The raids at the Home Depot parking lot and a Los Angeles workplace said everything: armed ICE agents dragging away day labourers – some while their children watched – their only “crime” being undocumented status in a nation built on exploiting their labor. This wasn’t law enforcement. It was theatre – Stephen Miller’s theatre – a production of state-sanctioned cruelty from a man whose American dream has always been a nightmare for everyone else.
Stephen Miller doesn’t leak policy; he oozes malevolence. He’s not just the architect of suffering – he’s its interior decorator, polishing every cruel edge until it gleams. His influence in the Trump administration was never just about immigration. It was about making cruelty the point, and then smiling for the cameras. He engineers suffering with the precision of a man who’s studied every dark chapter of history and taken notes. His fingerprints are on every inflection point of the Trump administration’s descent into barbarism. Notedly, he is “credited with shaping the racist and draconian immigration policies of President Trump.”
His résumé reads like a dystopian greatest hits album:
- The Muslim Ban (2017): treating religion like contraband and refugees like biohazards.
- Family separations (2018): toddlers in cages, parents vanished – a grotesque pilot program for psychological warfare. (Australia gets a dishonourable mention here: the LNP’s offshore cruelty was Miller’s cheat sheet.)
- The DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) repeal: 800,000 dreams held hostage to score political points on Tucker Carlson’s whiteboard.
Now, as Deputy Chief of Staff – yes, Trump kept him on like a cursed amulet – Miller is doubling down. His May 2025 directive demands 3,000 daily arrests of non-criminal migrants. When ICE leadership hesitated, Miller scolded them for lacking “resolve” – a word which, in Millerese, translates roughly to “willingness to traumatise children for prime-time ratings.” This isn’t about law. It’s about spectacle – misery in high definition, with a chyron ready to roll on Fox.
Miller’s worldview is equal parts white grievance and apocalyptic cosplay. He traffics in invented crises, racial paranoia, and a deeply suburban fear of multilingual grocery stores. His so-called solutions? Roundups, quotas, and more barbed wire. His rhetoric of “unraveling” relies on a familiar playbook:
- Invent a crisis (see: his claims about crime, despite California’s violent crime dropping 12% since 2020)
- Target the vulnerable (raids on day labourers, not cartels)
- Gaslight critics (labeling protests “insurrection” while ICE agents slash civil liberties)
Los Angeles isn’t unraveling – it’s resisting. And Miller, who sees every protest as proof of his own warped prophecy, is thrilled. He doesn’t want order; he wants a permanently panicked nation with fewer brown people.
Let’s be clear: Stephen Miller is not a rogue operator. He is the purest distillation of a movement that swapped empathy for exclusion, and justice for jingoism. The question is no longer if he will be remembered as a villain. It’s whether the damage he’s doing can be undone before his blueprint for authoritarianism becomes permanent.
Also by Roswell:
Trump’s reckless defiance is turning U.S. Courts into a toothless tiger
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A great article, that works well in tandem with Michael’s earlier one.
But let’s not kid ourselves that this disintegration of values and accepted practices is a uniquely US phenomenon or US problem. As Roswell points out — Stephen Miller is not a rogue operator. He is the purest distillation of a movement that swapped empathy for exclusion, and justice for jingoism.
This movement is at work in all the Western democracies, but is not being reported adequately here in Oz.
From The European Conservative — Thierry Breton, the European Union’s former internal market commissioner, admitted in a French TV interview at the end of last week that the Romanian Constitutional Court (CCR) bowed to EU pressure. It annulled the country’s presidential elections last month, following the first-round victory of the Eurosceptic and anti-NATO, right-wing populist candidate, Călin Georgescu.
Georgescu is apparently no more than an old-style conservative looking to protect his country’s interests.
From Public News — The European Union has banned three journalists, two German and one Turkish, from entering the EU, and frozen their bank accounts.”
Punishment without due process.
Guilty until proven innocent.
Their crime is reporting that does not agree with EU policy.
For stand-out hypocrisy, after the EU banned journalists, they threatened Elon Musk for doing the same in a milder version. Times of Malta reports — The EU on Friday warned Elon Musk that Twitter could be subject to sanctions under a future media law after the “worrying” suspension of several journalists from the messaging platform. “News about arbitrary suspension of journalists on Twitter is worrying. EU’s Digital Services Act requires respect of media freedom and fundamental rights. This is reinforced under our Media Freedom Act,” EU commissioner Vera Jourova posted on Twitter.
