This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
End Game - Would US Police/Troops Fire Upon US Citizens?
End Game - Would US Police/Troops Fire Upon US Citizens?
By
Cognitive Dissonance
This is the first in an occasional series examining the end of the American Empire and the global shock waves it will produce. Contrary to popular belief I suspect the unraveling will take place over many years, decades even, with sudden plunges and slow partial recoveries aka dead cat bounces. I call this series of examinations “End Game”.
I would wager that the vast majority of people reading this essay have already come to their own conclusion regarding the answer to the title’s query. Certainly you may have several qualifiers and stipulations with which you framed your answer and maybe even a few facts and proofs ready for quick rebuttal if challenged. But my own experience with explosive questions such as this is that there are few who have not already formed an opinion on the matter. If you have not you would be the exception to the rule.
And at this point in the meltdown it would be fair to say there are no correct or incorrect answers to be found, only supposition, assumption and what I expect will be full throated argument to follow in the comment section. May I suggest that whatever answer you’ve come up with wasn’t necessarily arrived at through careful deliberation or contemplation, but rather as an integral part of your overall belief system? And while you may consider all that you believe to be valid and fact based, for all people other than possibly the sociopaths walking among us this is far from the case.
Personally I find that sitting down and writing about a subject forces me to push through all the fuzzy logic and tenuous connections that make up my system of beliefs. For most of us what we think we know or believe is similar to a loosely connected debris field of facts, thoughts, myths, hopes and desires floating on the mind’s surface. Only in this case there really isn’t much mixing or removal of the thought debris by intellectual wave action, just a lifelong rearrangement of the floating deck chairs. When strong emotions are brought into the mix, it’s like a hurricane came through and made an even bigger mess of things.
Much of our belief system is firmly stuck in heavy mud by our late twenties, having been absorbed and adopted during our early years by way of our state mandated education, the popular press, corporate branding initiatives, consensus opinion, deliberately false public myth making and the always present and rarely subtle corporate and governmental propaganda machines. And what we call our mid life crisis is simply that period of time when we begin to call into question many of the basic and fundamental tenets that have guided us to that point. We usually get through this moment of clarity when the bills start piling up and the libido finally begins to fail care of our chemically treated foodstuffs. In practice what we believe is not a coherent jigsaw puzzle held together by reason and “facts”, but rather little islands of hope and belief that would contradict or outright cancel each other like matter and anti-matter if they ever came into contact with one other. I see this all the time not just here in The Hedge (both in the comment section and in various articles from multiple sources) but in newspapers, magazines, blogs, TV and radio; the list really is endless. Selective memory and a convoluted thought process isn’t just the domain of think tanks and the MSM. The alternative press and blogosphere are often just as guilty as well, it being one of the hazards of swimming in the same festering cesspool. Read or listen to any person long enough and you eventually begin to detect errors in logical thought and fact as well as serious conflicts between a person’s articles, books, and lectures; even at times within a specific article or essay. I find this holds true for nearly everyone (including myself) regardless of our denial that it’s happening. Courage is required to challenge our own thinking and weed these discrepancies out. Sadly it’s so much easier to isolate and ignore these inconsistencies then to purge them and face the ugly truths left behind. We hide from ourselves long before we flee the boogie man. The masks we wear in public are crude imitations of the ones we carry within.
Judging from conversations I’ve had with many people from diverse backgrounds the majority of souls seem to come down into one of two camps. For the most part the responses I’ve gathered consist of either “No….but” and “Yes….but” with the clear winner the middle ground of qualified “buts”. When questioned more than superficially and asked to explain or justify their stance, many shamelessly switch back and forth between sides and arguments, proving to me that their opinion is based upon nothing more substantial than wishful thinking and hope. However, most do understand that there are huge variables involved anytime a gun is pointed and fired, regardless of whether the person fired upon is armed or not.
Obviously at this point in the great American unwind no police or military units are patrolling the streets gunning down all who are seen as threatening. And this wasn’t what I was suggesting would happen……at least not unless worse case scenarios are achieved. But the end of the American Empire is approaching, a process that will unravel over decades. And it would be hopelessly naïve or even terminally ignorant to believe that any high ranking “authority” in America has anyone’s interest first other than their own. We can love our slave masters all we want, but they love us only for any remaining productive worth we may offer and no more.
