Tuesday, January 21, 2014

The Reek of Inhumanity

The chief problem with the Empire is that it's a sore loser. It isn't capable of building much, or even compelling obedience anymore, but it can certainly still tear things down and create chaos. This past weekend, the "pro-Western" (and that says a lot about the "West") rioters in Kiev, unwilling to admit that their policy of entitled petulance has failed to bring Ukraine into NATO and the EU, have decided to get openly violent. 

I spoke with RT this morning about the events in Kiev. The video is here, and the transcript here

Just to be perfectly clear: this isn't about "freedom" or "democracy". People spouting these slogans don't even know the meaning of words. Neither the EU nor the American Empire are democracies in any sense: one is run by a cadre of appointed commissars, the other by an incestuous political establishment dominating two puppet mainstream parties. And then there is the matter of democracy being antithetical to liberty in the first place, because in an actual democracy all it takes is half the votes plus one to lose your life, liberty and property to the whims of the mob. Remember Socrates?

Kiev rioters say they want "freedom". How is "freedom" having foreign-funded "non-governmental" revolutionaries forcibly depose your elected government? 

The best response to the arbitrary who/whom-ism is a simple role-reversal test. Imagine any of this happening in Washington, or London, or Berlin.  Yes, I know it's incredulous, and that's precisely the point. Russia or China or whoever aren't funding "civil society" front groups to subvert and influence the electoral processes in the US, UK, Germany or anywhere else. They aren't even running counter-groups in places thoroughly occupied by Empire's quisling cult (like Serbia), where much of the population would welcome such interference, however wrong on principle.

But let's say, for the sake of argument, that Saudi-funded "activists" got 10,000 Washingtonians to camp out at the Mall, block the entrances to the Capitol and the White House, and demanding the resignation of Obama and Boehner. How do you think the U.S. government would react? They already have extensive fortifications around government buildings as is; when a Connecticut woman ran a roadblock, back in October 2013, the police gunned her down. And the media painted her as a deranged terrorist (with a baby in the car!). 

It comes down to perception management. Because the Empire has declared itself to be for "democracy" and "freedom" and "human rights" (whatever any of those words actually mean), and it controls the mass media, it's perfectly normal to have government barricades on DC streets and execute private citizens who the police may feel endanger them by existing. But when Ukrainian riot police respond to firebombs, rocks and knives of the violent revolutionaries, that's "repression." Right.

It's perfectly fine for America to have the FARA (passed in 1938) and closely regulate electoral contributions, banning any foreign donations and placing all sorts of limits on domestic ones. But when Russia passes an identical law, and seeks to ban foreign donations to political parties, that's "authoritarianism". Right.

The bottom line is, the Imperial establishment believes the Empire is exempt from all rules and laws - which apply only to others, and even then selectively. But that very belief runs counter to the founding principles of the United States of America, as set out in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. So what "values" are we talking about here? What principles? None. Only power. And as the great Serbian poet Njegos once wrote, "He whose law lies only in the cudgel, has a trail that reeks of inhumanity."

This isn't about Ukraine, or about democracy, or human rights, or "freedom" - it's about having only the cudgel, and the entire world looking like something to beat with it. It's about crushing any thought of there being an alternative to the "end-of-history" West. It's about power. Just follow the stench along the trail.

1 comment:

CubuCoko said...

As a footnote, here is Fulbright scholar Nicolai Petro, writing from Ukraine for The National Interest today:
"Whether they recognize it or not, all political parties, even those in opposition, have a vested interest in respecting constitutional procedures, the role of the police, and the authority of the courts."