Then we have the UK criminalizing dissent.
A new Public Order Act makes it illegal to hold a rally or demonstration if it “inconveniences” anyone. This gives the state unlimited power to clamp down on any demonstration.
A new National Security Act makes it illegal to accept funding if it comes from “a hostile state”. There is no definition of what qualifies as a “hostile state”.
A new Public Safety Act makes it a criminal offense to publish “misinformation”, There is no definition of “misinformation” — the government decides.
This all confirms the view recently stated by Yanis Varoufakis, that the political structure in Europe, with its layers of authorities and bureaucracies, has become fascist in all but name.
He says we did not have to wait for fascism to arrive for the banning of the 2015 Greek referendum because Europe did not like the outcome. For civil servants in Germany to be fired for failing to support genocide.
And so we see that the EU has gone full-Nietzsche — “There are no facts, only interpretations”.
The key point there as one analyst put it, is that in the artificially fabricated post-truth environment, facts are only facts if we say so; so only one interpretation is allowed – be it from the Empire of Chaos, whoever may be in power, or from a Kafkaesque mechanism such as the European Union or the European Commission.
And well done Roswell for reminding us of our contribution to this tide of fascism, with our offshore detention that has become an inspiration for unspeakable ratbags from the UK to the US who never saw a concentration camp they didn’t like.
Whatever is causing this global tide of restrictions across the West, this global clamp-down, this removal of freedoms that are in fact attempts at thought control, must be serious indeed. It has an air of desperation about it.
That air of desperation fits well with this beautifully succinct description of the problem from the economist Radhika Desai — “Capitalism is no longer able to provide the basics for most people on the planet. It cannot recover. What we are suffering now … is the cost of keeping capitalism in business.”
Agree, but Australia has been only a wafer thin margin away from similar, following the same movement/ideology, bipartisan migration policies, tactics and media dog whistling; now MAGA white Christian nationalist Tanton Network.
Same focus on ‘the other’ & their character, border security, immigration restrictions and population control, for a fossil fueled environmental greenwash. The dec. white nationalist Tanton admired white Oz, visited and hosted by SusPopAus (& friend Brimelow allegedly reported directly to Murdoch at FoxNews) .
Related to the latter, is Miller, Bannon, Musk, Le Pen, Orbán et al favourite literature, Jean Raspail’s ‘Camp of the Saints’ which inspired Renaud Camus’ ‘The Great Replacement’, and published by Tanton’s TSCP.
The same book or ‘racist screed’ was recently classified down to ‘unrestricted’ from ‘mature’ upon application by ABF’s Terror Unit, and SusPopAus patron had bagged interview with Raspail, decades ago….no wonder we have bipartisan bigotry?
Here’s republished article of 1994-95 by SusPopAus patron and collaborator with ‘Australia’s best demographer’ Bob Birrell, Katherine Betts:
‘A propitious decision by The Social Contract Press to republish Jean Raspail’s prescient novel The Camp of the Saints has had long-lasting effect. It is the most popular title we handle, often assigned for college courses. In anticipation of that reprinting we asked Dr. Katharine Betts, during a visit to France, to arrange an interview with author Raspail. The result appeared in our Winter 1994-95 issue.’
https://www.thesocialcontract.com/pdf/fifteen-four/xv-4-305.pdf
My God, America USED TO BE a compassionate, caring country that prided itself on its multiculturalism and tolerance. NOW, under the mismanagement of that diabolical, cold-blooded misogynist and dysfunctional CONVICTED CRIMINAL, Donald Trump, America has become a cruel, racist, unforgiving and callously inhumane nation thriving on hate, division and a condescending contempt for all of America’s (once) loyal allies like Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK and many other nations throughout Europe! My God, you only have to look into the cold, heartless black eyes of Stephen Miller to see what a chilling psychopath he is – the fact that Trump is elevating revolting, inhumane sociopaths like Miller in its ranks can be expected considering that Trump, himself, ticks every box as an amoral, totally unconscionable, self-obsessed political psychopath!
Trump’s appalling, contemptuous mistreatment of the Ukraine President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, was not well received around the world and displayed Trump’s disgusting level of born-to-rule arrogance and his complete lack of respect towards other nation’s elected leaders.
