I have written, more times than I can remember, that the US is the most violent, homicidal, deranged, monstrous nation ever to exist. If I were not an atheist, I'd tip my hat to Satan for his role in conceptualizing a political culture able to manifest the wishes of Beelzebub to absolute perfection. Not only has the US compiled a body count that would shame Hitler, but somehow, much of the US population lauds their nation as the citadel of Democracy. No psychopath has ever hidden bodies so successfully, while whistling a happy tune, as Uncle Sam. We have completely imposed global amnesia on the greatest mass murder in human history - the tetraethyl leaded gasoline genocide of the 20th century. General Motors held the patent on leaded gasoline which caused 100 million deaths globally. Grain alcohol could have safely addressed the problem of "engine knocking" but GM had no rights to the patent. Tetraethyl lead gave GM higher profits, and they hired sketchy academics to convince the public that lead was safe. It's all right here (https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/secret-history-lead/#:~:text=Lead%20is%20poison%2C%20a%20potent,than%20background%20or%20natural%20levels.) BTW - The perpetrators of this massive crime - Alfred Sloan and Charles Kettering of GM, now have a cancer treatment center named after them. I propose that The Sloan Kettering Cancer Center be renamed The Hitler Pol Pot Cancer Treatment Center. Hitler and Pol Pot were nicer people.
OMG! Who are you, Phil Wilson? I have been making this point to everyone who didn't run from the room for decades. How anyone believes that a nation founded on genocide and imperial intent (the founding f***ers referred to the nascent nation as the "infant empire"), built on slavery and oppression — first at home and then abroad — could be anything but the most vile, vicious, and violent of empires is beyond me. Denial is an incredible thing.
But I beg to differ on a couple of points, one minor, one major.
The minor point is your belief that leaded gasoline is the worst of the crimes of the US. I sincerely doubt it. Economic warfare alone has undoubtedly accounted for many hundreds of millions dead. Perhaps the leaded gasoline had a higher rate? But there is plenty of competition. Yet you are correct: this alone makes the US a hideous evil. Why look further?
And all who natter on about rights and justice and all that nonsense should remember that the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution were written of, by, and for a hoarding parasite class of oligarchs. You and I were excluded. Women, minorities, aboriginals (the actual owners of the land), children, propertyless white males — all were excluded.
And a lot of people suffered and died trying to get the parasites to extend, even if briefly and only partially, those same "rights" to others. The US has always put private property above all else. Unless it is YOUR private property.
But the major point on which we differ is your belief that Alfred Sloan and Charles Kettering were responsible for all this. They must have been very busy sneaking around at night putting lead in everyone's gas tank!
No, WE did this to ourselves. Sloan and Kettering just orchestrated it for us. And we were happy (until we weren't) to go along.
Then, of course, we were shocked — SHOCKED — to discover that we'd been poisoning ourselves and our kids.
The negative effects of lead were widely known for decades before the people of the US acted to protect themselves. But, meh … won't affect ME.
Of course, we were quite happy to continue selling leaded gasoline to people in other countries. Just as we've done with tobacco products, DDT, Dalkon Shields, and all sorts of other toxins and toxic products.
Thanks for the thoughtful comment. The Jamie Kitman piece linked above is a great read. The public was screwed twice by leaded gas - this was the only fuel offered for much of the 20th century, and GM invented the art of pseudoscientific propaganda (now famously employed to finalize the sixth extinction) in order to assure public confusion and cooperation. The politicians and press (notably, the NYT) went along for the ride. The hundred million deaths were just part of the story. Lead poisoning was particularly deadly in inner cities due to highway construction designed to isolate Black neighborhoods. Mass lead poisoning victimized young children and caused a spike in urban crime, and this drove racist narratives. Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan were political consequences of lead poisoning - as were the Bushes and Clinton. Our sharp turn to police state politics and vast prisons took shape largely due to lead.
BTW, my writing has been frequently posted at Z Network, Common Dreams, Counterpunch, Current Affairs and other platforms. All my stuff gets posted on my Substack page: Nobody's Voice.
You're welcome. I used to subscribe to Z long ago but had a bit of a falling out with Michael Albert. I find that there's a lot of overwhelming detail but very little appreciation for the underlying mechanisms. It's as if we're not allowed to talk about our own culpability.
I was an early subscriber to Alex's paper version of CP and read the website, often "cover to cover" faithfully every day until Alex's death or thereabouts. I have mostly lost interest and many of the best writers have departed or died. (I miss Edward Said, Alex, William Blum, etc.)
I am horrified by St. Claire's love of Zelenskyy, but then I'm aware of his personal animosity toward Putin after encountering him on a rafting trip, IIRC.
