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Russia and China: Victory-by-Default
by Jeff Nielson, Sprott Money:
History tells us that empires are rarely defeated, by any external rival. Once any global power reaches such a stature of might and influence as to be considered an “empire”, it generally has sufficient military might and economic resources as to be virtually invulnerable to outside conquest/destruction.
Exceptions to this principle exist, but mostly in our distant past. When technologically superior Western empires collided with indigenous empires of the New World, the vast superiority of their military technology allowed European powers to directly conquer the “empires” of the Americas (as well as Africa).
Outside of such exceptions, a more general rule is observed: empires destroy themselves, internally. The precise evolution of such destruction varies, from empire to empire. However, the causes of such implosions are always the same: corruption or arrogance, and generally a large mixture of both.
It is with this context in mind that we can view the current geopolitical stage. We see, once again, two “sides” emerging. Adding to the déjà vu, once again this bipolar reality is being characterized as “a Cold War”. However, there are key differences between this Cold War, and the period of the latter half of the 20th century which originally acquired that name.
It is through looking back historically that we gain important insights from the original Cold War. It is when we examine these revelations that we see that only one side has learned the lessons of the first Cold War.
Cold War I was clearly a contest of two empires. In the West; we had the American Empire. In the East; we had the Russian Empire, known then as the Soviet Union. The Russian Empire had official control of several “satellite states” in Eastern Europe. The American Empire had unofficial control of several satellite states in Western Europe.
Who “won” this non-war? How did it end? The American Empire is credited (obviously) as the victor of that geopolitical contest. Where the “history books” particularly those written in the U.S., become vague and nebulous is in describing how the U.S. emerged as the winner.
It won by default. There were no overt actions or strategies, at all, which led to the victory of the American Empire in Cold War I. It “won” by default, because it was the only empire to survive. The Russian Empire/Soviet Union imploded, internally.
The closest we can come to any American initiative which led to this outcome was the absurd “arms race” instigated by the Reagan regime. Having the firepower to wipe-out all life on the planet ‘only’ ten times over was not considered sufficient. The psychopathic Neo-Cons who pulled the strings of the U.S.’s senile president insisted that the U.S. needed to be able to wipe-out all life on the planet by a factor of at least twenty.
The Soviet Union attempted to follow the lead of these American psychopaths, and match the U.S. bomb-for-bomb, and in doing so it self-destructed. At that time; it must also be noted that the American Empire had a much healthier, more robust economy, along with (relatively) strict adherence to the Rule of Law.
In contrast, the fascist (not “communist”) Soviet Union had an extremely centralized economy, where corruption was rampant. As a result of this structural economic inferiority, the Soviet Union was economically incapable of sustaining the reckless arms race initiated by the U.S. However, adding arrogance to corruption; the Soviet Union refused to admit to itself that it was incapable of matching the U.S.
The result was a simple, but catastrophic, economic implosion. Symbolically, the “Berlin Wall” was torn down, as the Iron Curtain crumbled. In a few, short years, the Soviet Union simply ceased to exist. It’s “empire” fragmented (as all former empires do) into its component parts. Only Mother Russia remained intact.
When we flash ahead a generation, to Cold War II, we see a very, very different world. The most obvious difference is that Cold War II is a one-empire paradigm. On the left/in the West; the American Empire remains. On the right/in the East, however, we have not an “empire” but rather a bloc: Russia and China.
A generation later; Russia has come a long way in rebuilding itself economically, from the “rubble” of Cold War I. Meanwhile, the world has seen the re-emergence of China. It is now universally accepted that China’s economy will soon become the world’s largest economy. China’s currency is replacing the debauched/disgraced U.S. dollar as the world’s “reserve currency” – or at least the closest thing to it.
While the American Empire still exists and has extended its imperialistic reach, it is a very different empire from the days of the Reaganites. Most obviously, the Rule of Law is dead. Saturation corruption permeates this now rancid empire.
Financial criminals (primarily based in the U.S.) commit crimes literally a thousand times larger than anything previously seen in our history, and then repeat these crimes again and again. The U.S. ‘Justice’ Department spends its time not in prosecuting and incarcerating these criminals (and criminalized “banks”). Rather, it expends its energies explaining why it refuses to prosecute these criminals.
The primary “prey” of this banking crime syndicate is now the American people and the U.S. economy , itself. The United States has not merely become insolvent, it is obviously bankrupt. The Oligarchs who control its puppet government literally shipped the U.S. manufacturing base to the low-wage regimes of Asia, which ironically included China. As a result, the once-envied U.S. Middle Class has been transformed into the Working Poor .
In most respects (outside of economic parameters), the American Empire would be judged to be “stronger than ever”. Clearly this is true militarily. Despite having no real “enemies” since the defeat-by-default of the Soviet Union; U.S. Neo-Cons have been busy as beavers inventing Boogeymen (and then destroying them) in order to justify the continued, relentless expansion of its war machine.
Politically; successively more-fascist regimes have rendered the U.S. Constitution essentially obsolete. Legally illegitimate (i.e. null-and-void), fascist laws have been wallpapered over the Constitution, stripping the American people of their rights and liberties.
In legitimate democracies; Constitutions are the ultimate Law of the Land, which serve primarily to protect the People from the State. In fascist regimes; invariably illegitimate governments create endless laws designed to protect the State from the People. The American Empire used to represent the former paradigm. Now it epitomizes the latter .
At one time; the closer that one moved toward the “heart” of the American Empire, the more strict was adherence to the Rule of Law. Today, the closer one approaches to the political cesspool known as “Washington, D.C.”, or the financial cesspool known as “Wall Street”, the more-overpowering becomes the stench of corruption – and lawlessness.