Any remaining belief in high ranking honorable “public servants” should have been thoroughly abandoned after witnessing the outrageous antics of the financial elite and politically connected over the last ten years and particularly the last five. We are all expendable cannon fodder and contrary to any official assurances from the professional propagandists that we are all loved and cared about, we have always been so. Denial of this basic fact is the only real roadblock to a fuller understanding of what’s being done in my name and yours.
False hope inevitably binds us to truly impossible situations and this has consistently been our Achilles Heel, a weakness ruthlessly exploited by the rich and powerful for millennium. The almost universally accepted Abrahamic religious redeemer complex is the ultimate (self) enslavement vehicle. In effect, it forgives those who dish out the punishment and glorifies the suffering of those who are being punished. Talk about your dysfunctional relationship, how are we to live in peace and harmony when the basic tenets of the majority of the world’s religions glorify those who grind our bones to make their bread?
First let’s take a look at who or what would be patrolling the streets under the guise of “keeping the peace”, “finding the terrorists” or whatever excuse the government manufactures in order to justify placing armed uniformed men and women in the population centers of America. And for the purpose of this essay there is the assumption that something has happened or was caused to happen that will be used by the powers that be to deploy police/troops in America under the cover of maintaining law and order.
BTW, we should clearly understand that the real reason the troops will be deployed is to maintain and possibly even consolidate the existing power structure of the powers that be. Or at a minimum to keep the lynch mobs and revenge seekers at bay long enough to make their escape. Is this truly that surprising? After all we have devolved into a banana republic and that’s the way all bananas are eventually peeled.
Initially there would be the local police, supposedly the first line of defense in maintaining the peace. And despite the obvious fact that over the last ten or so years they have been increasingly militarized, the police are for the most part trained to resolve conflict through non-violent means. Or at least that’s the official public myth. Only after you don’t agree with their non violent solution do they pull out their Tasar or Glock. If the first thing you experience is fear when you see flashing lights in the rearview mirror, I would ask you to reconsider the validity of their “non-violent” mission.
Just conduct a “police brutality” YouTube search if you’d like a video lesson on officially sanctioned violence in America. Between the images cruiser dashboard cams have documented and those candid camera videos various citizens have captured via camera phone it’s quite clear police violence isn’t just perpetrated by a few rogue cops on an occasional basis. Instead it appears to be a systemic problem that’s growing worse by the day. A Google word search using the same term will bring back tens of thousands of hits, more than enough to turn your stomach and send the meek and mind controlled scurrying back to the safety of their warm beds. The formerly carefully hidden police state is now coming into full view.
The second line of defense would be the National Guard. If we were talking twenty years ago I might make a disparaging remark about weekend warriors more dangerous to themselves than to others. But eight years of rotations through Iraq and Afghanistan have turned the National Guard into something your father wouldn’t recognize. Without getting too deep into the merits of today’s Guard, better trained has its pluses and minuses as long as we understand what they have now been trained to do.
Then there is the military itself, most likely Army and possibly Special Forces units that will provide the actual boots on the ground. Ever since the creation of NORTHCON on October 1, 2002, supposedly as a direct result of 9/11, the political and financial elite have been overtly preparing for the inevitability of social unrest. Covert preparations extend back decades under cover of any available and plausible excuse in the book.
The military readily admits that it’s not properly trained to execute (no pun intended) domestic police actions and they agree they would be poorly suited to maintain order during any chaotic domestic uprising. And I agree. Home invasions by the military would be just as distasteful for Americans as they are for the Iraqis regardless of what it’s called and under whatever bullshit legal premise it has been authorized.
I can’t help but wonder if the UN Security Council will sanction an invasion of America by a “coalition of the willing” when our time comes around? Don’t laugh because I’m being deadly serious. Do not underestimate the measures the desperate will use to remain in power and don’t assume the rich and powerful are physically located only in the USA. It’s a global game and America has been the home field only for the last 70 or so years. It helps to remember that stock sectors aren’t the only thing that rotates. BTW notice that the eagle below covers all of North America, not just the USA.
On a side note, I still find it amazing how many political/military actions were a direct result of 9/11 yet nobody wants to seriously discuss what really went down that day. Careful because you might not like the stench of whatever it is you dig up. We all complain about political and governmental secrecy, but the vast majority of Americans don’t want to know what’s going on and are happier when they are deceived. The big lie we gratefully participate in is that we are a free and self directed people. It’s so much better to let buried dogs lay undisturbed where they can quickly decompose out of sight and mind.
