Nailed it as usual. Excited for the upcoming pieces! I saw an incredible long form interview with a lawyer/researcher called Danny Sheehan who has done a lot of the depositions on both topics. It blew my mind and, as you noted, in some small way preserved a whisper of faith. Hope you have been well, friend. https://youtu.be/a1kespVSrfY
I was going to share a pro-disillusionment meme here, but couldn't figure out how to do it. Maybe Substack doesn't support that. Probably for the best!
The ongoing carnage in the Middle-East is so upsetting. As much as Israel is running rampant with impunity right now, I am beginning to believe that they are digging themselves into a hole they will eventually deeply regret that runs counter to their interests. I wish this was playing out in a way that didn't claim the lives and inflict so much suffering and horror on so many people.
Thanks so much Brian! It's so nice to hear from you again. I've added that video to my watch list and will check it out! I'm doing well, and the JFK project is already under way with momentum! I'll start posting what I've come up with soon!
Thank you for this once again skillfully written piece. Your beautiful heart, concern and care is shining through. Thank you for your care.
I notice a resonance in me with most of what you wrote, and at the same time i also notice that something in me wants to point out a couple of (quite technical) things about the different issues you brought up. First about the nature of the two factions of the elite who are currently fighting among themselves for domination over humanity in the upcoming sham billionaires' (s)elections (similarities and differences between them), and secondly regarding what i think can actually be done about the technology that the billionaire ruling class (both their factions) are imposing upon us, technology which indeed makes it impossible to know what is real and what isn't, like you said.
So first, I think you described quite well the profoundly anti-democratic corruption of the pro-billionaire ultra-zionist corporate-capitalist right-wing DNC (or at least its most recent misdeeds. The DNC service to the ruling class capitalists actually started much earlier than just the last few years) but it seems like you gave a pass to the other, equally horrible (arguably even more horrible) faction of the ruling class, the trump-netanyahu-thiel-musk-AIPAC faction of the ruling class (if to mention only its most visible representitives), the capitalist oligarch warlords zionist faction.
An entire book can easily be written about the nature of the two factions of the elite who are fighting among themselves for domination over humanity and the planet's resources, and it would be impossible to do it justice in a comment on substack, so instead i will share with you, and anyone else interested, the profound and detailed anaysis of the two factions of the elite and their coming sham "elections" battle by some of tje most wise and insightful journaliats and serious depth-researchers on the planet today
First is this profoundly important, insightful and eye-opening post that breaks down the nature of the two elite factions and their upconing sham "elections" https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/the-choice-this-election-is-between by the wise and insightful Chris Hedges. In my view this is one of the most important essays published in recent times for anyone who wishes to understand what is actually happening in the west today, the internal struggle within the elite between the two factions of the ruling class, the two faces of capitalism fighting among themselves for supremacy (who will be the elite group who will be the top dog, plunder the planet and dominate humanity), which is what this current billionaire's sham "elections" is all about, though this rivalry between the capitalist elite factions has been going on for some time now.
IMHO, the nature of the two factions of the elite really should be basic knowledge for all americans and westerners, because there is so much mislabelling of the elite's two capitalist factions that are fighting for supremacy among themselves (even going as far as labelling the ultra-capitalist pro-billionaire pro-militarized empire pro-Wall St ultra-zionist right-wing DNC and Harris as far-left communist!!!) and so much misunderstading of what is actually going on, misunderstanding which is fully capitalized upon by the both factions of the ruling class and their propagandists to sell us their fake narratives as if this or that faction of the capitalist elite is on the side of the people. Really a very important and highly recommended essay.
Second is this profound essay by the always brilliant Caitilin johnstone that skillfully breaks down both the trumpism and anti-trumpism deception by the ruling class to make sure we are identified with one or the other of its factions https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/both-trumpism-and-anti-trumpism-are
Then there is this very important essay from wise elder John Spritzler that shows how trump is part and parcel of the ruling class and how we are being played by the manipulative narratives that have been carefully crafted around him that paint him as an "anti-elite rebel" when he is anything but that but just as pro-billionaire and anti-humanity as all right-wing american presidents (liberal or conservative) https://johnspritzler.substack.com/p/the-billionaire-class-is-no-more?
Lastly there is this amazing analysis of the coming sham ruling-class (s)elections between the two puppets of the billionaires' global militarized empire, analysis by the insightful and profoundly knowledgable Whitney Webb and James Corbett https://corbettreport.substack.com/p/dissecting-the-selection-with-whitney (they also talk about JFK in tbe middle of their analysis, which might be of particular interest to you)
Webb and Corbett are really some of the brightest true journalists today and some of the very few depth researchers who haven't fallen for the massive puppet-master deceptions that americans are bombarded with nonstop (such as the scam that sells the ruling class billionaires' representitive trump as "anti elite rebel who arrived on the scene to help the little guy fight the deep state")
Besides the research above, one can also learn about the M.I.C war-profiteering ruling class oligarch deep-state networks that brought trump into power (of Wall St conservative billionaire military contractors, of mass-murderering right-wing arms dealers, of silicon valley surveillance capitalists, of pedophile blackmail networks run by supremacist zionist tribalists (far more than just their epstein operation), and of ultra-wealthy God-ignorant evangelical religious fundamentalists) here
And while we're on the subject of how the ruling class are playing us, we might as well also mention the JD Vance deception, which goes hand in hand with the trump deception. So regarding ConMan Vance, here's a full breakdown of who this fundamentalist deceiver actually is and who are the deep state adrenochrome-drinking billionaire abusers (the enemies of humanity) that are fully funding vance (as well as trump), and brought him to this position.
IMHO, americans are being profoundly propagandized, emotionally-manipulated, kept ignorant (of the empire's global mechinations), distracted by the partisan theatre and directed to fight over the question of what should be the color of the shoes of the person who rapes, plunders, enslaves, exploits and mass-murders humanity, should it be red or blue? That's the only question we get to have a say over in the american billionaires' sham "elections", to decide over the color of the shoes of the global murderer, thief and rapist. Not whether the murder, theft, enslavement and rape should take place, that's not within the realm of "allowed debate", but only whether he should wear red or blue shoes while on his global exploits..
We're propagandized, deceived and distracted into fighting over which of the billionaire's representatives we prefer to lead the global capitalist militarized empire and its plunder, mass-murder and rape of life on earth to enrich the few ultra-rich and cement their domination over life...
TRUMP AND HARRIS ARE TWO FACES OF THE SAME GLOBAL CORPORATE-CAPITALIST BILLIONAIRE'S MILITARIZED EMPIRE, THAT TURNS THIS PARADISE PLANET INTO A DIVIDED WARRING HELL, TO BENEFIT NO ONE BUT THE CONTROL OF A FEW ULTRA-RICH OVER HUMANITY AND THE PLANET'S RESOURCES.
