Full screen recommended.
2002, "Greater Than The Sum"
In Ancient Greece, philosopher Aristotle (384–322 B.C.)
wrote “The whole is greater than the sum of the parts”
So, we rise from the rubble...
StatCounter
Thursday, July 30, 2026
"A Look to the Heavens"
"In silhouette against a crowded star field along the tail of the arachnalogical constellation Scorpius, this dusty cosmic cloud evokes for some the image of an ominous dark tower.
In fact, clumps of dust and molecular gas collapsing to form stars may well lurk within the dark nebula, a structure that spans almost 40 light-years across this gorgeous telescopic portrait. Known as a cometary globule, the swept-back cloud, is shaped by intense ultraviolet radiation from the OB association of very hot stars in NGC 6231, off the upper edge of the scene. That energetic ultraviolet light also powers the globule's bordering reddish glow of hydrogen gas. Hot stars embedded in the dust can be seen as bluish reflection nebulae. This dark tower, NGC 6231, and associated nebulae are about 5,000 light-years away."
The Poet: Dylan Thomas, "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night"
"Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night"
"Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light."
- Dylan Thomas
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The Marmalade, "Reflections Of My Life"
"The world is a bad place, a bad place, a terrible place to live,
oh, but I don't want to die..."
"Col. Lawrence Wilkerson: Does Trump Know He Lost His War?"
Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom, 7/30/26
"Col. Lawrence Wilkerson:
Does Trump Know He Lost His War?"
Comments here:
"Russia–Iran Retaliation Decimates Kyiv - Trump in Panic"
Col. Douglas Macgregor, 7/30/26
"Russia–Iran Retaliation Decimates Kyiv -
Trump in Panic"
In this critical breakdown, we analyze Douglas Macgregor's explosive claim that last night's devastating Russian strikes on Ukraine bore the unmistakable handwriting of Iranian military retaliation. With over 74 cruise and ballistic missiles and 284 one-way attack drones striking across 11 Ukrainian regions - including Kiev, Lviv, Vinnytsia, and Sumy - the scale and precision of this operation signals that Vladimir Putin has finally lost all patience with Zelensky, NATO, and President Trump. We examine the strategic targeting of Ukraine's military-industrial complex, including the Mayak Defence Plant, Lviv State Aviation Repair Plant, and critical weapons storage facilities. The use of hypersonic Zircon missiles, the severing of NATO's maritime supply routes, and the striking of cargo ships in the Black Sea all point to Iranian military involvement - a direct response to Ukraine's recent attack on an Iranian vessel in the Caspian Sea."
Comments here:
"Iran Decimates US Forces! 2 Top Generals, Hundreds Killed - Trump Urges Iran Stop"
Full screen recommended.
Scott Ritter, 7/30/26
"Iran Decimates US Forces! 2 Top Generals,
Hundreds Killed - Trump Urges Iran Stop"
Comments here:
"A Good Man Can Get Real Tired of Being Good"
Full screen recommended.
"A Good Man Can Get Real Tired of Being Good"
“A Good Man Can Get Real Tired of Being Good” is a soulful blues about the quiet exhaustion that comes from always doing the right thing while receiving little in return. The singer reflects on years of patience, sacrifice, and forgiveness, wondering how long a good man can keep carrying everyone else before his own spirit grows weary. Driven by slow, heartfelt blues guitar and the aching cry of the harmonica the song unfolds with honesty, grit, and emotional depth. The voice is weathered but compassionate, capturing the struggle between staying kind and reaching the end of your patience. Even the strongest heart… Needs a place to rest."
"Above All..."
"Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love. "
- Fyodor Dostoevsky, "The Brothers Karamazov"
"The World As I See It: Albert Einstein's Thoughts on the Meaning of Life”
"The World As I See It:
Albert Einstein's Thoughts on the Meaning of Life”
by Paul Ratner
“Albert Einstein was one of the world’s most brilliant thinkers, influencing scientific thought immeasurably. He was also not shy about sharing his wisdom about other topics, writing essays, articles, letters, giving interviews and speeches. His opinions on social and intellectual issues that do not come from the world of physics give an insight into the spiritual and moral vision of the scientist, offering much to take to heart.
