Chris Hedges pointed to the United States' slaughter minded stratocracy — if we woke up to that, Wokeism might make sense

03 May 2023

Right on the money

From Chris Hedges:

America is a stratocracy, a form of government dominated by the military.

It is axiomatic among the two ruling parties that there must be a constant preparation for war. The war machine’s massive budgets are sacrosanct. Its billions of dollars in waste and fraud are ignored. Its military fiascos in Southeast Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East have disappeared into the vast cavern of historical amnesia.

This amnesia, which means there is never accountability, licenses the war machine to economically disembowel the country and drive the Empire into one self-defeating conflict after another.

The militarists win every election. They cannot lose. It is impossible to vote against them.

A society dominated by militarists distorts its social, cultural, economic and political institutions to serve the interests of the war industry.

The essence of the military is masked with subterfuges — using the military to carry out humanitarian relief missions, evacuating civilians in danger, as we see in the Sudan, defining military aggression as “humanitarian intervention” or a way to protect democracy and liberty, or lauding the military as carrying out a vital civic function by teaching leadership, responsibility, ethics and skills to young recruits.

The true face of the military — industrial slaughter — is hidden.

Consider the probably at least 200,000 Ukrainian military dead, so far

The US started this proxy war with Russia. Then, prevented negotiations to end it.

And is now forcing the Nazi-oriented Zelensky regime to launch a hopeless Ukrainian offensive for no good strategic reason. Other than to continue the industrialized slaughter that global elites feed on.

The moral? — Metaphorical Satan is right at home, among American leadership

This lack of moral quality characterizes our wall-to-wall warfare state. Now crumbling at its seams, due to its perennially maliciously aimed, nihilistic stupidity:

The war state harbors within it the seeds of its own destruction.

It will cannibalize the nation until it collapses.

The tragedy is not that the U.S. war state will self-destruct. The tragedy is that we will take down so many innocents with us.

There is nothing admirable, nothing worthy in this.

The Founders, who warned against foreign entanglements, would be crushed at heart.

So should we all be. Enough even, to try to put an end to it.

PeteFree.com

Chris Hedges pointed to the United States' slaughter minded stratocracy — if we woke up to that, Wokeism might make sense