Yes, they have differences in temperament, one is a psychologically-undeveloped wounded narcissist bully (who buys his trophy wives off of tje playboy catalogue and has fake loveless abusive "marriages" with them until they get wrinkled and are replaced by the next trophy wife that this wounded man-child buys) and the other speaks more of compassion and caring, but beyond their superficial differences in temperament, both of their administrations acted in almost identical ways when it comes to securing the narrow selfish interest of the few ultra-wealthy and the control of their global corporate-capitalist empire over humanity and the planet's resources
Ooops, space is finished here, please see continued in the reply below this one
Both trump and harris continued 99% of the pro-empire pro-billionaire global terror, plunder, mass-murder and domination policies of their predecessors. Yes, despite the massive and intense QAnon/MAGA marketing deception that falsely sells trump as "anti-elite rebel", trump's admin was NOT a deviation from these policies, but a continuation of them. If one looks at his ACTUAL actions (not the fake narrative that was carefully crafted around him but his ACTUAL actions) then it's plain to see. And yes, despite the propagandists in the liberal capitalist media selling us the corporate-capitalist democratic party as supposedly more compassionate and caring, if one looks at the ACTUAL actions of the administrations headed by a capitalist right-wing liberal then it is clear that they are just as murderous as conservatives are and work just as much as conservatives to advance the narrow interests of the ultra-rich corporate-capitalists and their domination over life on earth.
And if there's an interest, I wrote a bit about how the capitalist billionaire's global empire functions (regardless of whether it is the empire's conservative or liberal in the white house) here https://substack.com/home/post/p-150090964
Having said the above, i want to qualify my above statements - yes, the two puppets represent two factions of the ruling class puppet masters, but I do think there a couple of key differences between them:
First, one of the very first actions that the trump-netanyah-thiel-AIPAC zionist administration is guranteed to take in the first days' after trump and his zionist billionaires enter the white house will be the biggest act of censorship and attack on free speech in american history and the biggest violation of the constitution (first amendment) in american history - they are going to legally define by law as a "hate crime" any criticism of the empire's colonial project in west asia (also known as israel) or of the supremacist zionist ideology (according to which the fake tribalist bloodthirsty hebrew "god" gave to very specific people, who had a very specific religious label placed on them at birth, the "divine right" to massacre and throw the indigenous people off their land and take over their home (see here - https://youtu.be/FhlUFPpXIVo?si=JlqA63ipojNsYI6x for very in-depth exploration of the invading colonial zionist billionaire's project and its attack on the indigenous people of the land).
Trump and his entire family are Chabad devotees (chabad is by far the most supremacist jewish cult), and so trump and his AIPAC tyrants are going to make any resistence to the zionist billionares' neo-nazi ideology (of religious and ethnic supremacy) and its application as the genocidal colonial project in west asia, into a "hate crime" punishable by jail time (yes, this very comment i am writing right now could land me in jail, under the trump-netanyahu zionist regime and their tyranical "hate crime" censorship. And by the way, i am Jewish and was born in israel, i wrote about my awakening from zionist indoctrination in the first post on my profile).
The most blatant and biggest violation of the constitution and first amendment in american history will happen shortly after zionist trump and his israeli billionaires enter the white house!! (And you can be sure that most conservatives would enthusiastically cheer for it, because partisan hypnosis and the empire's zionist colony in west asia is apparently far far more important to most conservatives than the constitution or freedom of speech. Exactly like most conservatives cheer when billions upon billions of americans' money is stolen and given to fund and provide the slaughter weapons to the neo-nazi zionist supremacists in the israeli gov't and to the billionaore's colonial project in west asia (or "our aircraft carrier in tne middle east", as RFK Jr. fondly describes the zionist supremacist colonial project that he loves so much) while at the same time they are programmed to scream (on cue) when much smaller amounts go to the much less supremacist ukraine (which is indeed also a proxy of the billionaire's global empire, just like israel, taiwan, ISIS and Al-Qaeda, but for propagandized conservstives - who pretend to oppose empire but really don't - the billionaire's imperialism is fine and dandy as long as it works for the domination of the superior people and as long as the murdered ones are not christians or jews). And exactly like conservatives pretend to object to the violence of government but are cheering enthusiastically when the violence is done by the supremacist zionist colonial government who for more than a century now inflicts nonstop terrorism, abuse, torture, dispossesion, rape, land-theft and mass-slaughter on the indigenous people (who are brown and so viewed as inferior in value to the judeo-christian superior people in the eyes of most God-ignorant conservatives).
The second big difference i notice between the empire's puppets is that it seems obvious that the puppet-masters need trump in office before they can launch their coming planned attacks on china and iran (the purpose of this coming attack is described here https://substack.com/home/post/p-150090964)
Harris is clearly not going to get any conservative riled up and enthusiastic about the ruling class' coming planned attack on china and iran in the way trump is going to. It seems very obvious that the NeoCon ruling class (who run both parties, both wings of the empire) need trump in the white house before they can launch their planned attacks on china and iran. They need him to be at the helm to lead americans into the attack because conservatives (who are the backbone of the billionaire's global execution force, known as the american military) are not going to be very enthused to go across the ocean to murder for the ruling class if Harris tells them to do so, but if it's trump, their own righteous billioanaire messiah, leading the charge and telling them to go kill those evil commies/leftists (for "freedom" and "god" and "judeo-christian moral values" and "prosperity", of course) then his well-intentioned but heavily-propagamdized and deceived MAGA/Qanon followers will be extremely enthusiastic to do the billionaire's bidding, with a gusto of extremely powerful religious-nationalistic passion in their support for the troops and the president. It will be the just like the psychosis of tribalist war-frenzy after 9/11 all over again. The ruling class absolutely must have trump (and not Harris) leading americans into their planned attack.
There is also going to be a lot of bible waving, while Anti-Christ trump and his Godless deep-state GOP war profiteers will frequently use the words "jesus" and "holy war" and "the last battle of good vs evil", which will send their well-intentioned but thoroughly deceived conservative base into a gushing orgasm, a nationalist-religious feeding frenzy and extreme enthusiasm for the ruling class' war plans.
That's why they need trump (and not harris) in office to lead the planned attack. Trump and his deep state zionist war-profiteering billionaires will enter the white house in january, and then of course they'll need to set the stage with a few months of very intense 24/7 wall-to-wall propagaganda in the billionaire's disinformation media (including in the so-called conservative alternative media" which isn't independent or alternative but promotes the same tribalist hatred and capitalist domination-war as mainstrsam conservative billionaire's media does) set the stage with very intense 24/7 wall-to-wall propagaganda about the so-called "evil aggression of commie china" (which doesn't have a single military base outside its territory, while the american empire has nearly 900 military bases encircling the entire globe, in addition to dozens of warships colonizing every ocean on the face of the globe, as well as at least 13 extra-judicial torture camps, where conservatives hold kidnapped human beings in captivity for years without trial or accusation and torture them, because.. "patriotism" and "freedom" and "god" and "moral values" and "jesus is king").
