Geo-Politics and the Resurrection of Idiocy

HOW GLOBAL DOMINANCE, INDOLENCE AND IGNORANCE HAVE WON THE DAY

After reviewing several North American media and journalistic analyses that attempt to explain how the current geo-political state of affairs has evolved, it remains clear few of these assessments authentically grasp history and current global lunacy.

By providing pithy sound bites, overly edited newsprint columns and a daily carousel of nonsense, the vast majority of most mainstream media have become successful at dumbing-down critical thinking among the general public.  

While this dearth of critical analysis in assessing the current  state of geo-politics avoids nuanced approaches to complex global problems, intense and cogent scrutiny of global issues has given way to crowning moments of tweet-infested idiocy. The doubling of characters from 140 to 280 suggests this idiocy has become twice as toxic rather than solution oriented.

In its attempt to compete with on-line madness, mainstream media has capitulated - abdicating its role as the guardian of authentic social discourse and political advocacy.

The Fourth Estate, once  a piercing force in its capacity to advocate and frame political issues - has lost its grip as an invaluable part of the political system - no longer able to wield significant social and political influence - choosing rather the imperative of economic survival over intellectual acuity and discernment.

While the Fourth Estate's capacity to identify ideological and political inconsistencies as well as out-right lies has morphed into a left-wing - right-wing battle ground - it has left the truth in the obscure middle ground of ambiguity.  

The remnants of this ambiguity are at the very core of bias, bigotry, intransigence and conflict. These frailties in the quality of news and information reveal the marginalization of intellectual thought and self-reflection.

Only in an examination of these frailties can we understand ourselves and the circumstances of our existence. Only by acting upon these frailties can we ever imagine or expect authentic change for our species.

Without an alert Fourth Estate, authentic change is becoming a myth rather than a human imperative. 

While the imminent nature of global destruction, catastrophic environmental degradation and socio-political atrophy have never been more prevalent, we find ourselves in a position as a species ill-equipped to deal with even the simplest of problems. Arguing over whether or not our house is ablaze - we gaze spellbound at the flames. 911 is just a number.  

What has precipitated this demise of rational discourse and the inability to focus on our survival as a species? 

Look no further than the void created by the United States of America and its toxic fumes of decay. The past history of this once grand nation and the convergence of its repugnant present tell a story the Fourth Estate has ignored and long forgotten. 

Expounding upon symptoms rather than solutions reveals a  deteriorating level of journalism. Superficial analysis among reams of on-line advertisements and seemingly endless television commercials is a new normal - fearful of describing how a geo-political void has evolved without anyone even noticing.

THE GEO-POLITICAL VOID AND WHAT FILLED IT 

As will be describe below - moves by the United States to re-assert its dominance were in response to and intimately linked to the perceived notion that a void in influence and global superiority was created by the Soviet 'collapse' in the latter part of the 20th century. American attempts to fill this void were opportunistic, manipulative and yes... successful. 

In today's context, that evolution has morphed somewhat into what may be described as the "New Russian Phenomenon" - one that not only seeks to rival US dominance but overthrow it - without a shot being fired.

There is little doubt that the US saw an opportunity to assert its dominance in the absence of the former Soviet foe as the 20th century came to a close. It was easy. The effects of this opportunism is the air we breathe today.

This set of developments - to assert global dominance - has intrinsic historical roots and consequences that have sublimated into a lack of social, ethical and political standards never before witnessed in the North American democratic narrative. The social scientist Emile Durkheim labeled this phenomenon anomie. 

To be certain, these roots are home-grown as are the consequences that currently strangle the very rights, freedoms and constitutional governance of a democracy. These are the values the so-called Founding Fathers insisted upon and for which they fought so vigorously and without hesitation.

Although one cannot dismiss the presence or influence of Russian/Soviet ideology entirely - what we are witnessing today has less to do with the former Soviet Union or its clone - Russia and more to do with how the United States sought ways to dominate during the void cause by the collapse of the USSR. 

An argument can be made that this relentless and opportunistic search for power and dominance is precisely why and how the US finds itself in its current precarious state of chaos. 

