USA... Where did it go wrong?

[Starfox]

I'm fed up hearing about Trump. The guy is an idiot, a wreck, and the only level of intelligence he has is for making money (for himself and his close friends that is, not for the US) while destroying America and attempting to destroy the rest of the world as well, even picking a fight with the (American, ironically) Pope which is a mistake you don't want to commit, unless your name is Napoleon... or Jesus, but Trump got that last one covered, hasn't he? I've seen AI pictures...

Overall, the guy is digging his own grave. It's quite curious to see in fact. Never seen someone in such a hurry to bury himself. Macron said it very well a few weeks ago "Maybe you shouldn't talk everyday", the diplomatic version of "shut your mouth if you have nothing interesting to say and yes, tweets included". But Trump is Trump, so he'll keep burying himself, one truth social post at a time.

So here I decided to forget about him (which is more difficult than you'd think) and recenter the debate. Because the problem that America is living right now is not new. It has just been accelerated an exacerbated by Trump's recklessness, because he opens his mouth and does things without thinking so the problem grows in such proportions that it is impossible to ignore any longer, but the roots of the problem can be traced decades ago (more than 60 years now).

When you want to correct a problem and try to attain a better future, the essential is to recognize the problem first, how, why and when it happened. Comprehension and knowledge are tools that a certain category of people have always used to keep others in the dark so they could do whatever they wanted for greater power and money gain. But comprehension and knowledge can also be used the other way around.

So here are a few videos I selected. Even better, for the most part those are Americans (even more, patriots) speaking, not the views of an outsider who doesn't know American culture or history. Because yes, there are many Americans who correctly identified the problems and even, in some cases, tried to warn other Americans What would likely happen if things continued to go this way.

I will put these videos in separate posts (to avoid length issues with my added comments) but all in this thread. I'd say "enjoy", but sadly, that's unlikely you will.

[Starfox]

The ghost of the past

Well, the first video is a real ghost as Eisenhower has not been with us for quite a long time. Still, in this address to the American people in 1961, the last he gave at the end of his eight years presidency, he exposed a vision of what the USA should stand for and what America should try to achieve in the future (compare his vision to today and look for the discrepancies -- they are many).

He used this occasion to also gave a few warnings about things that the American people should watch for to avoid being taken for a bunch of suckers. He was one of those rare people who predicted where the future could go with uncanny clarity. Those warnings didn't come from nowhere, they came because of the changes to the American "experiment" he had the occasion to witness during his two terms. Unfortunately, his warnings went largely unheeded.

Quite a few things worth pointing out in this address:

... America's leadership and prestige depend not merely upon our unmatched material progress and military strength but on how we use our power in the interest of world peace and human betterment. Throughout America's adventure in free government, our basic purposes have been to keep the peace, to foster progress in human achievement and to enhance liberty, dignity, and integrity among peoples and among nations, to strive for less would be unworthy of a free and religious people.

Ouch, America is so far off the planned trajectory today, isn't she?

Any failure traceable to arrogance or our lack of comprehension or readiness to sacrifice would inflict upon us grievous hurt both at home and abroad.

And here comes Trump, champion of all of the above. But it's not only Trump. It was G.W. Bush in 2003, Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965 (and countless American interventions across the world that toppled "hostile" governments to replace them with "friendly" ones -- for the money, most of the time, and doing so, creating future problems that one day needed to be solved too), the difference is that previous US presidents were more "measured" or rather cautious in their actions so they wouldn't have to show their hand if they didn't want to. Lying at poker is a fine art that Trump never learned (he's lying every day, but he's getting less an less believable as time goes by). Maybe we should be thankful for that.

Crisis there will continue to be, in meeting them, whether foreign or domestic, great or small, there is a recurring temptation to feel that some spectacular and costly action could become the miraculous solution to all current difficulties.

Venezuela and Iran anyone? I could add others but those are the most recent examples.

Good judgement seeks balance and progress. Lack of it eventually finds imbalance and frustration.