Not only is Trump a chest-beating, alpha male misogynist and an arrogant megalomaniacal narcissist, he ticks EVERY box as a dangerously undemocratic political psychopath whose reprehensible regime has been reduced to arresting and incarcerating little children in order to flex its muscles like a huge, ravaging schoolyard bully! Right now, it is no surprise that Trump is about as internationally “popular” as a three day old fish left in the back seat of a car in the hot sun! In fact, I cannot think of ONE other POTUS who is as universally despised, unspeakably corrupt, unconscionably cruel and as inherently amoral as Trump (with the exception of that irrational intellectual midget, George W Bush – yet ANOTHER repugnant, war mongering Republican, who runs a close second).
If America hopes to regain ANY level of integrity or credibility throughout the world, it needs to (once again) IMPEACH that depraved political psychopath, Trump – who is exhibiting very worrying signs as a developing fascist – whom they foolishly and short-sightedly elevated into the most powerful position in the world. Trump’s condescending contempt and, now, his total rejection of the AUKUS Treaty is a RED FLAG WARNING that Trump’s version of America now has NO gratitude, zero respect and not one iota of loyalty towards nations (like Australia and New Zealand) that assisted and stood by America’s side during America’s dirty little wars in Vietnam and their illegal invasion of Iraq and Syria.
It has been evident, over many years, that Trump is a totally repugnant individual who’s only allegiance is to the sociopath who stares back at himself from his mirror every morning! How can ANYONE expect an egotistical, totally irrational and absolutely dysfunctional sociopath like Trump to act with loyalty and honour to other nations when he is a serial adulterer who cannot even remain loyal to his OWN wife and family? The fact is that Trump – and the appalling sociopaths he is elevating in his despicable regime – are totally self-serving political psychopaths and dangerously undemocratic fascists who will tear down, destroy and obliterate EVERYTHING that decent Americans once stood for and believed in. History has already PROVEN that Trump is an annihilator who sees no value in anyone or anything UNLESS it can bring him some type of personal advantage. Australia, Canada and New Zealand NOW need to alienate our nations from Trump’s sick, twisted version of America which country has now become unrecognisable since that grotesque chest-beating narcissist (Trump) has usurped a terrifying level of power with considerable help from the malignant, unspeakably depraved Murdoch press!
The fact that this appalling, hatefully divisive, rusted-on misogynistic predator, Trump – a CONVICTED CRIMINAL – now has his shaky, irrational finger poised over the Doomsday Button should be of HUGE CONCERN to the rest of the free world! Trump’s close association and blossoming relationship with that ex-KGB killer, Vladimir Putin, is yet ANOTHER aspect of Trump’s insane lack of discernment that is proving to be a REAL worry to anyone with an IQ in double digits!
As a hard-lined racist, a rusted-on misogynistic predator, a self-serving megalomaniacal psychopath and a CONVICTED CRIMINAL completely devoid of any compassion and with zero morality, Trump will prove to be a terrifying and dangerous choice to be POTUS and, no doubt, one that America – and the rest of the world – will come to SERIOUSLY REGRET in the short term! Honestly, America – WTF were you thinking?
In Australia we hunt down “illegals” – we are not above sending six or eight Border Force operatives to apprehend one illegal worker the only difference is that the Border Force operatives have a Court Order and warrant to enter premises and apprehend.
The Trump operatives appear to have bypassed the courts both as regards the apprehension of ‘illegal workers’ and their deportation from the country – their criteria for apprehension appears to be skin colour – that, and the fact that they ignore State legislatures, is a worry.
Thank you, Steve. I appreciate that.
Katie, I’m stealing your comment.
It may not be a ‘rolling ball’ of history, but more likely a pendulum. A pendulum that is allowed to rest, be oiled then resume the essential tik-tok of time. No, there are the malcontents and prestidigitators who lack trust and faith in the advances of time, and would grab it so as to force reversions to arcane stupidities they wallowed in, whilst at the same time setting off false alarm bells.
The grandfather clocks of the US, Britain and Europe have been stopped by their parliaments of malcontents and prestidigitators. Hitler, Mussolini, Franco and Joe McCarthy will be rejoicing in their graves.
These crusty old clots fail to see the gravity of Foucault’s pendulum – that they cannot control the spin, and what is more, that today’s clocks, that everybody has, are incontrovertibly attached to the pulse of the cosmos, and it is via those that we should fashion or political and economic mechanisms.
Looking at Miller all I see is a combination of psychopath and sociopath. A truly vile excuse for a human being.
the worst of the many nasty inappropriate appointments made by trump
So what is the “cost of keeping capitalism in business” that is referred to by Radhika Desai?
