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Kunstler: "We Are The Michael Brown Among Nations"
Submitted by James Howard Kunstler via Kunstler.com,
I begin to understand why the death of Ferguson, Mo, teen Michael Brown sent such shock waves through America last year. He truly symbolized our country: an overgrown, oafish, wannabe thug making one bad choice after another until his final, suicidal lurch against authority — followed by all the exculpatory lying on his behalf: the “gentle giant,” hands up, don’t shoot! This is exactly how America acts on the world stage these days. We are the Michael Brown among nations, high on exceptionalism, stoned on entitlement, swaggering moronically from one place to another grabbing what we feel like, smashing things up as we go.
Also, as in the case of the actual Michael Brown, supposedly sentient observers do not have the guts to call bullshit on all the excuses we make for ourselves. Has any self-styled presidential candidate made a peep about America’s idiotic campaign to make Ukraine the 51st state? Has Hillary (“It’s Her Turn”) Clinton asked publically why the US is egging on NATO to stage military exercises on the Russian border? Do we still have a senate Foreign Relations Committee, and does it convene once in a while? Is The New York Times so preoccupied with its “Gay Cities” index it forgot that the world is full of serious conflicts and hazards that extend beyond the choosing of apartment décor?
Likewise, there are obvious reasons why we’re so busy demonizing Vladimir Putin. He’s the only serious adult on a stage full of special ed students. When Vlad goes on vacation what does the American media do? It launches into raptures of speculation about his “love child” — because in this country any political leader foolish enough to step out of the spotlight for a few minutes will be gleefully unmasked as a “cheater,” a lothario (because, despite our ultra-pornified 24/7 twerk-o-rama culture, we apparently think sex is bad), so then the peanut gallery can enjoy the grotesque spectacle of apology and the inevitable punishment that follows despite any apologies. Vlad walked out of a winter Olympic venue fourteen months ago and said, simply, “I’m divorcing Lyudmila….” End of story. Oh, and Vlad also doesn’t subscribe to the current American notion that being homosexual is a major life achievement. That truly offends!
This also explains America’s obsession with cartoon superheros, and especially characters who enjoy high-tech prosthetics for projecting power — all those robo-soldiers and cops, and the fabulous American Sniper with his thousand yard kill-shot. Without all this magic we’d be revealed as weaklings, our vitality sapped by decades of Froot Loops, Cheez Doodles, and Pepsi, our brains shriveled by untold hours of conditioning by way of Grand Theft Auto, Dark Souls II, and Keeping Up with the Kardashians. What do foreign leaders think when they have concluded their mystifying sessions with our Secretary of State, the haircut-in-search-of-a-brain, John Kerry. Do they look around the floor of their ministerial offices to see if any sawdust leaked out of his head?
Has anyone actually looked around and noticed what a scabrous sight American towns and cities present these days? There are places here in the old Yankee northeast that Borat would be ashamed to call home. We live amidst so much delaminating plastic it’s a wonder that virtually everybody doesn’t have cancer. The squalor is awesome, and to make matters worse, we’re even too lazy to clean up the stuff that is just lying around on the ground — and certainly too lazy to try to grow anything in that ground if it didn’t promise to grow up looking like a pepperoni stick or a corn dog.
America’s moment of getting kicked to the curb by other nations is at hand. I don’t think it will be a kinetic war, not right away, but it will be a hearty financial beat-down, and many of the members of our insane clown posse in Europe are going to feel the beat-down, too. America tried, at the very last moment, to join the new BRICs development bank. Who finally decided that? Barack Obama? John Kerry? Jack Lew: the Three Stooges? Get gold. If you can.
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Kunstler, you're a gifted writer no doubt but you should've left Michael brown out of it. The man is dead. Let him be. You could've made your point without profiling him.
Kunstler don't know shit.
Cheese doodles are great.
kunsler
Exceptionalism = baby boomers
will have to wait till they all die out
After a war is over, the historically normal proceedure is to demobilize. By failing to do so after the Cold War, we are presently stuck with the deadliest and most expensive military-industrial-intelligence complex in the history of the planet. One that has nothing to do with its time other than drum up enemies in order to justify its continued existence.