The collection of essays and ideas “The World As I See It”* gathers Einstein’s thoughts from before 1935, when he was as the preface says “at the height of his scientific powers but not yet known as the sage of the atomic age”.
In the book, Einstein comes back to the question of the purpose of life on several occasions. In one passage, he links it to a sense of religiosity. “What is the meaning of human life, or, for that matter, of the life of any creature? To know an answer to this question means to be religious. You ask: Does it many any sense, then, to pose this question? I answer: The man who regards his own life and that of his fellow creatures as meaningless is not merely unhappy but hardly fit for life,” wrote Einstein.
Was Einstein himself religious? Raised by secular Jewish parents, he had complex and evolving spiritual thoughts. He generally seemed to be open to the possibility of the scientific impulse and religious thoughts coexisting. "Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind," said Einstein in his 1954 essay on science and religion.
Some (including the scientist himself) have called Einstein’s spiritual views as pantheism, largely influenced by the philosophy of Baruch Spinoza. Pantheists see God as existing but abstract, equating all of reality with divinity. They also reject a specific personal God or a god that is somehow endowed with human attributes.
Himself a famous atheist, Richard Dawkins calls Einstein's pantheism a “sexed-up atheism,” but other scholars point to the fact that Einstein did seem to believe in a supernatural intelligence that’s beyond the physical world. He referred to it in his writings as “a superior spirit,” “a superior mind” and a “spirit vastly superior to men”. Einstein was possibly a deist, although he was quite familiar with various religious teachings, including a strong knowledge of Jewish religious texts.
In another passage from 1934, Einstein talks about the value of a human being, reflecting a Buddhist-like approach: “The true value of a human being is determined primarily by the measure and the sense in which he has attained liberation from the self.”
This theme of liberating the self is also echoed by Einstein later in life, in a 1950 letter to console a grieving father Robert S. Marcus: “A human being is a part of the whole, called by us "Universe," a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest- a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. The striving to free oneself from this delusion is the one issue of true religion. Not to nourish it but to try to overcome it is the way to reach the attainable measure of peace of mind.”
In case you are wondering whether Einstein saw value in material pursuits, here’s him talking about accumulating wealth in 1934, as part of the “The World As I See It”: “I am absolutely convinced that no wealth in the world can help humanity forward, even in the hands of the most devoted worker in this cause. The example of great and pure characters is the only thing that can lead us to noble thoughts and deeds. Money only appeals to selfishness and irresistibly invites abuse. Can anyone imagine Moses, Jesus or Gandhi armed with the money-bags of Carnegie?”
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Freely download "The World As I See It", by Albert Einstein, here:
"I Am An Invisible Man..."
"I am an invisible man. No, I am not a spook like those who haunted Edgar Allan Poe; nor am I one of your Hollywood-movie ectoplasms. I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids - and I might even be said to possess a mind. I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me. Like the bodiless heads you see sometimes in circus sideshows, it is as though I have been surrounded by mirrors of hard, distorting glass. When they approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves, or figments of their imagination - indeed, everything and anything except me."
- Ralph Ellison, "Prologue to Invisible Man"
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"There Comes A Time..."
"Cowardice asks the question, is it safe? Expediency asks the question, is it politic? Vanity asks the question, is it popular? But, conscience asks the question, is it right? And there comes a time when we must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take it because it is right."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
"Corporations Are Overcharging Americans… And People Are Getting Angry"
Full screen recommended.
Across The States, 7/30/26
"Corporations Are Overcharging Americans…
And People Are Getting Angry"
"Ever wonder why your final bill is higher than the price you expected? Hidden fees, shrinkflation, and changing product quality are quietly affecting everyday purchases - and most people don't notice until it's too late. In this video, we break down how modern pricing tactics work, from smaller product sizes to surprise charges added at checkout. Here's the thing... the number you see isn't always the amount you end up paying, and understanding why can help you make smarter financial decisions. What most people don't realize is that these pricing strategies now appear across groceries, restaurants, rent, subscriptions, healthcare, and even online shopping. We also explore why consumers are becoming more cautious, how buying habits are changing, and practical ways to avoid paying more than necessary. The reality is that informed shoppers have more power than they think. Watch till the end to discover simple habits that can help you spot hidden costs before they hit your wallet."