And let’s not forget the foreign troops that will be invited to conduct joint exercises on American soil. On February 14, 2008 Northcom and the Canada Command agreed to come to each other’s “aid” in the event of a civil crisis such as floods, forest fires, hurricanes, earthquakes and “the effects of a terrorist attack”. While this description comes from the PR propaganda on Northcom’s web site I would love to read the actual document. Naturally Congress wasn’t consulted and were actually sidestepped entirely. It didn’t matter anyway since they were too busy whoring for re-election contributions at the time, a time honored spring, summer, fall and winter Congressional/Corporate pornographic mating ritual.
Of course, the obvious inference here is that if American citizen soldiers are unable or unwilling to “police” their fellow US citizens, we can always call in the Canadians to help us out. Certainly our Canadian brothers and sisters will be subjected to plenty of official propaganda to prepare them for their friendly invasion. I’m sure the psyops division of both countries can come up with plenty of video of homeless Americans swimming across the Saint Lawrence River in search of Canadian food stamps and citizenship….or at least their version of the green card. There are many other “agreements” with NATO and other individual countries that have been less publicized than this one if that’s even remotely possible
Now for the sleeper “police” force very few seem willing to acknowledge or even aware enough of to intelligently discuss, but who will most certainly be invited to the nationwide block party. Naturally I’m talking about private military contractors of the Blackwater/Xe ilk, also known as privately paid (with taxpayer funds of course) and controlled mercenaries of the increasingly privatized and corporatized America. This isn’t new but rather just a recycling of an old tradition of the Federal Government using private entities to provide “security” and “crowd control”. Blackwater is just the latest.
While everyone was watching what Blackwater and others like them were (and still are) doing over in Iraq and Afghanistan (and in many other countries where they are used as embassy and corporate “security” forces) rarely do we hear about the untold billions they’re being paid for services rendered in the good old US of A. Their presence in New Orleans after Katrina was a primer on how things will be done in the future. The almighty buck is their master and it’s the only flag they salute. God bless Uncle Ben.
Last, but most assuredly not least, will be the alphabet soup of government intelligence agencies (domestic and foreign) as well as too numerous to count private “interests” pushing, prodding and provoking wherever they can to influence the outcome of the civil unrest. This will be done for any number of reasons that will most certainly be at cross purposes with the interests of the American people in general and the actual protestors in particular. This will include the FBI, CIA, DIA, Mossad, MI6, BND and dozens of other public, private and foreign “security” and intelligence organizations whose primary purpose will be the protection of the vested interests of powerful people, corporations and countries. Guess where that leaves you and me?
So who will take to the streets? Ultimately this is impossible to say because the situation will be fluid and the variables unknown and in a constant state of flux. To be frank the time to push back was late in 2008 when the globalist’s financial agenda flipped from covert to overt and their plans were finally exposed for all to see who wished to look. But decades of conditioning and propaganda was sufficient to keep the American people trapped within their own minds and unable to muster the courage to begin the process of breaking free. And once TARP was rammed through without significant or sustained resistance, the financial elite knew it was game on and they’d better get it all while the getting was good.
And getting it all is precisely what they’ve done over the last 2 plus years as private debt was systematically bought by the Federal Reserve for 100 cents on each dollar in the name of “saving” the system. Now the next leg down has begun (I am not measuring economic legs by the stock market) and where it stops nobody really knows. But after 3 years of worsening economic conditions, carefully camouflaged by an artificially pumped stock market, more and more American citizens are waking up to the fact that they’ve been ripped off and to some extent they’ve let it happen. Or at the very least they barely said a word other than bitch and complain to each other about the highway robbery.
This is where the really destructive and ultimately self defeating rage will spring from. Obviously it will be acted out as simple righteous indignation over the repeated daylight robberies of the US treasury by public and private entities. But just like a women scorned, there is no anger quite like that enjoyed by the person who suddenly realizes he or she has been conned and the active ingredient was his or her own greed and willing participation. Facing this ugly self revelation, the ego has no choice but to push every emotional button it can find in a desperate attempt to keep the mind from recognizing that it is partially responsible for its own continuing enslavement.
What usually arises from this internal blame shifting and emotional thrashing about is mindless anger directed at the “responsible” con men whose motto is there will always be customers ready to purchase the lies and self deception they’re selling. Since we can’t possibly shoulder any blame for our dance with the devil no matter how small, this anger will eventually be directed towards any handy minority (group or individual, it doesn’t really matter) who happens to be in the wrong place at the right time.
