Posted on 11/08/2006 10:14:01 AM PST by GOP_1900AD
How ironic. On somewhat of a lark, I recently stopped by a liquidation sale at a nearby, soon-to-be-extinct, Tower Records store. On even more of a lark, I purchased a CD which content was originally recorded in late 1977 and early 1978 by the British progressive / classical rock band "Rennaissance." I was a bit tired of listening to more recent things I have and remembered that I had quite liked the album when I had a tape of it during the late 70s and early 80s (long since worn out and degraded then eventually misplaced). Little did I realize that with this "retro" purchase, I would presage the state of affairs which is becoming increasingly apparent as we approach the late naughties. That state of affairs is characterized, geopolitically, by a complete regression to a general condition nearly identical to the late 1970s. What makes this critically dire is that fact that, unlike the late 1970s, where we were flailing geopolitically, yet still had the capability to inflict massive retaliation, we now, owing to the unprecedented military draw down and unilateral nuclear disarmament since the late 1980s, do not have truely massive retaliation capability. And given the current roadmap of military development and deployment, what capability we retain is slated to continue withering. These are controversial statements which fly in the face of what passes for conventional wisdom. For me, the final confirmation of our backsliding were the results of the 2006 Midterm Elections in the USA.
For a short period after the attacks on the USA of September 11, 2001, there arose a unity and a fighting spirit unlike anything that had been seen since the 1940s. It was not to last. Coddled by a post World War II economic boom that had veered off into the weeds of crass and excessive materialism, and overtly undermined in the social dimension by enemies foreign and domestic, mainstream society in the USA had lost its already weak (by design of the Founding Fathers) nationalism. This problem was compounded by a demographic earthquake wrought by the gradual coming of age of those born during the war and the 15 years after it. For the first time in history, a massive number of emerging adults had matured while being influenced by a combination of Communist propaganda, social acceptance of diverse and intense substance abuse, sexual promiscuity, rapidly growing electronic and technological media, vast globalization, alienation, aggressively statist massive social welfare, and bourgeoisification of higher education. As a result, the USA's largest ever generation were the least mentally healthy and the most suceptible to political and cultural subversion not to mention intellectual sloth. Upon seizing the levers of power during the 1980s and early 1990s, the immense herd which had realized Nietzche's forecasted "mass man" archetype imbued both the public and private sectors with their debauched credo. Not since the era of Napoleon III in France of the second half of the 1800s, had a major Western power fallen so quickly and so deeply into a paradigm of bourgeois orientation toward material comfort and geopolitical ignorance.
Orthogonal to the aforementioned events, a diabolical plan was, meanwhile, unfolding in the Eastern world. Immediately after the war, the script followed was a modified version of Stalin's original "Icebreaker" plan. The plan had originally been for the Axis to win the war, followed by the USSR rushing in on its heels to conquer the world. The unexpected Allied victory had forced a modification. Still, a robust, highly aggressive aproach was taken to grab territory and subvert any country that was not solidly in the Western camp. The strategy unfolded gradually until the early 1970s. Then, as the youth earthquake mentioned in the previous paragraph shook the West to its foundation, key opportunities to increase the pace of conquest arose. The USA, now utterly undermined, shirked its duties in Asia and Africa, allowing a new series of Communist nations to come into being. The final coup was the conquest of Afghanistan concurrent with the Islamic Revolution in Iran. The nadir of Western power had arrived. Adding insult to injury, the unpredictable masses of the USA had elected a former military man turned naive globalist pacifist President - James Earl Carter. US defenses reached a new low point. At any moment, the East might launch a Blitz, easily overcoming the West's strategic weapons with sheer numbers and speed. Conquest was all but assured. But as always with the fickle West, two seeming heroes arrived on scene, first in the UK then in the US. Margaret Thatcher was elected PM during the darkest hour and rallied a despirited nation. Then Ronald Reagan was elected President and followed in kind. Defenses started to recover. A new bold rhetoric of roll back was spoken. There was hope. But it was a false hope. It was the last dying ember of the generation who had fought the Axis in the Second World War. The up and coming new management lacked a similar will. Plus, the East would confound the West with an amazing sleight of hand.
Following the content of warnings rendered earlier by Anatoliy Golitsyn to a frightening degree, the East reorganized itself from the model witnessed during the 30 years after the war, to a seemingly less threatening configuration. The appearance was that the West had "won" the Cold War due to sudden acquiescence of the East. The East appeared to suddenly embrace market capitalism and to open somewhat politically as well. A new era of bold globalization appeared to be unstoppable. A constructive interference between these events with the emergence of the new generation of Western leadership resulted in a complete change of Western geopolitical orientation. Great war was put out of mind. We could have our cake and eat it too. We could have statist quasi Socialist sociogovernmental structures while at the same time embarking on a vast global capitalist system. Numerous pundits heralded the New Age. Life was good and getting better.