Comments here:
"Grocery Items At Kroger Everyone Should Be Buying This Week!"
Full screen recommended.
Adventures With Danno, 7/30/26
"Grocery Items At Kroger Everyone
Should Be Buying This Week!"
Comments here:
Bill Bonner, "A Prayer For The Grandchildren"
"A Prayer For The Grandchildren"
It’s all part of the great rhythm...the beat that goes on...and on...
and on. Everything corrects. Everything regresses to the mean.
From ashes to ashes...dust to dust.
by Bill Bonner
Poitou, France - "First, we are working in the dark. Figuratively most days. But today, literally. The windows and shutters are closed. There is a ‘heat emergency’ in our area. The temperature yesterday afternoon hit 102 degrees. This may pose no threat to the lizards of Death Valley, but here almost no one has AC. Instead, old people are told to stay inside, guzzling water, so the authorities won’t have the expense of hauling them to the morgue. This is the fourth heat wave to hit Europe this summer. People are beginning to think the planet really is heating up. You can throw a baseball as hard as you can; more than likely, it won’t go to the moon. But how likely is it that ‘global warming’ turns out to be an accurate description of coming weather? Let the feds have their delusional certainties. Here at BPR, we stick to guesswork and probabilities…sometimes right, sometimes wrong, always in doubt.
Meanwhile, in the stock market, the clouds gather and disperse. Investors celebrate paper gains by buying vacation homes. Or, they hang their heads and curse the market gods. And the most up-beat IPO of all time – Space X -- turns into the biggest loser of all time, with more than $1 trillion of market value evaporated in 45 days. Pity the poor retiring investor. He should have known better. And today, we try to ‘know better’ by looking at things that – sometime in the future -- we will wish we had known now.
The world’s biggest borrower is now in hock for nearly $40 trillion...and will never pay it back. That is almost a certainty. More likely than not, the gods will want their pound of flesh. But from whom? When? It’s all part of the great rhythm...the beat that goes on...and on...and on. Everything corrects. Everything regresses to the mean. From ashes to ashes...dust to dust. And the dollar will go to whatever godforsaken hellhole all paper currencies end up - blowing through back alleys like plastic beer cups after a block party.
There is something consoling about it. Whatever you’re worried about, it will soon be gone. One way or another, every debt will be settled. All stocks become worthless. All empires are destroyed. And all people die. ‘He should have gotten more exercise,’ they murmur over the coffin. ‘He should have listened to his doctor.’ ‘He should have lost weight.’ ‘The poor man should never have bought SpaceX.’ But sooner or later, he was going to die anyway. As are we all.
Yesterday, we kept vigil over the tech sickbed. IBM lost 25% of its value in a single day. Google will be hit hard by its losses on SpaceX. Tesla too. They were all bound to ‘correct’ sooner or later...now is as good a time as ever.
And how about the US empire? Is now a good time for it to regress to the mean? Donald Trump is doing a good job of leading the regression. But how do we know it is not just a huge head-fake...with the real decline not coming for many years? Well, we don’t know. But the federales are doing all they can to bring the empire down now. And no matter what path they choose, at least in the medium term - two to ten years - they are almost sure to stumble.
Yahoo! Finance: "Total federal debt stood at $39.065 trillion as of January 1, 2026, according to the Federal Reserve’s GFDEBTN series, and is on pace to cross $50 trillion before 2030. The stock has grown by roughly $16 trillion since 2020. The bigger issue is the vintage of that debt. A large share of that debt was issued when the 10-year yielded under 2%. As that paper matures, Bessent has to reissue it into a market where the 10-year yields 4.67% and the 30-year yields 5.15%. Every rollover raises the ongoing carrying cost of the national debt."
The US government has made the same ‘mistake’ as Google and Oracle - it squandered its cash. It raised nearly $40 trillion, net - borrowing it from relatives, friends, and enemies...while counterfeiting a few extra bills in the basement of the Treasury.
What did it do with the money? What ‘investment’ of public funds did it make that would repay the loans? Let’s look at the portfolio results. The Iraq war? The Afghanistan war? All of those billions in weapons to Israel? The attack on Iran? Where’s the profit?