After a few months of the zionists' hammering into americans' head nonstop 24/7 how china and iran are an evil aggressor and the new hitler, then you'll have the conveniently-timed decleration of independence by american-paid separatists in taiwan (who were elected with less than 40%. Meaning, 60% of people in taiwan do NOT want the coming american attack on china done under the excuse of "protecting" them), and the stage will be set for the "righteous" attack (for "freedom" and "prosperity" and "moral values" of course). And just like after 9/11, the majority of heavily-propagandized americans will be fully in support of it (including 99% of well-intentioned but thoroughly deceived conservatives who will be in the mode of holy-war end-times jesus-is-coming-back, and fully united behind their mass-murdering narcissist infantile pro-billionaire pro-Wall zionist messiah trump leading the charge against what americans will be told is "the evil commie aggression" (same old BS, as if nothing has changed from the vietnam days, americans are still falling for the exact same ruling class slogans).
Once the ruling class have put all the pieces of the puzzle together for the attack (1. trump and his zionist billionaires in office and leading the charge, 2. months of intense 24/7 wall-to-wall nationalist-religious propaganda to turn china into a literal hitler, a scary evil monster who wants to hurt americans in any way it can, so we just must take down this hitler-like monster first before it takes "us" down 3. taiwan declaration of independence. 4. American military bases in the countries surrounding china completed and ready to launch misslies and war planes) they will pull the trigger.
To be clear, trump and his zionist billionaires' coming attack on china and iran almost certainly means a nucler world war, which means the end of life on earth...
And by the way, if trump and his zionist billionaires cannot generate strong public support for their planned attack, despite their months of 24/7 wall-to-wall intense propaganda campaign to turn china and iran into a hitler and evil aggressor in the eyes of americans, then there is also the possibility that they'll pull another 9/11 sort of false flag event, to get everyone into a state of traumatic shock, fear, anger and hatred, and fully on board with their attack plans.. (here is how the zionists did the first 9/11 https://www.veteranstodayarchives.com/2011/06/27/demystifying-911-israel-tactics-mistake/ And here https://www.unz.com/article/911-was-an-israeli-job/ (which also includes discussion of the supremacist ideology that guides the machiavellian NeoCon Zionists, as well as on jfk assasination, which might be of interest to you)
As for why the billionaire ruling class are going to attack china and iran - after trump and his deep-state zionist billionaire war-profiteers enter the white house - see this profound essay which IMHO is a must read for every human on the planet who wishes to understand exactly how we are being played https://www.pdrboston.org/oppressors-need-bogeyman-enemies
By the way, two more pieces of the puzzle (not mentioned above) that the billionaire ruling class put together to get everything ready for the attack after trump and his supremacist zionist billionaires enter the white house, is that they had the leaders in the countries surrounding china replaced, from those not committed to china-hostility and the planned attack, into puppets who do exactly as the empire tells them, who ramp up anti-china hostility and open their country to american military bases in preparation for the attack.
Two examples of this are in Japan and the philippines. In Japan they assasinated prime minister Abe, who refused to commit to their attack plans on china, and replaced him with their ultra-nationalist puppet, Kishida, who changed japan’s constitution to allow for greater militarization of society, removed constitutional limits on military spending, filled his cabinet with pro-american pro-zionist NeoCons, and approved massive american military build up in Japan's southern okinawan islands (literally minutes of flight/missle distance from the chinese mainland), in preparation for the attack.
And in the philippines, where they replaced Duerte (who was against the war plans on china and sought greater cooperation) with their well-paid puppet Marcos, who gave the american war machine the northen Luzon island (the closest philipino island to china) to build several military bases in preparation for the attack, and who drastically changed course from Duerte and immediately started promoting china hatred in the philippines, and constantly sends the philippino navy into provocations and skirmishes with chinese boats in the south china sea in order to promote nationalist hostility towards china in the philippines, in preparation for the attack. He and his pay-masters in the american ruling class are doing that becasue they are playing on the people the same 'boogeyman enemy' trick that ruling class oppressors always play on us. Again, this trick is described in detail in this profoundly important essay https://www.pdrboston.org/oppressors-need-bogeyman-enemies
Now, the third difference i would like to point out between the two capitalist puppets of the billionaire ruling class, is a difference i have realized after I've seen this video https://www.facebook.com/share/v/DjgVqtgD3wy2XJzY/ I'd like to ask anyone reading this to please watch this and tell me if you can ever imagine this level of humanity, caring, empathy, heart attunement and emotional maturity to ever be shown by psychologically-undeveloped emotionally-stunted infantile bully narcissist abuser empathy-less trump? Not in a million years. We're talking about a completely different level of HUMAN DEVELOPMENT. A completely different connection to humanity and to the heart.
I think it's clear by now that I'm not a harris supporter, not even close, i wish she wasn't so right-wing, capitalist and zionist in her policies, and i strongly reject the entire tyranical institution of presidency, and yet, still, on the most basic human level it's very very clear which one of them is more caring, more human, more empathetic, more heart-attuned, more connected to God. There's just no comparison. Watch the video.
IMHO they're both horrible on policies, both are pro-empire pro-billionaire right-wing capitalists and zionists, but on the human level (which might be just as important, in terms of its influence of humanity's consciousness), it is clear that she is a more caring and sensitive human being than the infantile Love-less cruel empathy-less greedy narcissist abuser jerk, who has a relational maturity level of a 4 year old, who dehumanizes and objectifies human beings and the living earth and sees our value only in as much as can be extracted from us for the profit of his Godless billionaire buddies (and who buys his trophy "wives" off of the playboy catalogue, and has sham abusive loveless transactional "relationaships" with them, until they get wrinkled and are replaced by the next trophy wife that this wounded man-child buys). There is no question in my mind which one of them is more connected to the heart and to the sacred essence of humanity. I used to think they're both the same awful right-wing representatives of the billionaire ruling class, and in terms of policy that is true, but in terms of humanity (which might be no less important), there is simply no comparison.
I pray with all my heart that love, caring and empathy shines through. I pray with all my heart that trump's immature empathy-less greed, insensitivity, narcissism, cruelty, dehumanization and cold-hearted capitalist objectifying brain doesn't win.
IMHO, Trump's infantile narcissist trauma-thriving mentality is everything the old human world of domimation, dehumanization, extraction, abuse, insensitivity and trauma was about. In my view, what harris has shown in this video (as much as i wish her policies were left-wing and not so right-wing and capitalist) is the new world of caring, empathy and heart attunement.
Okay, this first part (about the two factions of the elite) was quite long 🙂, so I'll try to be very brief in this second part, regarding what i think can actually be done about the technology that the billionaore ruling class (both their factions) are foisting upon us, technology which indeed makes it impossible to know what is real and what isn't, like you said.
