(no subject)
This was originally written as a reply to an entry by noven However, it kept growing until it was to long to fit in a comment..
The original comment is here
Have you ever read 'The Prince' by Machiavelli? Much of the current actions of americas leaders can be explained in that light, ie, whatever the country was founded upon, it has now become a very different creature.
It's not really that unusual if you look to history, many countries have more or less ruled the world at one time or another, the Spanish, the Dutch, the Pourtegese, the English.. and they did it in a way that has hardly changed since the time of Rome, by invading other counties either overtly by making them colonies, or covertly, making them client states.
America is rich and powerful for the same reason as the Romans, they have what is called currency by fiat, which means that thier currency is not backed by anything tangible, such as the gold standard, it is backed, essentially, by military power.
The american dollar is worth something sinply because the americans say that it is. Many client states have the value of thier currency linked to the US dollar, thus propigating the 'magic' of intangible worth.
IMHO, the bloodless coup that put GW Bush in power was the turning point. Although it had been leading up to something like this for ages. Democracy has become a meaningless ritual by which the people reassure themselves of thier own powerlessness. it is obvious that the elections are rigged. By definition, there are many many more poor people than rich ones, so if democracy was truley representative, it would not always be the priviliged and wealthy who are elected.
The fact that elections can be influenced by money means that it will be the wealthiest who are elected. So who are the wealthiest people?
The products that generate the most global income are Drugs (for which you need prohibition, otherwise, you would not be able to buy a gram of heroin in afghanistan and sell it for $500 in Sydney.) and Weapons (for which you need war, otherwise, no one will buy them.)
The first historical example of this process can be seen in the Opium Wars that the British fought with China. By taking control of the opium growing region of Pakistan, the British essentially cornered the world opium market. Once they obtained a monopoly, they raised the price, which put pressure on the Chinese. As the price rose, people had to do more desperate things to obtain the money to buy opium. The British would send ships to china loaded with opium and they would return packed with silver, which is how the british managed to accumulate enough silver reserves to make the pound sterling (wich was of course, equal to a pound of silver) a dominant currency.
Eventually, the Chinese emperor outlawed the use of opium and banned british ships from chinese ports, which is what started the first opium war.
Of course, prohibition merely raised the price even further, resulting in greater social turmoil for the chinese and greater domination of the pound.
(argh, this message is too fucking long.. continued in next comment )
Going to war to secure drug supply is a win-win situation. The price of the drug rises, making money and the cost of the war also makes money.
By instituting a global ban on drugs through the league of nations, the americans ensured that no country would be able to supply free heroin to everyone who needed it, therefore ensuring a large flow of money to the americans from every country in the world.
A quick examination of the American power structure makes it obvious that they are the drug dealers. Practically every person in a position of real power in America went to school at Yale and belongs to the Skull and Bones.
Skull and Bones was founded by Opium smugglers. The immense profits made them powerful enough to fuck with entire countries.
check out http://www.answers.com/topic/skull-and-bones-historical-connections
(this article was originally on wikipedia, but has been removed for some reason.. it is very informative... =)
Those who are born into power, wealth and privilege do not care about the poor, they do not even have an understanding of the concept. Like kings through time immemorial, they are only concerned about the people if something happens that threatens thier economic base. In truth, aristocracy never went away, it has just retreated so far from the common man that most people could not even _begin_ to understand the purpose behind thier actions.
Thus, when you talk about america and are confused, because it's actions are different to it's people, you have to realise that the america you hate is basically the Narco-Military complex and thier goals are simply to make as much money as possible selling drugs and weapons, regardless of the consequences. After all, why should they care? They have all the drugs they want and live in places untouched by poverty or war, far from the sufferring of the people who thier actions affect..
(whew.. what a rant...) =)
The original comment is here
Have you ever read 'The Prince' by Machiavelli? Much of the current actions of americas leaders can be explained in that light, ie, whatever the country was founded upon, it has now become a very different creature.
It's not really that unusual if you look to history, many countries have more or less ruled the world at one time or another, the Spanish, the Dutch, the Pourtegese, the English.. and they did it in a way that has hardly changed since the time of Rome, by invading other counties either overtly by making them colonies, or covertly, making them client states.
America is rich and powerful for the same reason as the Romans, they have what is called currency by fiat, which means that thier currency is not backed by anything tangible, such as the gold standard, it is backed, essentially, by military power.
The american dollar is worth something sinply because the americans say that it is. Many client states have the value of thier currency linked to the US dollar, thus propigating the 'magic' of intangible worth.
IMHO, the bloodless coup that put GW Bush in power was the turning point. Although it had been leading up to something like this for ages. Democracy has become a meaningless ritual by which the people reassure themselves of thier own powerlessness. it is obvious that the elections are rigged. By definition, there are many many more poor people than rich ones, so if democracy was truley representative, it would not always be the priviliged and wealthy who are elected.
The fact that elections can be influenced by money means that it will be the wealthiest who are elected. So who are the wealthiest people?
The products that generate the most global income are Drugs (for which you need prohibition, otherwise, you would not be able to buy a gram of heroin in afghanistan and sell it for $500 in Sydney.) and Weapons (for which you need war, otherwise, no one will buy them.)
The first historical example of this process can be seen in the Opium Wars that the British fought with China. By taking control of the opium growing region of Pakistan, the British essentially cornered the world opium market. Once they obtained a monopoly, they raised the price, which put pressure on the Chinese. As the price rose, people had to do more desperate things to obtain the money to buy opium. The British would send ships to china loaded with opium and they would return packed with silver, which is how the british managed to accumulate enough silver reserves to make the pound sterling (wich was of course, equal to a pound of silver) a dominant currency.
Eventually, the Chinese emperor outlawed the use of opium and banned british ships from chinese ports, which is what started the first opium war.
Of course, prohibition merely raised the price even further, resulting in greater social turmoil for the chinese and greater domination of the pound.
(argh, this message is too fucking long.. continued in next comment )
Going to war to secure drug supply is a win-win situation. The price of the drug rises, making money and the cost of the war also makes money.
By instituting a global ban on drugs through the league of nations, the americans ensured that no country would be able to supply free heroin to everyone who needed it, therefore ensuring a large flow of money to the americans from every country in the world.
A quick examination of the American power structure makes it obvious that they are the drug dealers. Practically every person in a position of real power in America went to school at Yale and belongs to the Skull and Bones.
Skull and Bones was founded by Opium smugglers. The immense profits made them powerful enough to fuck with entire countries.
check out http://www.answers.com/topic/skull-and-bones-historical-connections
(this article was originally on wikipedia, but has been removed for some reason.. it is very informative... =)
Those who are born into power, wealth and privilege do not care about the poor, they do not even have an understanding of the concept. Like kings through time immemorial, they are only concerned about the people if something happens that threatens thier economic base. In truth, aristocracy never went away, it has just retreated so far from the common man that most people could not even _begin_ to understand the purpose behind thier actions.
Thus, when you talk about america and are confused, because it's actions are different to it's people, you have to realise that the america you hate is basically the Narco-Military complex and thier goals are simply to make as much money as possible selling drugs and weapons, regardless of the consequences. After all, why should they care? They have all the drugs they want and live in places untouched by poverty or war, far from the sufferring of the people who thier actions affect..
(whew.. what a rant...) =)