My dad is a human encyclopedia for history (I might be biased, but hold your judgement on that). He grew up in poverty in an abusive alcoholic home. At the time the government still funded Catholic school. He started at 4. Graduated at 17. Books were his escape from his living hell. He turned 18 as a marine trapped on a mountain fighting in Vietnam watching his friends die. He came home and became a journalist, but at 29 decided he wanted better for his family than could be afforded for a journalist’s salary, so he moved on to a more lucrative career. Our gain, the world’s loss. I asked him about one of the articles you posted and got a lengthy response which I am pasting from his text below. I didn’t give any context. I found his reply insightful and similar to what you wrote (I did not send him your article because I wanted insight on one you linked to as a separate analysis).
“Hi. I was confused about the article. In any event, the issue here is NATO. A little history is in order. First, Stalin defeated Hitler. Eighty percent of German casualties were on the Eastern front. The success of the D-Day Normandy landings were important in keeping Stalin from over-running Western Europe, which he certainly would have done had they failed. Stalin was acutely aware that in 1814, Czar Alexander I, after forcing Napoleon out of Russia, pursued him to Paris. The Napoleonic wars ended with Russian cavalry in Paris. Stalin wanted to emulate him, spreading the Communist revolution to the Atlantic. NATO was formed after Stalin’s death In 1953 but with Stalin’s aspirations still in the air. It was a defensive pact — a shield against Soviet expansionism. After the Soviet Union collapsed, NATO changed. Instead of a shield to protect Western Europe, it became a sword aimed at the Russians. During negotiations prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union, James Baker
, Bush I’s Secretary of State, promised Gorbachev three times that NATO would not move “one inch” to the East. Der Spegiel, the German magazine, wrote an article early this month saying the Germans promised Gorbachev the same thing. In 1996, NATO began accepting former Eastern Bloc countries into alliance. The last to be accepted were the Baltic states. Although formerly part of Russia, they are heavily Germanic from virtue of their creation by the Teutonic Knights in the late Middle Ages. Ukraine and Belorussia are different. Both are ethnically Slavic, the same as the Russians. Ukraine was an integral part of Russia for hundreds of years. What we are seeing in Ukraine today is a civil war. The United States might have played a productive role in peace mediations and possibly prevented the war. The neocons in charge of policy today have nixed that. I think the war will end in partition and bitter feelings all around. Our policy here is comprehensively incomprehensible. Sad.
We have no vital national interests in Ukraine except peace. We tried nation-building in Iraq, and that didn’t work out too well. This whole affair is a disaster. Ukraine is being destroyed. An idealist would say the Ukrainians are creating their own country by dying for it. The problem is, even if they win, which I doubt, they lose. Victory means winning a war-ravaged landscape with a hateful neighbor to the east. There will be no end to the animosity. The same people who took us into catastrophic wars in a Iraq and Afghanistan are doing the same thing in Ukraine, with the same results.
What’s the point? Good question. At the end of the First World War, after all the bloodshed and destruction, no one could remember what the war was about. The same thing was true in Vietnam, if not more so. “
If I'm one of these new states, I have to think twice before allowing the US to open a diplomatic mission. They saw what happened to Libya within a few years of normalized relations.
The Russians and Eastern Ukrainians, who have been at war with the Western Ukrainians at least since 2014, will provide a buffer between Russia and the threatened U.S.-instigated "insurgency".
I'm really embarrassed to be a U.S. citizen these days.
Don't be embarassed. It's the fault of American government and institutions not the American people and it's exactly the same here in Britain and the EU. Just be awake and stay awake. We're all in this together.
I would suggest foreigners. I lived many years in France after my Army service, followed the rules for foreigners, and was indifferent to their policy blunders, foreign and domestic. I of course had my American passport, still do, but options as to where you can safely go seem to be drying up.
Heh. Just wait until they impose a CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency, for those new to the concept). Then, like they say about communism, "You can vote your way in, but you have to shoot your way out."
I don’t think it’s inevitable. People like hard assets that can’t be traced like cash and gold. Crypto gained steam because it made that promise. It may have been a Trojan horse, but with freezing wallets and banning transactions it has started to look more like using a credit card with high fees paid by the consumer and a bonus of insane volatility.