I already mentioned this to you in my comment to your other post so I'll be very brief and just quickly mention it again for the benefit of anyone who isn't aware of this profoundly important possibility - The reason the ruling class are able to impose this technology upon us is becasue we have practically zero influence on the empire itself and its control over our lives. In other words, we don't get to decide on these things. The billionares decide and impose it upon us. So here's a suggestion of what can actually be done about this so that we get to decide about our lives and not have technologies imposed on us against our will by the corporate-capitalist oligarchs. IMHO a very wise, practical and human-centered suggestion, that was already applied very successfully before (in half of Spain, when millions of people removed the ultra-wealthy hierarchical capitalist abusers from power and established a very productive and flourishing egalitarian self-rule without a government or ultra-rich capitalist rapists) with many links leading out from it for further, more detailed, exploration, if there's an interest https://www.pdrboston.org/egalitarianism
Okay, apparently that's all that wanted to be expressed right now. I hope it wasn't too long. Apparently when a part of me wants to say something, he says it.. 🙂
PS and just a quick explanation for why i wrote "right-wing DNC" (even though the billionaire's narrative managers in their propaganda disinformation media constantly lie and present the ultra-capitalist ultra-zionist pro-billionaire pro-empire pro-Wall St pro-war right-wing DNC as "the left"), i did that because the abysmal anti-humanity DNC has nothing even remotely to do with the left and in fact hates and viciously attacks the left relentlessly and does everything in its power to destroy the left. I don't mean to belabour this point - which we discussed already in 2020 in the good old NAAS days 🙂 - and i wouldn't normally mention it, but since you (along with the billionare-owned propaganda media) insist on calling the leftist-hating corporate-capitalist democrats "the left" then something in me feels compelled to set the record straight on this). I can't even begin to describe to you the intense hatred and attacks coming at leftists from liberals and right-wing DNC-loyalists, so to hear you describe these leftist-hating democrats and so-called "liberals" as 'the left' just feels incredibly jarring, gaslighting and tone deaf, and something in me just felt it had to speak up to counter that mislabeling and misrepresentation and usurption
Thank you for your compliments on the article and the in-depth analysis you offered here. I had actually already listened to the Corbett-Webb discussion - I admire both of them and their perspectives.
My perspective on all this, which I emphasized in the article, is to not get behind either side of the duopoly, and my endorsement is to aggressively vote third-party if one chooses to vote at all. I understand your concerns about what the game plan might be under a Trump Administration, and that you view Harris as the lesser if two evils, if you'll forgive the cliché.
I'm just not in a lesser of two evils place anymore, and as you mentioned at one point in your response, the tactics of empire will continue in one direction or the other, regardless of which oligarchic faction takes the victory. We will see what the Trump administration does come January.
Hey Relendra, sorry for not replying earlier, there's been a lot on my plate. Still is, so this will also be very short, just wanted to share a brilliant analysis of the socio-political situation in america that I've just heard by two of the moat brilliiant economists and historians in america today IMHO,. A discussion which not only correctly (in my view) analysizes what happened in the election and the abysmal state of both oligarchic parties (especially the DNC) and the bind that american society and economy is in, but it also answers your question about wjere is the real left. Listen to the brilliant analysis by these economists and historians and you'll see where it is (and yes, i agree that it is a small minority in the current anti-democratic billionaire's oligarchy known as the USA, where the conversation and flow of information is COMPLETELY dominated by the right - both DNC corporate-capitalist right and GOP oligarch right, and where this kind of sane conversation by wise people is nowhere to be heard and not allowed to be on the ballot) https://www.youtube.com/live/i7iGPm0vloA?si=EsLKrNe2PEmG2bs-
PS. I did see you published a new post on the JFK assasination. It's slways a pleasure to read your posts so I hope to get to it soon.
I can't respond now to many of the points you made backed up by links because there are so many of those links I will need to explore to respond properly. I guess something we've talked about before is this question of how to define the Left and Right. Insofar as the Democrats are not really representative of the Left, my response to that is to urge the true Left to stop voting for them! This election saw a paltry 1% or so voting for a third party. I'm sure there are actually more than 1% of the populace that is truly Left, but if they keep voting for the Democrats, the Democrats will continue to be able to point to that and claim they represent the Left.
I'm skeptical of the dire predictionsiof what the Trump administration will do once in power. After four years of Trump from 2017-21, my sense is that he's actually fairly averse to war and freedom of speech crackdowns. I don't have a crystal ball, so maybe time will prove me wrong. I just don't see it. I was really worried he would do things like that for the first 3 years of his first term, and when nothing along those lines materialized, I gradually shifted over to the position that the anti-Trump hysteria amounted to one of the biggest "crying wolf" campaigns I've ever witnessed. Maybe the wolf will finally materialize after all... I guess we'll find out.
In the meantime, I'm enjoying the feeling of relief in caring less about which candidate won than I ever have. It feels like clarity to me.
This is very rich and I must get offline and back to my own material reality, so just two points:
Although we don't have the level of staging as the US does with respect to elections, following our own election in the UK, things are playing out as some of us expected, or rather worse. The only upside is that more are joining The Great Disillusionment which is actually the path to change.
On the reality of what's going on in the Middle East (a subject in which I have background) it's long been a place of smoke-and-mirrors and competing realities. Much of the population there know this and focus on the immediacy of their own lives.
At the same time, even without considering the new levels of deception that could be added by new technologies, the gap between perception and reality has widened over the past two decades. Twenty years ago some of the mainstream media attempt to reflect conditions on the ground whereas now they're clearly following a certain geo-political narrative. The public, who used to recognise the complexity of that region, its history and politics, have largely embraced that narrative and are not interested in any facts about what's happening. One example, from my Lebanese friend in her perch above Beirut: the Israelis have been bombing so hard that they are starting to trigger earthquakes. Israel and Lebanon are, of course, neighbours and earthquake alarms have been going off in Israel.
Nailed it as usual. Excited for the upcoming pieces! I saw an incredible long form interview with a lawyer/researcher called Danny Sheehan who has done a lot of the depositions on both topics. It blew my mind and, as you noted, in some small way preserved a whisper of faith. Hope you have been well, friend. https://youtu.be/a1kespVSrfY
I was going to share a pro-disillusionment meme here, but couldn't figure out how to do it. Maybe Substack doesn't support that. Probably for the best!
The ongoing carnage in the Middle-East is so upsetting. As much as Israel is running rampant with impunity right now, I am beginning to believe that they are digging themselves into a hole they will eventually deeply regret that runs counter to their interests. I wish this was playing out in a way that didn't claim the lives and inflict so much suffering and horror on so many people.
Thanks so much Brian! It's so nice to hear from you again. I've added that video to my watch list and will check it out! I'm doing well, and the JFK project is already under way with momentum! I'll start posting what I've come up with soon!
