海角大神

Washington elites talk the new 'US empire'

A Washington garden party serves as a think tank hothouse, providing the Daily Reckoning with some interesting insights into the current US situation. Representing a variety of backgrounds, the group was united by a hatred of the US "empire."

Undated handout image courtesy of the U.S. Air Force shows a MQ-1 Predator unmanned aircraft. Some economic minds believe the US's current "Big Stick" mentality will hamper economic recovery.

Lt Col Leslie Pratt/U.S. Air Force/Handout /Reuters

June 19, 2012

We went to a delightful garden party in Washington. Everybody had an idea. Some smart. Some stupid.

These were bright, well-educated people. Many had gone to Harvard or Yale. Many held high positions in the government. Others were successful lawyers, businessmen, or entrepreneurs. Some thought the key challenge of the 21st century is protecting the environment. Some thought energy scarcity was the most important thing. Still others were worried about saving the European experiment.

What held this diverse group together? Why was your editor invited?

Lesotho makes Trump鈥檚 polo shirts. He could destroy their garment industry.

鈥淲e all hate the empire,鈥 said an attendee. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the only thing that we agree on.鈥

One gave a little talk, explaining how America鈥檚 imperial spending endangers the Rooseveltian social welfare state. After you pay for so many drones and waterboards there is no money left for a New Deal or a Great Society, he pointed out.

Another was concerned that we were all becoming slaves in our own country:

鈥淭he constitution has been suspended. Habeus corpus denied. The president seems to take pride in approving the 鈥榢ill list鈥 personally, just like Richard Nixon chose the bombing targets鈥r Josef Stalin selected those to be purged. Future historians will have their work cut out for them, explaining how Barack Obama, who promised to bring the Pentagon under control, then became the biggest pusher of America鈥檚 imperial wars鈥︹

Another was worried because the nation was going broke:

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鈥淚 don鈥檛 care what you say. You can鈥檛 spend money like this without going broke.

鈥淎nd the logic of it is completely ridiculous. The neo-cons say we need to project American power in order to protect American power. They say, for example, that we need bases in the Mideast鈥nd we needed to go to war with Iraq鈥n order to protect the vital flow of oil to the US. So they ended up spending something like $3 trillion in order to protect about $350 billion worth of oil imports. That is the kind of math that puts you in the poorhouse.鈥

Or worse.

It鈥檚 the kind of logic that sends you to hell. Japan鈥檚 鈥渃o-prosperity sphere鈥 was based on the same imperial reasoning. In order to maintain its power, Japan had to control the flow of energy and raw materials to the home islands. That meant it had to build up its military machine. Then, it needed more resources鈥o support its military machine!

And so鈥he US swaggers to its ultimate comeuppance.

鈥淭he US has set a dangerous course,鈥 said another guest. 鈥淚t is one thing to walk softly with a big stick in your hand. It is quite another to use it to stir up a hornet鈥檚 nest. Then, the big stick doesn鈥檛 do you any good. The bees sting you.

鈥淭he US has a big stick 鈥 the biggest, most expensive military in the world. But you can鈥檛 hit bees with a stick. And they are learning how to attack us. They can make drones 鈥 which are cheap 鈥 too. They are learning how to conduct internet warfare too 鈥 which is also cheap. The big stick doesn鈥檛 help. You can take your big stick and whack a foreign government, but while you鈥檝e got your trillion-dollar military machine swinging its big stick, some small group launches a small, next-generation drone attack and takes out your aircraft carriers. It spends $1 million鈥ou spend $100 billion. You go broke. And you鈥檙e dead too.

鈥淪ame thing with this Internet war that the Obama administration launched. You can swing your big stick, but you can鈥檛 hit a computer virus with it. When one of these groups鈥nd it could be funded by Russia or China, for all we know鈥omes up with a 鈥榢iller app鈥 virus, life as we know it in the US comes to a stop. And then the big stick stops swinging too鈥ecause it depends on the US economy.

鈥淚t鈥檚 really sad the way this has evolved. Back at 9/11 there were probably only a tiny group of real fanatics who wanted to do harm to the US. Everyone was on our side. Everyone wanted to put the terrorists out of business.

鈥淣ow, the US has been killing innocent people鈥nd the world doesn鈥檛 like it. I don鈥檛 blame them. And I鈥檓 afraid the next time there鈥檚 a 9/11, millions of people all over the world will cheer鈥︹

Regards,

Bill Bonner
听蹿辞谤 The Daily Reckoning