Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re likely aware of the recent controversies surrounding the American National Security Agency’s surveillance programs. Leaks by Edward Snowden revealed the extent of this electronic eavesdropping to the world.
The NSA’s domestic spying efforts were extensive. The agency gathered many millions of telephone records from phone and internet companies. Equally important, however, were the international efforts of the NSA. Snowden’s leaks eventually revealed that the USA was spying on foreign governments, Brazil prominent among them:
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on Tuesday delivered a stinging rebuke of electronic espionage by the National Security Agency, telling a gathering of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly that American eavesdropping constitutes “a breach of international law and an affront” to Brazil’s sovereignty.
America’s spying efforts pose a threat to democracy throughout the world, Rousseff said, as she proposed that the United Nations establish legal guidelines to prevent “cyberspace from being used as a weapon of war.” “Without the right of privacy, there is no real freedom of speech or freedom of opinion, and so there is no actual democracy,” Rousseff said. And “without respect for [a nation’s] sovereignty, there is no basis for proper relations among nations.”
The consequences of these efforts have started to surface just recently. First, American companies began to see serious hits to their bottom lines linked to fallout from the NSA leaks:
Cisco has shocked financial analysts — who were expecting healthy growth — by predicting a 10 percent sales slump during the current quarter. There are a variety of reasons for this, but the standout one is the backlash in emerging markets against the activities of the U.S. signals intelligence agency, the NSA.
This shouldn’t have come as a surprise. Communications infrastructure is absolutely central to the surveillance scandal, and that’s Cisco’s business.
Then the US lost an arms deal worth many billions of dollars to the Swedes as a result of Brazilian mistrust:
Brazil awarded a $4.5 billion contract to Saab AB on Wednesday to replace its aging fleet of fighter jets, a surprise coup for the Swedish company after news of U.S. spying on Brazilians helped derail Boeing’s chances for the deal.
The contract, negotiated over the course of three presidencies, will supply Brazil’s air force with 36 new Gripen NG fighters by 2020. Aside from the cost of the jets themselves, the agreement is expected to generate billions of additional dollars in future supply and service contracts.
Until earlier this year, Boeing’s F/A-18 Super Hornet had been considered the front runner. But revelations of spying by the U.S. National Security Agency in Brazil, including personal communication by Rousseff, led Brazil to believe it could not trust a U.S. company.
“The NSA problem ruined it for the Americans,” a Brazilian government source said on condition of anonymity.
Americans aren’t the only ones beginning to distrust their government as a result of this scandal. The entire world is becoming deeply suspicious.
America’s status as the world’s lone superpower is indisputable. The United States Armed Forces by themselves account for 39% of the globe’s military expenditure, possess a navy larger than the next 13 biggest in the world combined by tonnage, and can field aircraft more advanced than anything the rest of the world’s nations could possibly throw at them right now.
America’s hegemony, however, is not solely dependent on all of that military might. Powerful as it is, the US relies heavily on a measure of trust and respect being maintained between itself and its allies, allies who are essential to ensuring that American foreign policy objectives are met and that American enemies are kept at bay. The US cannot simply fight (or threaten to fight) the rest of the planet; it has to cooperate with it to some significant degree.
By exposing to the world the fact that America itself does not trust or respect its closest allies enough to grant them privacy, Edward Snowden has forced a necessary humbling of the world’s lone superpower. The best option for the USA at this point is to diligently and humbly rebuild the reservoirs of positive diplomatic capital it once maintained with nations like Brazil that it cannot afford to be on bad terms with for extended periods of time. It would do this by taking its remarkable capacity for espionage (a natural by product of its status as the world’s lone superpower) and legitimately toning it down, granting its peers on the international stage the privacy and respect they actually deserve. Trust will be rebuilt if the US is emphatic about this effort and diligent in proving that such changes are being made.
Should America fail to humble itself in this way, other nations will do so by decreasing their patronage of American businesses and taking money away from the American economy, while simultaneously becoming more reluctant to serve American foreign policy objectives. Cisco and Boeing have already seen the consequences of this and we can be certain that there will be more to come.
When it comes to humbling the US economy in such a way, few single nations can make much progress to this end by themselves. Multiple global powers united by their distrust of the USA (and the USA’s distrust of them), however, can do plenty of harm. The USA cannot stand alone.
Remember, 5 years ago, when I was saying that the government is spying on everyone, people called me a “paranoid schizophrenic”.
Now 5 years later? Everyone accepts the fact that the govt is spying on everyone.
And yet you guys still refuse to believe me when I tell you that there is a small satanic elite, the Illuminati, controlling the govt, media, corporations, military, educational system, legal system, etc?
You guys really need to wake up.
I don’t know whom you talked to, but I wouldn’t have called you a paranoid schizophrenic for insinuating that the government spies on people.
I would still call you crazy for believing the cause of that being a “small satanic elite” though.
Also, you have a guy-fawkes mask as your avatar. When you don’t want to come across as crazy, why do you choose a symbol of fruitcakes to personify you?
John,
You are in shock at what is happening which is why you lock onto one comment which YOU “think” is outlandish. All you are doing is trying to show disbelief in a way that garners sympathy from the sheeple giving you “acceptance” in your own mind. The guy speaking the truth is not crazy but it is easy to point and snicker with the brainwashed fluoride heads.
A more accurate comment would be “a small non-Christian elite”.
I assure you, what I believe is ultimately shared by no-one, at least not that I personally know.
In particular, the template “small group of people are responsible for the suffering of a large group of people” that you and John Doe submit to is fairly common.
That’s what OWS mean when they call themselves the “99%” – as if that was a good thing. They also like to run around with guy-fawkes masks.
OWS should call themselves the 99.99999999999999999999999999999999999%
because the ruling elite is about 3,000 people worldwide. The entire ruling elite on the planet could fit in a small high school auditorium.
You are assuming too much about a “small group”. 1% is not small.
Stop worrying about a mask avatar. The facts are facts.
You are more concerned with a guy fawkes mask than the facts.
Yeah, and here’s another fact for you: OWS consists largely of students trying to get humanities and arts degrees and other kinds of no-gooders.
I used to look through an OWS blog that had pictures of people holding their short bios on a sign in front of them, concluding “I’m the 99%”.
Not one of them wasn’t a parasite according to *their own bio*.