The events of the period 1999 - 2006 are not yet recognized properly for what they have been. During that period, the good life became, in reality, a false existence layered on top of a sea raked with rising warning waves. The East, initially appearing to be new Western oriented emerging civilized states, reinvigorated itself into a configuration that has never existed before in history. The closest thing to it was the Mongol Empire but even that was far short of this new beast. The West, rigidly stuck in the meme which resulted from the West's Most Corrupted Generation taking power precisely at the moment of maximal Eastern deception, blundered on ahead as if there was no problem. Comfort levels and selfish demands of the masses increased ad infinitum. Nothing, it seemed, could stop the party.
On 11 September 2001, a warning wave far more serious than previous ones arrived in the USA. If there was to be any hope that the hedonistic masses would awake, this was it. As mentioned at the outset of this writing, for a short while, it appeared as if such awakening was at least possible. It was a false hope. An unwitting conspiracy, of sorts, took hold. The West, instead of rising to the moment, started to rationalize it away and to minimize the response to it. Certainly there would be some small sacrifice made, but the grand plan was to return to the pre 9/11 nomalcy post haste. Meanwhile, enemies foreign and domestic embarked on an aggressive program to undermine efforts of war and internal security. The President of the US, George W. Bush, and PM of the UK, Tony Blair, were repeatedly smeared, set up and otherwise combatted, the goal being to evaporate their credibility and abilities to lead. By 2004, both had been significantly damaged and it was clear that the West had not been able to pass through its final window of opportunity to strategically preempt the rising East. In the UK, the PM was de facto removed and a cold hearted technocrat, Gordon Brown, hoisted into place. In the US, the political fortunes of the President and ruling GOP in Congress evaporated to nearly nothing, with the final losses of 2006 sealing their fate.
As a result, a configuration which is, objectively, a worse version of the late 1970s has emerged. The West is utterly outnumbered militarily and is headed for dire economic straits - many in the West are, based on their balance sheets, already there. All coordination and will to fight the East is gone. The people tasted war and could not stand it. A malaise is setting in. A discontinuity looms in the future, unlike anything ever previously experienced. The average person is completely unaware of and disconnected with the past. The seeds of Great War have sprouted but there is no farmer to address the weeds. We have indeed returned to the late 1970s, but this version is the nightmare version, an alternate history where there are too few ICBMs, no money, and no courage. There is no Margaret Thatcher or Ronald Reagan. There is no Morning in America or vision of a Shining City on a Hill, waiting in the wings to overcome the growing darkness. The king is sterile and the queen is barren. The scoundrels will not relinquish their grip on power and will take us all into senility with them. The reaper grins an evil smile.
Part of the problem was a fundamental misread of the electorate after 911, especially here on FR. I fairly quickly identified the national sentiment for military action as rooted in self pity and a self centered world view. This was never welcome on FR, or anywhere in fact. I think I was and still am correct about it - the American public is not pro war, nor anti war. They have short attention spans and a low threshold for pain.
Given the protracted angst on FR today, it would be foolish to think this is just a sentiment of the political left.
The formula for military conflicts, I think, is to make them quick and very painful for the opposition, and quick and very painless for the American public. There will be a small,angry minority crying foul - the trick is to end it before their words end up compelling a majority of Americans.
That's war, 21st Century style.
Well, we got two years to find one.
;-)
"This does not bug me personally. I am way beyond that."
Good for you. Two thumbs up!
William "ColdCash" Jefferson
I hated the late 70's, I was just a kid, but I remember - the every other day gas plan, the lower thermostats, the unaffordable meat and long unemployment lines, culminating with the Iran hostage crisis. We need another Reagan and fast.
Ping for later.
Sorry, I don't see our embassies held hostage, Russians in Afghanistan, odd/even lines for gas or 10%+ inflation.
Please try again ... or don't.
LOL, I was just thinking that. :)
We had a resurgence when we put a man on the moon and regressed when Carter screwed the pooch in Iran.(I was in Africa during those years.)
The common denominator was that our power and technical knowledge which was respected was abandoned for weakness from within. We abandoned our allies in Viet Nam and forfeited a war that was already won. We allowed terrorist to hold our citizens hostage in Iran and bungled the only ill planned attempt at rescue. Bases airplanes and embassies were blown up and ships were bombed. We did nothing.
American politicians and the left have caused unrepairable harm to America's standing in a world that only respects the power full. Winners are revered...losers are hounded.
We have made our bed. I don't have to travel overseas anymore. I just hope we wake up when it is imported to our heartland.
Obviously, you don't know the difference between a bell housing, and a slip-yoke...
Borat?
What about the New Tone?
They didn't get Fitzmas last year and we didn't get Rovember this year.
Yes. This is more like 1986 than it is like the late 70's OR 1994
"Hmmmmm! Ninety Nine Bottles of Beer on the wall......
I would think that some angry music like E. Costello's first album or Sex Pistols would be appropriate ,, of course nothing sets the mood like the CURE's classic "Killing an Arab".
You and I see things in a highly similar manner.
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