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Empire’s Seamless, Pernicious Perfection
Last edited Mon Apr 25, 2016, 12:14 PM - Edit history (1)
by John R. Hall / April 22nd, 2016
Early in 2003, as the Coalition of the Morally Bereft hyped and prepared its invasion, destruction, and pillage of Iraq, Arundhati Roy made a powerful speech at The World Social Forum in Porto Allegre, Brazil. She suggested that those of us who seek to stop the cataclysmic policies of Empire might do so “With our art, our music, our stubbornness, our joy, our sheer relentlessness, and our ability to tell our own stories.” Fast forward thirteen years, and the “Shock and Awe” which still envelops Iraq has proven to be so lucrative to the economies of the U.S.A. and its client states that our (s)elected governmental officials have decided to share it with the world, by bombing into oblivion an ever-widening sphere of victim countries, and pushing dangerously close to all out war with Russia and China.
Concluding a recent article titled “A World War Has Begun: Break the Silence”, John Pilger begs the questions:
Concluding a recent article titled “A World War Has Begun: Break the Silence”, John Pilger begs the questions:
Empire functions with seamless, pernicious perfection. Empire is an eclectic mix of predators and prey, entrepreneurs and wage-slaves, wealthy and destitute, killers and victims, dealers and junkies, bankers and fleeced, cops and prisoners, wardens and inmates, educators and brain-washed kids, priests and grovelers, users and used, consumers and commodities. Empire is yin-yang. The forceful and the yielding, flowing into each other, creating a perpetual, maybe unstoppable, interconnection. The Third World War, about which John Pilger warns us, is well underway, and nuclear holocaust might be inevitable. Unfortunately hope seems futile and prayer ludicrous.
Empire functions with seamless, pernicious perfection. It is malevolent poetry in motion. Through the cold, soulless eyes of Empire, the earth is just a spinning ball of resources to be harvested. Lucky for Empire, its most valuable commodity, humans, tend to breed like rabbits. As young people in the U.S.A. and vassal states come of age, they’re harvested and exploited in countless ways. The luckiest group are the spawn of wealthy industrialists and politicians, who attend Ivy League Universities, so they can grow up to fill their parents’ shoes, keeping Empire on track. Close behind are the brilliant kids from all economic backgrounds, who manage to wrangle scholarships to attend those same universities, going on in adult life to create the next generation of atomic weapons, invent the new iPhone, or serve any number of Empire’s needs and desires.
The rest of the young folks are screwed in one way or another…with seamless, pernicious perfection. They are nothing more than commodities to be harvested. Superfluous flesh to turn into Narco-Dollars. Many take out student loans (to enrich banks and private colleges), only to be saddled with outrageous long-term, high interest payments which haunt them into their graves. Upon entering the workforce, they find that the jobs they’ve prepared for have been outsourced to third world countries, where slave wages are the norm. Others, lacking any clear vision of a viable future, join the U.S. Military, becoming warriors in a never-ending series of wars for profit, fully believing that they’re performing their patriotic duty. The luckiest of these return to civilian life with only mild PTSD. Others lose limbs or mobility, only to find that the country they love has denied them medical benefits and kicked them into the gutter. The least fortunate die in action or commit suicide.
That leaves the vast majority of kids in a desperate scramble for some semblance of a future with minimum wage employment at fast-food joints and other service industry jobs. Necessity being the mother of invention, many take to a life of crime to supplement their lack of income. Many more turn to drugs for temporary solace. A sad situation on the surface, but money in the bank for those corporations which prosper by paying slave-wages, for the illegal drug traffickers, for municipal police forces, for the private prison industry, and for those who make their fortunes through the disposal of dead bodies.
