The Imperial Collapse Clock Ticks Closer to Midnight

As I noted in last Friday’s piece, Donald Trump Finally Comes Out of the Closet, the firing of Steve Bannon represents the most significant event to occur during the Trump administration thus far. For the purposes of this piece, it’s important to review some of what I wrote:

Irrespective of what you think of Bannon, him being out means Wall Street and the military-industrial complex is now 100% in control of the Trump administration. Prepare for an escalation of imperial war around the world and an expansion of brutal oligarchy.

The removal of Bannon is the end of even a facade of populism. This is now the Goldman Sachs Presidency with a thin-skinned, unthinking authoritarian as a figurehead. Meanwhile, guess who’s still there in addition to the Goldman executives? Weed obsessed, civil asset forfeiture supporting Jefferson Sessions. The Trump administration just bacame ten times more dangerous than it was before. With the coup successful, Trump no longer needs to be impeached.

Here’s another prediction. Watch the corporate media start to lay off Trump a bit more going forward. Rather than hysterically demonize him for every little thing, corporate media will increasingly give him more of the benefit of the doubt. After all, a Presidency run by Goldman Sachs and generals is exactly what they like. Trump finally came out of the closet as the anti-populist oligarch he is, and the results won’t be pretty.

Of course, his cheerleaders will remain enthusiastically in denial about what’s happened to their hero, but Trump has been totally brought to heel, a fact that’ll become increasingly crystal clear in the months ahead. This is now your standard Wall Street and military-industrial complex run Presidency.

Last night’s announcement of a recommitment to the Afghanistan war is the earliest evidence that Trump has been completely castrated and will now play by status quo rules with little to no friction. This Presidency will very quickly begin to look like the fifth George W. Bush term (Obama was three and four), on every single issue of genuine importance to oligarchs. Wedge cultural issues will continue to be hyped up hysterically by the corporate media since people can’t help themselves from taking the bait. It’s the perfect way to divide and conquer the populace, while pushing through what they really want. Oligarchs could care less about the outcomes of social issues, which is why they intentionally and incessantly hype them up. They’ll do anything to prevent the public from coming together in opposition to war, Wall Street bailouts and elite criminality generally, and the public is very easy to manipulate. The quicker smart Trump voters wise up to what’s happened, the better.

If you haven’t watched Trump’s Afghanistan speech by now you really should. It’s not good enough to read anyone else’s summary, you need to hear it for yourselves. It’s only 25 minutes long.

As I started listening, I sensed myself getting angry. It was the same empty, bullshit propaganda I’ve been hearing from U.S. Presidents my entire life. This broken record of disingenuousness has become simply unbearable, and even worse, I know it’s going to work on millions upon millions of Americans. We refuse to think for ourselves, and we refuse to admit the obvious. There will be hell to pay for this ignorance and denial.

Trump begins by explaining to the American public why he made a flip-flop that would make Barack Obama blush. He claims there are three conclusions he came to as a result of his grand introspection and wisdom. Let’s tackle the absurdity of each of them one by one.

First, he says he doesn’t think the U.S. should pull out because “our nation must seek an honorable and enduring outcome.” Let’s revisit a few facts. First, at 16 years old, this is already the longest war in American history. It was a war started after the most deadly terrorist attack on American soil, and near the height the U.S. imperial power. Nevertheless, the war’s been a complete and total failure. It was a failure under Bush, it was a failure under Obama and it will be a failure under Trump. To believe that Trump will usher in an “honorable and enduring outcome” in Afghanistan is to say he will succeed where his predecessors failed merely because…he’s Trump. Not gonna happen.

His second conclusion is that he doesn’t want to repeat what he deems to have been the big mistake made in Iraq; namely, that the U.S. left too soon. This is extremely telling. He doesn’t talk about how the war was based on a gigantic lie pushed by neocons and the “liberal” corporate press from The Washington Post to The New York Times. The biggest mistake in Iraq was starting the war in the first place. If we can’t admit such an obvious lesson from Iraq, of course all the solutions we come up will prove to be failures. The American empire is running on empty, fueled by never-ending insanity and a drive to vacuum in billions exporting weapons. There’s no vision, no wisdom and absolutely no exit strategy.