Or how about those half-century War on Poverty and War on Drugs programs? (Even the most recent iteration has produced no bottom-line gains. Esquire: ‘Turns out, we blew up all those boats in the Caribbean for nothing.’) Or the DEI initiatives? Or the loans to college students and grants to universities? Or the billions in funding for better medical care? Where’s the payoff?
If the rate of return on the $40 trillion were just 5%, there would be plenty of coin to pay the interest...and pay down the principal. Instead, there’s nothing. And now, the total is approaching $50 trillion by 2030, when the Feds will likely have to come up with $2.5 trillion just to cover the interest.
Where will that money come from? No uncertainty there...it has to come from somewhere. And since all those ‘investments’ they made over the last thirty years have been ruinous failures, the only way they’ll be able to pay the interest is either by cutting down on current spending...or borrowing more money. Inflate or die. There is no third way, no matter what TV quack tells you otherwise.
We’re back to probabilities. Which is more likely? Take your time to think about it, dear reader....and about the people who will make the decision. And the context. Will voters give up Social Security and Medicare benefits to protect the fiscal virtue of the Republic...for their grandchildren’s sake? And what about the feds - Democrat or Republican...will they stand up to the big lobbies to save the dollar...or will they save their own political necks? We don’t know for sure. But we wouldn’t bet on the dollar…and we’ll whisper a prayer for the grandchildren."
"The Great Middle East War Escalates: Trump Has Told Us Exactly What He Plans To Do Next, And It Is Going To Change Everything"
by Michael Snyder
"President Trump’s profanity-laced tirade about Iran has shocked people all over the globe, and it appears that things are about to get really crazy in the Middle East. At the end of last week, all of the signs were pointing in the direction of a major escalation of the Great Middle East War, but then President Trump suddenly decided to stop shooting because he wanted to give diplomacy with Iran another chance. But instead of negotiating, the Iranians launched a surprise attack on a U.S. military base in Jordan instead…
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) on July 28 announced that Iran launched a series of ballistic missiles at a U.S. base in Jordan, in what the federal agency called a “surprise attack” that day. The attack took place at 5:45 p.m. ET, when CENTCOM said Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces launched “multiple ballistic missiles from Iran in an attempted surprise attack on U.S. forces” in the Middle East."
For a long time, Iran has been responding to attacks from the United States. But now they have taken the initiative, and we are being told that they “see themselves as having the upper hand”…"Iran’s surprise missile attack on U.S. forces in Jordan shows Tehran’s military leaders would rather risk ramping up the war than play defense or accept a peace deal that would expose them to greater domestic political pressures.
Iran fired ballistic missiles on U.S. troops early Wednesday local time, demonstrating a willingness by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which exerts more power than ever in Tehran, to escalate during a relative lull in the conflict and attempt to seize the initiative after weeks in which Iran has mostly reacted to U.S. and Israeli attacks. “They see themselves as having the upper hand,” said Hamidreza Azizi, a visiting fellow specializing in Iran at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. “It was a signal of a sort of calibrated escalation.”
Shortly after Iran’s surprise attack, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia conducted a series of joint airstrikes against Iranian-backed militia groups in Iraq… Saudi Arabia entered the Iran war directly Wednesday, joining the United States in airstrikes against Iran-backed armed groups in Iraq. The operation marked the first time Riyadh publicly acknowledged taking part in combat alongside U.S. forces during the conflict. U.S. and Saudi officials said the strikes were retaliation for drone attacks launched from Iraq against Saudi oil facilities. So now Saudi Arabia has officially joined the war. That definitely takes things to another level. It is being reported that the joint airstrikes hit 8 different areas inside Iraq…
This was a very big operation. In addition to the others that died as a result of these airstrikes, we are being told that “several Iranian military advisers were among those killed”… "Sabreen News, a media outlet linked to Iran-backed Shiite militias in Iraq that were targeted by joint U.S.-Saudi strikes on Tuesday, said Wednesday that several Iranian military advisers were among those killed in the attacks. The news outlet released a photo showing coffins wrapped in Iranian flags with a caption reading: “The martyred Iranian advisers who were killed by the fire of the Saudi Wahhabi-American enemy in Iraq at dawn today.”
