Economical, Moral, and Spiritual Bankruptcy

“We are on the brink of losing our democracy for the sake of keeping our empire. Once a nation starts down that path, the dynamics that apply to all empires come into play – isolation, overstretch, the uniting of global and local forces opposed to imperialism, and in the end, bankruptcy.”

  Greg Maybury: Consortium News

Those are the words of Chalmers Johnson, author of Dismantling the Empire: America’s Last Best Hope. According to Johnson, if we are to avoid that outcome, we must do three things.

Firstly, the U.S. needs to dismantle the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) completely, an organization which he views as being both incompetent and dangerous.

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Secondly, he proposed the curtailment of any further expansion of U.S. global military presence along with the progressive dismantlement of the existing infrastructure.

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Thirdly, he emphasized America’s urgent need to scale back and then eradicate the intertwined military, industrial, security and economic foundations that have both driven and underpinned the growth of U.S. empire

I don’t see any of that happening.

If these actions are not taken, Johnson argued in his introduction, [we will experience] a likely collapse similar to that of the former Soviet Union.” Although Johnson rightly observed that this outcome is not inevitable, he noted pessimistically “it may be unavoidable given the hubris and arrogance of our national leadership.”

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For anyone following recent events from outside the realms of the corporate media’s reach – the proxy “cold war” with Russia over the Ukraine along with the provocative saber rattling over the downing of MH17, Israel’s genocidal incursions into the Gaza Strip, the deteriorating situations in Iraq and Syria and the rise of ISIS, just to name a few of the volatile global ructions to which America is a party to or has some vital stake in – these conclusions should be obvious.

And given the state’s overreaching surveillance of its own citizens, along with its persecution of both whistleblowers and journalists who dare to shine a light on its nefarious activities, I have to wonder…is it time to escape? And where could you go? The Five Eyes are all in the same rotting barrel. There are a few democracies left in South America. Bolivia seems to be doing well.

Or, perhaps you think we can change things by working at it here. Dig faster.

In addition to Johnson’s recommendations, here’s a few more. America needs to pull back from its unstinting support of Israel. [...] And above all, it should clip the wings of the Zionistas in the U.S., and cut off the funding of their counterparts in Israel.

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Overall, it needs to reflect long and hard on its compulsion for meddling in the so-called Greater Middle East.

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The U.S. should also stop meddling in Europe, and begin by reassessing its support of the Ukraine [...] . A rapprochement with Russia should be the order of the day.

I don’t see any of that happening, either....but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.