A De-Americanized World?

October 20, 2013 in Montana

by lizard

I am so tired of hearing those on the right gnash their teeth about our national debt without acknowledging that simultaneously cutting taxes for the rich while waging trillion dollar wars on the national credit card was a bad idea. That disastrous combination came on the heels of other bad ideas, like Clinton-era financial deregulation, which gave us too big to fail.

The debt doesn’t exist in a vacuum, so until I see some accurate context from those on the right about how we have got to this point, then I’m going to continue not taking their concern seriously, because these right-wing debt warriors are simply manipulated foot soldiers for the 1% war against the rest of us.

Americans may think they still have the luxury of not caring about what the rest of the world thinks about us, but that will soon come to an end, because what we are seeing, at least according to Pepe Escobar, is The birth of the ‘de-Americanized’ world:

This is it. China has had enough. The (diplomatic) gloves are off. It’s time to build a “de-Americanized” world. It’s time for a “new international reserve currency” to replace the US dollar.

It’s all here, in a Xinhua editorial, straight from the dragon’s mouth. And the year is only 2013. Fasten your seat belts – and that applies especially to the Washington elites. It’s gonna be a bumpy ride.

America has had more than a half-century to lead by example, and that is precisely what our leaders have done. It’s just not the example many Americans thought, because in the states we are still buying the PR campaign of American exceptionalism our governing elite are feeding us. The Xinhua editorial cuts through the sparkly image we have been conditioned to believe by accurately describing the post-WWII behavior of America:

Emerging from the bloodshed of the Second World War as the world’s most powerful nation, the United States has since then been trying to build a global empire by imposing a postwar world order, fueling recovery in Europe, and encouraging regime-change in nations that it deems hardly Washington-friendly.

With its seemingly unrivaled economic and military might, the United States has declared that it has vital national interests to protect in nearly every corner of the globe, and been habituated to meddling in the business of other countries and regions far away from its shores.

Meanwhile, the U.S. government has gone to all lengths to appear before the world as the one that claims the moral high ground, yet covertly doing things that are as audacious as torturing prisoners of war, slaying civilians in drone attacks, and spying on world leaders.

Under what is known as the Pax-Americana, we fail to see a world where the United States is helping to defuse violence and conflicts, reduce poor and displaced population, and bring about real, lasting peace.

Moreover, instead of honoring its duties as a responsible leading power, a self-serving Washington has abused its superpower status and introduced even more chaos into the world by shifting financial risks overseas, instigating regional tensions amid territorial disputes, and fighting unwarranted wars under the cover of outright lies.

As a result, the world is still crawling its way out of an economic disaster thanks to the voracious Wall Street elites, while bombings and killings have become virtually daily routines in Iraq years after Washington claimed it has liberated its people from tyrannical rule.

Most recently, the cyclical stagnation in Washington for a viable bipartisan solution over a federal budget and an approval for raising debt ceiling has again left many nations’ tremendous dollar assets in jeopardy and the international community highly agonized.

Such alarming days when the destinies of others are in the hands of a hypocritical nation have to be terminated, and a new world order should be put in place, according to which all nations, big or small, poor or rich, can have their key interests respected and protected on an equal footing.

To that end, several corner stones should be laid to underpin a de-Americanized world.

The unipolar arrogance of American military might won’t cut it anymore, as evidenced by the significant diffusing of the impending Syria attack, but that won’t stop America’s billionaire-funded political insurgency from waging class war on the 99%, and they (the tea party) will continue to be useful idiot pawns for those wealthy funders because the 1% understand continued projection of American power relies solely on the vast killing potential of the strongest military in the world.

And that military is getting ready for wars in Africa, which this misleadingly titled NYT times piece describes—U.S. Army Hones Antiterror Strategy for Africa, in Kansas:

Here on the Kansas plains, thousands of soldiers once bound for Iraq or Afghanistan are now gearing up for missions in Africa as part of a new Pentagon strategy to train and advise indigenous forces to tackle emerging terrorist threats and other security risks so that American forces do not have to.

The first-of-its-kind program is drawing on troops from a 3,500-member brigade in the Army’s storied First Infantry Division, known as the Big Red One, to conduct more than 100 missions in Africa over the next year. The missions range from a two-man sniper team in Burundi to 350 soldiers conducting airborne and humanitarian exercises in South Africa.

Isn’t it great how this article works in “terrorist threats” and “humanitarian exercises” in the first two paragraphs? That’s some effective propaganda, NYT.

It’s bullshit, of course. The more relevant reason our tax dollars are funding these military exercises in Africa is containment of China.

I wish more Americans understood this. Destabilizing other countries is not a bug of US foreign policy, but a feature. The failed state of Libya, for example, gives the US a foothold in Africa. When Hillary Clinton becomes president, I’m sure she’ll be just as excited to “help” other African countries as she was when Gaddafi was sodomized and executed:

To ensure our elite have the military they need to bully the world and intimidate their competitors, they will need to continue the class war at home, using the debt to justify attacking the “entitlements” they’ve always despised.

Maybe some of the useful idiots who self-identify as Tea Party members will realize they’re being played for suckers. Or maybe, if the damage to the brand becomes serious enough, the funders may be forced to astro-turf a new political product-line of idiots.

Meanwhile, the world is actively looking for alternatives to an American empire that has violently exploited its position of influence for more than half a century.

I hope the US response to this de-Americanization isn’t WWIII.