What exists is a rather large ruling elite that consists basically of the most of of academia, most of the media and most of the political establishment.
What holds them together is ideology, not conspiracy.
Are you that fucking dense? You sound like a establishment college student. Why do you keep talking about OWS? Nobody here is supporting ows. You mentioned them, I corrected a false belief held by OWS, you bring them up again ?
I hate OWS because they are a bunch of commie marxist.
You are just simply wrong in what you type. Academia, media, and “most” politicians are not part of the ruling elite.
The ruling elites have multi billion dollar fortunes not teaching jobs and low viewership “news shows” on CNN.
You are simply ignorant on these matters and should really shut the fuck up on the topic.
Occupy Wall Street are controlled opposition, and truthfully have no bearing on this discussion. Otherwise POTUS wouldn’t have been kissing their ass so hard.
You don’t actually think that I will shut up because a random fruitcake on the net told me so, do you?
It’s the OWS guys who are the Obama-voters core demographic.
That is correct. “Useful idiots” is a pretty fair descriptor in this instance.
I didn’t tell you to shut up. I said you SHOULD shut the fuck up.
Gen Y millennial retards can never take a hint and fade away. They just continue to expose themselves as idiots.
You mean I look more ridiculous than you?
The problem with that theory is that no-one is going to believe that the “awakened” user name was meant to be tongue-in-cheek after reading what you wrote.
so why does the ruling elite allow guys like Google, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook etc. to start from their parents garage, to the point of having huge control over new technology and gather massive capital resources and wealth…. why would they allow that ?
what do you think they do ? send men in black around to Steve Job’s house at 4am to make threats ?
some guys like Jobs would not give a shit about their family, kids or business, they would just let rip on the whole thing…. it could never be kept secret….
(“useful idiots”) You might like this:
what do you think they do ? send men in black around to Steve Job’s house at 4am to make threats ?
If you invent something that is in any way useful to the state and its national defense, they will try to fuck you with patent secrecy laws if they don’t kill you and confiscate it first. Inventions that utilize zero-point energy and anti-gravity propulsion are routinely subject to a gag order under patent secrecy laws.
As for cellphones and laptops, the patents usually speak for themselves: http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-patent-government-control-phones-2012-10
My comment never posted so here is the short version.
The companies you named were selected (from many groups doing equal work, those guys were not the only ones doing what they were doing) for investment at very early stages. This investment came from the ruling elites and these companies were allowed inclusion in the club and great fortune in return for designing and allowing back door access by govt and corporations to gather intel and to mine data.
If not for google, facebook, apple, microsoft etc etc the stasi spy system in the US would not exist. The groups you mentioned designed the spy network and by killing traditional american culture forcing us into a virtual world we are forced to submit to the stasi spy network.
if a guy is willing to risk his life and freedom and become an exile just over the secret surveillance program… how much more would someone risk to release world changing technology… one video on youtube, one public demonstration to the press, leave the plans online for all….
inventors and scientists are not so easily controlled with threats… look at Galileo and the catholic church… look at history and then make real stories….
Agreed. There will always be information leaks, national security be damned. The truth will find a way, et cetera.
It does not capture the totality of history accurately it promotes Christianity too much failing to give credit to the preceding civilizations Rome and Greece. Nor does it completely cover the complexity of politics.
Any vids of you on the horse? dressage jumping or eventing?
Ridiculous.
I agree completely with your assessment. The movie IMO is only good until about the 3/4 mark, where it divurges into a religious documentary. What I do like about it is the history of Communism/Socialism how it is portrayed and the relationships of our current leadership to some of the “great thinkers” of Communism/Socialism from the fairly recent past. I don’t think it was intended to cover the complexity of politics?
aha! you must be a horse person. dressage, jumping, foxhunting, endurance riding, trail (camping, too.) I also coach the local pony club kids for the mounted games competitions – my team went to Nationals this past summer in VA and competed at the Prince Phillip cup (International Champs) at the Rolex 3 day in April. I am getting older so I don’t jump or gallop wantonly in the open like I used to! What’s your discipline?
Wow. Great achievements. I went on a trail ride once with my dad and sister when I was 11. Thats about it.
I have studied and been learning a lot. I just feel it would be the perfect thing for my life now. It would get me away from the Internet and into the real world, away from the stress of my job and life. Who knows, I might even meet some cool ladies if I got into that type of hobby (though I know as a King Im not supposed to get involved with horse women lol : ) )
Dressage looks amazing. But so does jumping and eventing.
Id love to get an Oldenburg. Or a KWPN or Hanoverian : )
There is no time like the present. My husband is very athletic and looks great on a horse – he doesn’t even take lessons and he can gallop and run and go for a nice long trail ride. Horses are a great lifestyle for unplugging, getting back into nature and getting dirty … as long as you don’t let the “crazy horse lady gene” take over and turn you into a nut (i.e. choose your horse woman very carefully.) I can recommend a great non-fiction book about a man who got into horses later in life, it also happens to be hilarious. Get out there and get yourself some lessons! Find a good, down to earth trainer who will work with you at your speed. The farm lifestyle is a great lifestyle. Good luck!! http://www.amazon.com/Horse-People-Scenes-Riding-Life/dp/B000A176O2
How is it that you are so smart about some things and so dumb about others?
I suspect it has something to do with which voice in his head he happens to be listening to at the time.
let’s say that the freemasons really do run things, and there really is a small cabal of elite guys that all pat each other on the back, manipulate the economies and poltics and even force us to use petroleum… and let’s say that the glue that holds it all together is a satantic type religious cult where they all feel beholden to the cause of the greater good… or in this case perhaps the greater evil…. let’s accept it exists … fine…
now look at the history of these kinds of groups and see the difficulties human beings face in getting along with each other…. every group you can think of ends up having splinter groups and schism and break ups and all out fights with one another…. shit even Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu who were on the same side fell out with each other… rockstars adored by the world and making millions fall out with each other….
so how the hell does a secret group of men, that run a satanic cult group and manipulate the entire world and have been doing so over several centuries … mange to hold it all together, never mind protect all their dark and evil secrets ?
unless you can answer that question….. you are just blowing smoke
Have you found the Anonymous Conservative yet? He explains the change in our culture by using the theory of evolutionary biology, r/K selection theory. This is not to dispute that there may be something to the concept of an “illuminati” = it is probable, based on ACs theories that this is a cadre of weak men who are doing everything they can to artificially level the playing field for themselves by setting up our society and culture so that they and their kind (the rabbit people/sheep) can procreate and survive. The good news is that AC also gives us real tools for defeating Liberals and advancing the ideologies and good character of the conservatives by using their own faulty brains against them.
http://www.anonymousconservative.com/blog/societal-effects/
Tell people that the Illuminati rule the world and they will say you are a nutter.
