Whoever is in charge in the White House at this moment in history will have a caveat. Bring back normal, get our cable TV back no matter the cost, nuke whoever you have to, just give us our lives back! You have to see the end of all this taking shape, I know you do. Putin attacked no one [...]
Vladimir Putin has harmed no American. Russia has not stood in the way of any American’s dream. As for the billionaires though, those American and British money bags, the Russians are posing an insurmountable hurdle for their investments. And we all know nothing can stand in the way of their progress. Unfortunately for the human race, mediocrity cannot rule either. Here is a prophesy as real as any newsreel you will view today, the “end all” conclusion for American “exceptionalism”.
Do you know where Crimea is? Seriously now, a gaff by presidential hopeful Gary Johnson the other day proved once and for all, not even educated Americans have a very big “mental map” of our world. I was a geography student first and teacher second, and I can tell you categorically that very few of America’s leaders know US history and geography, let alone world names and places. If Johnson had known where Aleppo, a city in northwest Syria was, I would have been amazed. 99% of Americans could not point to Syria on a map if their lives depended on it. Not even college students I once polled, would be able to reliably find Moscow, or even St. Louis in Missouri for that matter. Get this, if a geography bee were slated to solve world crises, the United States would end up a third world banana republic. Don’t take my word, read this study published by National Geographic, or this 2014 one from the US Government’s Accountability Office, or this Telegraph report that shows one quarter of Americans do not even know Earth revolves around the sun. Some of you will perceive my path to proving a “Putin point” later on. Others should take heed, the complacent billionaires need chastising:
“Men of age object too much, consult too long, adventure too little, repent too soon, and seldom drive business home to the full period, but content themselves with a mediocrity of success.” Dale Carnegie
Now, on Crimea and Russian aggression is the American people are totally ignorant participants in a game of worldwide domination. Putin sending “little green men” into Crimea, his rescuing a Russian speaking population from certain denigration and torment by the Obama administration Nazi-Kiev junta, the situation did not, does not even register on my countrymen. What’s worse, even if Americans are informed and if they understand what removing language and ethnic cleansing signify, caring what happens overseas is just not something on US citizens’ “to do” list. We are “Ameri-centric” to the bone, trained, fed, and leashed to a way of thinking that is detrimental to the whole wide world. Even when Americans are “busted” being dumb on important matters, the insanity is hammered home by memes and Twitter trends making comedy of our pitiful society. Take the moment the 2007 Miss Teen USA Pageant contestant, Miss South Carolina Caitlin Upton stumbled and fell off her high heels blaming bad geography on the US having “no maps”. It was just funny, a joke, 300 million Americans guffawed over Ms. Upton’s ignorance…. But the joke was on us all.
Barack Obama is quoted as saying “I’ve now been in 57 states, I believe.” 57. Former Vice President Dick Cheney transplanted Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez in Peru once. Ukraine civil war incendiary Senator John McCain went on national TV to proclaim Iraq borders Pakistan. Former President Gerald Ford lost an election when he proclaimed the USSR would never dominate Eastern Europe on his watch. Presidential candidate Mitt Romney figured Iran was Syria’s ally only so the former could get to the sea! (Neither nation is land locked) George Bush thought Africa was a country, Obama thinks the Atlantic Ocean is the Gulf of Mexico, and Vladimir Putin is about to invade??? Ignorance, no child left behind, Americans are truly the “sheeple”.
“There is always a heavy demand for fresh mediocrity. In every generation the least cultivated taste has the largest appetite.” Paul Gauguin
And America’s appetite can no longer be quenched, enter Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Bred mediocrity is notion first called to my attention by my brother Tony Joyce, a self made engineer who worked his way to the top hurdling every obstacle a human can. Bred mediocrity is the natural laziness of a successful society, intersecting with a resentence of intellect. It is also a topic experts like Dr. Joe A. Mann, and others have addressed. The most notable case I found being this Harvard Business Review report characterizes Americans as being overcome by Reality Deficit Disorder. Make no mistake, there are boat loads of proof America has become the land of the incurably stupid and hapless, but the stunning writings of author Umair Haque smack us in the face. “America excels at mediocrity”, this is the undeniable truth we must come to grips with. His reportage snaps the fingers of cool reality in our faces; “What exactly is America still best in the world at?” Don’t guess, don’t wish, take time to discover exactly what we excel at these days – then evaluate the value, consider the long term, understand the pitiful fate or our nation.
But I need to tell you why, rather than pound the reality into your head. Google “mediocre America” and read up yourself – yes READ, be part of the solution. The reason “why” the whole world needs to understand America’s decline is simple.
