Tuesday, January 12, 2016

THE MULTI-FACETED AMERICAN BANKRUPTCY AND BEYOND by Ghassan Kadi 11 January 2016



http://thesaker.is/the-multi-faceted-american-bankruptcy-and-beyond/

The Multi-Faceted American Bankruptcy and Beyond

by Ghassan Kadi

The financial collapse of the United States grows more inevitable, and more obviously so. Thus far during the Obama tenure alone, the formal and declared American debt has doubled, sky-rocketing from 10 trillion to 20 trillion dollars. Estimates of total American debt however, and which include unfunded liabilities, are much higher and range from 150 trillion to 350 trillion dollars. But even at twenty trillion, every American man, woman and child owes something in the vicinity of $60,000, and at the higher estimate, the per capita debt figure balloons to nearly $9 million.

Estimates of America’s total assets also vary from 300 to 550 trillion dollars. But as America has lost much of its manufacturing base as well as much of its resources, a big fraction of those assets are in real estate, bonds, shares and other commodities that are valued in accordance with general economic performance, and when the performance drops, they follow suit. Those estimates do not take this economic fact into account and even the low figure of 300 trillion could well and truly be over optimistic.

It is therefore rather difficult, if not impossible to know the actual totals of either American assets or liabilities. That said, if the liabilities figure is indeed in the vicinity of the high 350 trillion dollars figure and that of assets is in the vicinity of the low 300 trillion (if not less), then America could currently be well and truly literally insolvent.

The truth is that we don’t know, and perhaps we will never know, until a collapse spontaneously eventuates, or until the tsunami of the rising of new economic giants sweeps all what is in its way and make that collapse happen.

What is more sinister about the collapse of America is not only evident in its economic decline, but rather in the multitude of facets that seem to be all concurrently chewing away at the foundations of that nation that has led the world at many levels.

The fallout of an American collapse is not only going to be restricted to the United States itself. It will have global repercussions that will bring upon new challenges to the rising powers at more levels than just merely economical.

However, the economic collapse does not seem to be a haphazard phenomenon. It is the result of failures upon failures at a myriad of levels and aspects.

Throughout its history, the nation that developed in the “New world” and became eventually known as the United States of America has failed on three major counts.

The first historic failure was in America’s failure in accepting and recognising the human rights of indigenous Americans.

Native Americans, made to be known as Indians, were subjected to a systematic genocide that went on for four centuries. Four hundred years of massacres, displacements, broken promises, broken treaties, lies and deception that kept driving the “Indians” further and further West until they had no place to find refuge in.

To refer to this epic mass genocide as a violation of human rights would be a very gentle term to cover up a huge crime with. The systematic ethnic cleansing of indigenous Americans has probably been the most violent state-sponsored and longest in duration in the entire history of humanity. It dwarfs all other similar barbaric acts. But the American brutality did not stop there.

The second historic failure came about when the new and independent entity of the United States of America, a nation that was founded on a revolution that was meant to seek equality and justice for all, a revolution that was supposed to have inspired the French Revolution, a revolution that had the “Bill of Rights” to crown it as the first amendment of its constitution, has in fact allowed this so-called “Bill of Rights” to exclude the black man, endorsed his enslavement and the superiority of the white man over his freedom and destiny.

And even after Lincoln’s monumental thirteenth amendment, laws of segregation continued to rule the land until the 1960’s and the freedom of the black man was paid for by the blood of Dr. King and his brave and gallant comrades.

The third historic failure was in America’s inability to uphold Lincoln’s preamble-like statement about government that is “of the people, by the people, for the people”. Successive American governments from both sides of the political divide have proven to be anything but what Lincoln aspired for his nation. The word “people” was replaced by big business, the Israel lobby and the banks.

As a result now, ordinary Americans have little say as to who runs their government and what objectives they seek.

Historically-speaking therefore, and as the American forefathers were building the nation that was meant to represent the “New World” with a flavour of classlessness and freedom, underneath the thin façade, it was indeed built on racial and ethnic inequalities.

When Americans today lament the days of the forefathers, their highly-principled loftiness and achievements, they seem to conveniently ignore that any good that those forefathers stood for was exclusive to the white man.

Then they talk about the “American Dream”, one would ask, what defines this dream? In Hollywood-style, we see Superman defending “Truth, justice and the American Way”. Which “Truth” (with a Capital T), justice and American Way? One wonders if this “dream” of one actually means somebody else’s nightmare. Would one not?

With this question, we step out of history and into present time.