Every time more of their people die, the Iranian thirst for revenge only grows stronger. Images such as the one below certainly stir up a lot of emotion…
U.S. forces spent so many years fighting in Iraq, but today Iranian-backed groups control large sections of that country. The Iraqis did not give us permission to attack those groups, and Iraq’s president has strongly condemned the joint airstrikes…"Iraq’s president has condemned a joint U.S.-Saudi attack on Iran-backed paramilitary forces in the country, which the militias said had killed at least 20 people and drew yet another country into the five-month Middle East war launched by Israel and the U.S. on Feb. 28.
In a statement, the Iraqi presidency said Wednesday that the strikes, which were the first offensive operations Saudi Arabia has acknowledged taking part in during the current conflict, were “an unacceptable attack and a flagrant violation of Iraq’s sovereignty.” The statement condemned “targeting of its official security institutions in a manner that contravenes the rules of international law and the Charter of the United Nations.”
Iraq’s central government is very weak, and it simply cannot stop Iranian-backed groups from firing missiles and drones at targets throughout the region. And now one of those groups is promising that the United States and Saudi Arabia will pay “a heavy price” for last night’s attacks…Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, an Iran-aligned Iraqi militia, warned Wednesday that U.S. and Saudi forces would face retaliation following joint strikes on armed groups in Iraq.
The group said it would not allow the two countries to “desecrate Iraqi soil without paying a heavy price.” The warning came after Washington and Riyadh attacked Iran-backed militias accused of launching strikes against Saudi Arabia, further escalating tensions across the region. Other Iranian-backed organizations in Iraq have issued similar threats. So now we are at war with just about every Shiite militia group in Iraq too. More than 100,000 fighters belong to Shiite militia groups in Iraq, and those fighters operate primarily under the umbrella of the state-sanctioned Popular Mobilization Forces.
Tonight, Iran will be the focus of U.S. airstrikes. On Wednesday morning here in the United States, President Trump used some very strong profanities to describe what he is about to do to Iran…President Donald Trump on Wednesday morning issued a profanity-laced threat against Iran after the Islamic regime launched a surprise missile strike on U.S. forces in Jordan overnight. “We’re going to beat the f—ing s— out of them,” Trump told Fox News chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst. “We’ll be hitting them hard,” the president said of Iran. “They’re going to get a beating.”
We have never seen a president of the United States talk like this. And it appears that Trump is not bluffing. A senior Israeli security official just told an Israeli reporter that the U.S. is “preparing for something bigger than anything we’ve seen so far”…
It is likely that Iran will get hit really hard tonight. But will the Iranians soon be getting help in fighting off U.S. airstrikes from China? Reuters is reporting that Iran has paid somewhere between 60 and 70 million dollars for hundreds of Chinese-made shoulder-fired air defense systems…"Iran is poised to receive its first shipment of shoulder-fired missile launchers from China amid the escalating war with the US - which is now in its sixth month.
The $60-70 million deal, first reported by Reuters, is one of the regime’s most high-profile efforts to boost its short-range air defenses since war broke out in February, laying bare its inability to defend military sites and strategic infrastructure against aerial bombardments by the US and Israel. The contract will see between 300 and 400 man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS), complete with Chinese-made QW-12 and FN-16 missiles, delivered to Tehran in the coming weeks, sources told the outlet. These Chinese systems are designed to be able to shoot down our most advanced fighter jets."
Needless to say, this is going to make Trump very angry, and it pushes us even closer to our coming war with China. Events in the Middle East are starting to spiral out of control, and oil prices spiked once again on Wednesday… Global oil prices surged on Wednesday after an Iranian attack elicited a vow of reprisal from President Donald Trump, ending a brief calm that had renewed hope among investors of a negotiated resolution. A benchmark index for worldwide crude prices climbed more than 7% on Wednesday, crossing above $90 a barrel.
I have been writing a lot of articles about the historic energy crisis that we are facing, and now we have learned that commercial oil inventories unexpectedly fell at a very rapid pace this week…
There is no way that this is going to end well. A lot of people out there seem to think that we are nearing the top of the escalation ladder. The truth is that we aren’t even close. We have witnessed some pretty shocking escalations so far, but I have a feeling that they won’t even be worth comparing to the shocking escalations that are eventually coming."
"A Head for an Eye: The Government’s War on the American People"
"A Head for an Eye:
The Government’s War on the American People"
By John & Nisha Whitehead
“The old law of an eye for an eye leaves everybody blind. It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding; it seeks to annihilate rather than to convert… It creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers.”