If we go down, we’re taking a few billion with us
This Town Hall article during Barack Obama’s bout for a second term as president encapsulates all that is horrifically wrong with our system. The reasons we are going to intimately fail are in this, if one reads carefully and considers, that is. Barack Obama is the most mediocre leader in the history of the world, given the United States’ position when he took office – no empire or nation had more potential to effect positive change. But the only changes we have seen boil down to a far left wing takeover of colleges, the media, and Hollywood. The “story” force fed Americans runs so far foul of the truth, it’s inconceivable to the sentient soul. Hard news and truth are no longer appealing, Geography and even history are open to new interpretations – America is drugged into submission – and hardly anyone can escape. Brain candy, the “gravy” that coats the American psyche, it is the most deadly substance the Universe has ever known. Quoting author John Hawkins:
“The New York Times, the Washington Post, ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, etc., etc., etc. act as press flacks for the Democratic Party. Whatever story the Democrats want out there, they push it. Stories that are bad for the Left are either completely ignored or treated as insignificant. When conservative state legislators help fund public colleges that teach kids to hate them and conservatives watch TV shows, movies, and cable news networks that smear their beliefs over a morning paper that mocks God and looks down its nose at people with traditional values, it’s no surprise the Left has a huge advantage. Vladimir Lenin once said,”The Capitalists will sell us the rope with which we will hang them,” and today, conservatives are funding the very people who are hanging our country by the neck until it dies.”
The aforementioned author stands a staunch right wing opinion scribe, but America needs to come back to the center. Remember what I said; “America will not go down alone?” Well, the humanity cannot afford another total collapse, we cannot survive another “Fall of Rome” – for these Romans will scorch the Earth for good. The state is set. Refugees of color in the shooting gallery, they take the place of the Jewish people for a new holocaust. Islam is the enemy, so are Russia and Vladimir Putin, and the Chinese are a colorful enemy too. American “exceptionalism” is a reality, only not a positive descriptive. We are exceptionally stupid, exceptionally callous, exceptionally selfish and greedy, a nation with one intention – to eat it up, wear it out, and use it all – we might as well go on and admit it.
“The coming years will prove increasingly cynical and cruel. People will definitely not slip into oblivion while hugging each other. The final stages in the life of humanity will be marked by the monstrous war of all against all: the amount of suffering will be maximal.” Pentti Linkola, Can Life Prevail?
When the bubble finally bursts, when these mediocre men and women who lead finally fail us, a nation so dependent on excess and eccentricity will collapse utterly. Take the dollar, for instance. What if our policy toward Russia and China is wrong? What if the Eurasian Economic Union succeeds in replacing the dollar as the medium of exchange? A loaf of bread could be $20. Supplies of 1000 products could be unattainable. A really new Great Depression could hit overnight! Many have warned of this, but few have prophesied what Americans would do. We care not to stop a million children being murdered in far off lands. Crimea is a “buzz” term by CNN to justify a new Cold War. Syria is Iraq or Afghanistan, a place where “rag heads” are slaughtered – who cares? But gas at $100 dollars a gallon, empty grocery store shelves and candle lit dinners are Hollywood sensations for Americans to discuss, over a Budweiser and a corn dog, at a Super Bowl Sunday half time. What happens if it all becomes real though?
Whoever is in charge in the White House at this moment in history will have a caveat. Bring back normal, get our cable TV back no matter the cost, nuke whoever you have to, just give us our lives back! You have to see the end of all this taking shape, I know you do. Putin attacked no one. Muslims are not the problem. Neither Republicanism nor Democratic stoicism will defend us from ourselves. Mediocrity cannot rule, but in the 21st century it can obliterate us all. I leave you with the root of our collective demise, the reason the Obama or Clinton or Trump types enthrall the masses so:
“Most of our pocket wisdom is conceived for the use of mediocre people, to discourage them from ambitious attempts, and generally console them in their mediocrity.” Robert Louis Stevenson
Originally published on 2016-09-12
About the author: Phil Butler, is a policy investigator and analyst, a political scientist and expert on Eastern Europe, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”.
Origins of images: Facebook, Twitter, Wikimedia, Wikipedia, Flickr, Google, Imageinjection, Public Domain & Pinterest.
Read our Disclaimer/LegalStatement!
DonatetoSupportUs
We would like to ask you to consider a small donation to help our team keep working. We accept no advertising and rely only on you, our readers, to keep us digging the truth on history, global politics and international relations.
The 2015 dataOrigins of images: Facebook, Twitter, Wikimedia, Wikipedia, Flickr, Google, Imageinjection, Public Domain & Pinterest.Read our Disclaimer/Legal Statement!Donate to Support UsWe would like to ask you to consider a small donation to help our team keep working. We accept no advertising and rely only on you, our readers, to keep us digging the truth on history, global politics and international relations.[wpedon id="4696" align="left"]SaveSave
America’s war of expansion over Mexico, backed by newspapers and politicians, has repercussions to the present day.Reflecting on his life while dying of throat cancer in 1885, the former US President Ulysses S. Grant said the Mexican-American War was, “the most wicked war in history. I thought so at the time, when I was a youngster, only I had not moral courage enough to resign”.Grant had first-hand experience as he himself fought in the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), then as a junior officer in his mid-20s. Less than two decades later, he rose to prominence as one of the most important ...
