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Interestingly enough we have a presidential candidate that thinks along these same lines but nobody wants to support the old man even though not one other candidate is standing up for your personal liberties,in fact quite to the contrary, the others want to take more liberties away from you.Post of the full article;
by
Paul Craig Roberts
for The Daily Reckoning
Great empires, such as the Roman and British, were extractive. The empires succeeded, because the value of the resources and wealth extracted from conquered lands exceeded the value of conquest and governance. The reason Rome did not extend its empire east into Germany was not the military prowess of Germanic tribes but Rome’s calculation that the cost of conquest exceeded the value of extractable resources.
The Roman empire failed, because Romans exhausted manpower and resources in civil wars fighting amongst themselves for power. The British empire failed, because the British exhausted themselves fighting Germany in two world wars.
In his book, The Rule of Empires (2010), Timothy H. Parsons replaces the myth of the civilizing empire with the truth of the extractive empire. He describes the successes of the Romans, the Umayyad Caliphate, the Spanish in Peru, Napoleon in Italy, and the British in India and Kenya in extracting resources. To lower the cost of governing Kenya, the British instigated tribal consciousness and invented tribal customs that worked to British advantage.
Parsons does not examine the American empire, but in his introduction to the book he wonders whether America’s empire is really an empire as the Americans don’t seem to get any extractive benefits from it. After eight years of war and attempted occupation of Iraq, all Washington has for its efforts is several trillion dollars of additional debt and no Iraqi oil. After ten years of trillion dollar struggle against the Taliban in Afghanistan, Washington has nothing to show for it except possibly some part of the drug trade that can be used to fund covert CIA operations.
America’s wars are very expensive. Bush and Obama have doubled the national debt, and the American people have no benefits from it. No riches, no bread and circuses flow to Americans from Washington’s wars. So what is it all about?
The answer is that Washington’s empire extracts resources from the American people for the benefit of the few powerful interest groups that rule America. The military-security complex, Wall Street, agri-business and the Israel Lobby use the government to extract resources from Americans to serve their profits and power. The US Constitution has been extracted in the interests of the Security State, and Americans’ incomes have been redirected to the pockets of the 1 percent. That is how the American Empire functions.
The New Empire is different. It happens without achieving conquest. The American military did not conquer Iraq and has been forced out politically by the puppet government that Washington established. There is no victory in Afghanistan, and after a decade the American military does not control the country.
In the New Empire success at war no longer matters. The extraction takes place by being at war. Huge sums of American taxpayers’ money have flowed into the American armaments industries and huge amounts of power into Homeland Security. The American empire works by stripping Americans of wealth and liberty.
This is why the wars cannot end, or if one does end another starts. Remember when Obama came into office and was asked what the US mission was in Afghanistan? He replied that he did not know what the mission was and that the mission needed to be defined.
Obama never defined the mission. He renewed the Afghan war without telling us its purpose. Obama cannot tell Americans that the purpose of the war is to build the power and profit of the military/security complex at the expense of American citizens.
This truth doesn’t mean that the objects of American military aggression have escaped without cost. Large numbers of Muslims have been bombed and murdered and their economies and infrastructure ruined, but not in order to extract resources from them.
It is ironic that under the New Empire the citizens of the empire are extracted of their wealth and liberty in order to extract lives from the targeted foreign populations. Just like the bombed and murdered Muslims, the American people are victims of the American empire.
I totally agree fishw, unfortunately that candidate doesn't have big $$$ backing him. Surprisingly there are some very well informed members in this forum, unfortunately we are just a flea on an elephants ass. The 1% RULE this country, both Republican and Democrat.Interestingly enough we have a presidential candidate that thinks along these same lines but nobody wants to support the old man even though not one other candidate is standing up for your personal liberties,in fact quite to the contrary, the others want to take more liberties away from you.
“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years.”
― Alexis de Tocqueville
I read this quote awhile ago and it really made me think. no doubt america is in a downward spiral spinning quickly out of control.
O' Arrogant Humanity.
Interestingly enough we have a presidential candidate that thinks along these same lines but nobody wants to support the old man even though not one other candidate is standing up for your personal liberties,in fact quite to the contrary, the others want to take more liberties away from you.
I totally agree fishw, unfortunately that candidate doesn't have big $$$ backing him. Surprisingly there are some very well informed members in this forum, unfortunately we are just a flea on an elephants ass. The 1% RULE this country, both Republican and Democrat.
A nice informative article by Mr Roberts. This country is a mess and most people are clueless. Want a glimpse of the very near future....watch the events that are happening in Greece.
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Thanks to dumbing down our school system, most people don't even realize they ARE getting screwed, never mind how badly! Unfortunately, one man will not change anything, it will take a complete overhaul. We could only wish to be so lucky.
"Those who would bargain to give away their liberties in order to gain security will neither get, nor deserve, either." Ben Franklin, still the smartest guy in the room.
Agreed. Corporate power left unchecked will lead to a terrible end for us all. If only the Supreme Court were the first to pay for their crimes...
America seems to have lost its way- I simply can't imagine people here getting riled up enough to get out and bother to have mass demonstrations. We're too busy with our distracted little lives to care, by and large. Of course there are exceptions- many here reading this, for example...
And that is ****BY PLAN***** , examine totalitarian regimes throughout history , they often managed to keep the populace so busy with just day to day survival , along with of course the aforementioned " bread and circuses" distractions
It pays to remember how popular Ceasar was with the poor of Rome; for he, far more than the 'duly elected (only rich men got to vote)' Senate, cared about them, and showed it every day with his bread and circuses program. It's funny how often that's forgotten and instead his popular- and effective- policy is held up to ridicule today...
Correction; He showed the ***appearance*** of caring , Soma for the Masses to keep the unwashed Rabble complacent.
Sound familar? It's just that nowadays we have an entire Orchestra of Neros Fiddling whilst Rome ( DC) burns............
Our politicians collectively need a New Name , an Indian one...' Move Mouth Much Do Very Little"......................
I think many people feel like their vote doesn't make a difference and the majority of the population tunes out politics because they don't feel it affects their daily lives. So that leaves the power with the lobbyists and corporations to decide our laws for us.America seems to have lost its way- I simply can't imagine people here getting riled up enough to get out and bother to have mass demonstrations. We're too busy with our distracted little lives to care, by and large. Of course there are exceptions- many here reading this, for example...
Our politicians have managed to hamstring our whole political system, and the big business interests who shower it with money play it like the world's biggest- and most lucrative- pachinko game. Example? In today's headlines, Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JP Morgan Chase Bank, kept his job AND his seat on the banking regulatory board in spite of his company's self admitted 'stupid' and 'foolish' mistakes, costing the bank two billion dollars! If you want a target for your ire about how badly this country is being managed, I suggest you start there.
I think many people feel like their vote doesn't make a difference and the majority of the population tunes out politics because they don't feel it affects their daily lives. So that leaves the power with the lobbyists and corporations to decide our laws for us.
I think the real power we hold as citizens is at the state and local level. We need to become more involved in local politics and choose better Congressmen that represent us better.
And we also need to make sure Congressmen that do nothing and side with special interests don't get re-elected.
"Most incumbents seek re-election, and their historical likelihood of winning subsequent elections exceeds 90 percent."
I think there could be another revolution in this country. With social media it is very possible that one day someone might start a twitter campaign to stop paying taxes on April 15. That would get the attention of our politicians.
The people shouldn't fear the government, the government should fear the people. Power to the people!
Uh HUH , obviously you've never been party to one of my " Get a gawdammned rope" tirades against the banking/lending industries..
And nope , don't start there , start with their paid lackeys inside the beltway and proceed from there.
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