First, the US does not “care” about the well being of people in other countries. That idea is almost anthropomorphic in substance – there is no “feeling” in the mechanization of power. It’s a large group of people who have control over wealth and military hardware, and enjoy a mostly unspoken consensus on how the US should project its power around the world. It’s often referred to as “the game.” People in the game don’t talk about the game, kind of like Fight Club.
The government is only part of this consensus, and the most difficult to manage due to the ability of ordinary people to occasionally affect government policy. But the ability to tax the American public to build the military hardware used to project power is extremely important, so control of government is an important part of what Eisenhower called the “military-industrial” complex. So it naturally follows that when there are large concentrations of private wealth, that wealth naturally tries to take control of government. It’s an ongoing battle, and since 1980, private concentrated power has largely prevailed – we have to go back to the 1890’s to find more corruption than we have right now in all branches of government, including our Citizens United Supreme Court.
The American media is largely owned by the same complex that owns the banks and weapons manufacturers, the same corporations that want access to resources across the globe and within this country. They don’t report news so much as control our focus. We think about the things they want us to think about.
Consequently, we here in the land of the free are all aware of what a horrible!!! threat Iran poses, how Hugo Chavez is a “dictator,” how awful Milošević was, what a tyrant Saddam Hussein was (post 1990, not before), etc. But there was no awareness of another thug named Mubarak, who has been running a totalitarian terror/torture state called Egypt for the last thirty years.
A new thug is in order. His name is Omar Suleiman. He’s a terrorist of sorts, as he is considered a “CIA point man” and he cooperated with the US in its torture/rendition program.
There will be hell to pay for writing the four words that follow, but hell, why not:
Thus endeth the lesson.
_______________
This is worth a reading, if you have an hour or so.
Piece of Mindful 
I like this message.
Has more pictures.
http://bonedjello.com/Articles/Code%20Pinker%20Agitporp.html
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Up until the PS, I was almost convinced that for once you got it.
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Wanted to see if you scrolled the whole thing.
To answer your question posed above, is that the Koch bros.?
They seem to be the libs and Van Jones latest whipping boys.
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This is what I hear from you:
We are kneeling supplicants enthralled to a robed ruling class that abuses us. If the supplicants would rise up and rule themselves, everything would be better. But events are random and unpredictable, so I have an out when things don’t work out.
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You’re getting there, grasshopper, but need some subtlety. Events are indeed random, in that no one planned the Egyptian uprising. It was a confluence of brush fires that made a large fire.
But the Iraq War was not random – it was a planned event, along with the massive propaganda operation that went with it. But it too was subject, as all war is, to unplanned events, unknown unknowables.
Se we have a mixture of state planning and randomness.
The attitudes of the public at large are carefully monitored, with eyes everywhere. You should not be surprised when the FBI raids a group of peace activists in Minneapolis and confiscates their computers. Anyone who presents any kind of an organized threat to the state is being watched. We can think what we want, but as long as we are atomized, we are no threat to power.
The state especially fears and harasses labor organizers.
Anyway, take some time, read the link at the end of the piece. It’s an analysis of where power lies and how it functions. It ain’t voting.
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All of this sounds pretty good to me. I especially liked the parts about shutting down peace activists and busting unions. And I was very happy to hear that the Iraq War was planned. There is nothing worse than going to war without any planning.
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Planning? Were YOU planning on goign, Bucky? There’s nothing worse than war cheerleaders NOT planning on going themselves. Don’t you agree?
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