Never thought much of Common Dreams or Current Affairs. Too mainstream liberal Democratic for my tastes. I did love Covert Action Quarterly when I had to search newstands for a copy in the 90s. The new site sometimes worries me with its conspiracy-theorist odor, but often there is good stuff there.
Really, of the regular online media, Black Agenda Report was always my favorite. It is still pretty good, although the loss of first Bruce Dixon and then Glen Ford was an incredible blow.
The enemy to me, for the record, is capitalism. If we are ever to get rid of it we will need, Black, White, Muslim, Christian, Jewish, atheist and Hindu alliances on behalf of the working class.
As to your - "If we are ever to get rid of it we will need, Black, White, Muslim, Christian, Jewish, atheist and Hindu alliances on behalf of the working class." - dream on! You're delusional - which puts you in the majority of atheists, agnostics and churchians - all of whom ASSume what they know and believe is DaTruth - www.crushlimbraw.com - it only took me 25+ years to learn that. Discovery of REALITY is a process.....not an end state!
Allow me to state the obvious, the data for this analysis required collection by earnest, responsible human beings. Will any AI current or future have the inclination to data acquisition and to store such in an archival fashion?
I still teach and no matter how prettily handwritten, assignments completed by paraphrasing AI generated output drive me to despair. Thinking is what I admire. Copying, not so much. (Though life time plus copyright duration is an anchor on creative endeavors.)
That said, hats off to Bob's effective search parameters to showcase the hypocrisy of the United States government.
I have written, more times than I can remember, that the US is the most violent, homicidal, deranged, monstrous nation ever to exist. If I were not an atheist, I'd tip my hat to Satan for his role in conceptualizing a political culture able to manifest the wishes of Beelzebub to absolute perfection. Not only has the US compiled a body count that would shame Hitler, but somehow, much of the US population lauds their nation as the citadel of Democracy. No psychopath has ever hidden bodies so successfully, while whistling a happy tune, as Uncle Sam. We have completely imposed global amnesia on the greatest mass murder in human history - the tetraethyl leaded gasoline genocide of the 20th century. General Motors held the patent on leaded gasoline which caused 100 million deaths globally. Grain alcohol could have safely addressed the problem of "engine knocking" but GM had no rights to the patent. Tetraethyl lead gave GM higher profits, and they hired sketchy academics to convince the public that lead was safe. It's all right here (https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/secret-history-lead/#:~:text=Lead%20is%20poison%2C%20a%20potent,than%20background%20or%20natural%20levels.) BTW - The perpetrators of this massive crime - Alfred Sloan and Charles Kettering of GM, now have a cancer treatment center named after them. I propose that The Sloan Kettering Cancer Center be renamed The Hitler Pol Pot Cancer Treatment Center. Hitler and Pol Pot were nicer people.
OMG! Who are you, Phil Wilson? I have been making this point to everyone who didn't run from the room for decades. How anyone believes that a nation founded on genocide and imperial intent (the founding f***ers referred to the nascent nation as the "infant empire"), built on slavery and oppression — first at home and then abroad — could be anything but the most vile, vicious, and violent of empires is beyond me. Denial is an incredible thing.
But I beg to differ on a couple of points, one minor, one major.
The minor point is your belief that leaded gasoline is the worst of the crimes of the US. I sincerely doubt it. Economic warfare alone has undoubtedly accounted for many hundreds of millions dead. Perhaps the leaded gasoline had a higher rate? But there is plenty of competition. Yet you are correct: this alone makes the US a hideous evil. Why look further?
And all who natter on about rights and justice and all that nonsense should remember that the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution were written of, by, and for a hoarding parasite class of oligarchs. You and I were excluded. Women, minorities, aboriginals (the actual owners of the land), children, propertyless white males — all were excluded.
And a lot of people suffered and died trying to get the parasites to extend, even if briefly and only partially, those same "rights" to others. The US has always put private property above all else. Unless it is YOUR private property.
But the major point on which we differ is your belief that Alfred Sloan and Charles Kettering were responsible for all this. They must have been very busy sneaking around at night putting lead in everyone's gas tank!
No, WE did this to ourselves. Sloan and Kettering just orchestrated it for us. And we were happy (until we weren't) to go along.
Then, of course, we were shocked — SHOCKED — to discover that we'd been poisoning ourselves and our kids.
The negative effects of lead were widely known for decades before the people of the US acted to protect themselves. But, meh … won't affect ME.
Of course, we were quite happy to continue selling leaded gasoline to people in other countries. Just as we've done with tobacco products, DDT, Dalkon Shields, and all sorts of other toxins and toxic products.