It seems kind of obvious when you think about it, doesn't it? Still we can clearly see today that it's a pearl of wisdom that has been lost to the ages.

A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction. Our military organization today bears little relation to that known by any of my predecessors in peace time or indeed by the fighting men of World War 2 or Korea. Until the latest of our world conflicts the United States had no armament industry. [...] We have been compelled to create a permanent armament industry of vast proportions. [...] Now this conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. [...] We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. [...] In the councils of governments, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes.

I already posted some of this in a previous post but this is important because it conditioned a huge part of what happened next. In essence, the message that Eisenhower tried (and failed) to convey here is that after World War 2, war stopped being just warfare and became a business. War generates vast amount of profits for both industrialists and politicians. But for the profits to flow, there has to be a war, that you can fight, somewhere, anywhere, in order to sell weapons. Whether these wars are justified or not does not matter. If there is no war, there is a need for those people (industrialists and politicians) to create one. Vietnam, Iraq 2003, Iran... What do you think they were/are? Every vehicle or aircraft lost, every bomb dropped, every missile launched, every bullet fired must be replaced.  And I'm not even addressing the resulting human losses here.

I just watched an interesting exchange in congress between Senator Mark Kelly and Secretary of Defense/War Pete Hegseth where Hegseth brazenly recognized that the financial amount of ammunition spent in Iran so far was close to US$330 billions. Let that sink in. I was flabbergasted and so was Mark Kelly (originally the number, to his knowledge, was somewhere around US$31 billions). It's not the US government fighting any kind of major war for a valid cause (we still don't know what the reason is anyway), it's the US government milking US taxpayers for everything they have, and even what they don't have. You want a better image? This is more than a third of what the US spent in Vietnam in 10 years (adjusted for inflation). That's truly impressive, even if you keep in mind the fact that today munitions are more refined and more costly to produce. So in a few months, the US managed to waste the equivalent of three years of the Vietnam war (or in other words, a third of the current annual US military budget, except that it is unplanned spending that is added to this year's budget, it's not included). And I use "waste" because what are the concrete results? Iran didn't surrender, the regime is very much alive and kicking, the Hormuz strait remains closed endangering the whole worldwide economy and pushing prices higher and higher for (almost) everyone, included US consumers, the presence of enriched uranium stockpiles in Iran is still a big question mark and... no that's pretty much it. I'm sure Trump will call it a victory though and perform that little silly dance he does sometimes.

And that's not even the worst part. The worst part is that, according to Hegseth it will take months and even years to rebuild the munition stockpile (but don't worry it's why the US government is working hard to built new munitions factories to try and get it done faster -- guess who will pay for these new factories). So if tomorrow China decides to invade Taiwan, or if North Korea decides to move into South Korea again, or Russia against NATO so that America finds itself having to fight, you know, a "justified" and "legit" war, what will the US military do? Throw pebbles at them? The situation is so dire that the US started to remove Patriot missile batteries defending allied countries to reposition them in the Middle-East. If that's winning, I don't know what Trump's definition of losing is. And do we really want to know?

And who are the real winners here? Well, the same as usual. Look no further than all the companies (and their suppliers) producing the missiles and other munitions in the US. Not only they will have brand new factories but their livelihood is assured for years to come. Sure there will be some kickback to pay to some politicians for their gracious help in making money, but it's nothing new and I'm sure it's already factored in the budgets of those companies.

For that very reason Eisenhower said:

We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machine of defense with our peaceful methods and goals so that security and liberty may prosper together.

In other words: stay alert, keep informed, be knowledgeable and act when appropriate because otherwise you won't be at the table but on the menu. Note that Eisenhower gave the task of overseeing the actions of the US military industrial complex to the citizenry, because why would you fully trust your politicians as they could very well be part of the problem themselves? Guilty until proven innocent should have been the order of the day. And the military industrial complex took notice. maybe the common American didn't understand Eisenhower's message, but all those guys, industrialists and politicians alike, sure did, and they acted to counter it, for their own benefit.

But that will be for the next video.