Thank you for this once again skillfully written piece. Your beautiful heart, concern and care is shining through. Thank you for your care.
I notice a resonance in me with most of what you wrote, and at the same time i also notice that something in me wants to point out a couple of (quite technical) things about the different issues you brought up. First about the nature of the two factions of the elite who are currently fighting among themselves for domination over humanity in the upcoming sham billionaires' (s)elections (similarities and differences between them), and secondly regarding what i think can actually be done about the technology that the billionaire ruling class (both their factions) are imposing upon us, technology which indeed makes it impossible to know what is real and what isn't, like you said.
So first, I think you described quite well the profoundly anti-democratic corruption of the pro-billionaire ultra-zionist corporate-capitalist right-wing DNC (or at least its most recent misdeeds. The DNC service to the ruling class capitalists actually started much earlier than just the last few years) but it seems like you gave a pass to the other, equally horrible (arguably even more horrible) faction of the ruling class, the trump-netanyahu-thiel-musk-AIPAC faction of the ruling class (if to mention only its most visible representitives), the capitalist oligarch warlords zionist faction.
An entire book can easily be written about the nature of the two factions of the elite who are fighting among themselves for domination over humanity and the planet's resources, and it would be impossible to do it justice in a comment on substack, so instead i will share with you, and anyone else interested, the profound and detailed anaysis of the two factions of the elite and their coming sham "elections" battle by some of tje most wise and insightful journaliats and serious depth-researchers on the planet today
First is this profoundly important, insightful and eye-opening post that breaks down the nature of the two elite factions and their upconing sham "elections" https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/the-choice-this-election-is-between by the wise and insightful Chris Hedges. In my view this is one of the most important essays published in recent times for anyone who wishes to understand what is actually happening in the west today, the internal struggle within the elite between the two factions of the ruling class, the two faces of capitalism fighting among themselves for supremacy (who will be the elite group who will be the top dog, plunder the planet and dominate humanity), which is what this current billionaire's sham "elections" is all about, though this rivalry between the capitalist elite factions has been going on for some time now.
IMHO, the nature of the two factions of the elite really should be basic knowledge for all americans and westerners, because there is so much mislabelling of the elite's two capitalist factions that are fighting for supremacy among themselves (even going as far as labelling the ultra-capitalist pro-billionaire pro-militarized empire pro-Wall St ultra-zionist right-wing DNC and Harris as far-left communist!!!) and so much misunderstading of what is actually going on, misunderstanding which is fully capitalized upon by the both factions of the ruling class and their propagandists to sell us their fake narratives as if this or that faction of the capitalist elite is on the side of the people. Really a very important and highly recommended essay.
Second is this profound essay by the always brilliant Caitilin johnstone that skillfully breaks down both the trumpism and anti-trumpism deception by the ruling class to make sure we are identified with one or the other of its factions https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/both-trumpism-and-anti-trumpism-are
Then there is this very important essay from wise elder John Spritzler that shows how trump is part and parcel of the ruling class and how we are being played by the manipulative narratives that have been carefully crafted around him that paint him as an "anti-elite rebel" when he is anything but that but just as pro-billionaire and anti-humanity as all right-wing american presidents (liberal or conservative) https://johnspritzler.substack.com/p/the-billionaire-class-is-no-more?
Cailin Johnstone again show how trump minus the deceptive narrative (that was crafted around him) equals bush-obama https://caityjohnstone.medium.com/trump-minus-narrative-equals-bushbama-84a363947536
Lastly there is this amazing analysis of the coming sham ruling-class (s)elections between the two puppets of the billionaires' global militarized empire, analysis by the insightful and profoundly knowledgable Whitney Webb and James Corbett https://corbettreport.substack.com/p/dissecting-the-selection-with-whitney (they also talk about JFK in tbe middle of their analysis, which might be of particular interest to you)
Webb and Corbett are really some of the brightest true journalists today and some of the very few depth researchers who haven't fallen for the massive puppet-master deceptions that americans are bombarded with nonstop (such as the scam that sells the ruling class billionaires' representitive trump as "anti elite rebel who arrived on the scene to help the little guy fight the deep state")
Besides the research above, one can also learn about the M.I.C war-profiteering ruling class oligarch deep-state networks that brought trump into power (of Wall St conservative billionaire military contractors, of mass-murderering right-wing arms dealers, of silicon valley surveillance capitalists, of pedophile blackmail networks run by supremacist zionist tribalists (far more than just their epstein operation), and of ultra-wealthy God-ignorant evangelical religious fundamentalists) here
https://www.exposetheenemy.com/deep-politics-and-trump
and here https://www.exposetheenemy.com/trump-war-the-pentagon-and-the-conservativeestablishment
and here https://web.archive.org/web/20190720130650/
And here https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/11/tomdispatch-trump-military-foreign-affairs/
and here https://odysee.com/@ExposeTheEnemy:b/america-first-from-wall-street-to-the:a?lid=95a34b649ac72026c32466c45591322426c77cf1
and here https://i.pinimg.com/originals/9e/c5/93/9ec59307f55ea5fabf59dbbdd7abb43a.png
And while we're on the subject of how the ruling class are playing us, we might as well also mention the JD Vance deception, which goes hand in hand with the trump deception. So regarding ConMan Vance, here's a full breakdown of who this fundamentalist deceiver actually is and who are the deep state adrenochrome-drinking billionaire abusers (the enemies of humanity) that are fully funding vance (as well as trump), and brought him to this position.
Please don't miss this research essay. https://miri.substack.com/p/america-the-movie-screenplay-by-jd?
And especially here https://unlimitedhangout.com/2024/07/investigative-reports/the-man-behind-trumps-vp-pick-its-worse-than-you-think/
And here
https://plagueonbothhouses.substack.com/p/friends-romans-countrymen-lend-me?
And here https://youtu.be/sGySygy0LWs?si=n6u28vsLzazo_gdS
IMHO, americans are being profoundly propagandized, emotionally-manipulated, kept ignorant (of the empire's global mechinations), distracted by the partisan theatre and directed to fight over the question of what should be the color of the shoes of the person who rapes, plunders, enslaves, exploits and mass-murders humanity, should it be red or blue? That's the only question we get to have a say over in the american billionaires' sham "elections", to decide over the color of the shoes of the global murderer, thief and rapist. Not whether the murder, theft, enslavement and rape should take place, that's not within the realm of "allowed debate", but only whether he should wear red or blue shoes while on his global exploits..
We're propagandized, deceived and distracted into fighting over which of the billionaire's representatives we prefer to lead the global capitalist militarized empire and its plunder, mass-murder and rape of life on earth to enrich the few ultra-rich and cement their domination over life...
