During the last 60 years, all of these great powers have built new infrastructure, new industrial efficiency, new transportation networks (including advanced public transportation), modern universal health care systems for all workers and citizens, highly energy efficient power generation, distribution, and manufacturing capabilities, energy efficient fleets of private automobiles (including those successfully exported to the U.S.), cost efficient pharmaceutical drug production and distribution, advanced (and often universal / free) post secondary education systems, and a host of societal safety-nets and services which had not existed at all prior to the second war of empires. In sum, they all came out of the second world war of empires with a conviction to walk away from the empire-thinking and bellicose foreign war policies that had just killed so many of their citizens and led to their military and financial collapse --- and instead to walk on the light side, to listen to their citizens pleas for survival, and comfortable living under a modern and equitable economic system using innovative design and manufacturing technologies to share the fruits and benefit s of modern industrial success cooperatively and not waste it on more war.
However, two surviving global empires refused to take the lessons of WWII to heart (as an end to the ways of arrogant and exploitive empire) and they turned on each other (drawing in some proxy states) in continual wars of territorial expansion and exploitation of resources (particularly oil) and threatened each other and the world with nuclear annihilation in order to seek to be the unitary global Empire that would rule the earth.
The weaker of these remaining global empires eventually bankrupted and destroyed itself in war and a hyper-war economy --- although the second-rate actor, and TV ‘pitchman’ president of the winning empire arrogantly thought that he had caused the destruction of the “Evil Empire”, never understanding that all ‘empire is evil’, including the one remaining ruling-elite ‘corporate financial Empire’ for which he had been selected and placed in office to serve as the unknowing pawn of this now unrivaled super-power, global Empire. [Incidentally, the TV ‘pitchman’ had so little understanding of ‘money power’ tyranny destroying the value of his country’s constitutional guaranteed ‘free speech’ that one of his most infamous and damning quotes was to shout, “I PAID for this microphone” --- even though those who had actually paid for the microphone were his imperialist/corporatist backers].
The remaining, arrogant and supremely hubristic global ruling-elite ‘corporate financial Empire’ felt that it could now dominate the global like the Roman Empire, even though the country being used as the nominal headquarters for this empire had been founded to be the exact and precise opposite of the Roman Empire, and had fought, and beaten, the equally world straddling British Empire to win its freedom. This surviving, but ultimately unsustainable, empire (as all empires are unsustainable) set about designing elaborate, but wishful, strategies to use oil as its ultimate strangle-hold on the whole world, and dreams of making the next century in its own name --- with a Project for a New Imperial Century. But like all previous empires this empire was delusional and selected a series of delusional faux emperors as its ‘front men’ --- just like Rome, Britain France, Germany, Japan and others had done before their predictable failure. In fact, the Reagan, Clinton and Bush faux emperors bear a remarkable likeness to the flawed characteristics of the Roman Emperors in vacuous rhetoric, debauchery, and insanity.
Promises of ‘peace dividends’ and converting from a destructive war economy to a more populist and progressive peace economy for the people (from guns to butter, and health care) have been continually delayed by one or multiple imperial grasps for new wealth for the ruling-elite both “abroad” and “at home” as Hannah Arendt presciently warned decades ago of the Nazi Empire, “Empire abroad (always) entails tyranny at home”.
But finally, with the stupendous weight of looting ‘at home’ by the ‘masters of the universe’ and with continued hundreds of billions of dollars (and precious lives) wasted ‘abroad’ it seems that the last chapter of the World Wars of Empire is about to come to a close, albeit a painful one for the last empire.
Hopefully, in this moderate and sober Obama administration, which places the priorities of the people, and the representation of the people above that of Empire, our country will once again be successful in fighting off an empire in our own land --- and in expunging or excising it from our small fragile planet, and restoring the best interests of citizen in our society with a sane and proven political economic system of ‘social democracy’ --- just as the rest of the advanced countries of the world have done in the best interests of their citizens. The beast of Empire may finally have gone the way of the dinosaur.
The gloves are now off ---- in this class-war of Empire vs. ‘social democracy’.This weekend it has become very apparent to me (and hopefully many other principled progressives committed to confronting EMPIRE under any veiled and phony name) that the radical right wing-nuts and political whores of DC employed by the ruling-elite 'corporate financial Empire’ that controls our country by hiding behind the facade of its two-party 'Vichy' charade of democracy (and aided by the equally 'Vichy' deceitful corporate MSM) have decided that their preamble to war is now going to be turned up to a real EMPIRE vs. the people no-holds-bared, class-war --- just like the British Empire's political, economic and military thugs decided that after hectoring and tyrannizing and badgering the people of the colonies for ten years, that they (the supposedly invincible EMPIRE) were just going to march out to Lexington and wipe out any resistance.
Well, guess what 'empire-fans' ---- then came Concord, and the minute men, and another EMPIRE getting its ar*e kicked in short order.
And now that second (actually a continuation) of the American Revolution (by real American patriots) is starting.
If that dumb imperialist SOB/snob Newton "Newt" Leroy Gingrich (who shut down our government in 1995, by playing 'chicken' and 'brinksmanship' with our lives and our children's lives and health) thinks that he and 'Rush-head' and the rest of their fascist enablers for the corporate Empire are going to push the people of American up against the wall again --- he's got another thing coming from me and millions of other good honest American working-class people, who will say, "Up against the wall, mother" (and that's the least of what we are likely to do to these royalist/loyalist of EMPIRE).
Worse than 1995 when these radical neo-con nuts shut down the government, they are now trying to play brinksmanship with both our government and our economy, and shut-down both at the same time. Their ‘paid help’ in Congress are threatening to shut down both if the rapacious EMPIRE can’t stay in dictatorial control of both elements of our political-economy: the government and the economy. This is an imperial threat that can not stand, any more than King George and the British Empire’s East India Corporation could deprive our forefathers of tea, stamps, political representation, food, guns, and a livelihood for their families at the same time. Blockading is an act of war – and what the Empire is trying to do to the American people by blockading; credit, jobs, political rights, health care, education and our whole government and economy is precisely BLOCKADING our lives. And we will Declare our Independence from this Empire!
That little self-appointed King George 'Newt', sliding on his ample belly like a newt, is going to find himself neutered the "hard way" (as Rodney Dangerfield would say) if he and his fascist pals like Rush-head, Cantor, Pence (that Nazi look-alike), Cronin, Kyl, Boehner, McConnell and the rest of these two-bit brown-shirts think that they can hand over our country to the ruling-elite imperial 'rose thrones' who have just looted us blind, spied on us, broke our sacred Constitution, stole our good name, and killed our children in 'their' criminal oil-war in Iraq.
Remember the Maine --- and "Don't tread on us".
Enough is enough.
Elitist Revolt against the masses and democracy:The vast, vast, 90% majority of the real working-class Americans (who make more from work than from idle wealth) are going to rise up like a vengeful serpent and bite their Dick (Cheneys) and 'cut-down' their Bushes, as Jefferson meant when he said, "The tree of liberty must be nourished from time to time with the blood (of tyrants)" ---- and now IS that time.
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