So one day's flavor of enemy is the the suicide muzzies and their alleged enablers, another's is the American people who need spying on, another's is Mideast dictators who need overthrowing, and now it's casting Putin as the reincarnation of Hitler.
And it's all bullshit. The defense budget could be slashed by two thirds or more without endangering the nation. The main reason it won't be, is because certain CONgressmen might lose their seats after the tit suckers among their constituents had to find real jobs.
OH come on James --- don't be to hard on America --- this is just the last gasp of a dying world --- a world that was built on oil that was cheap to extract.
We are all equally fucked from the billionaire to the bum. Because the cheap to extract oil peaked in 2005 and now were are into the expensive stuff --- and the economy will NOT run on the expensive stuff.
So in response we do every possible thing to keep growth from seizing up - QE, ZIRP, bailouts --- ANYTHING GOES.
When you are facing the end of civiliation.
Ya it sucks but remember - this is as good as it gets --- and without these policies you would have been dead in 2008.
This is the problem - and there is NO solution - NO reset --- NO RECOVERY.
THE PERFECT STORM (see p. 59 onwards)
The economy is a surplus energy equation, not a monetary one, and growth in output (and in the global population) since the Industrial Revolution has resulted from the harnessing of ever-greater quantities of energy. But the critical relationship between energy production and the energy cost of extraction is now deteriorating so rapidly that the economy as we have known it for more than two centuries is beginning to unravel. http://ftalphaville.ft.com/files/2013/01/Perfect-Storm-LR.pdf
The marginal cost of the 50 largest oil and gas producers globally increased to US$92/bbl in 2011, an increase of 11% y-o-y and in-line with historical average CAGR growth. http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2012/05/02/983171/marginal-oil-production-costs-are-heading-towards-100barrel/
Sanford C. Bernstein, the Wall Street research company, calls the rapid increase in production costs “the dark side of the golden age of shale”. In a recent analysis, it estimates that non-Opec marginal cost of production rose last year to $104.5 a barrel, up more than 13 per cent from $92.3 a barrel in 2011. http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/ec3bb622-c794-11e2-9c52-00144feab7de.html#axzz3T4sTXDB5
Steven Kopits from Douglas-Westwood said the productivity of new capital spending has fallen by a factor of five since 2000. “The vast majority of public oil and gas companies require oil prices of over $100 to achieve positive free cash flow under current capex and dividend programmes. Nearly half of the industry needs more than $120,” he said
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/11024845/Oil-and-gas-company-debt-soars-to-danger-levels-to-cover-shortfall-in-cash.html
OIL BECOMING TOO EXPENSIVE TO EXTRACT
It emerged this week that the drilling of wells in the North Sea has crashed by around 50% this year, compared to the year-ago period. The reason for this is simple: the cost of extracting oil in North Sea has quintupled over the last decade, discouraging companies from investing within the region. http://www.fool.co.uk/investing/2014/07/18/surging-north-sea-project-costs-are-putting-the-regions-future-at-risk-tullow-oil-plc-premier-oil-plc-xcite-energy-limited/
To summarize, we are FUCKED.
Did they ever arrest that 128 lb Paki convenince store clerk for attacking the 6'4" 280lb gentle giant shopper with his throat?
Deported as a non-hispanic.
Good note!
The very sad commentary of a once great super-power in its waning days!
Good stuff Jim, Hard to find a lot of humor in the sad state of affairs we find ourselves in. However a couple of good belly laughs with your phrasing and twisting word plays. In the Long Emergency Jim made the comment that he is allergic to conspiracy theories mainly in reference to 9/11. At this point I think he has softened on the conspiracy themes. I know he feels markets are manipulated pretty much all of them. Not hard to see he thinks the U.S. is playing dirty pool pretty much non stop.
"We are the Michael Brown among nations, high on exceptionalism, stoned on entitlement, swaggering moronically from one place to another grabbing what we feel like, smashing things up as we go."