After Covid, truckers, and this idiotic involvement in Ukraine freezing the assets of random rich Russians, half the population knows their life depends on keeping spendable wealth out of the grip of the government.
Whatever the goal, our government is 💩 for brains at execution. They lack the willingness to wait, critical thinking, and understanding of “unintended consequences” to effectively pull of some centralized currency. It’ll come and go like Garmin GPS’s. I’m sure they will try and it’ll suck like everything else the government has done since 2003 excepting a brief happy period from 2017-early 2020, but that doesn’t mean the authoritarians goals will be accomplished. At least I hope not or we are really really stupid
I hope you are right that it will pass into the dustbin of history.
I see some differences from past attempts at authoritarian control.
First, they now have technological tools that were never before available.
Second, there is unprecedented unity of ideology and purpose between all of the most powerful institutions in our world: government, media, technology, education, NGOs and the captains of industry.
Third, we have a unified global command and control structure, centered at the WEF, that provides a whole new level of coordination.
Fourth, there is an unlimited accumulation of wealth available to those who would subjugate us. Yes, much of that wealth is illusory, but I dare say that most people (say a Congressional committee staffer with juicy information) would agree to remain silent for a few million dollars and the promise that they and their families would not be Arkancided.
I'm still of the opinion that we will have to shoot our way out.
I think it’s a possibility, likely from a civil war, but if we can be methodical and understand it will take time, it will ultimately be unnecessary. An entire generation of kids has been abused, overtly, by the Covid regime. Check out FAIR and you’ll see mean spirited people run these stupid curriculums. The rest of the western world is outlawing medical transition for children because of harm while people double down on it here.
While it’s a concern this generation has been made dumber, half of the actual kids haven’t. Many young adults haven’t. They don’t want this. They don’t want government controlling them. Woke college idiots don’t represent the majority of young people.
Once they have time to build confidence, think it over, and gain personal agency they will be on our side (except the dumb ones). The woketards my age (39) are causing the issue. Fortunately with time we will only become more irrelevant. The wokies can’t handle it. Those of us with a spine can build this country back up. We can and we must.
It starts with ensuring hard cash and private pottery rights. Decentralization. We can vote that in at every level if we put out the effort and put in the time.
I'm not so sure it's inevitable. Didn't that plan hinge on subduing the Bear & bringing it into the "One World"/one currency fold? Today the Europeans agreed to pay Russia in rubles for their energy. They can't use their euros to buy rubles - will have to bring gold.
I also read recently that Canada was not able to confiscate the digital currency of their naughty convoy truckers, plus, the threat of bank confiscations lead many non-trucker Canadians to w/draw their money from Canadian banks.
I'm far from a banking expert, but what these random events say to me is that altho rounding all the ducks up & imposing a CBDC may be the goal, achieving it will not be a simple slam dunk move, much as the high & mighty wd like us to believe.
Know that I am the perpetual Pollyanna. I don't see a kinetic civil war on the horizon, but do envision a revolution occurring. Not holding thoughts well today, much less putting them together cogently, but this discussion btw Tom Luongo & Xoachin Flores really caught my ear, from ~1:14 thru the end, 20 mins or so. I'm inclined to think Russia caught Davos & WEF off guard & they truly are dundering abt smashing bottles over their heads presently. They're supposed to control everything! (Stompy feet tantrum)
WTPeople are already making signicant inroads on the political & governance front. We have to crack the nut on economics too, preferably while TPTB dunder abt drunkenly.
Good point, Tom. I spoke to my brother recently, he is a CPA and CFO for a private Corp. of reasonable size I asked him about CBDC, and he didn't know what I was talking about which shocked me. I asked him how he could be so uninformed as a finance guy and he said I don't pay attention to all the noise and his money is safely tucked away in private accounts. I think he's in for a big surprise.
Often the elite colleges are about making connections for life, not getting an education. From my associations with Ivy League alumni, they seem more adept at spitting back the acceptable answers than thinking things through.