Tell people that rich and powerful people rule the world and they’ll say, ” Well duuuuh!”
Perhaps people will take you more seriously when you stop spouting Alex Jonesian lyrics verbatim and got off your nonsensical high horse.
I used to be really skeptical about this country myself, and I had the same view points as you. But after following the PUA/manosphere for so many years, I’ve come to understand why the U.S. acts so shady. America does it because everybody else does. Those who can’t, would do the same thing if given the chance.
Think of the US as an alpha male and Brazil a hot chick for one second. The man has to keep tabs on his girl to make sure his ass isn’t being cheated on. He assumes it because he knows his Brazilian babe is ambitious, always looking to trade up, and seeking higher status.
What makes you think that bitch wasn’t already planning on cheating with that Swedish airplane maker? America got caught and Brazil used it as an excuse and out to runaway with that dude.
It behooves us that this country keeps doing what it’s doing: being Alpha. If it didn’t we wouldn’t enjoy the benefits that come with being the alpha of the world. You think women from Brazil would treat you so well if you were some preto from a third world African country?
He’s alive and he’s all over the media. Something is fishy about Edward Snowden and his revealing of the secrets.
Well he’s not been hit with a rape charge, unlike Julian Assange. Who while he is still alive, also used to be all over the media.
What is fishy is that he ever got security clearance to look at the files he stole.
Most people are unaware of the measures taken to stop this kind of thing happening and then it does.
Personally I believe there is more to this story than meets the eye.
Though I do not consider myself to be a fanciful conspiracy theorist and know that truth is stranger than fiction I wonder if this guy has somehow been set up.
The bigger question is why the United States feels the need to be Big Brother for the world. Talk about a complete separation from its early “isolationist” roots.
It’s almost like the United States took Woodrow Wilson’s crazed ambitions and injected it as their philosophy. Anyone who rejects this dream will be overthrown, labelled, or retaliated against.
Cause most of the other countries are crazy. It’s like feudalism permanently damaged their neurological DNA
Feudalism is a stage of development for a civilization. Other countries aren’t nearly as insane as the United States is. We’ve got crazies on TWO sides.
Simple: this massive surveillance system isn’t about spying on terrorist. It is about economic spying in order to funnel information to the corporate elite. You know, the same guys who convinced Congress to bail out the banks even though the majority of Americans disapproved of such a measure.
One of the major reasons why Brazil is being spied upon is because it is a country that is up and coming. Like South Korea in the 90s, Brazil is seeing major economic growth and as they become more prosperous, they will be a major player on the world market.
Brazil has been developing for decades. It is surprisingly productive, but Brazil is a huge commodity exporter. So Brazil’s economic cycles are very often related to commodity prices. If commodity prices crash (and I think they will), Brazil won’t be having that prosperous growth any more.
Brazil has its share of problems, though. Brazil’s government is incompetent and allows crime and fraud to thrive. They are a sign of what America will become under Obummercare.
“When it comes to humbling the US economy in such a way, few single nations can make much progress to this end by themselves.”
Why would they even bother when the US government is already doing such a good job of bankrupting the country?
http://www.usdebtclock.org/
http://hebrewnationonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/US-National-debt.jpg
I don’t think the US government even cares about fixing the economy. They’re just printing worthless dollars to stall time while the Department of Homeland Security is arming itself with almost 2 BILLION rounds of ammunition and thousands of armored vehicles and helicopters. And didn’t they recently decide to allow drone strikes on american citizens on american soil? The NSA spying is just the tip of the iceberg. Am I the only one who thinks they’re planning to declare martial law when the eventual economic collapse happens and turn the entire country into a police state? Or am I just being a conspiracy nut?
Americans need to stop the bullshit Democrat vs. Republican distraction and wake the fuck up.
You’re a conspiracy nut.
Never explain with malice what can be explained with incompetence.
And any “vs.” can only be good when it is within a group of people who don’t have a clue what they are doing.
I find that where there’s incompetence there is also usually malice. Whether that is because a person’s inadequacies eventually transform them into vindictive little shits, or because someone’s desire to cause pain and suffering inevitably results in piss-poor decision making, is likely neither here nor there for the end results.
Those are valid observations.
I’m not explaining with malice because it’s already evident that the explanation is that the US government has been and still is incompetent. I’m not suggesting that they’re purposely destroying their own economy. Plus, they already have emergency plans for catastrophic events: http://whitehouse.gov1.info/continuity-plan/index.html. So the scenario isn’t really all that far off from reality.
“And any “vs.” can only be good when it is within a group of people who don’t have a clue what they are doing.”
Yes, you’re right. Good for the powers above.
If the “powers above” are divided, how is that good for the “powers above”?
In particular, why would I want consensus in an institution that I believe does more harm than good, for whatever reason? Isn’t it much better than the different faction within just cancel each other out, block their respective laws and make governance impossible?
Okay, I see where we have our discrepancies. You seem to think that because democrat and republican politicians bark at each other all the time, somehow the american citizens are spared from being oppressed by a single party with no opposition. That may be true to an extent, but what I see in reality is this: While majority of the American citizens are being played against each other with the Democrat vs. Republican political drama, the middle class is being destroyed with the national economy sinking. And all this is happening while the few filthy rich elites are only get richer and richer at the expense of all other American citizens.
I didn’t say that they are divided. I said that them being divided was desirable because *you* made it sound as if this was undesirable.
I think they are largely united, but that this union is getting small cracks that could potentially grow wider.
By the way — what was the previous job of the new vice-chairman elect of the Fed?
DING DING! Fisher is former governor of Israel’s central bank. He fellow members of the tribe will hold 4 of the 6 seats. Hmmm, yet they make up less than 2% of u.s. population. Aww, it is just a coincidence.
“Never explain with malice what can be explained with incompetence.”
Never assume a lack of malice.