Can't say that I agree with Kunstler on many of his themes but no one is as good at packing a sentence with intense imagery and poetical (in this instance) truth.
ZH hits another one out of the park.
Kunstler, I enjoy reading yoour stuff, but leave special ed people out of it. They don't deserve your ridicule and some of them are smarter than you.
While occasionally Kunstler can be humorous, his disdain for Americans, is what he gets paid for. Its not like I disagree with what he says, its the way he says it. The masses are what they are. They are inundated with insanity all around them and simply reflect what they see. Why shouldn't I get mine, is what they see from the top down. They see Wall St, and Banks (one and the same) perpetrating crimes that would make the mafia blush. They see politicians who fuck around, do drugs, steal, and get away with it. The see a police force that is above the law. Its always been this way, its just that the masses see it a lot more than they use to. Shit, if Babe Ruth was playing baseball today, his nasty habits would be on every media site 24/7. Shit that use to be off limits is now "news". Why shouldn't the " people" get theirs.
That was a perfect summing up of things.
At this point, America has to wear a helmet on the special bus.
pupdog1: "That was a perfect summing up of things.
At this point, America has to wear a helmet on the special bus."
....and for fucks sake stop licking the windows.
Spot on. Kunstler is on fire... perfect analogy. Dear leader wouldn't approve.
You can't compare apples with oranges. For example if the apples were mixed in the same basket with the oranges would the oranges say we are grown in Florida to mean that the apples were grown in Florida? Likewise fair dude do not include citizens of the United States of America with members of the NWO. Two different things two different opinions. And by the way there is no fucking WE M'Fer.
Nations exist only in the imaginations of either A) the populace or B) those who control government.
You can tell whether you are in A or B by whose will is done.
Clearly in the United States the answer is B, because the US government hasn't responded to the US population at all in nearly a century.
And who are these people who control the government? Well, that would be the CFR crowd, which is to say mostly European, mostly Aristocratic, mostly related to the Rothschild banking clan. And that would be the Bilderberger people. Who are they? They're the exact same people as the CFR crowd.
They are the very same people who have founded the Chinese development bank, using their new employees in China.
Looks like they are moving to greener pastures and leaving their US slaves as a patsy.
'Looks like they are moving to greener pastures and leaving their US slaves as a patsy'
I believe your assessment of the situation is accurate.
ZH will post anything, I suppose.
Ferguson has big mike brown and the us has little barry obozo
Mike brown steal swisher sweets from small stores and barry obozo will retire from public disservice with hundreds of millions in swag
Spot on Kunstler... I'm from the 'Lou and what is happening to our country is exactly what happened in East St. Louis. Corruption. Corruption, abuse, nepotism, etc. mismanaged that community and brought the property values down, which in turned drove away tax payers and within a few short decades turned the whole place into a govt. supported slum (and it continues to be run by corrupt, self-serving assholes).
This is exactly what's been happening at the upper portions of our federal government. Their corruption and self-serving attitudes and decisions are what all our ills stem from. Another 30 years of this and our entire country will be the slums of the world.
Now isn't there something else significant about East St. Louis? Scratchin' ma haid....
Well, think about the tone and tenor of this article. It really sounds identical to something you would find on PBS, MSNBC, or CNN. Or from any of our overseas friends. Yet you guys like it because it is posted on a "rebel" website. If it was Rachel Maddow or Anderson Cooper saying it, would you still agree?
Is the shrill diatribe being followed by any form of rational plan for renewal in any of these cases?
Bash America. Hate America. Ridicule America. Predict the doom of America and the rise of its enemies. Say nothing on how to avoid it.
But live in evil, corrupt America and laugh all the way to the bank because being anti-American sells bigtime. Is this guy moving to noble Russia or saintly China? Fuck, no. The pay's not good, the weather sucks, and the food is terrible.
You don't ever really watch PBS, MSNBC or CNN, do you? Because if you did, you would know that they would never describe Mike Brown as a stumbling, oafish thug who pushed things too far while he was stoned. They think he's a victim of police brutality and a symbol for young black youth. So you would never see the tone Kunstler uses here on the networks you've cited.