Meanwhile, Eisenhower had also other targets in mind:

[...] the free university, historically the fountain head of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes a substitute for intellectual curiosity. For every old blackboard there are now hundreds of electronic computers. The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by federal employment, project allocations and the power of money is ever present and is gravely to be regarded. yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could become the captive of a scientific technological elite.

Boy, the man was on a roll. It's like he had a crystal ball in his office. The prime offender... Elon Musk. And maybe others like him just waiting in the backroom for future opportunities. I mean, such guys are ultra rich but money is not enough for them, no, they want power as well.

Another factor in maintaining balance involves the element of time. As we peer into humanity's future we, you and I, and our government must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering for our own ease and convenience the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage.

Well, if we look at it today, the fight against plundering is going damn well, isn't it?

During the long lane of history yet to be written, America knows that this world of ours, ever growing smaller, must avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate and be instead a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect. Such a confederation must be one of equals, the weakest must come to the conference table with the same competence as do we, protected as we are by our moral, economic and military strength. That table, though scarred by many past frustrations, cannot be abandoned for the certain agony of the battlefield. Disarmament, with mutual honor and confidence is a continuing imperative. Together we must learn how to compose differences, not with arms but with intellect and decent purpose.

Maybe Eisenhower and a certain part of America knew all that but things drastically changed in the decades after. Eisenhower saw the changes beginning to take place with his own eyes during his terms and even slowed the increase in military spending despite the pressure of politicians and lobbyists, without, however, stopping it entirely. Like a lot of things he saw or did during his presidency, he considered the US military industrial complex as a necessary evil considering the danger posed by the USSR. Still the growing influence of that same military industrial complex within the halls of power worried him enough to dare put that in writing for his last address to the American people as president. And if Eisenhower hadn't been a national hero for his role in World War 2 he would have probably been silenced before even giving this speech.

Though congress issued the proposition first, Eisenhower was also the president who approved the replacement of the original motto of the United States "E Pluribus Unum" ("Out of Many, One" -- proposed in 1776 because after all the American colonies were many immigrants and descendants of immigrants from diverse parts of the world coming into one nation), for the now widely known and dubious "In God We Trust", also an attempt at fighting the atheist communism of the Soviet Union. Like many things adopted during the Cold War though, it was not abandoned when the Cold War ended. Eisenhower was undoubtedly a religious man, but when it comes to the use of "In God we trust" today, he would certainly think that's going too far. As the Pope said recently, you don't start a war because God wills it, that doesn't work that way. You don't pray to God to give your troops victory, that doesn't work that way either. And believe me, politicians perfectly know that but the essential is that the general public believes it true that the government is doing the work of God and so God is on their side -- not all of the public, but a sufficient proportion of individuals. Having them not even question what is happening is all the better. Meanwhile, Hegseth fired several general officers, including the chaplain  in charge of the religious branch of the US army, of all people. Firing the guy organizing the chaplains of your army, that seems a particularly odd thing to do. Would it be because that chaplain disagreed with Hegseth affirming that US soldiers were fighting for Jesus, or that Trump was here to facilitate the second coming of the Christ?

To his list of warnings, Eisenhower could have added the American food industry. He didn't because back in his days it wasn't yet the huge problem it is now. But the American food industry is possibly the purest example of how Americans' health and needs are disregarded on a daily basis as long as disregarding them allow companies to generate greater profits. There are plenty of videos on the topic because part of the American population is starting to grasp how bad it has become (I'd recommend to check this one, it's enlightening).

Regarding Eisenhower's final address, we can ask the question: when and how America went the wrong way, from a nation dedicated to peace around the world and the betterment of the human kind to a nation of warmongers purely seeking profit? Well, America actually didn't take a wrong turn. The plan elaborated by generations of corrupt politicians influenced by money-seeking lobbyists was voluntary, carefully planned and executed. Because what is the best way to have complete control over a population to such an extent that nobody is even thinking to seriously question the policies of their own country? Constant brainwashing leading to the erasure of critical thinking.