Incompetence does not spontaneously order itself. You confound lack of understanding the corrupt consequences for lack of compentency at being corrupt. You are aware of AWALT, right? All expedient vermin create expedience in their struggles of natural selection. Evolution allows for unintelligence intelligent design because the brilliance is in the system, the ecology. You must be one of those ‘free will’ people. I guess that makes me a conspiracy nut too.
Although I don’t fully comprehend where you’re coming from (and neither do you fully comprehend where I come from), you have some points there.
In particular, incompetence should indeed not be expected to order itself.
If by “unintelligent intelligent design” you mean that people have a subconscious agenda, a trait that was often beneficial during evolution – then I fully agree.
That means that besides conspiracy and incompetence, there is a third suspect that doesn’t have a generally accepted name (because the concept is so esoteric).
Oh my god, a graph, it even grows over time!
Look to debt versus income or debt versus assets. Our debt is a tiny fraction of it. Look even deeper and you’ll see why there is a huge difference in the way personnel consumer debt is structured and how the national debt is structured.
Debt.
50% of GDP in 2008. 100% of GDP today.
Try again.
Like Russia’s 12% gdp to debt ratio when it collapsed? Or more like Japan or Germany’s gdp to debt ratios today?
Microeconomics doesn’t work like macroeconomics and you still haven’t factored in assets or income into the debt picture.
Your move.
America’s biggest asset is the beta male, which is being crushed into extinction.
(Hat tip: GBFM)
“Like Russia’s 12% gdp to debt ratio when it collapsed?”
Umm Russia collapsed? Maybe you meant the Soviet Union.
Japan.
…..MMT (Modern Monetary Theory)
Id love to discuss economics with you…
But need a little more background than Econ101…
US is the biggest, smartest and fastest kid in the yard. No bully, nerd or student will come looking for their lent money unless it’s on USA’s terms, whether that’s right or wrong.
Oh please do us a favor and hang yourself.
39% of the world’s military spending.
As bad as it can look sometimes, the current US debt to total asset and GDP ratio is still very good compared to the rest of the world.
A bigger issue is the finance aspect of it. Finance is, in many cases, the x-factor for all of this stuff. The US is the world’s most productive country (no, China will not come close in the next decade or so) with the world’s largest economy, the world’s most sophisticated financial system, and has the world’s best technology. As an American, I’m more worried about the NSA spying on our own citizens than foreigners.
Fortunately, the complexity of the information increases much faster than any central planner’s ability to decipher it. The problem comes in when they start using this stuff for ex-post actions and to target certain people. Eventually, they’ll fuck something up, if they haven’t already done so. It’s a guarantee; the question is when.
The author is only scratching the surface. Volumes upon volumes could be written on the out of control US govt. The US govt. is currently rogue and is far beyond what Nazi Germany, the E.German Stasi, the USSR, and China ever attempted to do to their own citizens. The entire American culture is under intense attack. Everything is done to remove and replace traditional American culture because traditional American culture is the ONLY obstacle to 100% tyranny.
non-white immigration
preferential treatment for non european whites
special protections for non european whites
promotion of non-Christian religions
feminism
abortion
gun control
creating dependence on govt services
voter fraud
These are not political issues but that is the magic of the situation. Assaulting our culture is disguised as racism, feminism, etc etc These are attacks on traditional American culture for sole reason of turning the USA into a slave factory for the ruling elite. The ruling elites want to replace the dominant culture (european white) with 2nd and 3 rd peoples which are naturally more accepting of control, dominance, and dependence, on others. With this population shift they can displace enough population to achieve a “slave factory” through voter fraud. Then they can sit back and say “the people want this” just like the NWO puppet ovomit.
“American culture is the ONLY obstacle to 100% tyranny”
LOL go tell that to Native Americans who got exterminated or to African-Americans who were slaves and burnt to death not many years ago. Get off your high horse, USA is nothing special. Only thing special is that it’s “the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between”.
Yes, tell them that.
Don’t tell it to the American settlers, because they didn’t need to hear it.
Slaves are people with a slave’s mentality.
That is *why* American culture is (or used to be) resisting tyranny.
Don’t you mean the Native Americans who *weren’t* exterminated?
While every other country in the world was castrating their slaves and working them to death, the American South was legislating fair treatment laws, and providing their slaves with education, healthcare, and religious education.
Try and understand things in a historical context. Your plebeian repetition of the media’s dominant memes is nauseating.
Says the avowed racist and apologist for all things racist. You appear to be ok with racism as long as it’s not anti-white racism.
This is likely going to come as a complete surprise to you, but racial discrimination doesn’t imply being anti.
Therefore, there is no logical problem with being a “racist,” yet opposed to anti-(your race’s name here) racism.
You may not agree with the position, but that doesn’t make it inconsistent.
All I can say is that if I have the White Nationalists pissed off at me, and I have the anti-racists like yourself pissed off at me, then I must be doing something right.
Keep on fighting the good fight, anonymous internet troll.
You are a racist.
Most scholars do agree that the pre-Columbian North American Native population was higher than it would be following contact. Indeed, there were very substantial demographic crises among Natives in the USA during the 18th and 19th centuries, and many languages/cultures did not survive. Most of this was due to disease (the spread of which was aided by the arrival of the horse and the eventual dominance of equine culture among Plains Indians during the 17th/18th centuries), but there were also policyaims that intended to displace and eliminate Native Americans in favor of Anglo-American settlement. Many 18th and 19th century US Policymakers were not shy about that.
This I do not believe to be an accurate portrayal of the nature of slavery in the American South.
A quick glance at the historical context will show you that many of the American South’s peer slave societies (in the British, Spanish, and French colonial world) had legislation on the books governing the treatment of slaves. Such codes also existed in the Islamic world. An intent to educate slaves could also be found in all of these places, and it is actually quite clear that the American South lagged behind a couple of its peers with regard to its emphasis on the religious education of slaves (catholic whites in the french/Spanish colonial world took this much more seriously, as did the muslims).
The American South also lagged severely behind its slaving peers when it came to the integration of slavesand their mixed descendants. Black individuals in the American South had many fewer path to societal prominence open to them than did slaves in the Muslim, Spanish, or Sub-Saharan African contexts, even if they were free or mixed (or both). America’s more rigid color lines are a factor here.
