America is addicted to copious quantities of war porn, and it's a debilitating disease that leaves it's victims suffering in social isolation but always wanting a bigger missile.
I love the comment it makes about American success in Afghanistan! Priceless.
America (like Britain before it) is an expeditionary power. Has not had to fight off a serious invader pretty much since ever. All the foreign wars from the Spanish American War onwards have been overseas campaigns waged far from home, albeit usually positioned as defensive and in favour of democracy. US casualties have also aways been very limited compared to other belligerents. So war is treated as a game. Even the call sign Q referred to in the article plays to that mindset.
China and Russia have both had relatively recent experience of invasion and of losing millions of people in war. They treat it as a more serious endeavour. Which is not to say they have a desire to go around invading everyone. They don’t. But when they do fight they see it as a necessity for national survival. Not some game that is really designed to enable well heeled careers, push money to the MIC and fund political campaigns. That is the root of why America’s military is in reality so unsuccessful and so not ready for real war.
You make some excellent points. I especially liked your comment about the call sign Q! Also the idea that war for Americans is a game -- not a real thing. The connection you make between "defense" as a game "really designed to enable well heeled careers, push money to the MIC and fund political campaigns" this excellent May I quote you on this if I do a followup? I think it is a core concept in what you might call the social anthropology of war.
Thank you, Godfree. Coming from you that is high praise indeed. I read your stuff a lot and am always impressed. I hope my subscribers will tune in also Thank you for the link ..
When an article such as the WSJ one appears in the mainstream Western media, I don't see it as a source of information (I have long known that the US is not prepared for 'major-power' conflict), but rather as some sort of bellwether of elite thinking or perhaps an attempt to frame the narrative for lobbying purposes. The premise is that the US isn't ready to face off with China and Russia. But the implicit conclusion of the article certainly isn't: "in that case, let's stop acting so belligerently." I imagine the conclusion is more like: "let's pour many more billions into rectifying this problem." This is all late-stage empire stuff.
Another great comment, thank you.As you say, these articles do not provide information, they are basically propaganda.The Media orchestra plays marching songs, and the crowds cheer the troops marching off to great jobs at Raytheon.
it’s appalling to discover after so many decades the real role the U.S. is just a horrific shock, an absolute opposite one from which weve always boasted.
It’s is certainly of a truth as Putin described;
the United States is indeed an empire of lies and liars.
Also, I suppose looking back the U.S. has been in a state of decline since the very outset simply because our Constitutional Republic was meant to led by
decent and a God honoring people’s. A system which turns out easily corrupted by lowlife lawyers turned politicians.
A very rapid decline can be noted beginning in the early 60’s. For reasons I will avoid even to
mention. Only to say the collapse of an empire is always preceded by a spiritual collapse.
The U.S. must be removed as the hegemony of the world. 3/4 of the planet have become exceedingly weary and quite frankly impatient with its “rules based order.”
And for themselves the American citizens currently suffer under a blind leadership; a collection of the most moral degenerates on the planet.
EU nations are following after a blind nation. And how does that faithful go? If the blind follow after the blind they both fall in a ditch.
Thank YOU, Fortified City! The idea of spiritual collapse is one I have not developed so far but should. As you say, the collapse of empire is always preceded by spiritual conflict and collapse. In political "scientists" discussions, there is rarely any mention of this important fact, or even of morality..
Your writings are refreshing, you really get the point across. If it wasn't about our skin, I would even laugh at one of your jokes! But as a Central European, it can still shock you that the country that we once looked upon behind the Iron Curtain as a liberating and noble role model, today turns out to be nothing more than a scrappy robber who profits from the subjugation of others! But as a person who has studied history, I have one hope, just like many thieving empires, the USA will collapse one day, because the crappy overvalued dollar will not work as a world currency, and sooner or later it will become clear that they should have filed for bankruptcy a long time ago. I know that the average American is kind-hearted and wants to live in freedom, but he lives in a false pseudo-democracy, where there are two parties on paper, but the same people sit on both sides. We know who they are, not the friends of the average American! It would be time for the freedom-loving American people to finally realize that there is no other way out, they must take their own destiny into their own hands !
As a Canadian, I grew up thinking the American "Dream was a real thing and American democracy too. During the Vietnam War I was in SE Asia attempting a career as a stringer. My illusions shattered.
It is interesting that I also have a Canadian connection, since my father, the freedom fighter whom the communist regime wanted to kill, found a new homeland in Canada and took his final resting place there. I was able to meet him for the first time after 24 years in British Columbia in 1980, which gave me the feeling of real sweet freedom after the Iron Curtain. No one can feel the feeling when my plane landed in Vancouver in 1980 and I stepped out onto the steps of the plane, I had never felt the air so sweet, then I thought it was because I was now breathing the air of a free country for the first time in my life ! At that time there was no trace of the harmful Trudeu family and the regime that is now exerting its harmful effects in that beautiful country that I was lucky enough to visit many times to travel in !
