Washington’s Blog has been running a provocative series of posts about the possibility the US might start a war to get out of the recession. He thinks the argument is bogus, that war in fact creates recessions rather than ending them, but that hasn’t stopped such wars from occuring in the past. In other words, is the US economy based on war?
PhD economist Marc Faber predicts that the U.S. will launch a war to distract people from the bad economy.
“Military Keynesianism” – using military spending to stimulate the economy – has been U.S. policy for half a century. And the economist who coined that term said that such a policy always and “inexorably” leads to “an actual war” in order to justify all of the military spending.
Interestingly, while the argument is a standard one on the far left, that the US economy is based on war, Washington’s Blog doesn’t view it as a left-right issue or frame it in the dismal timeworn jargon of the US socialist left. Probably because he’s not socialist. Instead he presents factual, documented articles about how the US has historically relied on war to goose the economy, and he does so in a non-partisan way.
Meanwhile, as I’ve often blogged here, the US far left and socialist left has been so asleep during this major crisis of capitalism that one must seriously ask, why is this? Marxist groupuscles (who sometimes yield considerable influence through front groups) have dreamed of such a crisis for decades. Yet they are ignoring it now that it’s here. One group is running micro electoral campaigns they have no chance of making an impact in while another has just decided to champion LGBT rights. Like I said, they are studiously ignoring the economic crisis and focusing on other things. Most bizarre. Were they just play-acting all along? Have they been compromised by government agents? Are their leaders afraid their itty bitty empires would be upset by actual class struggle? Dunno, and the reality is, fewer and fewer in the US even care.
So, it’s Washington’s Blog, Zero Hedge, Naked Capitalism, Mish (and others) who are pushing the envelope, asking the hard questions and doing the real investigative work. They may not know it, but they are the ones doing the organizing. And now the issues of the US economy being based on permanent war, the banksters being in control of DC, the plundering by an elite few of the rest of us, have been reaching entirely new, receptive audiences.
I was invited again this year, as I am every year, to march in this past Wednesday “parade”, which I, as I do every year, politely decline as I am appalled by the surreal Sound of Music-ish ease by which society has become militarized. As with the so-called electoral system, it’s a stadium sport*, a media event. This isn’t what I took a bullet for, or fifty-six thousand of my compatriots died for.
I’ve often stated that the beauty of having dropped out, gone “Galt”, once is in the ease of doing so again, and if you can drop out, step back, far enough you can where the militarization so thoroughly permeates society that it shows up even in the most liberal of arenas, kinda’ like hearing a core racist comment from someone you’re least likely to expect to hear from and they’re not even aware that what they said is racist.
I promised Bob I wouldn’t Fascist-monger, so I’ll just point out that the playbook is, afterall, seventy-five years old.
This, by the Existentialist Cowboy, especially his dissection of crowd mentality, is really good: the End of American Community.
* I’ve never been able to cross-reference an account of a Nazi General visiting the US back when we were more openly enamored of Fascism attending a football game and coming away to observe “do not go to war with people who play games like that”>
Perhaps it is inevitable that a perpetual war economy would become more militarized.
PS Then never declare war on Australia. Their rugby makes US football look placid…
What groups and movements that are seemingly co-opted into groveling for meager change when there is room to demand for much more? The ones that have been somewhat successful at actually poking the politicians and media in the eye to the point that they can not be ignored completely by the rest of the left are either mocked or they simply co-opt and misrepresent their messages.
Look at the cross blogosphere write-ups of Mobilization for Health Care sitting in at Lieberman’s offices. Some of the left Blogosphere tried to characterize their arrests as being in the name of “the public option”. Take a look at their site: M4HC is clearly a single payer group. Their slogan is “Medicare for All” – the same slogan that was on the back of the T-shirts they were wearing when arrested. I sent off some emails to them to ask if they were a single payer group given reports I had read on the Lieberman sit ins and they replied that they were and their views were being misrepresented.
Figure the odds, eh?
Good points. Either they deliberately misrepresent or couldn’t be bothered to check facts. Too busy blaming the right for everything to do that perhaps.
The way I see it, it was the 2nd world war that pulled us out of the 30’s recession, not all the policies of the various governments. Europe was in turmoil and the populace was in revolutionary mood. When I look at today’s world I keep hearing the voice of Mussolini. The last two quotes have particular relevance today.
All within the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state.
Democracy is beautiful in theory; in practice it is a fallacy.
Fascism is a religion. The twentieth century will be known in history as the century of Fascism.
Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power.
Fascism should rightly be called Corporatism, as it is the merger of corporate and government power.
All quotes from Benito Mussolini
Our country had been so much affected by this Economic Recession. there are lots of job cuts and company shutdowns. We are seeing some signs of economic recovery right now and we hope that it would continue.
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I think we are also seeing some signs of recovery from the Economic Recession. Of course, we have no idea of how long it will take to completely recover, but some say it’s going to be longer than for the other recessions in decades. I also scanned an article yesterday that said business owners need a new set of tactics to do well during recovery.