MSNBC rails against the "fantastically corrupt elite" on the ground that ruined the Afghan mission,
but the real corruption was our own.
On MSNBC the other night, Rachel Maddow
told a story about visiting Afghanistan a decade ago. She described being taken on a tour of a new neighborhood in Kabul of "narco-palaces," what she called, "big garish, gigantic, rococo, strange-looking places" that hadn't existed before the Americans arrived. This was said to be symbolic of the "fantastically corrupt elites" among the Afghan political class who put themselves into position to siphon off big chunks of the "billions of dollars per month" we sent into the country.
Noting that,
"the U.S. effort and expenditure in that country did build some stuff, roads and waterways and schools," Maddow decried the fact that
"so much of what we put in by the boatload was shoveled off by a fantastically corrupt elite." She showed video of Taliban conquerors lounging around in the tackily furnished homes of former Afghan officials in Kabul, pointing out that,
"dictator chic is the same the world over." In a not-so-subtle dig at Donald Trump, she added,
"And they really like gold fixtures."
From Vietnam to Iraq to Afghanistan, the pattern of American officials showering questionable political allies abroad with
armfuls of cash is a long-established practice. However, the idea that this is the reason the "missions" fail in such places is just a continuation of the original propaganda lines that get us into these messes. It's a way of saying the subject populations are to blame for undermining our noble efforts, when the missions themselves are often preposterous and, moreover,
the lion's share of the looting is usually done by our own marauding contracting community.
Comment: Isn't it rather suspect that over in the US similar predatory moves are being made by investment giant Blackrock? As with Lloyds in the UK, it was also recently predicted that they will become America's largest private landlords. And this all seems to be fulfilling the Build Back Better brigade's declaration that the masses will "own nothing and be happy": US investment giants buying up neighborhoods, MSM telling us we should rent - this 'new normal' spells the death of the American Dream
Meanwhile, over in China, there are also concerns about the housing market, debt and the economy overall. And, in a rare move, regulators called in the country's largest construction company to warn them about their unmanageable debts and to implore them to promote "stability" in the market. This stands in contrast to governments in the West that are actually colluding with mega-corporations against the best interests of the majority. It's also telling that in China, up to 70% of millennials (ages 19 to 36) already own their own homes, whilst in the US, 52% of 18 to 29 year olds live with their parents: The American Dream is Alive And Well... in China
Also check out SOTT radio's: NewsReal #26: Globalization vs Nationalism - The Hidden Causes of The Yellow Vest Protests in France