Forum Post: STOP American empire and STOP giving all our money to defense corporations
Posted 13 years ago on Oct. 12, 2011, 9:56 a.m. EST by wallstreetrevolt
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It would be fantastic to see a curb on America as an empire. We have just spent over two trillion $ of borrowed money on two unnecessary wars that really only benefit defense contractors --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/list_of_united_states_defense_contractors -- like Halliburton, Blackwater and General Electric that made $14 billion profit last year and paid no taxes at all... Since 9/11 the gov has installed intelligence agencies that have over a million employees - a third of which have top secret clearance - and many of them are redundant to boot as they duplicate each other’s work as they're all so secret they can't communicate with each other, not to mention the public that can't know who these agencies are, what they do nor what they cost even though the taxpayers pay over a $180 billion per year for them ! Instead of such useless and insidious expenditure what about using it to rebuild our education system, our infrastructure, and have a health system that includes everyone like every other developed country except for us ! This must be considered and has not been because of the climate of fear promulgated and milked by 9/11. Home Security spends over $200 billion per year on terrorism when two years ago 78 americans died of official terrorist acts, whereas the government spent $4 billion dollars that year on heart disease research when 60,000 americans died of it. Where should taxpayers put their hard earned dollars? The former benefits the corporate defense/intelligence contractors and the latter benefits the people !
Just so you know, TONS of everyday inventions come directly from military defense spending. Microwave, cellphone, GPS... just to name a few. Plus tons of schools get lots of research money from defense spending. Which in turn helps put many students through school.
I'm very glad to read about STOPPING AMERICAN EMPIRE. In my opinion, there is not enough discussion on this site of that crucial aspect of our struggle.
"America's soul has become poisoned" (Martin Luther King). In order to be healed, America needs to redeem herself and one of the most important ways to do that is to abandon empire. Let's face it, America can longer AFFORD empire, morally or financially!
And in fact, our empire does nothing to really help the American citizen. It only aids our corporations to plunder others just like the British East India company did for 300 years. In the 18th and 19th century the entire British military was run and financed by this company which was the biggest in Britain and the damage they did socially, politically and economically we're still living with today. The US government is also a similar surrogate abroad for the biggest US corporations who, if they don't make their money plundering make it by supplying wars...
GREAT POINT! But so many Americans are completely ill-informed about this. And as I said earlier, I feel there has not been not enough discussion about these crucial matters on this site. I would also like to read about the crimes of the American Empire, against the people of Chile for instance, who had THEIR 9/11 - compliments of Uncle Sam! - eighteen years before we did, on September 11, 1973. America toppled the legitimate, democratically-elected regime and replaced it with a military dictatorship led by the infamous General Pinochet. Many, many more people died as a result than died on September 11, 2001. THE full, horrid story of the crimes committed by our Government in OUR name, MUST BE TOLD. "The truth will set you free" (Matthew 8:4).
Chile is just one among a long list of US military expeditions and intelligence operations that have overthrown regimes and plundered peoples in the name of 'nation building' or spreading democracy, when in fact it's only to profit the top US corporations who at one time were represented by the US government and now basically control it. If you would like to see a compendium of most of these expeditions and operations read William Blum's "Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower". You can also view the documentary "Zeitgeist Addendum" -- http://vimeo.com/13770061 -- online which explains economic hit men and the US's use of the World Bank and the IMF as well as showing the insidious enslavement of everyone by our Federal Reserve System... It's all quite incredible but most Americans go through life blind to all this and are thus easily manipulated and exploited.
I completely concur and thank you for the suggestions and congratulate you on being so well informed. In your opinion, what would be the best way to inform the "general public" about these matters? The MSM have been brainwashing them for decades about all the "good" that America is doing in the world!!!
Now that's the prime question almost above all others. The mainstream media has devolved into a propaganda mechanism, particularly since 9/11 where its taboo to say anything other than the official explanation which has been put gravely in doubt by the 9/11 Truth Movement to say the least. But that's just one egregious example of how the mainstream media touts the government's line which at this point is the corporations line because they're basically one and the same these days... It's similar to a Fascist regime where propaganda plays a prime roll; also keeping the populace ignorant is key as well which the US govt is doing a good job at. The mainstream media promulgates and supports those issues that will profit the corporations who are in turn the government. 9/11 supported the defense contractor corporations via the consequent wars and the establishment of numerous new intelligence agencies. I don't know how really to subsume the mainstream media other than what we're doing here and all the alternatives on the internet, the key element that brought about the revolution and change taking place with the Arab Spring in the Middle East.