At both international and domestic levels, the so-called “American Dream” is no longer about its touted freedom and justice for Americans. It is no longer about an American Government that claims to conform to due diligence that has the welfare of its own people as the prime and sole objective, but rather one that has no aspirations other than world domination in a manner that keeps big business, the Israel lobby and banks where they belong; on top of the world dominion echelon.

However, decades and centuries of bullish politics have taken their toll on the minds of Americans, even on Americans who were once and continue to be victims of those doctrines. As a consequence, whilst the rise to prominence of African (Black) Americans heralded a hope that they would break out of the ranks of the enduring policies of the white man who enslaved their ancestors, that did not eventuate because they decided to let their comrades and ancestors down and join the white man’s club.

President Obama is not any less of a White-American-style policy zealot than his White House predecessors.

Before him, the rise of Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice to power was not associated with any shift in American foreign or domestic policies.

Slowly, but gradually and surely, the lie that was dubbed the “American Dream” had to fester, grow, and become seen for the lie that it is. This is not by rule of chance, because every lie has an expiry date, and the expiry date of the big “American Lie” is due.

The more the “American Lie” gets unmasked, the more it manifests itself and what has been putrefying within its core, and what its decays and ferments have produced over the decades and centuries.

Corporate white-collared mega bank robbers make Billy the Kid look like, just a kid. School shootings, eroded family values and many similar “new-age” realities are what underpin the state of despair that lead to such personal traumas that lead to problems such as obesity, suicide, drug abuse and depression.

American scholars including psychologists and sociologists are at a loss not knowing what has gone wrong with America and what is causing all the problems they witness. Whatever techniques they are employing to resolve the mystery, they are failing to see that America has lost spirit, and that the momentum of the lie that kept it going for as long as there was enough wealth to be spread around to mask it all is drying out. Now that this wealth has been dissipated and put in the hands of a few, the majority who were left behind have little left to aspire to. The dreams of a few have turned into a nightmare for the many more left behind.

The dream has fallen apart and builders and achievers have been pushed to stoop to the level of scavengers with each fighting for his/her own survival. Tens of millions desperately try to put food on the table whilst the big bankers and CEO’s hasten to get in on the loot before it is too late and there is nothing left to be looted.

No grandeur is left to make an American feel great about being American. Long gone are the times when everybody wanted to live in America. Long gone is the era when songs were written about wanting to live in America. The reality of what America is currently is only a culmination of what it had always been; an unrealistic promise of perfection and social justice that was founded on a series of hypocrisies.

The pretence of morality that America tried to base its foundations upon is showing its age and use by date, and there is little room left for patch-up jobs to hide behind.

Obama has inadvertently made such a sharp u-turn recently, rendering the legacy of Lincoln as something that is in total contradiction to his own. In a recent interview a few weeks ago, he circumvented the allegedly all-profound foundations of the nation-building forefathers to overtly, and rather shamelessly, say that “the measure of strength internationally is not simply by how many countries we’re occupying, of how many missiles we’re firing, but the strength of our diplomacy and the strength of our commitment to human rights…”. This is a far cry from Lincoln’s “of the people, by the people, for the people” slogan that put morality a priori.

The decadent status quo of America is such that its president now felt that he had to ascertain that greatness of a nation is not only measured by its stature as an international thug. If this is not a blatant admission of an erosion of morality and the very foundations of any nation that remotely tries to associate itself with righteousness, then one would wonder what stronger statements would reflect the current lack of proper moral stature of America!

Obama’s statement is an overt admission on behalf of America, by its president, that it has totally lost its moral ground and that there is no need left to pretend otherwise.

Obama’s statement is in principle not any different from that of a corrupt businessman saying that success in business is not only a measure of corporate theft and cheating. In essence, it is not any different from admitting that love is not only about lust. It is not any better than proclaiming that success is not only restricted to money and ego.

This is a blatant admission of moral bankruptcy of the worst kind.

Obama’s statement sums up America’s moral collapse; one that only good Americans can turn around and change and save what is left of America that can be saved. And speaking of good Americans, we must not forget that there are many of them, millions, but they have never been able to either effectively partake in their nation’s governance or were prevented from creating the necessary change. The time has never been more essential for them to unite and rise.

It is vital to examine the morality of all people, one’s own first and foremost, other individuals, groups and nations. But there is a much bigger moral onus on those who proclaim a leadership position. America has taken on board this claim, and therefore becomes accountable. Lack of morality in say Ecuador will perhaps impact only on Ecuador because Ecuador does not assume a global leading role, but when rot hits the alleged global leader nation, the consequences can be dire for the whole world.

Ironically, Jihadi Islamists are now assuming a leadership role and their moral collapse is akin to that of the USA even though at the surface they look very different. Political alliances or the lack of them between America and ISIL set aside, at a moral level, the two parties are pretty much on par.