His third point revolves around how Pakistan has become a growing problem due to its harboring terrorists. He demands a change of course and increased cooperation. Guess which country he didn’t mention? The greatest sponsor of Islamic radicalization the world has ever seen: Saudi Arabia. This once again proves that Trump represents the same old tired thinking that’s been running the U.S. economy and society into the ground for decades. This is now a 100% establishment Presidency, which will be completely defined by establishment thinking. In other words, imperial collapse is coming.

Then towards the end of the speech, Trump says the following:

In every generation we have faced down evil, and we have always prevailed. We prevailed because we know who we are and what we are fighting for.

Unfortunately, here’s the cold hard truth: We have no idea who we are, and we have no idea what we are fighting for. We’ve become the very evil he claims to be fighting against as the nation morphed into a pernicious, destructive, and immoral empire. This is the heart of the problem — we are constantly lying to ourselves. Of course, we’ll never set things on the right track if we can’t diagnose the disease in the first place.

We’ve torched our national treasure and goodwill by running around the world trying to push everybody around, and simultaneously institutionalized a corrupt and predatory neo-feudal society at home. We’ve ignored our own people in a foolish and self-destructive quest to maintain and grow empire and the results will not be pretty.

Finally, let’s end with a little something to contemplate.

If you liked this article and enjoy my work, consider becoming a monthly Patron, or visit our Support Page to show your appreciation for independent content creators.

In Liberty,
Michael Krieger

Like this post?
Donate bitcoins: 35DBUbbAQHTqbDaAc5mAaN6BqwA2AxuE7G


Follow me on Twitter.

28 thoughts on “The Imperial Collapse Clock Ticks Closer to Midnight”

    • The Ignited States of ‘Oink’ have become too dumbed down, too corrupt, and too blind to do anything but to tank ignominiously like this. The U. S. of A. will be a byword for self-destruction and idiocy in ages to come, if nukes do not make those ages impossible to come with life on this planet.

  1. I was hoping the Syria missile attack was an isolated incident. It looks like there will be no change from Bush and Obama.

    I think what has not been made cleared enough is that the Taliban had nothing to do with attacking the U.S..

    What you do not understand is that the situation is worse than what you say. I believe Trump was sincere when he came out against foreign interventions. This just shows the political process does not work to change things. I will not be voting for Trump. If I do vote, it will be for an anti-war 3rd party candidate.

    I hope you are not getting an satisfaction about being right about Trump. This is really sad.

    Reply
  2. This is a great and prescient column. What is fascinating, is that no one is reporting on what the “official Afghan government” wants. The U.S. acts like Afghanistan is a 51st U.S. state, and we can just do whatever we want and the Afghans will acquiesce. It is my impression, most Afghans, of whatever stripe, clan or tribe, want the U.S. completely out of their lives.

    I would bet the U.S. has spread so bloody much money all over “official Afghanistan”, to the tune of 100s of millions of dollars per year, that they don’t ever want us to leave. The U.S. repeats this legal bribery all over the World to get its basing rights and intrusions in order. And this may be the real story behind the U.S. imperial reach – huge payoffs to countries we want to be in.

    Reply
    • The war is a huge profit making venture. A vet told me once his whole tour was protecting poppy fields. Not the first time I’ve hear that either.

      I just wish our brothers and sisters in the military would just wake up and refuse to fight. They are risking their own lives for what?? Sadly, as much as I dislike Kissinger, he was right when he said of Military men “are dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns”.

      After hearing a quote like that why in Gods name would anyone join the military?