Sadly, I think you are right."I expect the USA's population to ride this sucker down in flames. Just as compliant to the very end as Germans were in April of 1945".
First time reader... the truth is almost always refreshing, and your delivery of it is also entertaining and funny. I’m poor so I pledged, but no money. I can’t read Seymour’s articles because of that detail and i hope you’re not like that, too. Otherwise I’ll have to keep dumpster diving like yourself
Likewise. Paywalls end up being elitist and exclusive in this day and age. If the Blamestream Press got rid of their so 20th century paper editions that consume several square miles of forests every day, they wouldn't need to beg for our money on the internet.
Personally, I think paywalls undermine the credibility of writers.You can complain about the profit-hunger of the mainstream media , grreedy corporations and the like by restricting your content to only afford it.
Sorry, can't agree. Sure, there is the tradition of the aristocratic British writer who did it more or less as a hobby, and similar setups elsewhere (and when), but why should writing, unlike every other form of work, always be a charitable endeavor?
This is especially the case if you are writing from a POV not approved by the mainstream. If so, you are frozen out of most "legitimate" opportunities, and must avail yourself of what little remains outside those boundaries. Amazon has become hopeless, simply because it has become swamped in oceans of bilge which make it nearly impossible for worthwhile work to fight its way to the surface, (unless the author is willing to spend more time on SEO, PR, marketing, and so on, than on actual writing).
That's what makes Substack so special. Its built-in network effects work very well to bring good writing to the attention of those who are looking for it. And if some of those writers would like to be paid for their work, well, let the market decide. Even if those paid subscribers are paying to see you lambaste profit-hungry mainstream media. Although profit-hunger is not the real problem with mainstream media. Moral and intellectual corruption is.
If China escalates militarily, it defaults. China has lots of nice tech, but its military industrial base isn't scaled up like the Russians. The Chinese are going to print a bunch of money to stimulate their economy. It will also devalue the Yuan and that will hurt its balance of payments. If America is de-coupling, dropping prices will not raise demand. Where is demand for Chinese goods going to come from? Domestic military spending? With a declining component base? They can lead all they want in tech. The USSR was like 25 years ahead of the US with laser systems. They lack capital and markets to scale. China needs capital because it has a crushing load of debt service not denominated in Yuan. By refusing to allow the Renminbi to float as a freely exchanged currency, they restrict the market for traded liquidity (currency markets) and artificially pump up the value. Is their domestic economy's consumption going to make up for lost export markets? Not at all. How to refinance all that debt when the flow of dollars has slowed? I analyze this with my articles https://aaronlee.substack.com/p/the-russian-financial-superpower & https://aaronlee.substack.com/p/ruble-vs-yuan-part-2 .
A cadre of MBAs can be as deadly as a platoon of commandos. A cadre of MBAs deindustrialized Russia. This underestimation of banking power is a chronic, vexing weakness of geopolitical analysis. Arms might win the war, but war is only fought to win the peace. And the dollar zone is better in peace. Dissolute millionaires don't go to Shenzhen, they go to LA or New York.
The US should just ditch the Star Spangled Banner ditty and adopt as its national anthem Sam Cooke's What A Wonderful World. Back when George W Bush was elected president, I knew the jig was up. He is a truly stupid man and can't easily hide that fact in public. (Of course, his Democrat opponents were no better and perhaps even more given over to evil.)
There is a chapter called 'Intellectual Espionage' in John Taylor Gatto's book 'The Underground History of American Education.' The entire book is worth a read but if time is limited try that one chapter.
America is addicted to copious quantities of war porn, and it's a debilitating disease that leaves it's victims suffering in social isolation but always wanting a bigger missile.
As we all know, bigger is not always better. It is all in how you use it.
Good take down of this WSJ propaganda.
I love the comment it makes about American success in Afghanistan! Priceless.
America (like Britain before it) is an expeditionary power. Has not had to fight off a serious invader pretty much since ever. All the foreign wars from the Spanish American War onwards have been overseas campaigns waged far from home, albeit usually positioned as defensive and in favour of democracy. US casualties have also aways been very limited compared to other belligerents. So war is treated as a game. Even the call sign Q referred to in the article plays to that mindset.
China and Russia have both had relatively recent experience of invasion and of losing millions of people in war. They treat it as a more serious endeavour. Which is not to say they have a desire to go around invading everyone. They don’t. But when they do fight they see it as a necessity for national survival. Not some game that is really designed to enable well heeled careers, push money to the MIC and fund political campaigns. That is the root of why America’s military is in reality so unsuccessful and so not ready for real war.