Just as the Republican convention demonized Hillary (“Lock Her Up”), so the Democrats are demonizing Donald Trump. They refuse to support any policy that he backs, even when he says something progressive.One might think that at least Bernie’s supporters would applaud Trump’s left-wing transformation of the old conservative, pro-corporate neocon Cheney-Bush core of the Republican Party. But nobody had a single good word to say about Trump’s assertions that he would wind down confrontation with Russia, reduce military spending on the grounds that NATO is obsolete, and oppose the TPP and TTIP as well as rewrite NAFTA’s terms.The Democrats are ...
The Federal Prison Industries (FPI) under the brand UNICORE operates approximately 52 factories (prisons) across the United States. Prisoners manufacture or assemble a number of products for the US military, homeland security,and federal agencies according to the UNICORE/FPI website. They produce furniture, clothing and circuit boards in addition to providing computer aided design services and call center support for private companies.UNICORE/FPI makes its pitch for employing call center support personnel to firms thinking about off-shoring their call center functions. The logic is that, hey!, they may be prisoners, but it’s keeping the jobs in the USA that matters. Fair enough. ...
Well, once again, Israeli Prime Murderer Benjamin Netanyahu astounds. One would think that there must be some limit to the bizarre statements that issue from his mouth, but no, we learn again and again that he is willing to push the bizarreness envelope to places where, like the crew of Star Trek’s Enterprise, no one has ever before ventured.His latest flight of fancy even seems to have astonished his worshipful U.S. government, which characterized his statements as ‘inappropriate and unhelpful’, harsh criticism indeed from that bastion of Israeli love. And what is it that Mr. Netanyahu has said? This writer ...
We are witnessing a presidential election of epic farce. The Republican Party nominates the caricature of a tinpot dictator. The Democratic National Committee is a caricature too, of comic opera: exposed in collusion with a favored candidate it anoints a felon, shown to be such but unindicted.We are witnessing the collapse of democratic presidential politics. It is a derelict process, complex, absurdly long, insanely expensive, tedious, inconsistent and now chaotic.Professional football is a public extravaganza, its six-month season culminating in the tangible climax of the Superbowl. It is dwarfed in spectacle however by the same suspense and dramatic finale of ...
The world is at a dangerous crossroads. The United States and its allies have launched a military adventure which threatens the future of humanity. Major military and covert intelligence operations are being undertaken simultaneously in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia and the Far East. The US-NATO military agenda combines both major theater operations as well as covert actions geared towards destabilizing sovereign states.America’s hegemonic project is to destabilize and destroy countries through acts of war, covert operations in support of terrorist organizations, regime change and economic warfare. The latter includes the imposition of deadly macro-economic reforms ...
Many of the world’s most repressive dictators have been friends of America. Tyrants, torturers, killers, and sundry dictators and corrupt puppet-presidents have been aided, supported, and rewarded handsomely for their loyalty to US interests. Traditional dictators seize control through force, while constitutional dictators hold office through voting fraud or severely restricted elections, and are frequently puppets and apologists for the military juntas which control the ballot boxes. In any case, none have been democratically elected by the majority of their people in fair and open elections.They are democratic America’s undemocratic allies. They may rise to power through bloody ClA-backed coups ...
This weekend 75 years ago, the German city of Dresden was razed to the ground by British and American aerial bombardment. At least 25,000 mainly civilians were destroyed in raid after raid by over 1,200 heavy bombers, indiscriminately dropping high explosives and incendiaries. It took seven years just to clear the rubble.The destruction of Dresden, a world-famous cultural center of Baroque majesty, has been long dogged by controversy. Official British and American military accounts claim it was necessary to hasten the collapse of the Third Reich; with a reasoning that resonates with US claims for dropping the atomic bombs on ...
Origins of images: Facebook, Twitter, Wikimedia, Wikipedia, Flickr, Google, Imageinjection, Public Domain & Pinterest.Read our Disclaimer/Legal Statement!Donate to Support UsWe would like to ask you to consider a small donation to help our team keep working. We accept no advertising and rely only on you, our readers, to keep us digging the truth on history, global politics and international relations.[wpedon id="4696" align="left"]Save
Serbia rescued more Jews than any other part of the former Yugoslavia during the Holocaust. Yad Vashem , The Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority, has awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations, those who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust, to 127 individuals from Serbia, which is the highest number for the former Yugoslavia.On December 2, 2008, Arthur Koll, the Israeli Ambassador to Serbia, presented to the children and grandchildren of Borivoje Bondzic, Grozdana Bondzic, Ljubica Mandusic-Gazikalovic, and Jelica Rankovic the Righteous Among the Nations award. They are the descendants of Serbs who during the Holocaust risked their own lives ...