This seems to be the age of disclosure and exposure, the era of coming out, an era in which no one is any longer able to hide what lurks within; both light and dark, good and bad.

It seems that the time of the big “American Dream” turned the big “American Lie” is coming to full exposure.

The rot of America and that of fundamentalist Islam are coming to a head. It does not seem that it is by accident that both dipoles are showing their ugly faces at the same time.

It would be unjust for anyone to see one of those dipoles in total independence of the other; the two are intertwined strategically, philosophically, and existentially.

America’s moral collapse, which in essence is not recent, is no longer one that can be hidden. It is the culmination of at least two centuries of what started as false pretences and ended up as blatant lies.

The moral collapse of ISIL is arguably more ancient in its roots, but as fate invariably dictates, evil always finds itself coming of age alongside a similar but yet very different evil.

The multi-faceted bankruptcy of America is bringing out to the open a multitude of hidden ghosts; both internal and external; but the common underlying factor to all is the moral collapse. When a nation loses its moral base it loses everything it holds near and dear.

With in-fighting within the Muslim World, none of which is truly addressing the core of the ISIL syndrome, a similar infighting is brewing within the West and particularly within the USA.

Europe will eventually have to take an independent stand; one that is not affected by the decision-making of the USA. If Europe does not break loose and take such a stand, it will have to suffer consequences.

The rest of the world, especially the rising powers, will have to make brave new decisions.

It was brave and honourable of Russia to step in to fight ISIL in Syria. It was a responsible decision to make in order to curb its spread. But the war against dogmatism does not stop at fighting militarily, neither does leading the world into a new era.

The multi-faceted bankruptcy of America, that was once leading the world, dictates that humanity needs new preambles that can lead it into new and better directions.

The BRICS nations have thus far produced humble economic benchmarks to give the brave new world a platform on which it may be able to fall back on in the case of a sudden American economic collapse. The platform is still in the making and the establishment of the China-based AIIB is one of the biggest steps in this direction. It will take some time before the BRICS nations can cushion the full impact of a Western economic collapse.

What is more pertinent however is for the world to have new moral and philosophical stewardship and direction. The onus of taking this task on board is now moving into the direction of the BRICS nations.

After all, if the corporate giants of the west are replaced by those of BRICS, and if the existing rot, corruption and injustices of the world wear a new mask and take new names, humanity would stagnate and the changes would mean nothing.

In times of change, opportunities rise, and with the geo-cultural change in global leadership, humanity now has an opportunity to aim for a better future. This is an opportunity that should not be missed.

Given that it is the collapse of morality that has culminated into the multi-faceted collapse of the USA, will the BRICS nations stand up to the task? Time will tell, and history will be very unforgiving if they don’t.

Saturday, January 9, 2016

THE VOLGA FLOWS INTO BARADA by Ghassan Kadi 4 January 2016



http://thesaker.is/the-volga-flows-into-barada/

The Volga flows into Barada

by Ghassan Kadi

Syria has never been a perfect place, and probably she never will be. Yet, those who truly love Syria, do not love her because they perceive her as of some fantasy, a Shangrila, a utopia or a paradise-lost. They simply love her because they know the wonderful aspects that the Syrian culture has.

Syrians are humans. Inherently, they are not any different from those who are Portuguese, Chinese or Canadian. If they are different at all, it is because of their acquired cultural inheritance; an inheritance that can have a significant bearing on their thought process, perceiving and evaluating events, and decision-making among other things.

To this effect, ancient cultures have much in common. Syria has been one of the cornerstones of ancient cultures. Long before pragmatism and obsession with economic growth, humans interacted at deeper levels, with valued virtues such as care, hospitality, gallantry, duty, accountability, honour and the like. Some of those virtues, especially in the West, look now somehow archaic and “primitive”, and they can become so when honour gets reduced to something that can be settled in a duel, but such misconceptions do not take from such virtues their true substance.

Those virtues exist in all cultures, even within the most modern of them, the most materialistic of them all, because people will always be by-and-large virtuous beings. However, in ancient cultures, those values are still alive and well and highly regarded.

What makes Syria stand out in the Middle East is the fact that those so-called “old-fashioned values” were well and alive within Syria before the “War On Syria” was launched. The polarization of the rest of the world that followed is still taking shape nearly five years later, and those who are standing against Syria, are giving clear statements about the nature of their own cultures and belief systems.

The reverse can be said about those who are standing up in defence of Syria.