You make some excellent points. I especially liked your comment about the call sign Q! Also the idea that war for Americans is a game -- not a real thing. The connection you make between "defense" as a game "really designed to enable well heeled careers, push money to the MIC and fund political campaigns" this excellent May I quote you on this if I do a followup? I think it is a core concept in what you might call the social anthropology of war.
Great stuff, and spot on.
The education decline began in the US in the late 1970s – just as China was beginning its dash to the top.
The White House is now in zugzwang. All its moves suck in obvious ways: https://herecomeschina.substack.com/p/bidens-zugzwang?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=247534&post_id=108139916&isFreemail=false&utm_medium=email
Thank you, Godfree. Coming from you that is high praise indeed. I read your stuff a lot and am always impressed. I hope my subscribers will tune in also Thank you for the link ..
Certainly!
Good shit
When an article such as the WSJ one appears in the mainstream Western media, I don't see it as a source of information (I have long known that the US is not prepared for 'major-power' conflict), but rather as some sort of bellwether of elite thinking or perhaps an attempt to frame the narrative for lobbying purposes. The premise is that the US isn't ready to face off with China and Russia. But the implicit conclusion of the article certainly isn't: "in that case, let's stop acting so belligerently." I imagine the conclusion is more like: "let's pour many more billions into rectifying this problem." This is all late-stage empire stuff.
Another great comment, thank you.As you say, these articles do not provide information, they are basically propaganda.The Media orchestra plays marching songs, and the crowds cheer the troops marching off to great jobs at Raytheon.
What we're seeing in the US is once again, Enron psychology reimagining itself into Government and Corporate policy.
A kind of religious faith movement that goes by the adage, 'if we believe hard enough we can make anything we imagine reality'
It's a spiritual disease that's rampant in US corporatocracy and reveals its evidence in every other working US citizen you meet.
Russian and Chinese diplomats must shake their collective heads in bewilderment trying to rationalise and talk sense with their US counterparts.
It's a scary time to be alive watching the patients being in charge of the institution.
Good article btw!
Cheers
Excellent thanks,
it’s appalling to discover after so many decades the real role the U.S. is just a horrific shock, an absolute opposite one from which weve always boasted.
It’s is certainly of a truth as Putin described;
the United States is indeed an empire of lies and liars.
Also, I suppose looking back the U.S. has been in a state of decline since the very outset simply because our Constitutional Republic was meant to led by
decent and a God honoring people’s. A system which turns out easily corrupted by lowlife lawyers turned politicians.
A very rapid decline can be noted beginning in the early 60’s. For reasons I will avoid even to
mention. Only to say the collapse of an empire is always preceded by a spiritual collapse.
The U.S. must be removed as the hegemony of the world. 3/4 of the planet have become exceedingly weary and quite frankly impatient with its “rules based order.”
And for themselves the American citizens currently suffer under a blind leadership; a collection of the most moral degenerates on the planet.
EU nations are following after a blind nation. And how does that faithful go? If the blind follow after the blind they both fall in a ditch.
Thank YOU, Fortified City! The idea of spiritual collapse is one I have not developed so far but should. As you say, the collapse of empire is always preceded by spiritual conflict and collapse. In political "scientists" discussions, there is rarely any mention of this important fact, or even of morality..
Thank you,
The cellular network of society is family, rigidly defined as father, mother and children.
Moral decay has destroyed it as the foundation of our Western society.
Your writings are refreshing, you really get the point across. If it wasn't about our skin, I would even laugh at one of your jokes! But as a Central European, it can still shock you that the country that we once looked upon behind the Iron Curtain as a liberating and noble role model, today turns out to be nothing more than a scrappy robber who profits from the subjugation of others! But as a person who has studied history, I have one hope, just like many thieving empires, the USA will collapse one day, because the crappy overvalued dollar will not work as a world currency, and sooner or later it will become clear that they should have filed for bankruptcy a long time ago. I know that the average American is kind-hearted and wants to live in freedom, but he lives in a false pseudo-democracy, where there are two parties on paper, but the same people sit on both sides. We know who they are, not the friends of the average American! It would be time for the freedom-loving American people to finally realize that there is no other way out, they must take their own destiny into their own hands !
As a Canadian, I grew up thinking the American "Dream was a real thing and American democracy too. During the Vietnam War I was in SE Asia attempting a career as a stringer. My illusions shattered.