TRUMP AND HARRIS ARE TWO FACES OF THE SAME GLOBAL CORPORATE-CAPITALIST BILLIONAIRE'S MILITARIZED EMPIRE, THAT TURNS THIS PARADISE PLANET INTO A DIVIDED WARRING HELL, TO BENEFIT NO ONE BUT THE CONTROL OF A FEW ULTRA-RICH OVER HUMANITY AND THE PLANET'S RESOURCES.
Yes, they have differences in temperament, one is a psychologically-undeveloped wounded narcissist bully (who buys his trophy wives off of tje playboy catalogue and has fake loveless abusive "marriages" with them until they get wrinkled and are replaced by the next trophy wife that this wounded man-child buys) and the other speaks more of compassion and caring, but beyond their superficial differences in temperament, both of their administrations acted in almost identical ways when it comes to securing the narrow selfish interest of the few ultra-wealthy and the control of their global corporate-capitalist empire over humanity and the planet's resources
Ooops, space is finished here, please see continued in the reply below this one
This is part 2 (continued from above)
Both trump and harris continued 99% of the pro-empire pro-billionaire global terror, plunder, mass-murder and domination policies of their predecessors. Yes, despite the massive and intense QAnon/MAGA marketing deception that falsely sells trump as "anti-elite rebel", trump's admin was NOT a deviation from these policies, but a continuation of them. If one looks at his ACTUAL actions (not the fake narrative that was carefully crafted around him but his ACTUAL actions) then it's plain to see. And yes, despite the propagandists in the liberal capitalist media selling us the corporate-capitalist democratic party as supposedly more compassionate and caring, if one looks at the ACTUAL actions of the administrations headed by a capitalist right-wing liberal then it is clear that they are just as murderous as conservatives are and work just as much as conservatives to advance the narrow interests of the ultra-rich corporate-capitalists and their domination over life on earth.
And if there's an interest, I wrote a bit about how the capitalist billionaire's global empire functions (regardless of whether it is the empire's conservative or liberal in the white house) here https://substack.com/home/post/p-150090964
Having said the above, i want to qualify my above statements - yes, the two puppets represent two factions of the ruling class puppet masters, but I do think there a couple of key differences between them:
First, one of the very first actions that the trump-netanyah-thiel-AIPAC zionist administration is guranteed to take in the first days' after trump and his zionist billionaires enter the white house will be the biggest act of censorship and attack on free speech in american history and the biggest violation of the constitution (first amendment) in american history - they are going to legally define by law as a "hate crime" any criticism of the empire's colonial project in west asia (also known as israel) or of the supremacist zionist ideology (according to which the fake tribalist bloodthirsty hebrew "god" gave to very specific people, who had a very specific religious label placed on them at birth, the "divine right" to massacre and throw the indigenous people off their land and take over their home (see here - https://youtu.be/FhlUFPpXIVo?si=JlqA63ipojNsYI6x for very in-depth exploration of the invading colonial zionist billionaire's project and its attack on the indigenous people of the land).
Trump and his entire family are Chabad devotees (chabad is by far the most supremacist jewish cult), and so trump and his AIPAC tyrants are going to make any resistence to the zionist billionares' neo-nazi ideology (of religious and ethnic supremacy) and its application as the genocidal colonial project in west asia, into a "hate crime" punishable by jail time (yes, this very comment i am writing right now could land me in jail, under the trump-netanyahu zionist regime and their tyranical "hate crime" censorship. And by the way, i am Jewish and was born in israel, i wrote about my awakening from zionist indoctrination in the first post on my profile).
The most blatant and biggest violation of the constitution and first amendment in american history will happen shortly after zionist trump and his israeli billionaires enter the white house!! (And you can be sure that most conservatives would enthusiastically cheer for it, because partisan hypnosis and the empire's zionist colony in west asia is apparently far far more important to most conservatives than the constitution or freedom of speech. Exactly like most conservatives cheer when billions upon billions of americans' money is stolen and given to fund and provide the slaughter weapons to the neo-nazi zionist supremacists in the israeli gov't and to the billionaore's colonial project in west asia (or "our aircraft carrier in tne middle east", as RFK Jr. fondly describes the zionist supremacist colonial project that he loves so much) while at the same time they are programmed to scream (on cue) when much smaller amounts go to the much less supremacist ukraine (which is indeed also a proxy of the billionaire's global empire, just like israel, taiwan, ISIS and Al-Qaeda, but for propagandized conservstives - who pretend to oppose empire but really don't - the billionaire's imperialism is fine and dandy as long as it works for the domination of the superior people and as long as the murdered ones are not christians or jews). And exactly like conservatives pretend to object to the violence of government but are cheering enthusiastically when the violence is done by the supremacist zionist colonial government who for more than a century now inflicts nonstop terrorism, abuse, torture, dispossesion, rape, land-theft and mass-slaughter on the indigenous people (who are brown and so viewed as inferior in value to the judeo-christian superior people in the eyes of most God-ignorant conservatives).
The second big difference i notice between the empire's puppets is that it seems obvious that the puppet-masters need trump in office before they can launch their coming planned attacks on china and iran (the purpose of this coming attack is described here https://substack.com/home/post/p-150090964)
Harris is clearly not going to get any conservative riled up and enthusiastic about the ruling class' coming planned attack on china and iran in the way trump is going to. It seems very obvious that the NeoCon ruling class (who run both parties, both wings of the empire) need trump in the white house before they can launch their planned attacks on china and iran. They need him to be at the helm to lead americans into the attack because conservatives (who are the backbone of the billionaire's global execution force, known as the american military) are not going to be very enthused to go across the ocean to murder for the ruling class if Harris tells them to do so, but if it's trump, their own righteous billioanaire messiah, leading the charge and telling them to go kill those evil commies/leftists (for "freedom" and "god" and "judeo-christian moral values" and "prosperity", of course) then his well-intentioned but heavily-propagamdized and deceived MAGA/Qanon followers will be extremely enthusiastic to do the billionaire's bidding, with a gusto of extremely powerful religious-nationalistic passion in their support for the troops and the president. It will be the just like the psychosis of tribalist war-frenzy after 9/11 all over again. The ruling class absolutely must have trump (and not Harris) leading americans into their planned attack.
There is also going to be a lot of bible waving, while Anti-Christ trump and his Godless deep-state GOP war profiteers will frequently use the words "jesus" and "holy war" and "the last battle of good vs evil", which will send their well-intentioned but thoroughly deceived conservative base into a gushing orgasm, a nationalist-religious feeding frenzy and extreme enthusiasm for the ruling class' war plans.
That's why they need trump (and not harris) in office to lead the planned attack. Trump and his deep state zionist war-profiteering billionaires will enter the white house in january, and then of course they'll need to set the stage with a few months of very intense 24/7 wall-to-wall propagaganda in the billionaire's disinformation media (including in the so-called conservative alternative media" which isn't independent or alternative but promotes the same tribalist hatred and capitalist domination-war as mainstrsam conservative billionaire's media does) set the stage with very intense 24/7 wall-to-wall propagaganda about the so-called "evil aggression of commie china" (which doesn't have a single military base outside its territory, while the american empire has nearly 900 military bases encircling the entire globe, in addition to dozens of warships colonizing every ocean on the face of the globe, as well as at least 13 extra-judicial torture camps, where conservatives hold kidnapped human beings in captivity for years without trial or accusation and torture them, because.. "patriotism" and "freedom" and "god" and "moral values" and "jesus is king").