Which leads us to our second video.

[Starfox]

This was then and this is now.

Not a lot to say on my end for this one, it's pretty self explanatory. But yes, I can confirm what the content creator in this video affirms: all of this goes from weird to absolutely creepy in the rest of the world (with maybe the exception of totalitarian states like North Korea or states that were under the heavy influence of the US at some point like the Philippines). Try to explain to a German what the pledge of allegiance is and the first image that will come to his mind is Hitler because this is exactly what the Hitler Youth had the children do so they could later fight more heroically for the Nazi machine without questioning their orders.

I should preface what will follow saying that propaganda is not a phenomenon unique to one country. It's how countries work at first. A country needs to instill in its population a sense of national identity and pride. It's why you have Germans proud to be German, Italians proud to be Italian, French proud to be French and, fairly recently, Europeans proud to be European... Every country (and no Europe is not a country but that's not my point) has some form of propaganda running to achieve that, but there are limits and lines to not cross. This video is discussing some of those limits.

In respect to the video above, I must say that I see with pleasure a growing part of Americans using their critical thinking and asking the important question in regard to the actions of their country: "What the hell are we doing?" The presence of the internet has facilitated access to information and knowledge about the world that was previously difficult to gather for Americans that never left the country. And when one starts to broaden one's horizon, this is when the questions hit. Americans who wish it can go and check by themselves what happens around the world. Several countries have their own English news channels for English speakers, even when English is not their language (France 24 English is an example and you can even find it on YT).

American people who are not informed about what goes on around the world today, it's mainly because they don't want to be (the US mainstream media won't help you there, even the most liberal of them won't talk about the world at large as long as it's not relevant to America). Even some MAGA are starting to wake up, even if they are still few in number. For them, it's like being in a cult and looking for a way out. It's hard, though not impossible, but for one to succeed one must want to get out of it first. Those MAGA people who are still MAGA today (and yes you see them on the internet every day) are a lost cause. You can't look at what Trump is doing to America right now and pretend it's fine. If you do you truly are brain dead. And still, I see MAGA people losing their livelihood thank to Trump's actions and going "Trump is a great guy, it's the fault of everyone else".

Wonder why the American education system is in tatters? Well, that's simple, a large part of US politicians have absolutely zero interest in educating people about things outside of the US because educated people end up asking questions, a lot of questions. And they end up having ideas about making the country what it should be and not what politicians want it to be for their own convenience. Easier to spread the mantra "the USA is the greatest country in the world!" because as long as people believe that, there's no need for improvements. Why would you try to improve what is already perfection?

Problem is, perfection doesn't exist, it doesn't exist in people, it doesn't exist in countries. Every country in the world, every political system has its share of advantages and disadvantages. The USA is not perfect, the UK is not perfect, Germany is not perfect, France is not perfect, the EU is not perfect. There's room for improvements everywhere. And that's the thing, a country that stops debating, that stops trying to improve things, that stops identifying problems and finding solutions for them, in short that becomes complacent, because of this weird idea that nothing can be better or because of a perceived "top dog" status, is a country waiting to die. And waiting to die is not a good feeling.

Of course, things are not the same everywhere in the US because of the way things are run. Some states are more open to new ideas and discussions than others that seem already dead (and I'm not giving names, if you're American, I assume you already know). Education levels vary in the same way. And fortunately I see more and more American adults taking things in their own hands and educating themselves about the world at large to acquire the knowledge and perspective that the US education system failed to give them, when they have the time. All it takes is an internet connection and the world is literally at your fingertips.

Europeans loves to debate endlessly, some, especially some Americans, would say too much, which is a weird thing to say when you are in a democracy -- I hear Americans (especially those in power) complaining that Europe is slow because of so much debates going on. Debating, exchanging ideas and opinions, even if you disagree strongly with some of them is the foundation of democracy, it's as old as ancient Greece, it's what separates democracies from totalitarian states. Discussions in France, even between friends or family can sometimes become very heated. We don't fear confrontation of ideas but we don't let that destroy families or friendships because that would be plain silly.