To answer that we must first establish the business of capitalism.
As the saying goes, the purpose of a system is seen in what it does.
And what has been an outstanding feature of capitalism for a few decades now? The creation of refugees.
The creation of refugees has mainly occurred in two regions — West Asia/North Africa, and Central/Sth America.
How are these connected to the business of capitalism?
The business of capitalism is the acquisition of resources as cheaply as possible, so theft becomes a feature, along with other practices that are close to theft. Institutionalised theft (through the IMF) becomes an integral part of the system.
This theft creates hardship and suffering for the victims, who are forced to leave home in search of a better life.
The choice for those in Central America is easy. A better life is to be found in Hollywood, or the closest thing to it. Because the movies tell them so.
For those in West Asia or Nth Africa, the next best thing to Hollywood is to be found in Europe.
And so they stream towards a dream. The dream of liberal illusions.
Europe has been struggling with the refugee crisis for decades, but has any European leader called out the US for its meddling in their neighbourhood?
Nothing is done that might upset the system. So they treat the refugee stream as just a cost of doing business.
The refugee stream into the US was welcome for many years as it provided cheap labour, but as the cheap resources slowly dried up, manufacturing was hit, and local labour was laid off. Suddenly the refugees became a political problem.
Has any voice in Congress called out US theft from Central and Sth America? Not that I recall. Any such call would be quickly silenced by the system.
There was another cost of doing business that arose in West Asia/Nth Africa. Regional leaders such as Saddam and Gadaffi were working to establish a scheme to trade oil, a scheme that by-passed the US dollar. This was a threat to US dollar hegemony. The extremely costly removal of Saddam and Gadaffi, was just another cost of keeping capitalism in business, and created another crop of economic refugees.
We should not think for a moment that Australia stands aloof from this grubby sideshow. Our refugee policy for many years, and most likely still is, is that we reject economic refugees, instead favouring political refugees. To make ourselves feel good. And this despicable position is given legitimacy by the international community.
According to the United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, as amended by its 1967 Protocol (the Refugee Convention), a refugee is a person who is outside their own country and is unable or unwilling to return due to a well-founded fear of being persecuted because of their race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion.
No protection there for those whose livelihood has been disrupted or stolen, but plenty of protection for the system that disrupted and stole.
And so, as resources get scarcer and markets shrink, as the cost of keeping capitalism in business grows, the financial system will find it ever more difficult to provide the basics for its domestic constituencies. Unrest will grow, protests will become frequent, and repression will become harsher. And harsher.
This is just the beginning.
Welcome to the liberal dream.
Gazing into the tea leaves, Steve, how long have we got? I recall that there was a Global Happiness Index published by a British group called the New Economics Foundation, who noted that resource utilisation was twice the planet’s capacity for replenishment. That report was around ~15-20 years ago, and obviously things are much worse today.
Putting global warming and its consequences to one side for the moment, the checklist of extraction & utilisation of resources proves to be an exercise in dismal accounting; whether it’s food & fibre, timber, minerals, potable water, general health & welfare of ecosystems, and not to neglect the state of play in human societies which, despite those who believe in fairies and sprinkling star dust whilst waltzing through the Elysium Fields, seem to be increasingly stressed year by year.
I’d go so far as to suggest that if a benevolent extraterrestrial entity was paying careful attention to the damage that H.sapiens was doing to this little orb of organic miraculousness, he/they might be inclined to bring in the Zap-blaster and put the planet out of its misery by decimating said human herd.
S Miller, a skinful of slimy shittiness, is a quite typical result of USA history, swollen ego, misfit narcissism, erectile egofixations, righteous aloofness, noble indifference to others, rubberised morals, quite untrustworthy in dealings, an attitudinal monument of detachment. Here is a Trump lad, a nosekilling stinker.
Kanga, thanks for your interest, but I have to confess that you’ve blown my next draft comment right out of the water. It was about the lack of interest in this topic! 🙂
You’ve summed up the problems of resource extraction consequences beautifully — no more needs to be said.
As for your question — how long have we got, I don’t think that extraction in itself is a problem, rather it’s utilisation that is destructive, as you indicate.
And I think that the political/economic sphere will interfere with irresponsible utilisation before we get to a point of no return.