For these reasons, I don’t think it accurate to claim an individual who points out the harshness of American slavery to be lacking an understanding of historical context. That context does not put the American South in a particularly flattering light.
You just compared American slavery to Muslim slavery. That’s like comparing Japanese internment during WWII to the Soviet Holodomor during peacetime.
The Muslims were absolutely barbaric; and if you extend your historical readings beyond what the American school system provides you, you’ll find that American slavery was surprisingly humane, arguably even more humane than what the Left has done to Black communities since co-opting Civil Rights.
i was going to commend you for expanding your contributions to society beyond shitty DJ coattail riding debauchery and racial butthext with this article, only to find in the comments sections you’ve picked an ample spot to regress to your mean narrative.
you’re out-trolling me, well done
As were western Europeans.
You posit that chattel slavery in the American South somehow constituted more humane treatment of blacks than the civil rights movement and the developments that have stemmed from it in the last 50 years?
I think we’re going to have to just agree to disagree on that one.
So if I enslaved you and used the laws from below the mason dixon line pre 1790 as a template for your enslavement, you would find your treatment more humane than the current condition of Black people in America post 1970?
Being enslaved by force really sucks, is there really a humane way to do it? This is not a rhetorical question, your mental gymnastics may be up to the task and you usually reply, plus it is cold as fuck in Canada today so you what else are you doing? Aurini, I honestly look forward to your reply, this should be good.
Were Western Europeans regularly castrating the males, and working them to death? No – they weren’t. The fact that there are still blacks in North America, while there aren’t any in the Middle East, is your first indicator here. YES – the Muslims WERE worse! Good lord, just look at what they’re doing to Africans right now: how are the Saudi work practices, compared to the American “robber barons” who employ them?
It’s like comparing a school yard bully to a serial killer: there is NO coparison, whatsoever. Europeans tried to be moral, decent Masters (I know you find this ugly nowadays, but try not to think in the nowadays). The Arabs treated them like filth, even worse than they were treating the White and Jewish slaves.
Second point – stop manipulating my words to take me out of context.
I specifically said “THE LIBERAL CO-OPTION OF CIVIL RIGHTS.”
Now, Civil Rights is a bit of a challenge in the first place – on one hand it’s far more noble and dignified, on the other the ending of Jim Crow laws directly destroyed black-owned businesses, and turned the blacks into a permanent employee class (aside from the top 1%) – but that’s not what we have nowadays.
What we have is the Liberals utterly destroying the black communities with gimmedats, promoting single-motherhood, Al Sharpton, BET, progressive degeneracy, et cetera, et cetera.
THAT is what I was comparing to slavery – the black ghetto. Whereareas in most Southern areas, a Northerner would mistake slaves for freemen – because the slaves had Sunday Bests, their marriages were stable, et cetera.
Try and understand that slavery is just another form of economic arrangement – just another institution like our modern day “wage slaves” are. And back during slavery, there was far more concern over the African’s well being, than there is today, where they’re a bunch of useful idiots being sold shoes they can’t afford, and policies that can’t be sustained.
If I say something that disagrees with your Historical understanding from “School House Rocks” there’s usually a damned good reason for it.
Being enslaved is terrible – I’m quite glad that we stopped enslaving people long ago. In fact, it’s Europeans who put (mostly) an end to the slave trade – I’m quite proud of this.
We bought slaves, true – but we treated them well.
The “evil slavers” you’re looking for were other Blacks and Muslims – and agreed, they weren’t too nice about it. But it wasn’t Whites.
So – hypothetically, let’s pretend you’re White and you’re somehow a slaver in 1790 – if I were native to North Africa? I’d be thanking my lucky stars that I and my descendents weren’t subjected to the horrors of that continent.
Yes, they were. I’m not quite sure you understand the nature of slavery in the new world. Death rates in New World colonies heavily dependent on sugar production (read: the majority of them) frequently outpaced birth rates and slaves didn’t generally last long when they arrived.Roughly half of new slave arrivals to Brazil died within 4 years. That rate was anywhere from 25-33% in
major Caribbean colonies like Jamaica. This is to say nothing of losses incurred during the middle passage, where we can find a 15% mortality rate.
Contrary to your statement here, Western Europeans did in fact regularly work slaves to death and did regularly neglect them. They relied on high import rates to sustain and expand their slaveholdings, not natural population increase. Slaves were considered disposable and easily replaceable commodities in many colonial societies.
There is absolutely nothing in recent history following the alleged “co-opting of the civil rights movement” that compares to the inhumanity of that situation.
There are a few issues here that I will detail one by one.
1. You claim here that there are no blacks in the Middle East. You’re wrong.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afro-Iraqi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afro-Arab
There are still substantial Afro-Arab population in parts of the Middle East, and there is even more substantial admixture in Southern Arabia (where the bulk of
African slaves moved to the Middle East ended up):
http://racehist.blogspot.com/2010/09/autosomal-african-admixture-in-yemeni.html
http://iqandenvironment.blogspot.com/2008/05/qatar-nepal-and-zambia-have-same.html
http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/8/45
The number of visibly “black” (by American or Canadian phenotypical standards) people in the Arab World is in the many millions.
2. The lower visibility of the black population in the middle east relative to the New World is due in large part of a factor you ignore: population blending. As I noted in my previous post, there was a substantially higher likelihood of racial mixing in slave contexts outside of the American South. While an American slave’s skin color generally doomed him/her to slavery for life along
with any progeny they produced, a slave in the Arab world could find more ready escape. Conversion to islam frequently resulted in slave progeny obtaining freedom (something conversion to Christianity could not often do in the western context for a mulatto), and the products of interracial unions had a much clearer path to legitimacy than their western counterparts, and were more likely to be integrated into the mainstream social fabric. These factors lead to greater blending of the black population in these lands with the larger majority. Combine that with the time span of the Arab trade (it was much older
than the trans-Atlantic trade) along with the fact that the Arab slave trade was more female-heavy than its trans-atlantic counterpart (a larger proportion of the slaves were intended for domestic use and were expected to produce children) and you naturally have a less distinct modern black population than you will find in the west (particularly the USA, where there is a “one drop rule” and a much firmer color line than you’ll see elsewhere).
3. Many of the “Muslim” or “Arab” slavers involved in this
trade were indistingusihable from the slaves they moved (read: they were black). This is further evidence of #2.