And I agree with the sentiment in this video: criticizing one's country in order to find solutions and make it better is not being unpatriotic. It's in fact quite the opposite. Why would you be unpatriotic just because you want your country to be better and to succeed? Being labeled unpatriotic in the USA today is really all about preventing the common people from blocking the rich from getting even richer and over-exploiting the rest of the population, and this is a crime. According to who? The rich people of course. They are the ones who have designed the system since the 1950s and profit from it; they want to keep it.

Spoiler: they're fighting a losing battle and don't even know it. Which brings us to the next video (again, I'll post later).

[Starfox]

Before I get to the next video, we really need to talk about Trump's "vacations" to China. Because this was not good. If I was going into drama territory, I'd even say it was a fucking disaster. And I question the competency of the guys who translate Chinese for Trump. Because virtually, when reporters asked him what Xi said about the USA, we got a: "He said that the USA had been declining for the past 4 years; what president Trump has done in the last 15-16 months has been virtually a miracle. He said you have the hottest country anywhere in the world".

Well, the last bit about "hot" is real Trump's talk. I can't see in what occasion -- barring being under the influence of some very heavy "medication" -- Xi would have ever told that crap. For crying out loud. What Xi actually said was more like "China is an ascending power. The USA is declining and on its way out". If anything he was giving Trump a warning. Yep, that's right, Xi is not even afraid of the US. And why would he be? We all see what America's military power achieved in Iran. Great show, $330 billions of ammunition used and no results. Oh wait, not completely correct. Iran, after several weeks of negotiations said "I think we're going to say no. And what do you intend to do about that?" Iran knows that the US cannot continue to fight this war without bleeding its economy dry. At this point the only way to win this war for Trump is to go all in and drop nukes, at which point America would be finished on the world stage. And US adversaries are taking notice.

This is Iran we're talking about a 90 millions people country. Imagine a confrontation with China and its 1.4 billions people. And with Trump's disaster in the Hormuz Strait and his unilateral decision to lift the sanctions on Russian oil, Xi can buy all the Russian oil he wants, meaning sure, the closure of the Strait is annoying to China, but far to be as annoying as it is to the US and Europe. In other word, I think Xi is sleeping soundly at night. Also, Putin is making a killing selling all this oil to finance his war in Ukraine.

And what did Trump got back from his journey, what concessions did he extract from Xi? Did he got at the very least a promise that China will never ever even think of attacking Taiwan? "Relationship" (he told the reporter asking him, his word) "it's all about relationship". What's next, you want to fall on one knee and propose under the moonlight? I mean if, at that point, some Americans still think that this president is not the biggest clown in all the history of American presidents for the past 250 years... I'll be very disappointed, and a little upset. More to the point, you must realize that nobody, and I mean nobody, including allies, is taking the US seriously anymore. Enemies are laughing out loud and allies are putting their trust in America in the past and labeling the US as "possible threat".

This is going to be Trump's legacy, something he can be proud of.

But as I don't want to leave you with no video, here's some news of the war in Europe that the US mainstream media (if I know them well) have completely forgot about by now. It's not the video I originally intended, but it will serve a purpose.

And yes, Ukrainians have become the top most drone experts in the world, by necessity, far ahead of the US. It's also the biggest fighting force in Europe, and of course the best trained, also by necessity. And I think that when this war is over, maybe even before, Ukraine will be fast tracked to become a member of the European Union. And Ukrainians achieve that because the objective of their war is clear; they fight for survival, the survival of their country. I wish that the US had an objective that clear with Iran, but we all know there's none, aside maybe helping Russia.

To be honest, Ukraine developing AI based drones scares the hell out of me because it seems too close to what I have always dreaded for the future of warfare (those who played Horizon Zero Dawn will know why -- I recommend to play it if you didn't) but Ukrainians are on the "whatever it takes" path and they are right, you cannot hold your blows when you're in a fight for survival. They didn't start this war; Putin did.