Case in point is the very recent public services union bashing, themselves just another greedy patsy on a long list of willing participants in our own self destruction. Next up is unionized grocery baggers at the local Safeway followed by Meals-On-Wheels delivery drivers. There are no lows that will not be plumed by a population trying to escape responsibility and self examination and this too will be skillfully used against us.
There is one defining characteristic we Americans proudly boast of that is singularly unique in the entire world and it has nothing to do with our standard of living, GDP or total debt. “We The People” not only believed our leader’s lies about American exceptionalism, but we bought into those lies hook, line and sinker. And for several decades the lie worked magnificently thanks to the magic of a widely accepted reserve currency which enabled us to export most of the corrosive effects of our money printing (aka inflation) outside our borders and the military to enforce it when reluctance surfaced…..such as Iraq and Afghanistan to name just two. Good times were had by all, the punch bowl never ran dry and it was all due to our superior abilities. Until now that is.
This is in contrast to the citizens of various Middle East countries (or much of the developing world for that matter) who are always painfully aware of their real state of existence. Or even the Europeans, who have lived through several thousand years of regime changes, invasions and oppression and for the most part have a much better understanding of the magnitude and scope of the official lies and propaganda and how the dance plays out.
Ultimately this didn’t save the Europeans from their own greed and self interested pursuits, but at least they aren’t completely shocked that it’s all coming apart……..once again. The ice cold shower of awakening we Americans are about to experience will be unlike anything any nation has gone through since possibly WW2 Germany beginning around 1942 when civilian centers were deliberately targeted by Allied bombing and the German population began to really feel the sting of their own self deception and mass delusion. While I have no way of knowing exactly how America’s electro shock therapy will play out, it seems self evident it’s coming if for no other reason than because I can hear the electrical generators firing up in the background. Clear!
How this affects the American psyche as well as the various ways it could play out is well beyond the scope of this essay, but suffice to say it will not be pretty. For some of us escape will be had by digging ever deeper into denial. For others, especially those who become caught up in the vicious cycle of endless anger and fits of self pity and rage, the obvious targets of their self destructive outbursts will be any low level authority figure who stands up to them and that all time favorite among those who diligently practice slave mentality, their fellow slaves. Following our passive/aggressive conditioning, many of us will seek to punish those like us before we ever consider lifting a finger against our own masters.
While I expect cooler heads among the aggrieved will attempt to exert an influence over the angry mobs and demonstrators, we must not diminish the ugly truth that there will be plenty of domestic and foreign entities that will see the coming American domestic strife and unrest as an opportunity to foment violent demonstrations and even armed and violent insurrection. The use of infiltrated agents and agent provocateurs to incite violence and disrupt peaceful protest is a well known and time honored technique used by private parties, governments and even the resistance itself (to maintain plausible deniability for example) to further their own particular goals.
The very fact that spontaneous demonstrations are by their nature unorganized and at best loosely controlled works against the intent of the people demonstrating when those who wish to disrupt and discredit are familiar with and comfortable using any means necessary to maintain or regain control over the population. The worst that can happen to any group of people working to unseat an existing power base is their failure to imagine the lengths to which those in power will go to keep it. Those who don’t lie cheat and steal for a living won’t give proper weight and consideration to the tendency of those who do so to continue to do so, let alone their desire to accelerate their methods of operation.
One would think that once the American people begin to wake up to the extent and breadth of official corruption and manipulation that they would at least be temporarily disabused of seeking additional flights of fantasy. Sadly this is not the case at all. The well worn path many newly awakened minds take is to substitute one form of self delusion with another. A conditioned mind that has been shocked into awareness will immediately begin to seek simple answers that help them rationalize away their own self deception and participation. This tendency will be repeatedly and skillfully exploited by foreign and domestic psyops campaigns. Out of the frying pan and into the fire is an apt description for how it works.
For those who may doubt the veracity of that last paragraph, consider the long and extremely painful path you have walked to get to where you are now in your awakening. How many times have you become demoralized and depressed along the way? How often did you backslide into denial with each new and shocking revelation? How many times did you try to bargain with the truth in order to forget only to fail miserably? How much easier was it for you to adapt to and then accept what you desperately wished to deny because the world remained relatively normal during your acclimation period.