A political class has emerged in the US and Europe that has forgotten the dangers of nuclear confrontation that kept everyone in check for 70 years. The brinkmanship that’s taking place right now is astonishing, and was unthinkable a decade or so ago.
So unfortunately, the answer to the question “how long have we got”, depends on the stupidity of a Western political class that were born into a system based on liberal illusions and who know nothing else.
A system based on narcissism, on equality of opinion irrespective of learning or consideration, on rejection of tradition and respect, on the right to endless property accumulation with no regard to who gets hurt in the process.
In short, I don’t think we have much time at all.
Terry, further to the important matters you highlight, the following extract goes some way to showing how ICE is able to do what it does – and all seemingly outside the purview of the Courts – decisions of which have (in the recent past) been ignored in any event:
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, wearing plainclothes and circling neighborhoods in unmarked cars, kidnap legal residents such as Mahmoud Khalil. These abductions replicate those I witnessed on streets of Santiago, Chile under the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, or in San Salvador, El Salvador’s capital, during the military dictatorship.
ICE is swiftly evolving into our homegrown version of the Gestapo or The People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD). It oversees 200 detention facilities. It is a formidable domestic surveillance agency that has amassed data on most Americans, according to a report compiled by The Center of Privacy & Technology at Georgetown. Extract from Report shown below:
“By reaching into the digital records of state and local governments and buying databases with billions of data points from private companies, ICE has created a surveillance infrastructure that enables it to pull detailed dossiers on nearly anyone, seemingly at any time,” the report reads. “In its efforts to arrest and deport, ICE has — without any judicial, legislative or public oversight — reached into datasets containing personal information about the vast majority of people living in the U.S., whose records can end up in the hands of immigration enforcement simply because they apply for driver’s licenses; drive on the roads; or sign up with their local utilities to get access to heat, water and electricity.”
America’s Off-Shore Concentration Camps.
By Chris Hedges. CounterPunch. June 12, 2025.
https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/06/12/americas-off-shore-concentration-camps/
Steve, in response to your several comments (and with thanks at the same time to Roswell), I acknowledge the simple truth of your conclusion that: Unrest will grow, protests will become frequent, and repression will become harsher. Even so, I am tempted to remind Kanga of a much earlier comment (I think it was in relation to Gaza), that the ultimate resolution perhaps may be cosmic, because clearly as a species we have made a terrible mess of things……….but I digress.
As to the UK, it’s clear to me that PM Starmer is acting under instruction – he simply doesn’t have the nous to dream up this level of repression on his own; and as for the situation in the US and Europe, we are seeing (especially in the US) the political/economic system beginning “to eat its own”, which is what the “Big Beautiful Bill” recently passed by the US Congress is all about: wholesale cuts to social and other programs, while at the same time delivering tax cuts for the already wealthy – with the Government deficit to grow by several trillion dollars over the next few years. Interesting that Elon Musk bitched about that, but not a word from him about the adverse consequences for Joe Citizen.
The “Beautiful Bill” is a monstrous attack on ordinary citizens, and it goes hand in hand with the work of DOGE in decimating much of the Federal US Civil Service, with particular emphasis on those sections previously devoted to financial, legislative and administrative oversight. End result? A clear demonstration of the long-standing principle that “those with the gold make the rules”, and even though there’s still plenty of physical gold to be had, it costs money, so the more funds that can be created “on-shore” the better and the more convenient – and so, for example, the insiders profited nicely from the Stock Market with each Trumpian variation of tariffs, and will likely do so again. Meanwhile resource extraction (in the US) continues unabated, together with the diminution of environmental oversight and safeguards. And then there’s the proposed major sell-off of public land.
Unfortunately the same (economic) phenomena are happening in Australia and can no longer be regarded as “in-embryo”. See Australia’s widening wealth gap, and what do about it, by Saul Eslake. Inside Story. June 03, 2025.
On one matter I must take issue with you Steve, and that’s over your comment about “the lack of interest in this topic”, which I think is a bit unfair. I do not for one moment doubt there’s many with an interest in “the state of the world”, its causes and what might be done about that, but either through lack of education, experience, or natural reticence, are unwilling to commit themselves to print in a public journal – even behind a pseudonym.
One wonders what the great Nina Simone would have to say about the current state of play in America. A consummate artist of the highest degree, as an African American she faced obstacle and difficulty at many stages of her long career, and became, from an early age, an outstanding advocate for the fight against oppression, racism and bigotry.