When discussing the Arab slave trade, one cannot focus entirely on the Middle East as it was not the only (or even primary) destination for slaves or source for slavery. Many victims of the Arab trade were captured by blacks and sold to blacks. This will complicate your analysis if you continue to hold that the “lack of blacks in the middle east” up as an indicator of any aspect of the nature of the Arab slave trade as a whole.
4. The presence of a large population in the present does not disprove high mortality/death rates in the past. As I noted at the beginning of this post, the Trans-Atlantic slave model relied more heavily on imports than on natural increase. They simply shipped in as much or more than they lost.
It is therefore inaccurate to claim that the existence of a modern black population in the new world is an indicator of relatively low mortality rates among New World slaves or an indicator of a generally greater concern for their welfare. In this case, it isn’t.
Modern distinctions in working conditions in the Arab and Western world do not have much bearing in any discussion relating to distinctions (or lack thereof) in the severity of Arab and Trans-Atlantic slavery. Present conditions are not necessarily indicative of historical ones.
We are not comparing a schoolyard bully to a serial killer. We are comparing two violent felons responsible for the loss of many lives.
Both Europeans and Arabs (black or otherwise) treated black slaves like garbage, and both found unique ways in which to do so. Both cared little for their actual welfare. There is no meaningful distinction between the two in that regard.
None of the above are even remotely comparable to chattel slavery with regard to humanity (or lack thereof).
The notion that black subjection to a system of chattel slavery was somehow more humane than black exposure to the likes of Al Sharpton, BET, and “gimmedats” is, at best, misguided.
There is no universe in which chattel slavery can be compared (in terms of its humanity) to a race hustler, a television network, and welfare.
Your typical slave was not in a position superior or equal to that of your modern urban ghetto dweller. He had fewer opportunities for advancement, a lower standard of living, and an inferior position in the eyes of the law, among other things. There is no comparison.
You would be very hard pressed to find a black person who, if given the choice, would prefer to live in the midst of a chattel slavery system insteadof residing in the present. There are very good reasons for this.
Chattel slavery is a very unique economic arrangement that can in no way be considered analogous to modern “wage slavery”. These are two very different things and I will not attempt to ignore the very clear distinctions between them.
No, there was not. The very existence of chattel slavery is proof of that.
None of my historical understanding comes from “School House Rocks”. I find your interpretation of this particular aspect of history to be inaccurate and I do so on entirely substantive, legitimate grounds that are fully independent of input from children’s television programs.
Typical. Cry racism when your feelings get hurt with the truth. This is why we are crumbling and our culture is nearly dead.
American blacks and native americans are far worse off today than in 1950. The further we move away from “Traditional American Culture” the more life degrades for ALL Americans.
Black America has some severe problems (many of which I have detailed on this website), but I don’t think you’re going to find a single black American who, given the choice, would prefer to live life in 1950’s America instead of the present. There are good reasons for that.
The worst damage ever done to the american black community has been done in the past 50 yrs. The civil rights program did NOTHING to help the plight of blacks and actually destroyed the black family.
It is flashier to talk about slavery but the truth is blacks have been targeted for re-enslavement since the late 50’s and the new slavemaster is the democrat party. It is a different kind of slavery but is slavery all the same.
It was done to the indians before the blacks. Reservations/projects, welfare/BIA checks, medicaid/IHS (indian health service), drugs/alcohol.
The same method is being applied to undesirable whites (southerners, conservatives) right now. You know this line of attack because you have written about it writing about the destruction of the black community.
I know what has been done to blacks is coming to my people. I believe you blame whites for what happened to blacks and I guess that is true but the fact remains it is not about race. The same white elites are coming after my people as well.
It is easier to imagine the mythical racists as confederate flag wearing southerners when in fact that is just a distraction. The real racist rulers want to kill us all and they are not above pitting us against each other to do so. It is easy to let our own petty prejudices feed this beast and we are all guilty of that (even you and me). The hard part is overcoming the manipulation.
Funny when people say how Nazis were bad, even though after ww2 3000 Nazi scientist were transferred to USA, During Cold War there were so many experiments at controlling people:
Project Mk Ultra, Water with fluoride, Television makes your brainwave state to alpha/theta so your subconscious becomes more suggestible.
Ps: I’m not conspiracy theorist Its in our Genes that some of us likes to control others.
I don’t disagree. I would suggest that some people NEED controlled. Criminals, low iq people, those seeking to cause harm and so on. These type of people need various degrees of supervision.
We do not live in a Utopia and never will. The problem with the current situation is the govt wants to control every aspect of our lives. The govt should defend and promote personal liberty. Instead the US govt wants to squash personal liberty and turn all americans into subjects of political correctness. Then we can be easily controlled to serve our
corporate slave masters.
posted before I was finished
Before Edward Snowden there was Russell Tice.
According to Russell Tice, there is evidence to suggest that, in addition to spying on our heads of state, NSA has used these data mining technologies to facilitate blackmail against members of Congress, Supreme Court judges, and various federal agencies. It is certainly true that NSA has the capability to bribe, extort, and blackmail whomever they wish while retaining the same legal immunities afforded to CIA et al.
If NSA is, in fact, using these technologies as a means to manipulate every branch of the Federal Hydra, then we are living in a post-constitutional United States right now and everyone at the top of the pyramid is completely beholden to a small collective of intelligence agencies. This is the real scandal behind the Prism leak but most private citizens are only concerned about the mining of their own data and they’re not looking at the bigger picture here.
And don’t forget William Binney…
This is not something surprising actually. The reality is this. Everyone spies on everybody. Girlfriends will spy on their boyfriends for signs of cheating and vice versa. Neighbours spy on each other to see who has the bigger TV, fridge, car etc…countries will spy on each other to get information on military strength, political updates and economic conditions. Since the time when Humans started kingdoms and empires, spies have been around and the technology of spying also gets developed alongside it. The simple thing is that for the US, its spying activity was leaked out. Everyone knew way before Edward Snowden’s leaks that the US had a massive surveillance program. ECHELON was one of those programs created before 9/11 (and look how “effective” it was in preventing 9/11) alongside other covert methods of spying. It really is nothing new. Just that it got publicly revealed and that all the governments now had to issue a statement and had to publicly deal with it now for the first time.