Your awakening happened over a minimum of many months and most likely years and as much as you may have wished you could, it’s impossible to forget once you have been exposed to the previously unthinkable. Now consider what your state of mind would be like if all that you’ve experienced was compressed into a few short months or even several weeks. This is what the average Joe is facing at some point in the future. To have your sense of self identity and community ripped from you by the very people you’ve wanted to believe were your protectors is never easy to deal with under the best of circumstances. The easy road to awareness is behind us and it’s all downhill from here.
So while I can’t answer the title’s question for you I can offer my own opinion as to whether or not Americans will be fired upon. The short answer is that of course they will. Why would you think otherwise when US history offers up dozens of examples to choose from. The powers that be are ego maniacs, the elites have hundreds of years of experience controlling the masses and the masses are mostly living their lives in denial. I consider it inevitable that when the uprisings begin and they turn really ugly that those who are paid to protect the powerful and their assets will follow orders and do precisely that.
Hat Tip to William Banzai7 for the image below.
Once again you can’t see this from your own point of view because you most likely won’t be the one holding the riot gear and facing the screaming mobs. While I’m certain some within the police, military and National Guard will follow their heart and refuse to fire or even follow orders if doing so means hurting their fellow citizens, in effect declaring conscientious objector status, they will for the most part be a small minority and will be quickly weeded out of the ranks by the second or third round of protests.
Considering the insanity the police and troops will be facing as well as the economic collapse that threatens them as well, the police/troops will rally around each other and protect their own closed community using whatever means necessary. Throw in the mercenaries, the agent provocateurs, the psyops campaigns, the meddling from the various intelligence agencies and the only question I have is not if but when and how much.
Someone in the comment section the other day said that since the military is now an all volunteer fighting force, the standard of conduct has been raised and no one in the military would ever fire on their fellow citizens. While I would love to believe this, I see it from a different point of view. Those in the military want(ed) to be in the military, thus they were more likely to buy into military groupthink and its attendant mind control and propaganda. Rest assured that long before any uniformed service person (police or military) is asked to confront their fellow citizens they will be subjected to a barrage of intensive conditioning and will be propagandized to the nth degree.
In my opinion, to believe that the various forces arrayed against the protesting public won’t fire on them is to continue to believe in American exceptionalism and more specifically in the desire of the rich and powerful to finally see the error of their ways and thus immediately cease and desist from further exploitation and pillage. If this is the case, if this is what you believe, then all I can say is that you live in a dream world Neo.
On a more positive note I do think something has changed and it’s still not being recognized for what it is and what it might mean. The interim resolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, while undoubtedly unsettled and tenuous at best, did not result in the massive loss of lives many people and governments thought could and would happen. Libya is playing out how many expected Egypt and Tunisia would, with the powers that be fighting to retain power with modern weapons and no mercy.
My question is this, why didn’t Egypt and Tunisia go up in flames? I have some thoughts on why this is the case and I saw WB7 made mention of this change in one of his posts as well. The people who said no more to the powers that be didn’t show up with broken bottles, rocks and other assorted weapons ready to fight. Instead they just said no in as peaceful a manner as they could and they were saying no to the global Ponzi, not just the local branch. Instead of joining a mindless mob, people were praying, talking, playing music and at times even laughing. This is a dramatic sea change in the herd mentality and one that I hope to examine more closely in the future.
03-01-2011
Cognitive Dissonance
- advertisements -
They will shoot. We will die. I just hope people are smart enough to learn that this is a war of attrition.
Yep, things will get ugly.
You don't even need a crystal ball to see through the ponzi window, and know that more and more people will be pissed as they hang by that window sill when it is shut on their fingers.
Of course US police and troops would fire on US citizens. The state is a criminal enterprise. Its nature is to lie, steal and kill.
Yes, they will shoot fellow Americans. Northcom agreement allows the Canadian forces to be utilized on American soil if there is an emergency. They will also shoot Americans.
They will also shoot Americans
As long as they understand we shoot back, and we hit what we aim at, fair game.
Most will refuse to be detained, and imprisoned, lose what rights are left,I was born free here, and I will die free here, but a slew will come with me.
Snakes first.
I have no issue w/the people, or military, just the ones who started the fall.
Highly doubtful Canadian troops will shoot Americans. Look up Canada's peacekeeping role around the world since WW2. Such incidents have happened but are rare, and are dealt with seriously by military authorities.