After a few months of the zionists' hammering into americans' head nonstop 24/7 how china and iran are an evil aggressor and the new hitler, then you'll have the conveniently-timed decleration of independence by american-paid separatists in taiwan (who were elected with less than 40%. Meaning, 60% of people in taiwan do NOT want the coming american attack on china done under the excuse of "protecting" them), and the stage will be set for the "righteous" attack (for "freedom" and "prosperity" and "moral values" of course). And just like after 9/11, the majority of heavily-propagandized americans will be fully in support of it (including 99% of well-intentioned but thoroughly deceived conservatives who will be in the mode of holy-war end-times jesus-is-coming-back, and fully united behind their mass-murdering narcissist infantile pro-billionaire pro-Wall zionist messiah trump leading the charge against what americans will be told is "the evil commie aggression" (same old BS, as if nothing has changed from the vietnam days, americans are still falling for the exact same ruling class slogans).
Once the ruling class have put all the pieces of the puzzle together for the attack (1. trump and his zionist billionaires in office and leading the charge, 2. months of intense 24/7 wall-to-wall nationalist-religious propaganda to turn china into a literal hitler, a scary evil monster who wants to hurt americans in any way it can, so we just must take down this hitler-like monster first before it takes "us" down 3. taiwan declaration of independence. 4. American military bases in the countries surrounding china completed and ready to launch misslies and war planes) they will pull the trigger.
Space finished 🙂 Please see part 3 below
Part 3
To be clear, trump and his zionist billionaires' coming attack on china and iran almost certainly means a nucler world war, which means the end of life on earth...
And by the way, if trump and his zionist billionaires cannot generate strong public support for their planned attack, despite their months of 24/7 wall-to-wall intense propaganda campaign to turn china and iran into a hitler and evil aggressor in the eyes of americans, then there is also the possibility that they'll pull another 9/11 sort of false flag event, to get everyone into a state of traumatic shock, fear, anger and hatred, and fully on board with their attack plans.. (here is how the zionists did the first 9/11 https://www.veteranstodayarchives.com/2011/06/27/demystifying-911-israel-tactics-mistake/ And here https://www.unz.com/article/911-was-an-israeli-job/ (which also includes discussion of the supremacist ideology that guides the machiavellian NeoCon Zionists, as well as on jfk assasination, which might be of interest to you)
And here https://truthblitzkrieg.com/2024/09/02/1379/
As for why the billionaire ruling class are going to attack china and iran - after trump and his deep-state zionist billionaire war-profiteers enter the white house - see this profound essay which IMHO is a must read for every human on the planet who wishes to understand exactly how we are being played https://www.pdrboston.org/oppressors-need-bogeyman-enemies
By the way, two more pieces of the puzzle (not mentioned above) that the billionaire ruling class put together to get everything ready for the attack after trump and his supremacist zionist billionaires enter the white house, is that they had the leaders in the countries surrounding china replaced, from those not committed to china-hostility and the planned attack, into puppets who do exactly as the empire tells them, who ramp up anti-china hostility and open their country to american military bases in preparation for the attack.
Two examples of this are in Japan and the philippines. In Japan they assasinated prime minister Abe, who refused to commit to their attack plans on china, and replaced him with their ultra-nationalist puppet, Kishida, who changed japan’s constitution to allow for greater militarization of society, removed constitutional limits on military spending, filled his cabinet with pro-american pro-zionist NeoCons, and approved massive american military build up in Japan's southern okinawan islands (literally minutes of flight/missle distance from the chinese mainland), in preparation for the attack.
And in the philippines, where they replaced Duerte (who was against the war plans on china and sought greater cooperation) with their well-paid puppet Marcos, who gave the american war machine the northen Luzon island (the closest philipino island to china) to build several military bases in preparation for the attack, and who drastically changed course from Duerte and immediately started promoting china hatred in the philippines, and constantly sends the philippino navy into provocations and skirmishes with chinese boats in the south china sea in order to promote nationalist hostility towards china in the philippines, in preparation for the attack. He and his pay-masters in the american ruling class are doing that becasue they are playing on the people the same 'boogeyman enemy' trick that ruling class oppressors always play on us. Again, this trick is described in detail in this profoundly important essay https://www.pdrboston.org/oppressors-need-bogeyman-enemies
Now, the third difference i would like to point out between the two capitalist puppets of the billionaire ruling class, is a difference i have realized after I've seen this video https://www.facebook.com/share/v/DjgVqtgD3wy2XJzY/ I'd like to ask anyone reading this to please watch this and tell me if you can ever imagine this level of humanity, caring, empathy, heart attunement and emotional maturity to ever be shown by psychologically-undeveloped emotionally-stunted infantile bully narcissist abuser empathy-less trump? Not in a million years. We're talking about a completely different level of HUMAN DEVELOPMENT. A completely different connection to humanity and to the heart.
I think it's clear by now that I'm not a harris supporter, not even close, i wish she wasn't so right-wing, capitalist and zionist in her policies, and i strongly reject the entire tyranical institution of presidency, and yet, still, on the most basic human level it's very very clear which one of them is more caring, more human, more empathetic, more heart-attuned, more connected to God. There's just no comparison. Watch the video.
IMHO they're both horrible on policies, both are pro-empire pro-billionaire right-wing capitalists and zionists, but on the human level (which might be just as important, in terms of its influence of humanity's consciousness), it is clear that she is a more caring and sensitive human being than the infantile Love-less cruel empathy-less greedy narcissist abuser jerk, who has a relational maturity level of a 4 year old, who dehumanizes and objectifies human beings and the living earth and sees our value only in as much as can be extracted from us for the profit of his Godless billionaire buddies (and who buys his trophy "wives" off of the playboy catalogue, and has sham abusive loveless transactional "relationaships" with them, until they get wrinkled and are replaced by the next trophy wife that this wounded man-child buys). There is no question in my mind which one of them is more connected to the heart and to the sacred essence of humanity. I used to think they're both the same awful right-wing representatives of the billionaire ruling class, and in terms of policy that is true, but in terms of humanity (which might be no less important), there is simply no comparison.
I pray with all my heart that love, caring and empathy shines through. I pray with all my heart that trump's immature empathy-less greed, insensitivity, narcissism, cruelty, dehumanization and cold-hearted capitalist objectifying brain doesn't win.
