The quaint notion that the U.S. political system remotely resembles either a Republic or a Democracy should have been abandoned long ago. Any lingering illusions were surely extinguished last year, when an academic study empirically proved that the USA is nothing more than a corrupt oligarchy. I highlighted this groundbreaking piece of research in the post: New Report from Princeton and Northwestern Proves It: The U.S. is an Oligarchy. Here’s an excerpt from the study itself:
Despite the seemingly strong empirical support in previous studies for theories of majoritarian democracy, our analyses suggest that majorities of the American public actually have little influence over the policies our government adopts. Americans do enjoy many features central to democratic governance, such as regular elections, freedom of speech and association, and a widespread (if still contested) franchise. But we believe that if policymaking is dominated by powerful business organizations and a small number of affluent Americans, then America’s claims to being a democratic society are seriously threatened.
While having super rich and powerful American oligarchs running the show is one thing, the reality of the situation is actually far worse. Thanks to a recent article in Vice, we now know that foreign governments are aggressively employing their extraordinary wealth to advance their interests here on American soil. In many cases, these are autocratic regimes, which not only do not care about the best interests of the nation, they are often caught actively funding ISIS and even perpetuating 9/11 itself. Here are some excerpts from the piece:
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“Are we going to allow a means of communications which it simply isn’t possible to read? My answer to that question is: No, we must not.”
As I was wrapping up my travels in Asia, an extremely sad event unfolded in Paris during which 12 people were murdered at the office of satire magazine Charlie Hebdo. Just four days later, another sad and pathetic event occurred. A swarm of politicians, many of whom are professional authoritarians, shamelessly descended onto the streets of Paris to “join millions of protesters” in a rally for free speech and solidarity with the victims of the barbaric attack.
Two years ago humanity lost a brave, brilliant and kindhearted individual named Aaron Swartz. On that day, I composed a post expressing my outrage and sadness. I reposted it on the anniversary of his death last year, and am reposting it again today.
Shutting down sledding hills is inspired by the same sort of simpering caution that keeps Americans shoeless in airport security lines and, closer to home, keeps parents from letting their kids walk a few blocks to school alone, despite the fact that America today is as safe as the longed-for “Leave It to Beaver” golden age.
It’s 8pm in Cambodia and time to find something to eat, but before I do, something caught my attention that I just have to share. It has to do with Great Britain’s continued insanity when it comes to it’s own version of the so-called “war on terror.” This topic will come as no surprise to regular readers, as I have previously highlighted the UK’s unique brand of Orwellianism on several occasions. Here are a couple of examples from late last year:
Elephant imagery is ubiquitous in Thailand. The animal takes on the form of the god Ganesh in Hinduism, and while Thailand is 95% Buddhist, Indian religious influence is clear. The sad irony of the situation is that the Asian elephant is in dire straights in Thailand. It is estimated that at the turn of the 20th Century, there were 100,000 elephants in Thailand. That number has plunged dramatically to an estimated 5,000 today. Of these, about 2,000 are in the wild and 3,000 in captivity as domestic elephants. A dismal situation became even worse following the Thai ban on logging in 1989, when many of the working domestic elephants were suddenly out of a job. With a fixed cost and an income stream suddenly threatened, elephant owners either abandoned their animals or brought them into big cities such as Bangkok where they would entertain tourists on the loud, crowded streets for change. These elephants didn’t eat enough, didn’t bathe enough, they walked on polluted city streets, and breathed congested air. It was a horrible existence for these majestic beasts that are meant to naturally roam the forests. This practice has since been banned, and fortunately, Thai cities are essentially elephant free today.
If there’s one thing we have learned about Barack Obama, it’s that he is a master of deception and absolutely loves to lie to the public. He seems to enjoy conning the plebs to such a degree, I think he actually receives blasts of dopamine every time he does it. The bigger the lie, the better the rush.