The point is, ladies and gentlemen, that greed…for lack of a better word… is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all its forms…greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge…has marked the upward surge of mankind. And greed…you mark my words…will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the U.S.A.
— Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) from the 1987 movie Wall Street
Their attitudes may taste like shit
But go real good with wine
Eat the rich
There is only one thing that they are good for
Eat the rich
Take one bite now-come back for more
Eat the rich.
— Aerosmith’s (Joe Perry, Steven Tyler, Jim Vallance), “Eat The Rich”, 1993 album Get a Grip
Gordon Gekko was right, in an extremely warped, greedy, fucked-up, sociopathic/capitalistic way. Greed does clarify, cut through, and capture the essence of the evolutionary spirit…if, of course, you believe that mankind should have evolved into a species which consumes, discards, or simply slaughters the most vulnerable and desperate among its numbers, and does so with impunity and a bizarre sense of morality and justice. If you’re in Mr. Gekko’s camp, and buy into his theories, please prepare to meet your maker, and become my next meal. I’ve just popped the cork on an unassuming little bottle of Chianti, the fava beans are on the stove, and, if you don’t mind me saying so, you look delicious today. We’ll just allow the wine a little time to breathe.
Another 4th of July is on the near horizon, and as a life-long, reluctant citizen of The American Empire, I claim my right to criticize and reject a warped capitalistic system, which had its origins in unbridled genocide and slavery. From atop my pillar of righteous indignation, I reject the economic fiasco which thrives upon a never-ending procession of wars for profit, which conducts routine acts of population reduction, ethnic cleansing, and wholesale theft of resources at the expense of huddled masses of lesser people in foreign lands, and which does so with impunity, proudly proclaimed exceptionalism, and alleged divine guidance.
The quintessential capitalist pig, Gordon Gekko, nailed the truth when he proclaimed that the U.S.A. was a malfunctioning corporation. My country of origin and residence is indeed a corporation. A corporate conglomerate. My national, state, and local politicians are required to be corporate whores, or find employment elsewhere. Allegedly elected by and for the people, the only people served are those who buy their allegiance and write their laws. Gekko believed that the U.S.A. was malfunctioning, because it wasn’t being run efficiently enough to maximize profits. I see the malfunction as being a country, claiming to be a beacon of freedom, which has taken the low road to fascism. Wall Street and Washington, D.C. are one in the same. Clinton is Raytheon, Bush is Exxon-Mobil, Obama is J.P. Morgan Chase, Trump is…well, Trump; seamlessly completing the merger of state and corporation. Gekko was obviously a big fan of fascism. Me, not so much.
This so-called Independence Day, politicians will drone on about American Exceptionalism. They will invoke the blessings of the one true Christian God, as they hand over another trillion bucks in fiat currency to the U.S. Military/Security/Intelligence Complex. They will get teary-eyed as they speak of The American Dream, and their sleep-walking constituents will proudly cry with them as they continue to consume the earth’s resources at a rate five times higher than the average of other nations. Welcome to the United States Empire, where as a citizen, you’re entitled and expected to burn gasoline, electricity, and natural gas, waste food, foul the water and air, and create garbage with the careless abandon of a drugged-up profligate afflicted with an advanced and incurable case of affluenza.
The U.S. Empire is drunk on consumption, addicted to international theft and bullying through war, regime change, bribery, assassination, false flag events, and economic sanctions. The militarism of Empire exists through the creation of imaginary threats and fabricated enemies. Islam, Isis, Al Qaeda, Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, Syria. It matters little who the enemy is to an economy which feeds upon terror, chaos, and war. But the beast of capitalism has a soft underbelly, and those of us who pay attention to such matters now have reason to believe that Empire’s days are numbered. The weapons of war in the U.S.A. are built to enrich the manufacturers, and are likely to be inferior and ineffective in comparison to those of Russia and China, which are built without a profit motive, and with actual warfare in mind. Forget the fact that, by some estimates, the U.S. Empire outspends the rest of the world combined. Rather take a look at the salaries of the CEOs of weapons manufacturers, and the bribes taken by our elected officials for approval of insipid weapons systems. Empire’s bark is likely to be much fiercer than its bite. After all, it was unable to even win little wars in Vietnam, Afghanistan, or Iraq. Or more likely, perpetual chaos has been the original intent after all. War for the sake of war profits, with the concept of actual victory in battle being so last century.
U.S.-led N.A.T.O. forces have long been edging up to Russia’s borders, surrounding and threatening the country with troops and weaponry. Simultaneously, the U.S. Military has provocatively pivoted to Asia, pressing closely against China’s shores. There are many constants in history. The U.S. Empire will die, as all empires do. It can die with a whimper, leaving the remnants of a less than civil society intact, or it can embark on a Doctor Strangelove-Slim Pickens-bomb-ride within the borders of Russia and China, and die with a bang. If the latter choice is made, we’ll all pay the price. Last year four Russian intellectuals, living within the United States, released an open letter to Americans titled; “A Russia Warning”. The letter, posted on cluborlov on 5-31-2016, was signed by Dmitry Orlov, The Saker, Evgenia Gurevich, Ph.D., and Victor Katsap, Ph.D. Their warning was simple, and should be heeded:
If there is going to be a war with Russia, then the United States will most certainly be destroyed, and most of will end up dead.
The only bright side of this scenario is the likelihood that, in the aftermath, there will be lots of pre-cooked rich folks laying around, with little else for the few survivors to eat. The Chianti is opening up nicely. Overtones of raspberry and spice, with a long, lingering finish. Would you prefer ribs or flank steak?