- Martin Luther King Jr.
"We have been ambushed. We should be talking about the dangerous, destabilizing things being done to this country. We should be talking about the data centers spreading across the landscape, draining electricity and water, straining local infrastructure and expanding the technological machinery needed to track, profile and control the population.
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Wednesday, July 29, 2026
"Fmr. CIA Analyst Larry Johnson: US Limitations Fighting Iran Grow"
Daniel Davis/Deep Dive, 7/29/26
"Fmr. CIA Analyst Larry Johnson:
US Limitations Fighting Iran Grow"
Comments here:
"Something Is Happening to America… And Most People Haven’t Noticed"
Prof. Richard Wolff, 7/29/26
"Something Is Happening to America…
And Most People Haven’t Noticed"
Comments here:
"A Look to the Heavens"
"Sculpted by stellar winds and radiation, a magnificent interstellar dust cloud by chance has assumed this recognizable shape. Fittingly named the Horsehead Nebula, it is some 1,500 light-years distant, embedded in the vast Orion cloud complex.
About five light-years "tall", the dark cloud is cataloged as Barnard 33 and is visible only because its obscuring dust is silhouetted against the glowing red emission nebula IC 434. Stars are forming within the dark cloud. Contrasting blue reflection nebula NGC 2023, surrounding a hot, young star, is at the lower left. The gorgeous featured image combines both narrowband and broadband images."
"The World..."
"The world is a comedy to those that think,
a tragedy to those who feel. "
- Horace Walpole, In a Letter, 1770
"Evil Walks Among Us: Monsters with Human Faces Wreak Havoc on Our Freedoms"
Full screen recommended.
"They Live"
"Evil Walks Among Us: Monsters with
Human Faces Wreak Havoc on Our Freedoms"
by John & Nisha Whitehead
“But these weren’t the kind of monsters that had tentacles and rotting skin, the kind a seven-year-old might be able to wrap his mind around - they were monsters with human faces, in crisp uniforms, marching in lockstep, so banal you don’t recognize them for what they are until it’s too late.” - Ransom Riggs, "Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children"
"Enough already. Enough with the distractions. Enough with the partisan jousting. Enough with the sniping and name-calling and mud-slinging that do nothing to make this country safer or freer or more just. We have let the government’s evil-doing, its abuses, power grabs, brutality, meanness, inhumanity, immorality, greed, corruption, debauchery and tyranny go on for too long. We are approaching a reckoning.
This is the point, as the poet W. B. Yeats warned, when things fall apart and anarchy is loosed upon the world. We have seen this convergence before in Hitler’s Germany, in Stalin’s Russia, in Mussolini’s Italy, and in Mao’s China: the rise of strongmen and demagogues, the ascendency of profit-driven politics over deep-seated principles, the warring nationalism that seeks to divide and conquer, the callous disregard for basic human rights and dignity, and the silence of people who should know better. Yet no matter how many times the world has been down this road before, we can’t seem to avoid repeating the deadly mistakes of the past.
This is not just playing out on a national and international scale. It is wreaking havoc at the most immediate level, as well, creating rifts and polarities within families and friends, neighborhoods and communities that keep the populace warring among themselves and incapable of presenting a united front in the face of the government’s goose-stepping despotism.
We labor today under the weight of countless tyrannies, large and small, disguised as “the better good,” marketed as benevolence, enforced with armed police, and carried out by an elite class of government officials who are largely insulated from the ill effects of their actions.
For too long now, the American people have rationalized turning a blind eye to all manner of government wrongdoing - asset forfeiture schemes, corruption, surveillance, endless wars, SWAT team raids, militarized police, profit-driven private prisons, and so on - because they were the so-called lesser of two evils.
Yet the unavoidable truth is that the government - through its acts of power grabs, brutality, meanness, inhumanity, immorality, greed, corruption, debauchery and tyranny - has become almost indistinguishable from the evil it claims to be fighting, whether that evil takes the form of terrorism, torture, drug trafficking, sex trafficking, murder, violence, theft, pornography, scientific experimentations or some other diabolical means of inflicting pain, suffering and servitude on humanity.
