is the the creme de la creme, cubed, vis a vis , your typical comment on most other sites, and thrice again cubed vis a vis the commenters on your typical MSM/Yahoo site. (It's quite sad when one realizes that the "Washington Post? Times? "200 fake news sites" purveying truth, include practically ALL of the reality seeking/STO sites like SOTT, and yet about half? (a significant portion, no doubt) are quite overtly, to the aware mind, merely government/PTB created, coopted and/or controlled sites. [Folks: think in your head the single most telling issue that sites which are almost certainly NOT coopted still speak about..Answer in footnote ***]
** No offense, graeme15b, and others with tricky to remember names, I sure wish you folks would make your names easier to remember, (or simply acquire a secondary moniker, such as G15b rather than having to, out of respect for their choice, go up and copy it to get it right.
Is the '15b' a 'Brazil'esque '27B Stroke Six' kind of reference? An inside joke?
(27B-6, would end 'dash six' in spoken American English.)
And while I'm on the subject (and, granted, waaaay off the topic - sorry) , {thank God it's the first time = facetiousness}m will the REAL nedlud / Nedd Ludd stand up? They certainly do not write in the same style, and if one were to do a knock-off my name, I'd probably gripe about it, as I imagine "Joe Quinn" would to 'Joe Quin' or "Baybars" would to 'Bayybars' etc.
***the most telling indicator of which being...... (you all know)................................... ........................................ ........................................ ........................................ ................
"Criticism of Israel", a/k/a, "If you want to know who runs things, find out who you cannot criticize."
RC
I will agree. that MOST Americans are very ignorant. (meaning, lack of awareness) after having recognized this fact... I will submit for review. the FACT that this same statement. is also true.. of both these self same pages, as well as the rest of the entire world. and I can prove this theorem with just ONE very simple query.
'What is the difference, between a Republic, and a Democracy?'
did you have to think about your answer to this query? these terms are as old as the Greeks and the Romans. but what do they mean?
if you did not instantly have an answer. then you are just as bad as the locals around here. and if I pissed you off by revealing your own ignorance . it is probably a good thing that you are not armed.
peace.
Most Americans want peace, not perpetual war and this is clearly evidenced by their electing President Trump who campaigned on improving relations with Russia and shutting down the perpetual and costly wars in the middle east. Before Trump, they elected Obama who they also saw as a peacemaker.
Now, seeing that the path this nation follows doesn't change regardless of who they elect, more and more Americans have become aware of the power and control exercised by a Deep State and its corporate media, both acting against the will of the people, and they are trying to figure out what to do about this intolerable situation.
We AmeriCANS are aware that these bastards are destroying in OUR name.
At the same time, the PTB have targeted each of us. And yet we write; and no one reads - why? Because of the overwhelming truth causes discomfort and cognitive dissonance similar to being deprived of their 'Ho Hos'.
They (AmeriKANTS) are willfully stupid. We AmeriCANS will pay their penalties.
R.C.
I likewise believe that Americans who were born after about 1979? have fallen, in ever increasing degrees, to the intentional programming of 'our' NWO PTB Scum. I thank God I was born when and where I was, (I would have been captivated and controlled by video games, instead of surfing) and while I, at times, regret having no children, there's also relief there, knowing how things are looking to play out. (Those FEMA camps have enough capacity to shut up a third of the SOTTypes in the US and the other two thirds won't be able to save those of us who love the US so much that we stay here, and write this, KNOWING that it's being copied and saved for use against us as examples. I've said this before: IF that happens, I bet that a coversation like this may occur in such a camp: "Oh! You were nedlud? I'm RC!" etc.)
Your reference to aboriginals in Australia is quite similar to the misunderstanding between Europeans and Native/Aboriginal Americans.
I would take any commenter on this page as dictator of America - even including 'binra' - instead of our present situation. The odds of pulling out an STO president/dictator, who could get past the 'absolute power controlling one's person absolutely', would be quite good; indeed, that's why we're writing.
I dare say that generalized "Lord Acton Rule" re power, above, mostly applies to the STS types who seek to 'lead' these days, contra SOTTites.
(If I won that lottery, the only condescendence I would pay to that power trip would be to have some smart cute babes with palm fronds.... ....joking.. . . . . I honestly believe.. ... I hope not that last.)
Your awareness, and the general awareness of every commenter on this article recognizes, each in their own way, appears to have had these core STO beliefs, the awareness of how and where the West has erred, and that it began long ago (one of the things that folks usually find out only after they have irrevocably concluded that 'our Government/PTB/MSM is not only lying to us, but has been for quite some time.)
For my example, on 9/10/11, I was long already certain that the OKC bombing was a US Police State creating incremental-step false flag, used to justify / re enact the Federal Death penalty, via terror, which, I believe, no one had been executed for Federal Crimes since the Civil War? I forget.
Post 9/11, my cognitive dissonance managed to think 'Well 'they' might have done OKC, but there's NO WAY they would do something this evil. But it didn't take long...about two weeks? . . . for me to say to self. "What, so you're saying, RC, that some group so evil as to do an inside job and wire and blow up the OKC building, killing a bunch of kindergarteners*, that they would hesitate to kill 3K adults? Spare me!"