Thanks for the thoughtful comment. The Jamie Kitman piece linked above is a great read. The public was screwed twice by leaded gas - this was the only fuel offered for much of the 20th century, and GM invented the art of pseudoscientific propaganda (now famously employed to finalize the sixth extinction) in order to assure public confusion and cooperation. The politicians and press (notably, the NYT) went along for the ride. The hundred million deaths were just part of the story. Lead poisoning was particularly deadly in inner cities due to highway construction designed to isolate Black neighborhoods. Mass lead poisoning victimized young children and caused a spike in urban crime, and this drove racist narratives. Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan were political consequences of lead poisoning - as were the Bushes and Clinton. Our sharp turn to police state politics and vast prisons took shape largely due to lead.
BTW, my writing has been frequently posted at Z Network, Common Dreams, Counterpunch, Current Affairs and other platforms. All my stuff gets posted on my Substack page: Nobody's Voice.
You're welcome. I used to subscribe to Z long ago but had a bit of a falling out with Michael Albert. I find that there's a lot of overwhelming detail but very little appreciation for the underlying mechanisms. It's as if we're not allowed to talk about our own culpability.
I was an early subscriber to Alex's paper version of CP and read the website, often "cover to cover" faithfully every day until Alex's death or thereabouts. I have mostly lost interest and many of the best writers have departed or died. (I miss Edward Said, Alex, William Blum, etc.)
I am horrified by St. Claire's love of Zelenskyy, but then I'm aware of his personal animosity toward Putin after encountering him on a rafting trip, IIRC.
Never thought much of Common Dreams or Current Affairs. Too mainstream liberal Democratic for my tastes. I did love Covert Action Quarterly when I had to search newstands for a copy in the 90s. The new site sometimes worries me with its conspiracy-theorist odor, but often there is good stuff there.
Really, of the regular online media, Black Agenda Report was always my favorite. It is still pretty good, although the loss of first Bruce Dixon and then Glen Ford was an incredible blow.
I'll checkout your substack.
Atheist or not - you've hit the nail closer than most pew sitters or pulpit dispensers - how so?
The Chinese have learned who their enemy is - it's not the West....we are ruled by DaSynagogue of Satan! .....why? We ALLOWED IT! - DaSynagogue of Satan? Read all about it - https://crushlimbraw.blogspot.com/search?q=DaSynagogue+Satan&updated-max=2022-10-19T09:51:00-07:00&max-results=20&by-date=false&m=1 - headnotes to a collection of articles in DaLimbraw Library from a word search 'DaSynagogue of Satan' - it was an education for me as I gradually compiled it over the years - should be for anyone reading it.
Just this ....sooner or later.....we have to......individually, within our families, churches, communities....we have to learn WhoTF our enemy is!
The enemy to me, for the record, is capitalism. If we are ever to get rid of it we will need, Black, White, Muslim, Christian, Jewish, atheist and Hindu alliances on behalf of the working class.
Capitalism? It's only one of the tools of DaOligarchDSOS -
https://crushlimbraw.blogspot.com/search?q=Capitalism&updated-max=2021-02-01T10:10:00-08:00&max-results=20&start=0&by-date=false&m=1 - and that is just the beginning!
As to your - "If we are ever to get rid of it we will need, Black, White, Muslim, Christian, Jewish, atheist and Hindu alliances on behalf of the working class." - dream on! You're delusional - which puts you in the majority of atheists, agnostics and churchians - all of whom ASSume what they know and believe is DaTruth - www.crushlimbraw.com - it only took me 25+ years to learn that. Discovery of REALITY is a process.....not an end state!
Cheers!
Great insight. Thanks to you and Bob for sharing.
Now do Gaza - since 1948.
I'll ask Bob.
Just when I thought I couldn't despise my country more ...😭
Allow me to state the obvious, the data for this analysis required collection by earnest, responsible human beings. Will any AI current or future have the inclination to data acquisition and to store such in an archival fashion?
I still teach and no matter how prettily handwritten, assignments completed by paraphrasing AI generated output drive me to despair. Thinking is what I admire. Copying, not so much. (Though life time plus copyright duration is an anchor on creative endeavors.)
That said, hats off to Bob's effective search parameters to showcase the hypocrisy of the United States government.
AI is a tool. And like all tools it takes skill to use.
Very good post. I think the figure of 1.5 million Iraqi deaths is about 50% of the actual number.
"Genocide in Iraq: The Case Against the UN Security Council and Member States"
"Genocide in Iraq Volume II: The Obliteration of a Modern State"
Dr. Abdul-Haq al-Ani, Tarik al-Ani, Joshua Castellino
I agree. Bob went with the most conservative estimate for 1.5 million deaths. IMO. Not one 9/11 every day and a half. At least one 9/11 every day.