interests of the State Department
And who determines the interests of the State Department? Powerful lobbies, like AIPAC. The defense contractors lobby also has a significant amount of influence, but their interests are aligned. They both benefit from the current Israel policy.
AIPAC aligns with the interests of the US State Department
I think it’s more accurate to say that the US state department aligns with the interests of AIPAC, because that’s just how much influence and power AIPAC has.
it’s not like the US is opposed to what Israel is doing in the region
Many in the US are opposed to what Israel is doing, but those people have very little representation in the Federal government, largely because of the power and influence of AIPAC.
That’s just not how politics works in the US. Politics is a career, or in many cases a stepping stone to a career. They’re not there to fight anyone, they’re there to achieve their personal ambitions. They’re not ideological warriors, they’re white collar elites. They don’t necessarily have any ideological commitments, and as such they will simply adopt whatever the ideological paradigm is at any given time.
I don’t expect any politician to fight Trump, if doing so means compromising their career ambitions. If there’s going to be a fight, it has to be fought by the people, not the politicians.
Why is the US continuing to back Israel despite starvation claims and renewed assault on Gaza?
On a recent episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Senator Bernie Sanders blamed Washington’s reluctance to change course on the financial muscle of lobbying groups. “If you speak up on that issue, you’ll have super Pacs like Aipac going after you,” Sanders said, noting Aipac’s record $14.5m campaign to unseat Democratic representative Jamaal Bowman after he accused Israel of genocide.
That’s why. AIPAC. They are insanely powerful. They hold incredible influence over our Federal government. Some conspiracy theories are true.
I want to be able to stream all of my favorite team’s games live, without having to subscribe to a bunch of streaming services I don’t want, without having to pay for a bundle that includes a lot of games I don’t care about, and without it costing an arm and a leg. I would even settle for only being able to watch on my phone or tablet. Basically, if NFL+ Premium allowed me to watch my team’s games live even if they’re not being broadcast on local TV, I would be content. I don’t understand why the NFL can’t do this. It seems so simple.
Our ancient ancestors, like most primates today, lived in groups dominated by violent and aggressive alpha males. Yet over the course of our biological and cultural evolution, unlike our primate cousins, we learned to work together to counter those bullyboys, organising to diminish their influence.
Yeah, that’s true, if you ignore essentially ALL of human history, in which violence and aggression were ever present, as was social hierarchy, that almost exclusively had a single male sovereign at the top.
This is the scene in London, KY this morning.
I understand why the Democrats want to try to resolve conflicts peacefully. No reasonable person wants violence. However, what the Democrats perceive as compromise is actually often appeasement. The Republicans use the threat of violence to extort the Democrats, and the Democrats often concede because they don’t feel like they have any other choice. But appeasement does not prevent violence, it only delays it. The only real solution is the destruction of the extortionists.
What else do you expect from them?
Very little.
I don’t expect AOC and her octogenarian colleagues to strap on an assault rifle and go full commando, but they do need to recognize what the Republicans are already well aware of: not all conflicts can be resolved peacefully.
The Republicans are more than willing to use all tools at their disposal to achieve their goals. If the Democrats are not, then they are putting themselves at a severe disadvantage.
You can’t defeat an enemy that you refuse to fight.
I’m sure the Democrats will take every legal avenue available to them. However, if they run out of legal, nonviolent options, they’re going to be in a very rough spot because they don’t have any other arrows in their quiver.
The US didnt fail to invest in their own industries
I didn’t say that we failed to invest in our industries, I said we failed to invest in our people. We left our people to their own devices, behold the result.
perhaps the first big step for America is getting money out of politics with strong legislation and harsh penalties for those that break it - overturn Citizens United, no more SuperPACs - prise the power away from corporations to dictate law and pick leaders, because they have crafted every issue you speak to.
Perhaps it’s possible that a majority of the American people will eventually, spontaneously coalesce around these goals, but I don’t think the chances are high. Given enough time, it might happen, but I’m not sure the US won’t collapse (similar to the collapse of the Soviet Union) before then.
China has spent the last fifty years building themselves into an industrial powerhouse. As a result, they are a vital part of the global economy, and that has put them in a position of considerable power. The US has decided we don’t like that so we’re going to try to weaken them, or at least slow their ascent. But now we’re discovering that we’re not as powerful or influential as we used to be. We have severely neglected our country and our people, and the quality and capability of our leadership has declined significantly, and we are paying the price.
Unfortunately, most Americans still can’t correctly identify the problem. Those who even recognize that there is a problem still think it’s Donald Trump, and that he is largely just an anomaly. But by now they should see that Trump is a symptom of the problem, not the problem itself. The real problem has been our failure to invest in our own people, leaving them pessimistic about their economic future, and, critically, poorly educated and completely lacking in critical thinking skills. Having been essentially abandoned by their leaders, they have been left to construct their own solutions to any perceived problems, without the skills necessary to construct viable ones. As a result, they’ve taken to deluded thinking, conspiracy theories, and even superstitious and supernatural ideas. Without anyone to guide them through reality, they’ve been left to form their own ideas about America. Trump is one result of that.
At this point, I don’t know if the US can be fixed. A part of me thinks it’s a lost cause, largely because fixing it would take radical action that I think most of our leaders are unwilling, or unable, to take. The collapse of the US may be inevitable at this point.
And I believe such a solution is within reach. In fact, I think I’ve stumbled upon an idea that could help us get there…I’m currently putting the finishing touches on the concept and plan to publish it in the coming days. This article serves as a prelude
Lol, k. Can’t wait to hear this great solution.
It really depends on how you define “successful.” If your measure of success is based on how closely these societies resemble Western, liberal, capitalist societies, then, yeah, you’re probably not going to see a whole lot of “success,” but that’s not what these revolutionary movements were trying to achieve. I would say that first and foremost what essentially every communist movement was striving for was just autonomy and independence, and many have been successful in that regard. Vietnam is an independent nation, instead of a French colony. China, similarly, is no longer under the thumb of the British. You may not like what these nations do with their autonomy, but that is what they were striving for and they have achieved it.
has expelled French troops, ejected Western corporations…Promoting pan-African unity and national self-reliance…Traoré is positioning himself as a radical anti-imperialist
Oh no, how terrible.
Marx certainly didn’t see capitalism as merely metaphorical. Marx recognized that capitalism existed in material reality, that it was a system constructed and operated by real, flesh and blood human beings.
Who do you think made capitalism? Space aliens?
It’s the only way they’ll learn… If only they were capable of learning.
Social democracy isn’t really an alternative to capitalism, it’s more of a progressive modification of capitalism. Under social democracy, the factory would still be owned by a capitalist and operated for their profit, but the government would use its authority to regulate the factory, tax the owner’s profits (to help fund public services), protect workers, etc.
I’ve seen these videos. They’re great. I really like GDF. The second video especially has several references to the incredible influence that Israel, Zionists, and the Jewish lobby in the US has over US foreign policy in the Middle East.