IMHO, Trump's infantile narcissist trauma-thriving mentality is everything the old human world of domimation, dehumanization, extraction, abuse, insensitivity and trauma was about. In my view, what harris has shown in this video (as much as i wish her policies were left-wing and not so right-wing and capitalist) is the new world of caring, empathy and heart attunement.
Okay, this first part (about the two factions of the elite) was quite long 🙂, so I'll try to be very brief in this second part, regarding what i think can actually be done about the technology that the billionaore ruling class (both their factions) are foisting upon us, technology which indeed makes it impossible to know what is real and what isn't, like you said.
I already mentioned this to you in my comment to your other post so I'll be very brief and just quickly mention it again for the benefit of anyone who isn't aware of this profoundly important possibility - The reason the ruling class are able to impose this technology upon us is becasue we have practically zero influence on the empire itself and its control over our lives. In other words, we don't get to decide on these things. The billionares decide and impose it upon us. So here's a suggestion of what can actually be done about this so that we get to decide about our lives and not have technologies imposed on us against our will by the corporate-capitalist oligarchs. IMHO a very wise, practical and human-centered suggestion, that was already applied very successfully before (in half of Spain, when millions of people removed the ultra-wealthy hierarchical capitalist abusers from power and established a very productive and flourishing egalitarian self-rule without a government or ultra-rich capitalist rapists) with many links leading out from it for further, more detailed, exploration, if there's an interest https://www.pdrboston.org/egalitarianism
And detailed answers to FAQ is here to learn in detail what exactly is being suggested. https://www.pdrboston.org/faq-how-to-have-no-rich-no-poor
And see here how this was already applied very successfully before https://www.pdrboston.org/egalitarianism-in-spain-1936-9
Here's a more detailed account of how it was applied successfully before https://www.pdrboston.org/lessons-from-the-spanish-revolution
As well as here https://open.substack.com/pub/johnspritzler/p/we-are-taught-lies-about-the-american
Okay, apparently that's all that wanted to be expressed right now. I hope it wasn't too long. Apparently when a part of me wants to say something, he says it.. 🙂
PS and just a quick explanation for why i wrote "right-wing DNC" (even though the billionaire's narrative managers in their propaganda disinformation media constantly lie and present the ultra-capitalist ultra-zionist pro-billionaire pro-empire pro-Wall St pro-war right-wing DNC as "the left"), i did that because the abysmal anti-humanity DNC has nothing even remotely to do with the left and in fact hates and viciously attacks the left relentlessly and does everything in its power to destroy the left. I don't mean to belabour this point - which we discussed already in 2020 in the good old NAAS days 🙂 - and i wouldn't normally mention it, but since you (along with the billionare-owned propaganda media) insist on calling the leftist-hating corporate-capitalist democrats "the left" then something in me feels compelled to set the record straight on this). I can't even begin to describe to you the intense hatred and attacks coming at leftists from liberals and right-wing DNC-loyalists, so to hear you describe these leftist-hating democrats and so-called "liberals" as 'the left' just feels incredibly jarring, gaslighting and tone deaf, and something in me just felt it had to speak up to counter that mislabeling and misrepresentation and usurption
Thank you for your compliments on the article and the in-depth analysis you offered here. I had actually already listened to the Corbett-Webb discussion - I admire both of them and their perspectives.
My perspective on all this, which I emphasized in the article, is to not get behind either side of the duopoly, and my endorsement is to aggressively vote third-party if one chooses to vote at all. I understand your concerns about what the game plan might be under a Trump Administration, and that you view Harris as the lesser if two evils, if you'll forgive the cliché.
I'm just not in a lesser of two evils place anymore, and as you mentioned at one point in your response, the tactics of empire will continue in one direction or the other, regardless of which oligarchic faction takes the victory. We will see what the Trump administration does come January.
Hey Relendra, sorry for not replying earlier, there's been a lot on my plate. Still is, so this will also be very short, just wanted to share a brilliant analysis of the socio-political situation in america that I've just heard by two of the moat brilliiant economists and historians in america today IMHO,. A discussion which not only correctly (in my view) analysizes what happened in the election and the abysmal state of both oligarchic parties (especially the DNC) and the bind that american society and economy is in, but it also answers your question about wjere is the real left. Listen to the brilliant analysis by these economists and historians and you'll see where it is (and yes, i agree that it is a small minority in the current anti-democratic billionaire's oligarchy known as the USA, where the conversation and flow of information is COMPLETELY dominated by the right - both DNC corporate-capitalist right and GOP oligarch right, and where this kind of sane conversation by wise people is nowhere to be heard and not allowed to be on the ballot) https://www.youtube.com/live/i7iGPm0vloA?si=EsLKrNe2PEmG2bs-
PS. I did see you published a new post on the JFK assasination. It's slways a pleasure to read your posts so I hope to get to it soon.
I can't respond now to many of the points you made backed up by links because there are so many of those links I will need to explore to respond properly. I guess something we've talked about before is this question of how to define the Left and Right. Insofar as the Democrats are not really representative of the Left, my response to that is to urge the true Left to stop voting for them! This election saw a paltry 1% or so voting for a third party. I'm sure there are actually more than 1% of the populace that is truly Left, but if they keep voting for the Democrats, the Democrats will continue to be able to point to that and claim they represent the Left.
I'm skeptical of the dire predictionsiof what the Trump administration will do once in power. After four years of Trump from 2017-21, my sense is that he's actually fairly averse to war and freedom of speech crackdowns. I don't have a crystal ball, so maybe time will prove me wrong. I just don't see it. I was really worried he would do things like that for the first 3 years of his first term, and when nothing along those lines materialized, I gradually shifted over to the position that the anti-Trump hysteria amounted to one of the biggest "crying wolf" campaigns I've ever witnessed. Maybe the wolf will finally materialize after all... I guess we'll find out.
In the meantime, I'm enjoying the feeling of relief in caring less about which candidate won than I ever have. It feels like clarity to me.
That's where I'm at, love it or hate it!
This is very rich and I must get offline and back to my own material reality, so just two points:
Although we don't have the level of staging as the US does with respect to elections, following our own election in the UK, things are playing out as some of us expected, or rather worse. The only upside is that more are joining The Great Disillusionment which is actually the path to change.
On the reality of what's going on in the Middle East (a subject in which I have background) it's long been a place of smoke-and-mirrors and competing realities. Much of the population there know this and focus on the immediacy of their own lives.
At the same time, even without considering the new levels of deception that could be added by new technologies, the gap between perception and reality has widened over the past two decades. Twenty years ago some of the mainstream media attempt to reflect conditions on the ground whereas now they're clearly following a certain geo-political narrative. The public, who used to recognise the complexity of that region, its history and politics, have largely embraced that narrative and are not interested in any facts about what's happening. One example, from my Lebanese friend in her perch above Beirut: the Israelis have been bombing so hard that they are starting to trigger earthquakes. Israel and Lebanon are, of course, neighbours and earthquake alarms have been going off in Israel.