My dad is a human encyclopedia for history (I might be biased, but hold your judgement on that). He grew up in poverty in an abusive alcoholic home. At the time the government still funded Catholic school. He started at 4. Graduated at 17. Books were his escape from his living hell. He turned 18 as a marine trapped on a mountain fighting in Vietnam watching his friends die. He came home and became a journalist, but at 29 decided he wanted better for his family than could be afforded for a journalist’s salary, so he moved on to a more lucrative career. Our gain, the world’s loss. I asked him about one of the articles you posted and got a lengthy response which I am pasting from his text below. I didn’t give any context. I found his reply insightful and similar to what you wrote (I did not send him your article because I wanted insight on one you linked to as a separate analysis).
“Hi. I was confused about the article. In any event, the issue here is NATO. A little history is in order. First, Stalin defeated Hitler. Eighty percent of German casualties were on the Eastern front. The success of the D-Day Normandy landings were important in keeping Stalin from over-running Western Europe, which he certainly would have done had they failed. Stalin was acutely aware that in 1814, Czar Alexander I, after forcing Napoleon out of Russia, pursued him to Paris. The Napoleonic wars ended with Russian cavalry in Paris. Stalin wanted to emulate him, spreading the Communist revolution to the Atlantic. NATO was formed after Stalin’s death In 1953 but with Stalin’s aspirations still in the air. It was a defensive pact — a shield against Soviet expansionism. After the Soviet Union collapsed, NATO changed. Instead of a shield to protect Western Europe, it became a sword aimed at the Russians. During negotiations prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union, James Baker
, Bush I’s Secretary of State, promised Gorbachev three times that NATO would not move “one inch” to the East. Der Spegiel, the German magazine, wrote an article early this month saying the Germans promised Gorbachev the same thing. In 1996, NATO began accepting former Eastern Bloc countries into alliance. The last to be accepted were the Baltic states. Although formerly part of Russia, they are heavily Germanic from virtue of their creation by the Teutonic Knights in the late Middle Ages. Ukraine and Belorussia are different. Both are ethnically Slavic, the same as the Russians. Ukraine was an integral part of Russia for hundreds of years. What we are seeing in Ukraine today is a civil war. The United States might have played a productive role in peace mediations and possibly prevented the war. The neocons in charge of policy today have nixed that. I think the war will end in partition and bitter feelings all around. Our policy here is comprehensively incomprehensible. Sad.
We have no vital national interests in Ukraine except peace. We tried nation-building in Iraq, and that didn’t work out too well. This whole affair is a disaster. Ukraine is being destroyed. An idealist would say the Ukrainians are creating their own country by dying for it. The problem is, even if they win, which I doubt, they lose. Victory means winning a war-ravaged landscape with a hateful neighbor to the east. There will be no end to the animosity. The same people who took us into catastrophic wars in a Iraq and Afghanistan are doing the same thing in Ukraine, with the same results.
What’s the point? Good question. At the end of the First World War, after all the bloodshed and destruction, no one could remember what the war was about. The same thing was true in Vietnam, if not more so. “
If I'm one of these new states, I have to think twice before allowing the US to open a diplomatic mission. They saw what happened to Libya within a few years of normalized relations.
Excellent analysis and totally logical.
The Russians and Eastern Ukrainians, who have been at war with the Western Ukrainians at least since 2014, will provide a buffer between Russia and the threatened U.S.-instigated "insurgency".
I'm really embarrassed to be a U.S. citizen these days.
Don't be embarassed. It's the fault of American government and institutions not the American people and it's exactly the same here in Britain and the EU. Just be awake and stay awake. We're all in this together.
A citizen? Or maybe we've been reduced to the status of subjects.
I would suggest foreigners. I lived many years in France after my Army service, followed the rules for foreigners, and was indifferent to their policy blunders, foreign and domestic. I of course had my American passport, still do, but options as to where you can safely go seem to be drying up.
Heh. Just wait until they impose a CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency, for those new to the concept). Then, like they say about communism, "You can vote your way in, but you have to shoot your way out."
I don’t think it’s inevitable. People like hard assets that can’t be traced like cash and gold. Crypto gained steam because it made that promise. It may have been a Trojan horse, but with freezing wallets and banning transactions it has started to look more like using a credit card with high fees paid by the consumer and a bonus of insane volatility.
After Covid, truckers, and this idiotic involvement in Ukraine freezing the assets of random rich Russians, half the population knows their life depends on keeping spendable wealth out of the grip of the government.