Yeah I though similarly. Then I watched video of the RCP and other "special forces" utilized for crowd control at the G20 summit in toronto.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaYbq484abs&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UE1UZWrfMJ8&feature=related
CCMRFs now training on US soil!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXXdIAB1uDw&playnext=1
Armed bank robberies are increasing, and most likely they will increase more rapidly in the future. The poor are more poor, and desperate. Many consider the level they have fallen to as an unacceptable alternative from where they were. In addition, groups of radical protesters will likely organize as they did in the sixties. Banks are being recognized by more as the enemy; groups will just look at the banks as deserving to be robbed.
You don't need a crystal ball to look through a ponzi window, and see that alot of people are, and will be getting pissed.
YOU ARE A REALLY STUPID DICK! Nobody likes your posts. Go away! You are some looser who has a chip on his shoulder. Why? I don't know, but I do know you are a looser, an under achiever, who always seems to blames other people.
beware of
economic ebola monkeys
You are a fucking idiot and this article will prove to be your demise.
CD: You need an editor. You deviate from subject way too much and also extend things that can be said in one paragraph over 3 or 4. While your posts are interesting, they're not the best format for internet reading.
And, as for the article: You talked about lines of defence, or I would call "lines of oppression". You have the police, natnl guard, the army and mercenaries. I have another one to add: an overtly armed populace. The same populace who was conned into their own demise, do you expect them to act any more smartly with all those guns lying around? So much for "gun responsibility".
And BTW: So the unions are just some other greedy patsy? I guess then that Walker is not... Well if unions are greedy because they are fighting to maintain their already existant rights, then any fight for rights which people already enjoy would be just a greedy patsy? That don't sound so good...
Achtung,
if you do not like the way he writes,you do it.
So, a constructive critic is now not allowed on ZH? Who are you Hosni or Qadaffi? Guess just Cheney...
I didn't mean my critic in a bad sense. But the article is not very concise, deviates a lot, extends things that aren't really necessary and is very much "gothic" in style. Not the best format for internet reading, again.
rights
I don't think that word means what you think it means.
With rights I meant principles of freedom or entitlement. What people can do and what is owed to them. What did you think it means?
entitlement......there you have it.
Entitled to live, entitled to pursue happiness and what have you.
You have the right to Life, Liberty and the Pusuit of Happiness (Property). The rest you must secure for yourself through hard-work, inginuity, and PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY. Collective bargaining in the Public Sector is SUICIDE. Even FDR got that - http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/02/18/the-first-blow-against-p...
If you want entitlements and other so-called rights you need to go live in a communist country. Go read the former Soviet Constitution, they had a right to everythign under the sun, unfortunaltely under that system there was a sorry economy and the state could not afford to provide those rights. The same process is happening all across the country slowly choking the life out of the economy as we raise taxes and deficeit spend to support the bulshit entitlements and Public Sector unions.
Oh and you mentioned Michigan? Let's see their government was majority radical, pro-Union, tax-and spend Democrat FOR 50 YEARS. There was no union refrom there was no spending cuts until the were already over the cliff. You need to go visit Detroit it is the poster child for the results of the types of policies that you seem to espouse. Get a clue.
So, a reduced version of the constitution is what you advocate? Just the basic 3 Mill rights... leaving out over 150 years of studies in constitutional law and well, the whole goddamn Political Sciences too, besides advances in economic theory and sociology.
"If you want entitlements and other so-called rights you need to go live in a communist country."
I loves me some ultra communist Finland, Sweden or Norway, comrade.
"The same process is happening all across the country slowly choking the life out of the economy as we raise taxes and deficeit spend to support the bulshit entitlements and Public Sector unions."
And now the cause of all this mess is public sector workers. Like Wall Street had nothing to do. Like those weapon manufacturers, private militaries and special interests had nothing to do. It's all those red public workers and their soviet like unions. Blame the poor, blame them with glee, after all, they won't talk back. Specially in the US. They'll just take it in the face, like you do with all those forementioned.
"Oh and you mentioned Michigan? Let's see their government was majority radical, pro-Union, tax-and spend Democrat FOR 50 YEARS."
And now this was because of Unions. It wasn't because of corporations shifting industrial production to 3rd world countries where they exlpoited labour. Again, blame the workers.