Snowden is a traitor. Plain and simple. His actions are considered high treason. If/ when caught he will be given the death penalty. Telling U.S. secrets to our enemies and everyone else is unacceptable and unforgivable. His actions have weakened our nation and endangered U.S. citizens/soldiers lives. There are many ways to be a “whistle blower”. This was not one of them. Of couse the U.S. has been spying on everyone…why wouldn’t they…..seriously. Although domestic spying is unfortunate and in many cases illegal, it is not surprising at all.
One of the things that Snowden exposed was that the NSA had been weakening computer security in order to make it easier for them to spy on Americans and therefore endangering US citizens and soldiers. This has made it easier for all the hacks we’ve read in recent years involving identity theft and spyware.
Sure, make the case that Snowden should be fully prosecuted but if future security truly is the issue then it would behoove the NSA to cut a deal with him rather than deal with new releases every few months or so out of his stockpile of information. One of the primary reasons that he’s not assassinated is that if he were touched, his contacts would receive their keys to unlock the remaining stockpile. If anything, the USA should protect him from harm.
Snowden is one of the few patriots left in the rotting carcass of your country.
It’s depressing what’s become of the United States – and that’s coming from somebody who wears the American Great Seal on a lapel-pin, a gift from an American politician in memory of what your country once stood for.
Of course you would say and believe that. It is beneficial to you. You are not in America or an American citizen.
I see a country and a people I love committing suicide.
I see a country trying to tie up a loose end.
You’ve got to be fucking kidding. No man alive has done more to harm the geo-political interest of America and her Allies. What a fuckwit you are Aurini
Indeed. I am wondering how he is managing to support himself in Moscow, one of the most expensive cities in the world. Incidentally, wonder who footed the bill for his extended stay at the Sheremetyevo Airport hotel…?
I’m betting it’ll come out that he’s no better than Aldrich Ames, Anna Montes, or Robert Hanssen.
This manufactured and feigned indignation by Brazil et.al. is silly. Bet your ass they’re doing the same fucking thing to the US, and it’s not to the US’ benefit to return to the old days of Secretary of State Stimson’s attitude that “gentlemen do not read each others’ mail.”
Our allies spy on us and we spy on them, no surprise there. We have the constitution but it is just rules on a piece of paper that the government can suspend, change or outright ignore at will. Snowden changes nothing, wikileaks changes nothing, future whistleblowers shall change nothing. You do not win the cold war and become dominant globally by pussyfooting, you play dirty and you win. There is nothing we can do to change the game, but we do what we must to keep our empire dominant. If you really want to effect change focus on getting rid of anti vice laws so the government has less to use against you, imprison you, and destroy you personally. Globally the game the NSA is playing is beyond anything you can change or challenge, be informed, adapt and accept that fact.
The stronger you are the more people will try to knock you down.
We got the number one spot with a lot of luck and good timing. The world does not hate us as much as they resent us and what we accomplished in such a short time. To stay on top you must be relentless and fend off all challenges to your spot. NSA is playing hardball , good for them. They can apologize for how they win after they win. America is in the top spot, so we are at war. When all of America’s wars have ended it will be because someone else has taken our spot. Fuck that, I like being on top.
The problem is that the (in some cases) manufactured outrage concerning the NSA and GCHQ is based on nonsensical journalism and a public misunderstanding of how data mining technology works.
So nothing will happen and nothing will change because the people behind the curtain know what is actually happening and that has nothing to do with this utterly bogus non story.
The US can stand alone, as long as it’s willing to stand aside and let other countries fight each other. Though the NSA is overreaching it’s grasp, it’s not particularly new for country’s to spy on their own allies. I think they are more concerned with appearances, it’s more damaging for everyone to know that the NSA can spy on them rather than the actual details of the spying.
This is one of the best articles on the NSA scandal and it’s so obvious how the american public is kept in the dark.
Also, props for just posting the comments and not moderating them.
Wow talk about pro-USA propaganda.
I wasn’t aware that RoK accepted payments for propaganda posts. Or is this just one contributor taking the cash?
It doesn’t really matter to the US, they literally print all the money they want and support the lie that is the economic system that way. They will never humble themselves to “inferior” countries, they have always been in charge and want to keep it that way.
The American government can’t do that forever if they want the dollar to remain the world’s reserve currency.
A lot of the brouhaha over printing money comes from a failure to understand how open market operations work. The Fed is forbidden from directly buying treasuries.
Care to elaborate on the second part of your comment?
The Fed cannot buy treasuries directly from the government. It needs to be conducted on the open money market.
I’m basically just saying it’s not so simple as the government desiring to “print money.”
The Fed is the government.
Well, it’s really more along the lines of a joint public-private entity.
But this will all only distract from the main point at hand. The Fed cannot buy bonds directly from the treasury, if that is more pleasing to you.
Ok, but why is that relevant?
Because people tend to turn the Fed into a bigger boogeyman than it is, based on incomplete information. You don’t want to do that or you can’t have a rational discussion.
That’s true, but it’s the same crowd that exaggerates the separation of Fed and the rest of the government that also paints the Fed as the boogeyman.
They do that because they want to have a good public government vs. a bad “private” bank.
The Fed owes you and your descendents. I am not American and my country does not listen to American bullshit and so this does not apply to me (lol). Sorry.
Open market operations and all the theory developed around is meant to keep you busy.
The answer is in the below-100% fractional reserve, not in the open market operations.
The Fed does not follow rules. It makes them. Not being able to buy treasuries directly from the government is just part of the show they put on to keep us entertained.
Long live… Anarchy…
I don’t know much about the American Constitution, but I was wondering about the Right to Bear Arms. Back when it was written, was the concept not that the citizenry was able to possess arms equal to the government so that it could overthrow it if necessary? Back then, am I correct to assume that both the citizens and the government possessed about the same weapons technology? Taking the concept ahead to today, shouldn’t the Right to Bear Arms mean that the citizenry should have unfettered access to tanks, drones, jets, missiles, etc.?
So what if you guys can own a few guns? There’s no way in hell you can overthrow the government with just guns.
Just wonderin’.
Ever heard the term guerilla warfare?
“am I correct to assume that both the citizens and the government possessed about the same weapons technology?”
The long rifle that struck fear into the hearts of the British was actually civilian technology in advance of what the government had.
It was a squirrel hunting piece.
“shouldn’t the Right to Bear Arms mean that the citizenry should have unfettered access to tanks, drones, jets, missiles, etc.?”