Whatever the goal, our government is 💩 for brains at execution. They lack the willingness to wait, critical thinking, and understanding of “unintended consequences” to effectively pull of some centralized currency. It’ll come and go like Garmin GPS’s. I’m sure they will try and it’ll suck like everything else the government has done since 2003 excepting a brief happy period from 2017-early 2020, but that doesn’t mean the authoritarians goals will be accomplished. At least I hope not or we are really really stupid
I hope you are right that it will pass into the dustbin of history.
I see some differences from past attempts at authoritarian control.
First, they now have technological tools that were never before available.
Second, there is unprecedented unity of ideology and purpose between all of the most powerful institutions in our world: government, media, technology, education, NGOs and the captains of industry.
Third, we have a unified global command and control structure, centered at the WEF, that provides a whole new level of coordination.
Fourth, there is an unlimited accumulation of wealth available to those who would subjugate us. Yes, much of that wealth is illusory, but I dare say that most people (say a Congressional committee staffer with juicy information) would agree to remain silent for a few million dollars and the promise that they and their families would not be Arkancided.
I'm still of the opinion that we will have to shoot our way out.
I think it’s a possibility, likely from a civil war, but if we can be methodical and understand it will take time, it will ultimately be unnecessary. An entire generation of kids has been abused, overtly, by the Covid regime. Check out FAIR and you’ll see mean spirited people run these stupid curriculums. The rest of the western world is outlawing medical transition for children because of harm while people double down on it here.
While it’s a concern this generation has been made dumber, half of the actual kids haven’t. Many young adults haven’t. They don’t want this. They don’t want government controlling them. Woke college idiots don’t represent the majority of young people.
Once they have time to build confidence, think it over, and gain personal agency they will be on our side (except the dumb ones). The woketards my age (39) are causing the issue. Fortunately with time we will only become more irrelevant. The wokies can’t handle it. Those of us with a spine can build this country back up. We can and we must.
It starts with ensuring hard cash and private pottery rights. Decentralization. We can vote that in at every level if we put out the effort and put in the time.
I'm not so sure it's inevitable. Didn't that plan hinge on subduing the Bear & bringing it into the "One World"/one currency fold? Today the Europeans agreed to pay Russia in rubles for their energy. They can't use their euros to buy rubles - will have to bring gold.
I also read recently that Canada was not able to confiscate the digital currency of their naughty convoy truckers, plus, the threat of bank confiscations lead many non-trucker Canadians to w/draw their money from Canadian banks.
I'm far from a banking expert, but what these random events say to me is that altho rounding all the ducks up & imposing a CBDC may be the goal, achieving it will not be a simple slam dunk move, much as the high & mighty wd like us to believe.
I hope you are right. If you have a moment, see my reply to NCmom.
Know that I am the perpetual Pollyanna. I don't see a kinetic civil war on the horizon, but do envision a revolution occurring. Not holding thoughts well today, much less putting them together cogently, but this discussion btw Tom Luongo & Xoachin Flores really caught my ear, from ~1:14 thru the end, 20 mins or so. I'm inclined to think Russia caught Davos & WEF off guard & they truly are dundering abt smashing bottles over their heads presently. They're supposed to control everything! (Stompy feet tantrum)
WTPeople are already making signicant inroads on the political & governance front. We have to crack the nut on economics too, preferably while TPTB dunder abt drunkenly.
Sorry, forgot link - http://www.spreaker.com/user/tomluongo/episode-101-joachin-flores-and-whose-sta
Good point, Tom. I spoke to my brother recently, he is a CPA and CFO for a private Corp. of reasonable size I asked him about CBDC, and he didn't know what I was talking about which shocked me. I asked him how he could be so uninformed as a finance guy and he said I don't pay attention to all the noise and his money is safely tucked away in private accounts. I think he's in for a big surprise.
The number of seemingly intelligent people out there who simply haven't a clue of what's going on is quite amazing.
You are correct, sir! It's mind boggling at the ignorance of many intelligent people who seem oblivious to the signs of the times.
Often the elite colleges are about making connections for life, not getting an education. From my associations with Ivy League alumni, they seem more adept at spitting back the acceptable answers than thinking things through.