At its core, this is not a debate about politics, or constitutionalism, or even tyranny disguised as law-and-order. This is a condemnation of the monsters with human faces who walk among us. Many of them work for the U.S. government.
This is the premise of John Carpenter’s film "They Live", which was released thirty-five years ago and remains unnervingly, chillingly appropriate for our modern age. Best known for his horror film Halloween, which assumes that there is a form of evil so dark that it can’t be killed, Carpenter’s larger body of work is infused with a strong anti-authoritarian, anti-establishment, laconic bent that speaks to the filmmaker’s concerns about the unraveling of our society, particularly our government. Time and again, Carpenter portrays the government working against its own citizens, a populace out of touch with reality, technology run amok, and a future more horrific than any horror film.
In "Escape from New York," Carpenter presents fascism as the future of America. In "The Thing" a remake of the 1951 sci-fi classic of the same name, Carpenter presupposes that increasingly we are all becoming dehumanized.
In "Christine" the film adaptation of Stephen King’s novel about a demon-possessed car, technology exhibits a will and consciousness of its own and goes on a murderous rampage. In In the "Mouth of Madness," Carpenter notes that evil grows when people lose “the ability to know the difference between reality and fantasy.”
And then there is Carpenter’s "They Live," in which two migrant workers discover that the world is not as it seems. In fact, the population is actually being controlled and exploited by aliens working in partnership with an oligarchic elite. All the while, the populace - blissfully unaware of the real agenda at work in their lives - has been lulled into complacency, indoctrinated into compliance, bombarded with media distractions, and hypnotized by subliminal messages beamed out of television and various electronic devices, billboards and the like.
It is only when homeless drifter John Nada (played to the hilt by the late Roddy Piper) discovers a pair of doctored sunglasses - Hoffman lenses - that Nada sees what lies beneath the elite’s fabricated reality: control and bondage. When viewed through the lens of truth, the elite, who appear human until stripped of their disguises, are shown to be monsters who have enslaved the citizenry in order to prey on them.
Likewise, billboards blare out hidden, authoritative messages: a bikini-clad woman in one ad is actually ordering viewers to “MARRY AND REPRODUCE.” Magazine racks scream “CONSUME” and “OBEY.” A wad of dollar bills in a vendor’s hand proclaims, “THIS IS YOUR GOD.” When viewed through Nada’s Hoffman lenses, some of the other hidden messages being drummed into the people’s subconscious include: NO INDEPENDENT THOUGHT, CONFORM, SUBMIT, STAY ASLEEP, BUY, WATCH TV, NO IMAGINATION, and DO NOT QUESTION AUTHORITY.
This indoctrination campaign engineered by the elite in "They Live" is painfully familiar to anyone who has studied the decline of American culture. A citizenry that does not think for themselves, obeys without question, is submissive, does not challenge authority, does not think outside the box, and is content to sit back and be entertained is a citizenry that can be easily controlled.
In this way, the subtle message of "They Live" provides an apt analogy of our own distorted vision of life in the American police state, what philosopher Slavoj Žižek refers to as dictatorship in democracy, “the invisible order which sustains your apparent freedom.”
Tune out the government’s attempts to distract, divert and befuddle us and tune into what’s really going on in this country, and you’ll run headlong into an unmistakable, unpalatable truth: what we are dealing with today is an authoritarian beast that has outgrown its chains and will not be restrained.
We’re being fed a series of carefully contrived fictions that bear no resemblance to reality. Despite the fact that we are 17,600 times more likely to die from heart disease than from a terrorist attack; 11,000 times more likely to die from an airplane accident than from a terrorist plot involving an airplane; 1,048 times more likely to die from a car accident than a terrorist attack, and 8 times more likely to be killed by a police officer than by a terrorist , we have handed over control of our lives to government officials who treat us as a means to an end—the source of money and power.
As the Bearded Man in "They Live" warns, “They are dismantling the sleeping middle class. More and more people are becoming poor. We are their cattle. We are being bred for slavery.” We have bought into the illusion and refused to grasp the truth. From the moment we are born until we die, we are indoctrinated into believing that those who rule us do it for our own good. The truth is far different.