No. It means the government should have them only under restriction.
It worked for those shitbag Castro brothers. Wonder why guns are banned these days in Cuba?
“…however, is not solely dependent on all of that military might. ” Economic warfare! Surely! Every power worth its name is doing what your NSA and other assorted agencies are (hopefully) doing. They haven’t been caught perhaps. But, Snowden has pimped the good ol US of A. He’s turned its own people and the allies against it. Failure by the NSA, possibly. What better way to destroy an hegemonic opponent than ruin it economically? No need to slaughter your soldiers. You’ve won by bankrupting your opponent. The WW1 anniversary is almost upon us. Look at the, more modern, interpretations of that slaughter to see how one can loose an empire and a whole generation of men over economic control of ports, resources and perceived hegemony. In the end the Germans got their united Europe and Britain became a small little island once again.
All governments spy on each other. Take Brazil’s comments the same way you take a woman’s: pay attention to what they do, not what they say. Nothing will really change because of Snowden’s leaks.
Knew it since the 90’s when they started putting “black boxes” at ISPs. Aside from that it’s just fucking common sense.
I don’t know why, but some some reason this whole scandal makes me yawn. Where is the shock and surprise? The government is too big, too powerful, and by nature corrupt. We spied on everyone….and everyone spied on us…
Goes to show that even if American citizens took these revelations lying down, other countries didn’t. Good on them.
No. Just fake indignation on the parts of the countries’ leaders due to political pressure.
Wrong, wrong, wrong…
Even though all Brazilian military vouched for the American fighters, the Workers Party made it plain much before Snowden that they would never buy US planes. They are staunch Marxists who hate the US. They also love Obama.
Also, Europeans have no laws against international bribes, as Americans do.
President Dilma just used the Snowden incident to further the government plans to CENSOR the internet in Brazil, by forcing foreign companies to have their servers in Brazil. China and Russia applauded the idea…isn´t it a little strange? Too much of a coincidence? I wonder if the whole Snowden thing was not planned in order to further internet controls worldwide.
Dilma tried to be a demagog about this issue, but Brazilians couldn’t care less if Obama is spying on her. In fact, we find it excellent, you may spy on her and tell us what kind of corruption schemes and robbery she is planning against Brazilian citizens. I only saw jokes about the incident on Facebook, not even one person complaining.
I have no doubt NSA has planted internet “personas” as posters here too on RoK.
Fuck you NSA
Yeah, they’re all the sad and pathetic feminists like sarah and lisa making docket entries on the likes of you.
Yes, the NSA monitors Disqus. That is why Disqus encourages you to provide info on your e-mail account, twitter, Facebook, etc. (This is unnecessary).
The NSA wants to know who you and your friends are. They want to know why you are unhappy and how your unhappiness affects their interests.
It also wants some scapegoats just in case the civil society gets out of control.
ROK is doing the smart thing by playing the game, as its goal is to counter attack and destroy feminism not bring about changes in the political and economic system.
Long live Anarchy and ROK
Snowden is a traitor and should be hunted down by the very espionage organizations he betrayed and extra-judiciously executed. So too should that treacherous transvestite faggot Bradley Manning be executed. They have caused immense and not-yet-fully-realized harm not just to the US, but also to its loyal Allies like Australia, which saw the brand new conservative government fatally undermined by Snowden leaks timed by the leftist Gaurdian to be published only when they could do maximum damage to the new Conservative (ultra-masculine) PM (and not before-hand when they were acquired in order to protect the previous filthy socialist female PM).
Now, if the Government is spying on its own citizens, then you Americans have to take responsibility for stopping that by voting for libertarian-minded Republicans. If you keep voting for big Statists like Obama then I have little sympathy for you on domestic issues.
But just remember, you do have allies that have supported you loyally in every single war, so you have a responsibility to us. Don’t fucking support fucking traitors like Snowden!
zero charisma, if you aren’t American why do you care so much?
Because, gaywad, I’m a sailor in the Royal Australian Navy, and Snowden’s actions compromised our OPSEC as well, and endangered my life as well as the lives of all my friends and co-workers.
Make no mistake, a major war triggered by China’s increasing maritime belligerence is going to occur. When Snowden flew first to Hong Kong, and then to Moscow, in order to sell all our military secrets to hostile foreign powers, he committed cardinal treason in my opinion and should suffer capital punishment for that, extra-judicially if necessary.
Snowden provided a great excuse for foreign governments, period. They all have their big pants on, they try to spy on us too. Yes, even allies. Don’t forget the Israeli spy scandal. How about the UK spy scandal?
Snowden, merely one more in a list of people (some with noble intentions, some with misplaced loyalty, some with greed, some with malice) that have (and continue) done this worldwide.
Heck, they put a joke about spying on friends in the BBC show Spooks. (MI-5 in the US)
We’ve used it as a trade excuse as well, and what goes around (in the intelligence community) comes around.
Remember MICE. Tom Clancy expounded on it in his books, though we seem to forget it. Money, Ideology, Conscience, and Ego. These are the factors that cause betrayal.
There is no single ruling elite. One person or group doesn’t pull the strings. There is a hierarchy of circumstance and everyone fits into the hierarchy. Could you imagine one person managing 7.5 billion people? Impossible. If there is one group managing world affairs they are doing a very poor job.
The bosses print the money and make the laws. We haven’t been able to overthrow them. That is a pretty good job in my opinion.
Long live Anarchy
Great Article!
I just wish more people gave a crap. People actually straight up say “Oh I’m being spied on? Duuuh, I don’t care”
The USA deserves everything that is coming to it.
In an interview for that 2008 movie “Eagle Eye”, Shia leBeouf talks about getting shown a recorded phone conversation he had two years ago by the F.B.I. consultant for the movie and remarks on the fact that one out of five calls that you make are recorded and logged. (Translations on it are crap, just listen to the audio.)
So why is this suddenly news for everyone?
The US hegemony depends not only on hi-tech but also on oil.
Without access to oil, the US cannot wage war against other countries because solar powered planes or electric tanks are not that reliable.
This is funny. Oil producers just need to stop dealing with the US in order to bring down its military/financial govt.
Or, they can simply settle oil trades in Euro, SDRs or gold.
Watch how well that works the US has more than enough oil to level any country thay trys (and they will)