This war will lead to another war. And another. How much are we willing to give up for these fake ‘victories?’ By James Porteous
Photo: Quote from The Social Contract
07 May 2022 | James Porteous | Clipper Media News
by James Porteous
The Social Contract, originally published as On the Social Contract; or, Principles of Political Right (French: Du contrat social; ou Principes du droit politique) by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, is a 1762 book in which Rousseau theorized about the best way to establish a political community in the face of the problems of commercial society, which he had already identified in his Discourse on Inequality (1755).
Frank Kendall, Secretary of the US Air Force (USAF) recently said (USAF Secretary: “America’s first and foremost threat is China, not Russia) that ‘the greatest strategic threat’ to the United States and the Biden Administration ‘is not Russia. It is China, China and China.’
China, China, China. Stop beating around the bush.
Likewise, in a recent survey (Americans Increasingly See China as a Threat) Americans were asked about their feelings about China. Did they consider ‘China, China, China’ to be a ‘competitor’ or an ‘enemy?’
In the world of commerce, both terms mean essentially the same thing. So it is in America.
But there is a perplexing whiff of desperation in the air. On many fronts.
The precarious and purely manufactured #StandForUkraine pro-war movement is increasingly on the verge of imploding.
There are far too many holes in the narrative, many of which are just starting to stumble over each other.
And as is usual with American-sponsored incursions, they do not seem to have bothered to contemplate any real exit strategy, other than the desire to ‘bring the Russian military to its knees.’
But this is not Grenada or Panama. It is not even Iraq or Yemen. This is for real.
And proxy war or not, the outcome is far from certain, but unless there is some plan to clean up the mess they leave behind, in both destroyed cities and questionable ‘leadership,’ the end result will likely look like Afghanistan and Syria and Iraq.
And the predictable excuse, that is is Ukraine’s mess, will not hold water for very long if even a fraction of the rumors turn out to be true.
If the Ukraine war has shown us one thing, it is that the US military, despite a budget in excess of a trillion dollars a year, is not even remotely equipped to ‘win’ much of anything, let alone ‘beating’ Russia or China.
At least not using ‘conventional’ weapons.
And the operative word, as usual, is ‘conventional.’
How far is too far? How far will the mighty Dow Jones be ‘allowed’ to plunge before ‘conventional’ becomes ‘viable?’
It is a question we dare not ask because we know the answer. And yet, we carry on regardless.
So where does that leave us? We don’t know. The only ‘acceptable’ response in the eyes of the Pentagon is a full and complete ‘victory.’
Failing that, we can expect another 24/7 story that has legs to replace ‘Ukraine’ in much the same way that ‘Ukraine’ replaced ‘Covid.’
Of course that might be the ‘cost of living’ crisis but who in their right mind would want to take credit for that one.
Who in their right mind. The fact that the US media, to say nothing of the politicians and business ‘leaders’ are willing to ignore that elephant in the room is more frightening than ‘Ukraine’ or even ‘covid.’
It tells the world everything we need to know about victory at any cost, whether on someone else’s battlefield or on Wall Street.
It tells us, without any doubt or hesitation, that we cannot, under any circumstance, follow that President, those politicians, or the world’s fanatical business leaders into battle or down any yellow brick road, ever.
Not ‘China, China, China.’ Not Climate Change. Not the next pandemic. Not the ‘cost of living crisis.’ Never.
We simply cannot go on like this.
We need to reestablish some semblance of peace, of order, of science, of education, of free art, of a free media, of ideals and exploration and newfound promises of the future that do not revolve around how much money some jackass billionaire hopes to make in Q2.
No one really gives a flying fuck how much money Musk is willing to pay to become Lord Mayor of Twitterville.
Still, the things humans want, the things we need, these ideals are universal. As they always have been.
Indeed, the social contract did not die because humans are selfish, greedy idiots. At least not completely.
It died because the millionaires and then the billionaires and the millionaire-politicians decided they did not want to pay for our ‘happiness.’ Or world peace. Or even a 50-50 chance of the survival of the human race.
Is that what we want?
This is not working. Not in any country, on any level, anywhere on earth except in the boardrooms of the world.
But this, out here, this is our world.
We need to take it back.
James Porteous | Clipper Media News