  3. It’s pretty tragic. I knew Trump would suck major balls on civil rights, the environment (not the climate change racket, but our actual planet) and healthcare, but I had a glimmering of hope he would use his endless bluster to attain an isolationist stance. At least getting us out of Syria. Every single hope pinned on Trump (just like Obama) has been dashed, except for the establishment loving Republicans, they’re happy. I will once again be casting my vote for the Green Party come 2020.

    Reply
  4. Michael, I only differ from you in the fact I believe Trump thought he could change things and did have good intentions, however none of us in our hearts truly believed he could drain a swamp that has been filling itself for over a hundred years.

    I knew he had completed the flip when he began praising paid communist agitators like Antifa and BLM. These people deserve no praise.

    The other issue of course is Trumps favorite child (and son in law) are big government progressives like most of the NYC elites.

    So we are left with a country that is on the fast track to becoming communist instead of going the opposite way to more individual liberty. Now thats it’s been established by a dumbed down population that the constitution is racist that’ll be next to be destroyed. Sadly its our kids, grandkids, or great grandkids (depending on age) that will be living in “1984”. As history has shown governments NEVER shrink.

    Reply
    • Where you use the word communist I would say fascist … most definately. Many decades of relentless propaganda in the US media has achieved this rebranding among the masses.

  5. One of the reasons we’re in Afghanistan is opium. Pharmaceutical companies need opium to produce painkillers. The Taliban was trying to eradicate it prior to 9/11. I don’t think the pharmaceutical companies liked that. Like a poster above said, our troops are guarding opium fields now. Afghanistan produces 90% of the world’s opium.

    Here’s a quote from a 2015 NBC News story: “After the Taliban was deposed, the (opium) ban was eliminated. But with so much to fix in Afghanistan, the U.S. was unable to keep crops from popping back up.”

    Reply
  6. Dead on Michael. That’s why I’m getting out of Dodge just as soon as I can. Anyone that believes in things like personal liberty, individual responsibility and freedom is going to be here like a vegetarian at a Texas BBQ and has no hope for what Amerika has become.

    Reply
    • Rocketman-The goal of the unelected dictators running the world is global tyranny so there may be nowhere to run. This is ground zero for the battle.

      With that being said, I would consider leaving like you if it was an option. We can’t hope to live fulfilling lives by always worrying about whats coming even if we see it plain as day.

      Heck if most of the country had the critical thinking skills of the posters here, we wouldn’t be in this situation in the first place.

  7. Bannon is no longer an adviser. But his beliefs haven’t changed, and he has Breitbart back.

    To me, that adds up to “Walter Cronkite moment incoming,” as Breitbart begins to turn on some of this stuff. If the military bleeds much right-wing support it must lose and even quit, because the left is instinctively and unbendingly hostile.

    The reed on which all of this rests is rather thin.

    If so, these developments are cause for sadness, because of those who will pay the price for nothing; yet the larger problem seems to be self-correcting.

    Mike is right that if this is the outcome, it will weaken America’s DC empire.

    Or, Dr. P. is wrong. The USA will be able to pressure Pakistan, work with India who already on the ground there, and give American commanders enough freedom that they will focus on tribal politics. Can they convince Afghan tribes that supporting outsiders we deem enemies is not worth it? Is Pakistan, whose deep involvement with terrorists (and spying on the US Congress via Awan) gives them so much to hide, vulnerable enough to Trump’s well-known tendency to say inconvenient things in public? Will everyone else play enough of their roles to make the delegation work?

    If so, a low-cost win is possible.

    I can’t say that I love the odds on that outcome, but it is a possibility. The Iraqi surge’s success (and it was a big one) surprised me, and Trump is once again giving the military full freedom to operate. Really, more freedom than they’ve had in over 30 years.

    Which means the military will fully own either its success or its failure in Afghanistan. And THAT is the most important takeaway I see here.

    Reply
    • Katzman, the surge was a big success????? How so? What did it accomplish other than $$$$$$ wasted and lives lost???? The surge in FACT was nothing more than paying off the Sunnis not to continue attacking US forces. So the US declares victory and leaves.

