An interesting video and I'd never heard of these guys before.
1. America is a global superpower
Does America have colonies ? Is it an Empire?
Surely by its military bases worldwide, its economic dominance, and its cultural influence, America is an empire in all but name, exercising control through its global presence. Yet supporters claim America promotes democracy and freedom rather than direct control.
John J Mearsheimer says that you cannot call America an empire, I couldn't find why he says this, but it must be because traditionally we think of empires as having direct rule over the local governments of a number of peoples ("empire" is from the Latin ""imperare", to rule or command, think Caesar and German Kaiser). The emperor extracts tax and tribute, and decides on borders.
America uses its reserve currency to in effect tax the world and its reach, in terms of territory it controls, has until recently been global.
But if you do not want to call America an empire, talking in terms of its global power and influence, then you could call it a "global superpower".
So to avoid too much linguistic disagreement, we call it a global superpower, exercising control through military bases, protection and alliances; economic controls on trade agreements, subsidies, taxes and tariffs and volume limits; and cultural through its media, movies, music, technologies, education, and cultural exchanges, shaping not just the behaviour, but the the values and norms of other nations.
2. Control through rules and institutions
America's dominance amounted to effective imperial control, but Joe explains that this is done indirectly, through an open door to any country sharing its liberal democratic capitalist globalist values.
America offers a rules-based international "Order". An order being a set of Rules actualised in institutions. Exclusion implying anarchy and chaos.
These rules are found in international and domestic law and treaties, trade agreements, financial aid packages, as well as protection on global maritime routes, even alliances; with sanctions and "interference" and exclusions if a local govt won't join.
Control is materialised in these rules that are managed by international institutions.
For International Laws and Treaties, there are organisations like the United Nations (UN), World Trade Organisation (WTO, formerly GATT), and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). They create rules and frameworks that regulate interactions between nations.
The U.S. implements its foreign policy through laws passed by Congress (see another article titled "Who controls the US Congress?") usually involving trade, immigration, and defence.
Then there are the operating institutions, each playing its key role in maintaining these rules.
United Nations: Promotes international cooperation and peace.
NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation): a military alliance supposedly focused on the protection of the European region.
World Bank and IMF: Provide financial aid and influence the economic policies of developing countries.
U.S. DoS and DoD, pentagon, CIA: the Department of State and Department of Defence formulate and implement foreign policy.
US Treasury: sells and buys government debt.
Federal Reserve: uses interest rates and money supply to control employment and inflation.
3. Controlling the MSM and the public
Then Joe explains how the government controls the media and the public. In effect local governments owe allegiance to Washington and America's demands, rather than to their own people and national interest.
If you're working for the media, you have access to information sources and distribution channels, which can be withdrawn; if you don't follow the D-notices for example of how control is effected. Thus, we are fed propaganda rather than facts.
Interesting to see how this system of soft power works, operationally, with for example meetings between media and MoD in the UK, where permission is given to publish on certain subjects but withdrawn for others.... soft power can be very personal recruiting through school fees for the kids or international meetings in fashionable ski resorts...
Also interesting how opinions are moulded, by the use of language. For examole, "this unprovoked invasion". Noam Chomsky calls this "the manufacture of consent". Chomsky is the pioneer in this area of what Joe calls "linguistic tics" (some people call it a form of Tourette's Syndrome, ha ha!).
4.There is a free press
Some consolation to see that Joe believes it is a Free Press. Free, in the sense that questions can be asked of officials and information is available for digging out on weakly-patrolled social media channels, but that there are ultimately limits to the extent of information sharing - this is part of what some people call "bounded pluralism", a sub-form of democracy. There are bounds or limits set on what policies candidates can compete on. For example, UK PM Truss was removed from government by the markets within three days of her policy to raise spending without a balancing tax mechanism.
5. "Deep State"
Joe also mentions the British American Project. What he says is that units in the "deep state" admin have been set up to manufacture events and to control what and how things are seen. So there is this upstream interference, as well as downstream plain censorship and propaganda. Here we are into the territory of Black Ops.
6. Growing public skepticism
He then points out that there is a growing awareness on the part of the public, ie the non-elite, of the extent to which governments attempt to control events in ways that are not in the national interest and to manipulate our perceptions of what is going on. More and more for example, we hear this refrain, "but look, the emperor has no clothes".
It would be good to have somewhere a discussion of what is an elite, what are its functions, what are the entry and exit rules, what is the size of the membership needed for effective governance and management of a society (are managers part of the elite?).
According to this organisational view, society (public and private sectors combined - big state, small state, same same) is a pyramid composed of four functional layers: governing, managing, operating, supporting:
- Governing elite that sets and reviews the rules framework, goals and strategies
- an army of Managers to control operating processes
- the Operations themselves that produce tradeable goods and services
- and a Supporting layer of lawyers and accountants and HR and IT specialists and consultants etc...
That would be one way of identifying the functions (job descriptions, if you prefer), positions and numbers...write a book about it.
7. The Platform
Then interestingly he paints a picture of the local oligarchy, as part of a global governance elite, with its goals and values and its methods of operation.
There would normally in a democracy be two political parties, taking their cues from the elite's "policy platform" (you might call it this, tagline 'you will have nothing and you will be happy'), and these two parties compete with each other for power and public support, within this globally-defined policy framework.
And if that sounds conspiratorial, explain how so many participants, so many spokespersons of the US and EU central and national elites, ring out almost identical messaging.
Joe points out that the system is open to contrarian views (though not too much, as Michael Foot and Jeremy Corbyn got red cards and were sent off) and to contrarian policies. But to get into power, a contrarian would need to form a new political party from scratch, from the outside.... historically, methods have included acts of terrorism and revolution.
For example, Farage and his Reform party have been bombarding the elite for some time now, and have laid siege to it since Brexit, and are likely shortly to get into the citadel itself.
8. It's a game of musical chairs, but with a gate-crasher
I agree completely with that picture and I would add that the oligarchy (the governors) breaks down into three groups : there is a game of musical chairs going on here.
- Those in government, where Pinky is sitting down;
- then there's Perky humming around and waiting for the music to stop;
- and then there is this third group that wants to gatecrash the party, kick the occupants off their chairs and overthrow the existing hold on power of the two parties.
Will that overthrow be done in the parliament or the street? Depends on how mature and inclusive is the democracy, whether they see the dialectical march of history, smell the gas in the mine in time, and can adapt ....or die. Our leaders do have a choice to make there - Macron, chief canary, has made his choice [menacing music].
9. Colourful language
Some of Joe's language was quite colourful!! I especially liked when he said that "the horrors are live-streamed onto our phones every day".
And I reckon this is part of the tools available for a public to eventually overthrow a government that ignores it. It doesn't really matter whether you call that government democratic or authoritarian, it makes no difference, governments can't function without the support of the governed, not for long...."you can fool ...", as we say.
10. The End, beautiful friend, the end, the end
Of the West? No.
Joe is commenting on, rather than making, the news.
List of contrarian voices - this contains a list of media personalities holding contrarian views.
I have to admit I switched off when they got talking about daily news and why Israel is an illegitimate government. I follow all that stuff and while he believes that the only possible answer in Palestine is a one state solution, I think there's also the possibility of a zero state solution, at least for the doos. The subject of another video?