*(Of course, none of the dead kids were the kids of our pre-police-state-police/'law enforcement officers' as likewise no 'law enforcement' officers were killed that day, except perhaps some security guys? I don't know. Did any US Marshals die that day? (But see OKC hero Terence Leakey.) I guess that most or all of them, like Odigo on 9/11, all 'coincidentally' (sic) 'called in sick' that day, although they were there to be filmed pulling down the unexploded ordnance in the building.
Why have none of the secretaries spoken out? Looking out for #1, I guess, which is humanity's greatest flaw, as you note. It's also why communism is always destined to fail as it is predicated upon the underlying conclusion that most people care more for others than they do for their own selves, when that's just not the case. That's why I've been a 'libertarian' since before I could spell the word. It just makes sense. That which governs least governs best.
All of the Western Evil we have witnessed in our lives would have NEVER occurred if the government had not been allowed to grow like a tumor via the Federal Reserve Act and the Income Tax Act.
We need to use our brains to figure out a way to more quickly wake up AmeriKants to the fact that they are just that, and time is short.
R.C.
*In MY controlled government, no such place would exist... ain't government's business. Roads? Sure. Kiddie school at Courthouses? Sorry, that's just an excuse for ever bigger government.
RC
Americans love war equally is not news... it's common knowledge.
what I CAN say, and with certainty. was that our founders were VERY much aware of the possibility of such malfeasance . this explains why this group of Anarchists... recommended Min-Archy.
yes it IS true that we need some form of "Government" but how much? and of what type?
our founders advised us of the need to control our "Government" if you are an American. you need to start paying attention. it is your heritage to do so sir.
However, there is another dimension to all of this which I feel has been very presciently pointed out in the article that follows this one, "Witches, Comets and Planetary Cataclysms, by Laura Knight-Jadczyk. See my comment.
Addicted to war: Since 1776, US has been at war 93% of the time - That's 222 out of 239 years!
The U.S. has only been at peace for 21 years total since its birth In 2011, Danios wrote: Below, I have reproduced a year-by-year timeline of America's wars, which reveals something quite...Niall Yes. And? Does that mean that Americans are addicted to war or that the American ruling class is?Can't have one without the other.
I'd like to see the comparison to British, French, Ottoman, Persian, Roman empires, etc. for comparison.For comparison of what? Geographic reach? Numbers of wars? Amount of time spent at war?
It's worth studying, but that doesn't alter the fact that 'the empire' today is, substantially, Americana.
It seems fairly typical that the empire would be at war almost constantly, since it's a matter of control and resource grabbing and requires quite a lot of effort to maintain an empire, but there ought to be some distinction between the ruling class that wages war and the populace that gets sucked into the whirlwind.Some. It depends on the individual. In toto, however, the track record of complicity is pretty damning for most Americans.
For instance, British conscription into the navy would seem to suggest not all of the UK's subjects WANTED war but could be coerced for a time into taking part.The British have had zero revolutions since becoming an empire (and today, an adjunct of empire). That strongly suggests that they are - in toto - rather satisfied with their lot.
There's a lot of force required to keep any population in war mode, U.S. included, and probably most empires.Force? In the Land of the Free?! The shining beacon of liberal democracy?! On the contrary, it's all been done with full popular support (until recently anyway; I think Americans - again, in general - are now starting to feel fed up with war).
As I recall, the Romans also used forced conscription. Right?Oh but the Romans were also a fickle lot; I think you'll find they rather enjoyed it most of the time. And they too went the way of their rulers, btw.
Are some Americans addicted to war? Most likely. Are all? Probably not.Are most? Possibly.
One could probably make the case based on the amount of wars waged around the planet by countries across the globe in recorded history that humanity is addicted to war, not just Americans.True, at one point or another, everyone 'goes through that lesson'. It's just that, for the purpose of accounting for current events, spanning the last 100 years, no one has been as addicted as Americans.
You have yet to make a case for addiction. 100 years compared to... China? They've had how many wars over 5000+years? Are they addicted as well?It's all relative on a long enough timescale, I guess.
If America is addicted to war, and thereby Americans, then I submit that all of the world is addicted to war. Look around.I look around and see US bases (ranging from small cities housing tens of thousands of troops to drone sites and ammo/fuel depots) everywhere. 3,000+ sites, according to research conducted by David Vine in Base Nation .
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My suggestion: Limit all Congress to one term. We all might get a chance to go then. Sort of like what the Greeks did when they set up their government. Everybody got to serve in office. Of course, some had to be out rowing the boat collecting slaves so when their time came they were MIA. Know what happened? The older geezers got to stay in office. And then they collected rent on their properties and then they got to collect the debt owed as the renters wives and children. Viola! Then to make sure the very comfortable system was not interrupted the laws were not written down and were what the old geezers said they were. And any crime punishable by death!
I love fairy tales.