  8. I am beginning to think the Elites have something on Trump. Maybe a few somethings that is holding him back. I think the reason the Elites like Hillary so much is that they most likely have enough on her to send her away for 1000 years!! That makes her super easy to control, excellent puppet material.

    Reply
    • If they had something major they would have used it already. I could imagine how many people before the election and after have been digging for anything they can find. Aside from a sexually crude secret tape all they found out is that he’s a racist like Robert E. Lee, Lincoln or anyone who believes in free speech and personal liberty.

  9. They have boatloads of things on both Trump and Hillary.

    But with Trump, they always knew that the best way to get him in line was to seriously threaten his perceived personal “financial empire”. The beauty of exercising that control mechanism is it can be done very quietly and completely under the radar. (The Kissinger visit right after he took office comes to mind).

    Like all malignant narcissists who have managed to become wealthy, Trump’s sense of self-worth is completely intertwined with his net worth. That’s his biggest fear button, so to speak.

    There is absolutely no doubt that is what has occurred. It was just a matter of time, and allowing him to think that he cut a good “deal” for himself in order to assuage his massive ego. Like Hillary, he has no conscience, so that was never a concern.

    That’s why they cannot allow men like Bernie Sanders or Ron Paul to even have a chance at being elected. Because they actually have a conscience and genuinely care about their fellow human beings.

    So you get a procession of Presidents like Clinton, W, Obama, and now Trump. All of whom wouldn’t know conscience if it landed on them.

    Reply
  10. Diminishing returns. As archaeologist Joseph Tainter explains in his book, The Collapse of Complex Societies, virtually every empire (and even much smaller/simpler human polities) succumb to diminishing returns on their investments in complexity. Military overreach is one of the major errors made over and over again as a declining society attempts to counter the inevitable. Add currency devaluation to the mix and the collapse just speeds up. It’s truly unfortunate that an ‘intelligent’ species ignores the lessons of pre/history and repeats the same errors again and again and again.
    I like what Bradley Cooper’s fictional character Eddie Morrs states about the issue in the movie Limitless:
    “There are no safeguards on human nature. We’re wired to overreach. Look at history, all the countries that ever ruled the world. Portugal with this big, massive navy. All they got now are salt cod and cheap condos. The Brits. Now they’re just sitting on their dank, little island fussing over their suits. No one’s stopping and thinking, hey, we’re doing pretty well. We got France. We’ve got Poland. We’ve got big, Swiss bank accounts. You know what? Let’s not invade Russia in the winter. Let’s go home. Let’s pop a beer. And, let’s live off the interest.”
    Only in today’s NIRP/ZIRP world, one would be hard-pressed to live off the interest…

    Reply
  11. Can Trump be intentionally telling triggering lies “over eleven” exactly to make American population wake up in disgust ?

    Being demonized, he can convey things by speaking truth, but he can do it inverting it.
    If eeeevil naaaazi Trump would say “white cat is black” then the good American citizens would say “if Trump says so, then white cat is white”, so kind of mental judo, he would make them think properly by intentionally spreading blatant and disgusting fakes.

    Also, how exactly USA would supply Afghanistan army?
    Iran is antagonized.
    China (and by extension Pakistan) is antagonized
    Russia is antagonized…

    Trump puts American military success into the hands of the nations demonized and assaulted by the Deep State.
    That maybe would give him room for comeback – when USArmy in Afghanistan would get logistically blockaded by those assaulted nations.

    Reply
  12. “It’s the perfect way to divide and conquer the populace, while pushing through what they really want. Oligarchs could care less about the outcomes of social issues, which is why they intentionally and incessantly hype them up.”

    Come on Mike, it is couldn’t care less.

    Why is that saying so hard to get correct for so many?

    Reply
  13. ‘It was the same empty, bullshit propaganda I’ve been hearing from U.S. Presidents my entire life.’

    Michael: you look to be around 30. Not to be discouraging, but I’m 65 and can say the same thing.

    Reply

Leave a Reply