The Economist on Democracy Suppression in the U.S.

[Cascade]

The Economist (not exactly a left wing journal) has an excellent article on the secrecy of the FISA Court and how it is shaping intelligence practices in deep secrecy. It appears "democracy here at home must be balanced against the requirements of security, and it is simply too dangerous to leave the question of this balance to the democratic public." We're not allowed to even know about much less question the decisions made by a court appointed by Chief Justice John Roberts in deliberations which are one-sided.

As former president Jimmy Carter recently said, American has no functioning democracy.

The Economist article is at: https://www.economist.com/blogs/demo...ret-government

[ronliskey]

I remember several decades ago reading in elitist journals that once the US empire could no longer feed off the unilateral fruits of being the only un-bombed victor of WW II, they would need to ween the middle class from the perks handed out to get them to fight. In particular the GI Bill (long gone), affordable college education (recently gone), and the expectation of upward mobility for each generation (totally gone), would need to be curtailed. (1)

In response, they expected mass resistance, social unrest, greater authoritarian control, and the end of democracy as we know it. The first phase of preparation was to build a network of private prisons in North America and to militarize the police forces.

I thought that was crazy at the time. Guess I was the crazy one. Should have invested in BlackWater when I had the chance. Foolish me; I became a teacher just as they broke the unions, gutted teacher compensation, and instituted "No Child Left Unscathed."

Notes

1. That was all pre-Internet, so there are no links, but the fanatics at The Project for a New American Century are eagerly carrying forward the charge in a macabre caricature of real empire builders.

2. Below are two classics of (and required reading for) real empire builders. These books are never suggested tp the children of lesser classes, and are studiously ignored in dumbing-down programs, such as "No Child Left Unscathed."

This is ugly reading, but as Socrates more or less said, "Better the sadness of wisdom than the happiness of ignorance." (I suppose they killed him for such statements.)

Il Principe (The Prince) by Niccolò Machiavelli. He defined "criminal virtue", i.e., a driving desire to win at any cost. This book was/is favorite bedside reading for many empire builders, including the infamous Alioto, major of San Francisco during one of it's more corrupt eras.

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Vom Kriege (On War), by Prussian general Carl von Clausewitz (1780–1831, defined the concept of "total war" as practiced by the US against the Native Americans, the US against the Philippines, the US against Nicaragua, Nazi Germany against everyone in reach, England against the Zulus and many others, Israel against the Palestinians, the US against Iraq... (as Howard Zinn said so well, "I could go on.") Here's the actual text, compliments of good folk making good use of our Internet.