The Russian culture, not quite as ancient as the Syrian culture, stems from the same “old-fashioned values” and remains to be a culture in which those virtues are alive and well. Whilst it is true that Russia has strategic interests in Syria, it is not however by accident that Russia came to Syria’s help and defence.

Syria and Russia are very different at the surface. They have virtually no common ethnicities, and very little in common when it comes to religion, despite Antioch (a Syrian city now in Turkey) being a cradle for Orthodoxy. The cuisine, the language, music, traditional attire, folklore, are all so different, yet at deeper levels, the cultures are very similar.

Syria is having a very tough time at present, and during tough times, one sees the best and the worst; from teen-aged Syrian girls taking up arms to resist invaders, to healthy young Syrian men fleeing to Europe to evade military service. Even worse, we see Syrian young men taking up arms to join ISIS and other organizations against Syria and her national army.

But Syria is still standing, and if she gets defeated, she will be defeated standing. She is still standing because the majority of Syrians opted to stand and to take the fight for better and for worse.

Russia has also had her share of misfortune after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The monumental turn around that Russia made in two decades, a turn around that brought her back from the doldrums of the worst nadir she had for centuries to that of world leadership; and almost overnight. At many levels, the “miracle” is attributed to the genius of President Putin. There is little doubt that without the wise and strong leadership of President Putin, Russia wouldn’t have been able to rise like she did, and as quickly as she did.

Having said that, President Putin couldn’t have performed his “miracle” without the Russian people and the culture that underpins their hearts and minds. Most Russians see him as the embodiment of their best qualities, and reciprocally, he brought the best out of them.

The Syrians who are standing up in defence of Syria are not at all different from the Russians who walked the talk with President Putin and put Russia back in the fore front of world leadership.

The West has become bent on destruction; including self-destruction. The level of citizen happiness and satisfaction is receding to unprecedented lows. Police shootings and public shootings in America are becoming daily events. Europe on the other hand is fostering foreign policies that have clearly encouraged terrorism and which only lead to the rise of ultra-right-wing policies. The sense of national and personal pride in the West is being eroded and there seems nothing on the horizon that can reverse this situation. After all, the “Yes We Can” Obama slogan failed to define who “we” are! The moment he gained residence of the Whitehouse, he and the people were no longer one, and “we” turned into me and you and him.

In contrast, in Russia and in Syria, Presidents are loved and respected. Westerners find it hard to believe this, but they do not know any better. They have lost their confidence in their own leaders decades ago. In Syria and in Russia, the army and the police are highly regarded, the elderly are treasured, and the ceremonies that honour those who have fallen are not mere ceremonial acts performed by officials, they are actions that involve heartfelt work and passion of each and every citizen.

Moreover, when Westerners take to the streets, they often do this in protest against their own governments. They know that their governments do not really represent them, and they therefore regard authority just like a prisoner perceives his warden. However, when Westerners see Russians and/or Syrians parading in the streets carrying posters of their leaders, they think it is government propaganda. They truly do not know any better.

Public property is sacrilegious (correction) sacrosanct in Russia and Syria; a stark difference from the graffiti-ridden West.

Morally, the West is unequipped to fight ISIS because it does not have its own moral anti-thesis to fight it with. In saying this, we must always remember that the fight against ISIS is not only military. If anything, it will have to be more ideological than military, but the West does not have what it takes to fight either war.

The fight for Syria is not simply a fight for a piece of land. It is a fight for decency and for cultures that uphold the good old-fashioned virtues that have almost totally disappeared in the West.

It is a war that can only be fought by Syrians who uphold the virtues of their culture, by non-Syrian supporters who have similar values, and by other nations who share those values.

It is a war of freedom of thought versus oppression, secularism versus sectarianism, duty versus laziness, respect versus disrespect, standing tall versus begging, enlisting versus desertion, knowing the difference between might and bullying, standing up against bullies, disallowing acts of injustice against those who are meeker, patience, resolve, steadfastness, dignity, pride and a huge dose of humility to cloak all of the above with the necessary human touch that does not allow those virtues to give rise to personal self-importance and egocentricism.

Some non-Syrians have risen to the support of Syria without having the slightest clue who and what they are supporting. Some have done this for reasons of vested interests, but unless those individuals and nations share those very same Syrian cultural ideals and virtues, they will either find out that they had deluded themselves, or others will find out that they have been deluded by them.

It is not by accident that Russia came to the defence of Syria. The similarities in qualities of the cultures are uncanny, and the role that Russia is playing now in trying to keep the West honest stipulated that she needed to make a loud and clear presence in Syria.

“The Orontes flows into the Tiber” was an ancient Roman proverb used to elaborate the then strong ties between the Levant and Rome. In today’s age, the Volga flows into Barada.