To some extent, US foreign policy shares a bit of the insanity that rules the ghetto. Not as much as the rabid ZH crowd chants for, but still it's not always clear why we do what we do. And it's really not clear when 4 years after we've done something we change our minds and do the opposite. In any case, I agree with your conclusion that for all the complaining there's really not much of a better option out there (my option would be to leave them all to hang by them selves, but that's just isolationist and crazy talk). People don't get in to bed with China or Russia because they know that's a losers choice. And putting your bets on Brazil, India, South Africa, Indonesia ... you're just as likely to not get paid as to get paid. And none of the above mentioned are accused of being run by ethical saints, either.
So, I'm giving you an up vote because although I don't agree with everything you wrote, agreeing with half of what you wrote is still pretty good these days.
Kunstler's got a great literary sneer. But I don't find much behind what he says except mean-spirited, haughty diatribes.
In another post, he lambasted the American working class for having tattoos and wearing heavy metal t-shirts. Sorry, Mr. Kunstler, thats just the way 30% of my generation dresses nowadays. To imply that he is superior to a man with arm tattoos, is to me the mark of a person with their head up their arse. Quite funny, for a man who make's a living off of doom porn. Go plant some seeds, you know you're too good for us, Kunstler. ha ha
I don't understand why Mr. Kunstler is stooping to red meat race-baiting and homophobic inuendos in his article. While I agree with many of his ideas/thoughts on the degrading of American cities and culture, I stop at the dog whisting of Michael Brown references and the bigoted diatribe of Putin and his homophobic biases.
Does he feel that this is what he needs to do to get people to read his books and articles?
Enough with the racist allusions and bigoted insinuations.
Or maybe this is how you get your article posted to Zero Hedge these days?
He should plant some seeds. That garden of his doesn't look like it would feed one person for a week.
Given Kunstler's credentials as a card-carrying Zionist one wonders if this is something more than just propaganda ...
Kunster is a friccking joke. I mean is his only credibility that he just moved to "Upstate" and ahem ahem, look at me, I am a badass, I JUST BOUGHT a GUN !!
However, I think HE maybe talking about Kunstler. He may not have noticed that a number of us are so pissed off at that the ruling junta has caused to happen that we are foaming at the mouth. Or The T E A Party, or Occupy, or Blockupy or ANON, or a thousand other organizational symptoms. He tries to talk a good line of trash but fails to actually provide anything that moves anyone. I guess he needs to write to justify any funds he takes in, but just misses the entire point. Let me do the unthinkable. Mention another blogger to replace his dribble with.
CHARLES HUGHES-SMITH. Seems to me he has something to say, that is R & R. Resonates and Right. At least Smith writes stuff that makes sense and moves people. Kunstler merely offends..........
Kunstler nails it! The US is exactly like an unarmed black man shot dead without any due process in a municipality with proven racist policing. Yeah, that's the US alright. So glad Kunstler dragged Brown into this specious analogy so he can defame the recently dead for no good or decent reason. Reminds me of Kunstler's brilliant take-down of Trayvon Martin. Those unarmed black men are a menace who don't know their place, eh Kunstler? If I take Kunstler's gist, there are no excuses for Brown - he deserved to die. Zerohedge - stop publishing Kunstler's racism.
You can leave out race altogether, and it is still disgusting. There are countless swaggering thugs out there in the world that Kunstler could have used in his analogy, but he had to bash someone who is dead. That is very cheap and ugly. Dead is dead, and it is horrible unless the person was an actual murderer/torturer; turning a dead person into a joke is Kunstler-style mean. Kunstler is funny like a creep can be funny. He despises everyone except Kunstler; he'd laugh at anyone's dead body without a pause.
YES. The values of a tottering Empire that can be foisted upon the World through military force alone. Liberalism dark side has engulfed the Land. The residual exceptionalism arguably lies with US "Science & Technology" but this is not built on the dark side of Liberalism.
What a gift to the struggling emerging powers (eg China) to foist their values (anathema to the US/EC) upon the World.
Selling US/EC down the tubes is a long term investment theme.