It is interesting that I also have a Canadian connection, since my father, the freedom fighter whom the communist regime wanted to kill, found a new homeland in Canada and took his final resting place there. I was able to meet him for the first time after 24 years in British Columbia in 1980, which gave me the feeling of real sweet freedom after the Iron Curtain. No one can feel the feeling when my plane landed in Vancouver in 1980 and I stepped out onto the steps of the plane, I had never felt the air so sweet, then I thought it was because I was now breathing the air of a free country for the first time in my life ! At that time there was no trace of the harmful Trudeu family and the regime that is now exerting its harmful effects in that beautiful country that I was lucky enough to visit many times to travel in !
Sadly, I think you are right."I expect the USA's population to ride this sucker down in flames. Just as compliant to the very end as Germans were in April of 1945".
I like this quote too, so much so, I'm going to steal it, if you don't mind.
Subscribed and recommended. Came to you via the comments section at Larry Johnson's joint. I'm impressed by the quality of your analyses.
That is so kind. I try anyway. And I get a lot of help from my commenters.
How about if the US just stayed at home and leave the rest of us to get on with building and living in a peaceful world?
First time reader... the truth is almost always refreshing, and your delivery of it is also entertaining and funny. I’m poor so I pledged, but no money. I can’t read Seymour’s articles because of that detail and i hope you’re not like that, too. Otherwise I’ll have to keep dumpster diving like yourself
I will never set up a paywall. At some point, I may make it possible for people to fund kibble for my two cats. But that will always be voluntary.
Likewise. Paywalls end up being elitist and exclusive in this day and age. If the Blamestream Press got rid of their so 20th century paper editions that consume several square miles of forests every day, they wouldn't need to beg for our money on the internet.
Personally, I think paywalls undermine the credibility of writers.You can complain about the profit-hunger of the mainstream media , grreedy corporations and the like by restricting your content to only afford it.
Sorry, can't agree. Sure, there is the tradition of the aristocratic British writer who did it more or less as a hobby, and similar setups elsewhere (and when), but why should writing, unlike every other form of work, always be a charitable endeavor?
This is especially the case if you are writing from a POV not approved by the mainstream. If so, you are frozen out of most "legitimate" opportunities, and must avail yourself of what little remains outside those boundaries. Amazon has become hopeless, simply because it has become swamped in oceans of bilge which make it nearly impossible for worthwhile work to fight its way to the surface, (unless the author is willing to spend more time on SEO, PR, marketing, and so on, than on actual writing).
That's what makes Substack so special. Its built-in network effects work very well to bring good writing to the attention of those who are looking for it. And if some of those writers would like to be paid for their work, well, let the market decide. Even if those paid subscribers are paying to see you lambaste profit-hungry mainstream media. Although profit-hunger is not the real problem with mainstream media. Moral and intellectual corruption is.
You are probably right. While i don't like paywalls, I will eventually provide a way for people to support me with whatever they can afford.
American MBAs put China in a dollar trap.
If China escalates militarily, it defaults. China has lots of nice tech, but its military industrial base isn't scaled up like the Russians. The Chinese are going to print a bunch of money to stimulate their economy. It will also devalue the Yuan and that will hurt its balance of payments. If America is de-coupling, dropping prices will not raise demand. Where is demand for Chinese goods going to come from? Domestic military spending? With a declining component base? They can lead all they want in tech. The USSR was like 25 years ahead of the US with laser systems. They lack capital and markets to scale. China needs capital because it has a crushing load of debt service not denominated in Yuan. By refusing to allow the Renminbi to float as a freely exchanged currency, they restrict the market for traded liquidity (currency markets) and artificially pump up the value. Is their domestic economy's consumption going to make up for lost export markets? Not at all. How to refinance all that debt when the flow of dollars has slowed? I analyze this with my articles https://aaronlee.substack.com/p/the-russian-financial-superpower & https://aaronlee.substack.com/p/ruble-vs-yuan-part-2 .
A cadre of MBAs can be as deadly as a platoon of commandos. A cadre of MBAs deindustrialized Russia. This underestimation of banking power is a chronic, vexing weakness of geopolitical analysis. Arms might win the war, but war is only fought to win the peace. And the dollar zone is better in peace. Dissolute millionaires don't go to Shenzhen, they go to LA or New York.
The US should just ditch the Star Spangled Banner ditty and adopt as its national anthem Sam Cooke's What A Wonderful World. Back when George W Bush was elected president, I knew the jig was up. He is a truly stupid man and can't easily hide that fact in public. (Of course, his Democrat opponents were no better and perhaps even more given over to evil.)
There is a chapter called 'Intellectual Espionage' in John Taylor Gatto's book 'The Underground History of American Education.' The entire book is worth a read but if time is limited try that one chapter.
BTW, wsj paywall is illusion too. You can always read it free, just... why bother, that really is but dumpster