The powers-that-be want us to feel threatened by forces beyond our control (terrorists, pandemics, mass shootings, etc.). They want us afraid and dependent on the government and its militarized armies for our safety and well-being. They want us distrustful of each other, divided by our prejudices, and at each other’s throats. We are little more than expendable resources to be used, abused and discarded.
In fact, a study conducted by Princeton and Northwestern University concluded that the U.S. government does not represent the majority of American citizens. Instead, the study found that the government is ruled by the rich and powerful, or the so-called “economic elite.” Moreover, the researchers concluded that policies enacted by this governmental elite nearly always favor special interests and lobbying groups.
In other words, we are being ruled by an oligarchy disguised as a democracy, and arguably on our way towards fascism - a form of government where private corporate interests rule, money calls the shots, and the people are seen as mere subjects to be controlled.
Rest assured that when and if fascism finally takes hold in America, the basic forms of government will remain: Fascism will appear to be friendly. The legislators will be in session. There will be elections, and the news media will continue to cover the entertainment and political trivia. Consent of the governed, however, will no longer apply. Actual control will have finally passed to the oligarchic elite controlling the government behind the scenes.
Sound familiar? Clearly, we are now ruled by an oligarchic elite of governmental and corporate interests. We have moved into “corporatism” (favored by Benito Mussolini), which is a halfway point on the road to full-blown fascism.
Corporatism is where the few moneyed interests - not elected by the citizenry - rule over the many. In this way, it is not a democracy or a republican form of government, which is what the American government was established to be. It is a top-down form of government and one which has a terrifying history typified by the developments that occurred in totalitarian regimes of the past: police states where everyone is watched and spied on, rounded up for minor infractions by government agents, placed under police control, and placed in detention (a.k.a. concentration) camps.
For the final hammer of fascism to fall, it will require the most crucial ingredient: the majority of the people will have to agree that it’s not only expedient but necessary. But why would a people agree to such an oppressive regime? The answer is the same in every age: fear. Fear makes people stupid.
Fear is the method most often used by politicians to increase the power of government. And, as most social commentators recognize, an atmosphere of fear permeates modern America: fear of terrorism, fear of the police, fear of our neighbors and so on. The propaganda of fear has been used quite effectively by those who want to gain control, and it is transforming the populace into fearful, compliant, pacified zombies content to march in lockstep with the government’s dictates.
This brings me back to "They Live," in which the real zombies are not the aliens calling the shots but the populace who are content to remain controlled. When all is said and done, the world of They Live is not so different from our own. As one of the characters points out, “The poor and the underclass are growing. Racial justice and human rights are nonexistent. They have created a repressive society, and we are their unwitting accomplices. Their intention to rule rests with the annihilation of consciousness. We have been lulled into a trance. They have made us indifferent to ourselves, to others. We are focused only on our own gain.”
We, too, are focused only on our own pleasures, prejudices and gains. Our poor and underclasses are also growing. Injustice is growing. Inequality is growing. A concern for human rights is nearly nonexistent. We too have been lulled into a trance, indifferent to others. Oblivious to what lies ahead, we’ve been manipulated into believing that if we continue to consume, obey, and have faith, things will work out. But that’s never been true of emerging regimes. And by the time we feel the hammer coming down upon us, it will be too late.
So where does that leave us? The characters who populate Carpenter’s films provide some insight. Underneath their machismo, they still believe in the ideals of liberty and equal opportunity. Their beliefs place them in constant opposition with the law and the establishment, but they are nonetheless freedom fighters.
When, for example, John Nada destroys the alien hypno-transmitter in "They Live" he delivers a wake-up call for freedom. As Nada memorably declares, “I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass. And I’m all out of bubblegum.” In other words: we need to get active and take a stand for what’s really important. Stop allowing yourselves to be easily distracted by pointless political spectacles and pay attention to what’s really going on in the country.
As I make clear in my book "Battlefield America: The War on the American People" and in its fictional counterpart "The Erik Blair Diaries," the real battle for control of this nation is taking place on roadsides, in police cars, on witness stands, over phone lines, in government offices, in corporate offices, in public school hallways and classrooms, in parks and city council meetings, and in towns and cities across this country.
All the trappings of the American police state are now in plain sight. Wake up, America. If they live (the tyrants, the oppressors, the invaders, the overlords), it is only because “we the people” sleep."
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