The rest of the young folks are screwed in one way or another…with seamless, pernicious perfection. They are nothing more than commodities to be harvested. Superfluous flesh to turn into Narco-Dollars. Many take out student loans (to enrich banks and private colleges), only to be saddled with outrageous long-term, high interest payments which haunt them into their graves. Upon entering the workforce, they find that the jobs they’ve prepared for have been outsourced to third world countries, where slave wages are the norm. Others, lacking any clear vision of a viable future, join the U.S. Military, becoming warriors in a never-ending series of wars for profit, fully believing that they’re performing their patriotic duty. The luckiest of these return to civilian life with only mild PTSD. Others lose limbs or mobility, only to find that the country they love has denied them medical benefits and kicked them into the gutter. The least fortunate die in action or commit suicide.
That leaves the vast majority of kids in a desperate scramble for some semblance of a future with minimum wage employment at fast-food joints and other service industry jobs. Necessity being the mother of invention, many take to a life of crime to supplement their lack of income. Many more turn to drugs for temporary solace. A sad situation on the surface, but money in the bank for those corporations which prosper by paying slave-wages, for the illegal drug traffickers, for municipal police forces, for the private prison industry, and for those who make their fortunes through the disposal of dead bodies.
Full article: http://dissidentvoice.org/2016/04/empires-seamless-pernicious-perfection/
A world war has begun. Break the silence.
20 March 2016
http://johnpilger.com/articles/a-world-war-has-begun-break-the-silence-
1 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
Sadly this is what we have come to. We've got a positive candidate like Bernie trying to address these issues while the Inbred Corporate Controlled Media works 24/7 to tune him out. But, in spite of that, he has opened the dialog by calling attention to what our young people are faced with in the ever expanding MIC and how it is detrimentally affecting our whole society. Plus, he is recruiting thousands of messengers to continue the hard work that needs to be done if we are ever going to change any of it. We need that "Revolution" in our thinking while there's still something left to fight for. 
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Empire functions with seamless, pernicious perfection. It is malevolent poetry in motion. Through the cold, soulless eyes of Empire, the earth is just a spinning ball of resources to be harvested. Lucky for Empire, its most valuable commodity, humans, tend to breed like rabbits. As young people in the U.S.A. and vassal states come of age, they’re harvested and exploited in countless ways. The luckiest group are the spawn of wealthy industrialists and politicians, who attend Ivy League Universities, so they can grow up to fill their parents’ shoes, keeping Empire on track. Close behind are the brilliant kids from all economic backgrounds, who manage to wrangle scholarships to attend those same universities, going on in adult life to create the next generation of atomic weapons, invent the new iPhone, or serve any number of Empire’s needs and desires.
The rest of the young folks are screwed in one way or another…with seamless, pernicious perfection. They are nothing more than commodities to be harvested. Superfluous flesh to turn into Narco-Dollars. Many take out student loans (to enrich banks and private colleges), only to be saddled with outrageous long-term, high interest payments which haunt them into their graves. Upon entering the workforce, they find that the jobs they’ve prepared for have been outsourced to third world countries, where slave wages are the norm. Others, lacking any clear vision of a viable future, join the U.S. Military, becoming warriors in a never-ending series of wars for profit, fully believing that they’re performing their patriotic duty. The luckiest of these return to civilian life with only mild PTSD. Others lose limbs or mobility, only to find that the country they love has denied them medical benefits and kicked them into the gutter. The least fortunate die in action or commit suicide.
The rest of the young folks are screwed in one way or another…with seamless, pernicious perfection. They are nothing more than commodities to be harvested. Superfluous flesh to turn into Narco-Dollars. Many take out student loans (to enrich banks and private colleges), only to be saddled with outrageous long-term, high interest payments which haunt them into their graves. Upon entering the workforce, they find that the jobs they’ve prepared for have been outsourced to third world countries, where slave wages are the norm. Others, lacking any clear vision of a viable future, join the U.S. Military, becoming warriors in a never-ending series of wars for profit, fully believing that they’re performing their patriotic duty. The luckiest of these return to civilian life with only mild PTSD. Others lose limbs or mobility, only to find that the country they love has denied them medical benefits and kicked them into the gutter. The least fortunate die in action or commit suicide.