Damn, I can't put my finger on if it's that you're ignorant or just a fanatic. Personal responsibility you say... damn, that's the worst excuse of them all to deny human decency to everyone else. It's not big tobacco lying on the health risks, that's not the problem. It's personal responsibility of smokers. It's not McDonalds doing everything to hook children on that crap they do, it's personal responsibility of those kids and their parents. Always shifting the blame on the weak. That's pathological, yo.
these Walker bashers really need to get a fucking life - the guy didn't cut and run like the sissy 14. He's just trying to keep Wisconsin from being the new Michigan.
You mean, turning a state that had a budget surplus into deficits after approving tax breaks for corporations once he got sworn in? And using that "starve the beast" strategy to now destroy collective bargaining rights for fucking workers? And that will help WI not become Michigan? You mean because of the plantations that will now start popping up there, with slaves that can't say a word to massa and can't organize?
Yeah, Walker's no sissy, same as Dick Cheney was no sissy. And see where that got you. Not expecting the same would be tantamount to madness, right?
Bringing Cheney in to your argument says a whole lot more about you than it does Walker or anything going on in Wisconsin. What's next, Hitler?
So, since Wisconsin can't do a QE to keep kicking things down the road, should they not look at ways to reduce the budget? These are PUBLIC unions here by the way, funded by the hard working taxpayers of the state that elected Walker to cut the fat.
I guess certain idealogies see no solution but government excess and 'labor' freeing themselves from tyranny.
Here's some soulmates for ya:
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/young-madison-socialist-reveals-popular-noodles-company-restaurant-is-actually-harsh-dictatorship/
Well, you started with Walker not being sissy. I gave you another example of someone who wasn't a sissy and what it meant.
Wisconsin didn't need to do this until Walker did the tax breaks for corporations.
Public workers or not, without the ability to organize and to negotiate in bulk, means you'll get the short straw out of everything. Why don't you take a look at many hard working people who don't have such rights, who have to work long hours for minimal wages, who don't have absolutely no benefits, and who sometimes get the short straw on workplace safety too. Without the ability to confront your employer, you'll be more like what Abe Lincoln thought of salar workers: slavery but with the ability to leave.
"I guess certain idealogies see no"... farther than their own noses too. Specially when it's about workers, and damn, the poor too.
I'd put some soulmates for you, but guess the Daily Bell or the John Birchers would suffice. Ah, and lets not forge THE CHAMBER... goodfellas them all.
LOL - I mean you aren't serious, are you?
Interesting lyrics - endgame
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdqyTmfDwk0
A toughy...
"False hope inevitably binds us to truly impossible situations and this has consistently been our Achilles Heel, a weakness ruthlessly exploited by the rich and powerful for millennium. The almost universally accepted Abrahamic religious redeemer complex is the ultimate (self) enslavement vehicle. In effect, it forgives those who dish out the punishment and glorifies the suffering of those who are being punished."
Disagree, respectfully...for the first time in a long time...and I will leave your inclusion of Islam as an Abrahamic, virtuous, time tested religion completely aside as well as the words "us" & "our" in speaking for me...again, respectfully.
It is actually freedom from fear. Fear accompanies enslavement. Always has.
Once one loses fear, everything else flows...one has freedom.
I would postulate, one can never be enslaved unless one chooses to be enslaved...just because one doesn't wish to suffer for freedom doesn't mean it's out of grasp, just pay the offer price. It is fear that enslaves, not Abrahamic religion.
I hear the detractors now, it's a "death wish", no, it's the knowledge that this doesn't matter ultimately. To find that a flippant catch all, is to say Gandhi is wrong and Jesus is wrong for mankind, because they simply didn't care about their shell?
Rambling...perhaps...it's late.
The best way I know to describe "Abrahamic" religion to those who do not know it is simply this;
Is it better to live a good life amongst us and be wrong, than to live a bad life amongst us and be right? And then, by your selfishness, what have you taught us?
Un-junked. I agree with both you and CD on this. Within a system of enslavement there can be freedom, or, with a life of self-created freedom there can be enslavement.
The lifestyle I have chosen gives me as much freedom as possible within this system of enslavement. But, just as when wealth flows to the few, leaving the many in poverty, so too if freedom is found with the few leaving the many as slaves. System imbalance is as inevitable in the big cycles as the system correction that follows.
We both respectfully disagree. But then again it is late and there is always hope that tomorrow we can agree on something else. :>)
"...and there is always hope that tomorrow we can agree on something else"
Absolutely.
You're always a stimulating read CD...it is only one disagreement.
And fortunately here, in this country, neither of us will be tracked down and have our heads removed for having it ;-)
Not yet at least.
