EDITORS—An eloquent discussion of the evolution of US imperialism from the end of WW2, when it quickly rose to global supremacy, to its marked 21st century rapid decline. Americans—misled by the political and media classes, live in denial, says Wolff, not to mention the noxious exceptionalist/chauvinist indoctrination all Americans receive, making them practically immune to unpleasant truths about their nation’s realities and despicable deeds around the globe, from Ukraine to Palestine, Europe, and the Far East, all part of Washington’s penchant for constant war, which is now courting a global disaster by seeking a possible nuclear confrontation with Russia, China, and Iran. The Transition, notes Wolff, from FDR social democracy, when the economy was in good shape due to its robust set of income supports, to the free-marketism of “Neoliberalism” in the 1970s, which culminated with Reagan’s presidency and the massive offshoring of jobs and manufacturing to low-wage nations such as China, were the decisive points in US capitalism’s trajectory from affluence and power to oligarchic decrepitude.
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EDITORS—This narrative of a “softening” does not stand up to analysis, masking police excess when faced with protesters. A freelance journalist was injured thus and had a testicle removed after being struck with a baton by a policeman during a protest on January 19 in Paris. Moreover, the apparent change in strategy after the appointment of Laurent Nuñez did not stop the unjustified beatings of a few dozen people protesting peacefully during police charges (January 19, January 31, and February 11).
In particular, from March 16 on, and after the government forced through its pension reform without a vote by using Article 49.3 of the Constitution, journalists and observers have documented widely how police forces have used physical violence against protesters. They have employed arbitrary arrest, and tactics of humiliation during the night-time marches (which unions didn’t declare) after the recourse to Article 49.3.
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EDITORS—Students with the youth-led Sunrise Movement walked out of over 30 high schools and universities across the United States on Friday to stand against U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s “extreme agenda” and promote “the fight for climate justice, workers’ rights, and democracy.”
The protesters carried signs and banners with messages including “This Is a Climate Emergency,” “Protect Our Futures,” “People Not Profit,” “Fuck Trump,” “Together We Rise,” and “The Dems Failed, The People Won’t.”
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EDITOR—Trump’s former Iran envoy at the State Department, Brian Hook, is reportedly coordinating the transition at State. That suggests that Hook could serve in a top position at the department, and it signals that Iran policy will be once again dominated by the hawks in Trump’s orbit. Iran hawks in Washington have been very pleased with the news of Hook’s involvement in the transition. Mark Dubowitz, president of the hardline, anti-Iranian think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) and prominent supporter of the “maximum pressure” campaign, said, “I couldn’t think of a better person to lead the transition team given Brian’s experience in senior roles at the State Department.”
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FEMI AKOMOLAFE—One of today’s wonders is how anyone with a brain could fail to notice how far from reality the leaders and the media in the West have become.
Visiting Europe and watching the news there these days is quite an experience. Europeans chose to create and live in their parallel universe, millions of miles from reality. It does not help matter that unelected EU bureaucrats have hijacked almost every aspect of life. These EUcrats banned Europeans from watching alternative news media.
It baffles greatly that Europeans sheepishly went along.
America mercifully did not descend into the levels of Europe before they decided to act.
As we said at the onset, we have no horse in American presidential races.
However, the country’s importance will continue to affect our lives deeply.