Moreover, how and why the grave repercussions befalling geo-politics foretells danger and global instability is a narrative few in the media wish to engage lest they hit a political or corporate nerve. [Ed Note: The corporatization of global stability is indeed an issue germane to the resurrection of idiocy - however this specific argument must be set aside for another time.]

From where did these roots originate and how have they managed to create fissures in the foundations of a US Constitution designed to avoid such chaos?

"The effects of this opportunism is the air we breathe today."

The answers to this question can be explained by two fundamental factors. One is politically motivated by a military imperative and the other a social toxicity based on power, ignorance, persuasion, greed and yes human stupidity.

That the unrecognized chemistry of these two factors perform as toxic contagions in the current virulent cocktail of geo-politics and social discourse is a clear indication of the media's indolence to address them.

While the analysis of these factors are contextual as well as historical, they serve as catalysts for a discourse that could very well lead to modes of reasoning that suggest further examination and attainable solutions. In other words - the spontaneity of human intellectual acuity is only of benefit with appropriate motivation, hindsight and foresight.

FACTOR ONE - A Fallacious Military and Political Imperative

In the not too distant past and since the dawn of PNAC (The Project for the New American Century) the US established itself as the global armed-guard of the planet. Their goal - according to the PNAC - was to transform America, the self-described world superpower into a planetary empire by force of arms after the collapse of the Soviet Union. 

To quote Patrick E. Tyler of the NY Times - 'U.S. STRATEGY PLAN CALLS FOR INSURING NO RIVALS DEVELOP'. This policy - as does its successor - the Foreign Policy Initiative, co-founded by Wm. Kristol and Robert Kagan - continue to ensure a cyclical war economy that has devastated the homelands of other countries while preserving the sanctity of the US homeland by implicitly mandating war be only carried out abroad. 

There is no quantifiable measure of which I am aware that calculates the human, social and economic damage engendered by this US domestic and foreign policy. The repercussions of these strategies which spawn a cyclical war economy have become and will continue to be a human extinction behaviour from which we may never recover - all in the total and abject absence of any coherent plan to seek peace among the human family. 

Moral and ethical modes of reasoning concerning the implementation of a global peace plan - although well within the capabilities of the United States - are moribund among the hawks and... quite possibly even the doves - many of whom are supported, influenced or controlled by the military industrial complex, the NRA and global corporate factions.  

FACTOR TWO - Extinction Behaviours and Toxic Indolence

The newly established scorn for and mockery of logic and rational discourse in the current American socio-political context is also responsible for what may be described as the RESURRECTION OF IDIOCY. This is a relatively new human extinction behaviour soon to become a pandemic if the current child in the White House is re-elected in 2020. 

The evidence of this disease - a toxic blend of ignorance and power - is more than apparent. It "defines a pervasive malaise fostered by the mass media, triumphalist religious fundamentalism, mediocre public education, a dearth of fair-minded public intellectuals on the right and the left, and, above all, a lazy and credulous public." Susan Jacoby - The Age of American Unreason. 

This toxic blend is currently rooted in the political indecisiveness and corruption of a White House administration gone wrong - one that holds distain for the rule of law, diminishes NATO and permits a directionless foreign policy agenda, siding with foreign dictators, decimating trade agreements, moral and racial atrocities, stomping on the US Constitution... we must stop there for now for fear of further agitating the sensibilities of the reader who may be attempting to deal with the totality of this irrationality in a rational way.

A FINAL COMMENT

This adherence to cyclical war is second only to globalism's corporate rape of the environment as evidenced by the plastic's that are crowding out the water from our rivers, streams and oceans as well as a fossil fuel industry that stuffs oil down the throat of anything that moves. 

"Whispers are but a shadow of reality - 

dare we listen?"

The time limit for active peace diplomacy and the reparation of the environment is fast approaching - even faster considering the political will appears to be non-existent or part of any global agenda of which I am aware. 

Another compounding factor must be recognized - one that seriously compromises an essential move towards a global peace plan. This manifests itself as the perceived notion by a growing proportion of the American public that global peace and a sustainable environment are simply incompatible and unnecessary for human survival. The controllers see any move towards peace as a threat to US political interests and continued dominance. 

This is the air we breathe today. It may be wise to avoid a deep breath.