Origins of images: Facebook, Twitter, Wikimedia, Wikipedia, Flickr, Google, Imageinjection, Public Domain & Pinterest.Read our Disclaimer/Legal Statement!Donate to Support UsWe would like to ask you to consider a small donation to help our team keep working. We accept no advertising and rely only on you, our readers, to keep us digging the truth on history, global politics and international relations.[wpedon id="4696" align="left"]Save
Origins of images: Facebook, Twitter, Wikimedia, Wikipedia, Flickr, Google, Imageinjection, Public Domain & Pinterest.Read our Disclaimer/Legal Statement!Donate to Support UsWe would like to ask you to consider a small donation to help our team keep working. We accept no advertising and rely only on you, our readers, to keep us digging the truth on history, global politics, and international relations.[wpedon id="4696" align="left"]
How incredible is this...The United States is technically not at war with any country right now but dropped more than 26,000 bombs in just 2016 and this under an "anti-war" President.We have an entire generation of Americans who have lived only under a system of "perpetual war".The time is long overdue to redefine these issues.Map of the US bombed states in 2016 with the number of dropped bombsOriginally published on 2017-01-06Author: Ben SwannSource: Ben Swann FBOrigins of images: Facebook, Twitter, Wikimedia, Wikipedia, Flickr, Google, Imageinjection & Pinterest.Read our Disclaimer/Legal Statement!Donate to Support UsWe would like to ask you to consider ...
Because this article states so many things that might be likely to contradict what most people in Western countries have been led to believe, readers here are especially strongly encouraged to click onto any allegation which seems at all questionable, in order to get to the sources behind any given questionable allegation. And wherever a clicked-onto source turns out to be another article, one is encouraged similarly to do the same there, so that the reader will be able, in this way, to probe down to the ultimate sources, which are the sources upon which this article is finally based.After ...
Serbs: Basic factsEthnic location: Central and western part of the Balkan Peninsula (South-East Europe)Population: 10.2 million (1.8 million Serbs live outside their ethnic location)Language: SerbianReligion: Eastern Orthodox Christians1 Introduction Serbs belong to the Southslavonic group of Indo-European peoples. As their tradition, culture, language, beliefs, and customs show, the ethnogenesis of Serbs goes far back into the past. Serbian ancestors, Protoslavs and Old Serbs, were described in the 5th century BC by Herodotus, under the names of Neuri and Budini, living north of the Danube in the region between Dniepar and north-eastern Carpathian Mountains.The first mention of the name “Serbs” appears ...
Ema Miljkovic-Bojanic, M. A.Institute of History ofSerbian Academy of Sciences and ArtsBelgrade, 2000Malcolm’s Apology of the “Pax Ottomana” (Ab)using of historiography and historical facts for political ends is not a novelty introduced towards the end of the twentieth century. Its instances have been known throughout history, so that “practically there is not a single epoch of human history that was not controlled – by the Church, state, nation, party, leadership…” But precisely at a time when historiography seemed to be getting rid, at least partly, of the grip of “supervision” and when a critical approach was getting the upper hand, the ...
Many articles in the US press have speculated at length in an attempt to define a new ideology called “Putinism.” The pieces serve as an attempt to fit Putin into an outdated Cold War narrative, as if some new ideology in the Russian Federation is playing the role that Marxism-Leninism once played in the Soviet Union, though the current Russian constitution forbids this.The notable leaders of history are rarely ideologues. History judges people mainly by what they achieve, not what they write or say. As Chinese President Xi Jinping recently put it: “The worth of any plan is in its ...
A hegemonic power never says sorry.Three recent episodes underscore this truism.When US President Barack Obama offered a floral wreath at the cenotaph of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park on 27 May 2016, some peace advocates in the United States, in Japan and in other parts of the world hoped against hope that he would say “sorry” for the Atom bomb that the then US President, Harry Truman, had ordered to be dropped over Hiroshima on the 6th of August 1945. The deadly bomb claimed 140,000 lives. Three days later a second Atom bomb destroyed the city of Nagasaki killing another ...
On October 21, 2016 a typical Estonian school witnessed an opening ceremony of the bronze bust of Harald Nugiseks. He was an SS-Oberscharführer (Sergeant) in World War II, who served voluntarily in the 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the Waffen SS. According to the director of this education institution, the memory of Harald Nugiseks will lead to the increase in feelings of patriotism among students and must increase their willingness to protect their country in case of external aggression.So who is this Nugiseks? – During the Second World War, he was awarded with the second highest military award in the ...
