Here’s the thing about Iraq, or Palestine, or Libya: what your leaders will do in these countries is what they would do to you if they though it would benefit them.
Israel has long used skunk-water, incredibly foul smelling stuff, on Palestinians.
In the last year they used them on Israelis who were protesting the war (not because they care about Palestinians, because they want the hostages back.)
But that’s minor league.
American elites, when they say, “we have to make hard decisions” always mean by that they have to hurt those below them. A hard decision for them is never about doing something against interest: say cutting their own compensation to keep employees working. Nope.
American and Western elites are predators, and their population are sheep. The cops are, as they say themselves, sheep-dogs. They make sure the population holds still for the shearing, and when necessary, the killing.
Covid is instructive: elites have well ventilated and filtered rooms. They test regularly and keep Covid-positive people away from them. But they don’t make their offices and factories safe by installing the necessary ventilation and filtering available, instead they just force workers to come into unsafe offices. (And no, the pandemic isn’t over.)
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Policy since about 79 has been about deliberately impoverishing the mass of people, while making themselves rich. This isn’t close to in question.
There is no group solidarity between Western elites and those they rule. Never do they lead by example, “we’ll give up private jets to help with climate change and impose a carbon tax on farmers” is something we never hear. I doubt it ever occurs to them that they should sacrifice something.
Through the Gaza war they’ve increasingly cracked down on any sort of protest, and often made protest illegal, with penalties which are more severe than for crimes of violence. This is particularly true in Britain and Germany, but they aren’t alone, simply the vanguard.
Obama ordered the assassination of an American citizen. Multiple American citizens have been killed in Gaza and Lebanon and the US has done nothing.
Police in America steal more money than burglars. They kill and beat people in significant numbers.
And the day they perceive it to be to their benefit to Iraq or Gaza a big chunk of Americans, they’ll do it. Don’t think otherwise.
mago
The police not only steal more drugs and money from their criminal counterparts, but they eat more doughnuts and drink more coffee. Sludge poured into uniforms with a badge affixed.
There’s lotsa talk about 1984, but it’s all A Clockwork Orange—Anthony Sturgess’ book, not Kubrick’s movie, but close enough.
Tc
Are you sure the cops steal more money than burglars? Have you ever tried to report a crime in America? It’s a huge time consuming pain in the ass while your are still in anger or shock and you quickly learn they will do nothing about the crime, and will downgrade it (e.g. attempted murder hate crime reported as attempted robbery, even though the perps successfully took your property).
If you think inflation stats are bullshit, those got nuthin on crime stats.
Mark Level
In the early 21st Century, when I was living in Oakland, CA, we had a famous group of cops called “The Riders.” Multi-racial, they stole drugs, guns & money from criminals, sometimes arrested them, sometimes not, sometimes used stolen drugs to target people they didn’t like by planting them, extorted money, etc.
After a couple of years, their thefts & abuse came out. 3 went to jail, 1 escaped to his home country, Mexico, was never caught the last I heard. But yes, what Tc says about the cops’ laziness & indifference to crimes that effect ordinary people is the other side of that coin. Of course if you are a member of the ruling class, you can direct the police to harass anyone who gets in the way of your interests (driving tenants out of housing to boost profits, etc.) and make their lives miserable. The same for whistle-blowers a lot of the time, of course.
Yes, it is a dystopic future. You gotta love that the Blue Maga PMC ShitLibs are constantly shrieking about Donald Trump’s “authoritarianism” when the Deep State can (a) openly block patron donations to a site like the Grayzone, based on a call from a 3 letter agency. (This happened to me; I had donated thru GoFundMe, which seized my donation and wouldn’t pass it on. I had to fill out a form to request my own money back, Blumenthal et al got a different site and I boosted my donation by 15% due to the harassment.)
It goes well beyond the cops, of course. Not too much off topic, look at how the people in North Carolina were totally abandoned by the “Biden-Harris” (really Jake Sullivan & “Dr. Jill”) admin after their recent storms. And this is less than 2 months before a Presidential election!! They really have open & utter contempt for the proles, will let them die, drown or lose everything, without a shrug. To be fair, those who would vote for EITHER of the clowns & their loser VPs with any enthusiasm are a small percentage of the dumbed-down populace that bothers to vote. It’s a Mafia level government now, from top to bottom. (There may be some small local agencies that work efficiently & for their constituents; my guess would be that this is fewer than 5% of what contacts people ever have with government. These will rot away in time too.)
It’s a full-spectrum kakistocracy now, & will only get worse. When will it break? It has no credibility with most people apart from the most indifferent or brainwashed.
I’m starting to hope Netanyahoo does drag the US into a regional war; it seems like Jake Sullivan is dumb enough to do so, the Lobby demands it. When (& IF) it collapses I imagine it will look like what happened to the fascist Uruguayan junta in 1985. That said, I don’t know who would be in the drivers’ seat next? I don’t think the DSA or what tiny and nominal “Left” that exists in the US can successfully take over & reform things. The rot seems too far gone, and these people are few & have not successfully created any meaningful base, even though there would seem to be a constituency out there.
N.B.– I was recently reminded that 5 years ago the Dem. “progressives” (sic) were suggesting a “Green New Deal” & M4A. Now, they are on board with Kamala’s “most lethal military” ever in human history. Good times!! Herr Hitler or Himmler? That’s your “choice.” Suck it up, Normies!! America is already Great!! Hillary was a prophet before her time.
Oakchair
“The day they perceive it to be in their benefit to Iraq or Gaza a big chunk of Americans, they’ll do it.”
——-
They already did.
How many died because the ruling class declared opioids were “safe, effective and non-addicting” and sold them like candy?
There are more vacant homes then the millions of homeless wandering the streets.
In the last 45 years we’ve been poisoned so thoroughly that 1 in 30 children have autism and 50% of the population has a chronic illness.
Israel is an amateur, there are much more profitable ways with plausible deniability to wipe people out.
Feral Finster
It is hardly a secret that we are ruled by sociopaths.
Once you internalize this simple truth, everything they do makes perfect sense.
Adam Eran
Let’s not forget estimates of wage theft exceed total costs of property crime by nearly 400%
mago
Anthony Burgess. Not Sturgess. Not that anyone cares.
Gotta take a vow not to post anything after my bedtime.
Jorge
@Tc: we’re talking about US forfeiture laws, under which cops can steal money by saying “he looked like he was going to do crimes with it”. The forfeiture numbers are insane.
someofparts
“Anthony Burgess. Not Sturgess. Not that anyone cares.”
I dunno. Anthony Burgess and Preston Sturgess … Fairly large difference in artistic medium and content there, so seems like a point worth clearing up.
Jasmine
Cops are the guard dogs for capitalists.