***** "Would US Police/Troops Fire Upon US Citizens?" *****
YES!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=police+shot+public&aq=f
Large scale protest would would be a nightmare for the PTB. If there was MIC violence on the American people, it would move allot of sheeple off the fence in a hurry. It would be an avalanche event IMO. If protest ensue, there will be deaths, but Gandhi already gave us the blue print. I can see the spin Doc's on Squawk Shit box asking "how else can we stop this"?
If the State's fail to pay there men/women in blue it would be whole new set of problems.
Remember We are the 99.9%.
The other question is: Will citizens fire back?
Yes. Yes they will.
The government will order their minions to fire. Some will. Citizens will fire back. The whole thing will escalate the way it always does. Soon you will have civil war or insurrection whatever you chose to call it and there will be no outside force to put a stop to it and no one inside the government who can stop it.
Back in the early seventies, me in my early twenties, just back from Vietnam, I think I might have fired on the citizenry....I am not sure. I did not come back hating the military like many did, and I was not real happy at the way I was treated when I came back. I was young, had spent two tours in combat in the Delta, and fucking hated hippies and everything they stood for. I was young, stupid, pissed-off and inured to killing. God only knows what I would have done if somebody in authority would have pointed me a certain direction and said waste those fools. Now, I fucking hate all kinds of authority, and people who think they have some by way of their money, influence, power, or imagined intellect.
Didn't they just sign a 3 month extension of the Patriot act?
Yep, the one Asshole ran on, doing away with.
dupe
This Major answered the same question on a more global scale.
http://www.slate.com/id/2286735/
CD. The answer is no. There will be a few bad apple's however, the major will not go against its people. Never fear your US Military personnel for one moment.
We have all watched this scene countless times. Watch once again: Woman in the red dress scene
Those people will be unplugged from the system, whether they like it or not. For example..
I am torn by the author's work.
On the one hand, I applaud the voice of a Cassandra who doesn't demand his envisioned end game unfold to completion Right This Minute. Such are rare.
But the reference to the possibility of Canadian intervention as just laughable – there plain just aren't eNough of them! I much doubt the full might and politeness of the Canadian military could pacify Chicago, much less make a dent in America as a whole. (And yes, I know abut the incident in Somalia – and their military paid a terrible price for it, measured in lost funding)
But I can definitely second the observations re military 'think' – I know a lot of men, some old enough to know better, who wrap the services in a cloak of perfection which, let's be honest, they do not quite deserve. These guys can be led by that mythology into, well, pretty much anything.
I said nothing about Canada taking on or over the US. Canada agreed to a mutual aid pact with the US. Talk to Northcom. They are the ones who signed the agreement.
http://www.northcom.mil/News/2008/021408.html
Also in any crisis police would stay home. Imagine you are a cop who lives in Bensonhurst ,Brooklyn. And the shtf,your job calls to back up some cops because there is a riot of armed gangs who just looted their local police station and took weapons in Bushwick or East new York. Would you go knowing that you might get blown away by some thugs who are more armed then you then leaving your family helpless? Nope you would stay at home to protect your family.
If foreign mercs come in the majority of soldiers,marines,navy,airforce would defect immediatley.
CD what are your thoughts of America going the way of Yugoslavia? What I mean the idea of America breaking up into different nations like the USSR?
Personally I think that is the only way out of this mess. The nation as a whole cannot survive together because the people must repudiate the national debt. That comes from dissolving the nation and becoming 5 to 15 smaller nation states.
But what do I know? :>)
I am from Croatia,ex-Yugoslavia and after the disolution of the country, new states took over the foreign obligations and reserves split between new countries. Luckily there was more reserves then debt, so Croatia got few Millions back.
Which nation state will want to join up with Illinois or Michigan do you think?
CD, exellent, thought provoking essay. Thank you for not retreating into the night and for shining a light on the many hidden vexations lurking in the shadows of our minds.
They will fire on anybody they are ordered to.
this is one of the best pieces i've read on zh, and i've been reading since the blog days.
thank you cd, your posts are the most consistently well written and thought provoking.
responding to your last question. i don't know about tunisia, but I think you are quite wrong about egypt. unlike Libya, in Egypt, the public and masses never had the pretense that they could fight the military because they were overwhelmingly overpowered. This was never going to be a real fight. More importantly, the people in Egypt never won. They simply traded one Autocrat for a military Oligarchy that will mostly likely default toward the old debt based pillaging of egypt.