Freedom and lack of fear were issues very close to her heart, and she warned Americans, repeatedly, about the dangers present and looming in that society. Sadly, like many prescient individuals, she was to a large extent ignored.
Indeed and well said Kanga; “Strange Fruit” & “Mississippi Goddam” come immediately to mind.
Julian, you’re quite right, there is widespread interest in the state of the world. But it worries me that at a site like this, when I post a comment that describes the how and why of the end of the liberal ascendency, very few want to talk about it.
There’s you and a handful of others who are willing to dive in the deep end, so most of my comments on this subject just hang there in the breeze until they blow away.
Why the reluctance?
I can’t accept the reasons that you gave for this reluctance. There’s plenty here with little education or experience who have no trouble expressing a view on a variety of topics, and well done to them. It’s great to see.
But when it comes to the fall of the liberal order, we could hear a pin drop.
Here’s a possible reason.
I have a feeling that despite the very commendable ethical base of all who contribute here, most of us are comfortable in our liberal cocoon.
Yes, we all want the suffering of people in the Global South to end.
Yes, we want the militarism of the US and its allies to be forced onto a civilised path.
But we sense, perhaps unconsciously, that a more humane world will involve sacrifice on our part. Because the end of liberal hegemony will require sacrifice.
After 70 odd years of enjoying the stolen fruits of liberalism, have we reached the point where we don’t do sacrifice anymore?
Or have we allowed ourselves to be seduced by the pathetic lie that there is no alternative? Seduced, because that lie relieves us of the responsibility to actually think about our comfortable cocoon?
We have to face the fact that the good times are over.
The countries that were victims of liberal imperialism have slowly worked their way to a point where resistance is achievable and happening.
As a result, the cheap resources and cheap labour that gave us our standard of living are becoming increasingly hard to muster.
To compensate for this loss, the liberal managers are forced in their endless quest for profit to turn their domestic populations into victims.
Wages stagnate while profits soar.
Social services are reduced bit by bit, just slowly enough to avoid revolution.
The result is mounting protest, but as yet the protests focus on the symptoms of the problem, not the cause.
People are frustrated at losing freedoms but are not asking why.
Until the realisation seeps into the awareness of the masses that there are alternatives, nothing will change.
It’s not hard to work out that alternatives are possible.
There is enough wealth generated now on a continuing basis to provide adequately for the entire globe.
It’s not production that’s the problem — it’s distribution. (Although Kanga has wisely pointed out that production has a downside also.)
All that’s needed for more equitable distribution to happen is a little tweaking at the margins. A few changes in how we do business.
This means that the sacrifices most of us fear will be almost unnoticeable. In fact, for most there might not be sacrifices at all.
I stated earlier that the end of liberal hegemony will require sacrifice. So what exactly is hegemony?
The best explanation I’ve seen came from Gramsci — hegemony exists where the interests of a dominant group are accepted by those who are dominated as being worthy and legitimate, even when harmful to the interests of the dominated class.
Isn’t that a great summary of the problems that beset us today?
We are the dominated class. We accept the theft and killing that is organised by the 1%.
We even fight and die to protect the theft and then build memorials to prove how loyal we are. To make it quite clear that we will fight and die again.
We are part of the problem.
The resources of the world do not belong to the 1%, as even they know.
The distribution powers were taken by force.
We only have to reclaim them.
Those powers are ours.
Either we start commenting on this, start talking about it, or we accept that our position as vassals is permanent.
Steve, after my comment are unwilling to commit themselves to print in a public journal I neglected to qualify that by adding: upon a matter as complex as this. In fact I was sure I had done so. My only excuse is an errant memory.
As to your comments, there’s a lot to take in, so let me sleep on it.
Cheers.
Steve, I suspect that what you’re proposing is, in effect, a revolution. Let’s be clear about this. Revolutions, historically, have occurred frequently. But… (if I understand you, and I may be incorrect here) if what you are suggesting is needed & necessary, well, the scale and intensity of such phenomena are relatively rare. The essential issue is, I suspect, how do you galvanise enough people to raise the needed issue to the level of acute consciousness, such that you have a paradigm changing event that by consensus acknowledges that the prevailing economic given is a failure, that it works for the few and disenfranchises the many, and that its time of dominance is over?
It seems to me that homogeneous societies are better equipped to challenge the status quo than the heterogeneous alternatives. The reasons for are relatively easy to understand. In this context, America, Australia, the UK and other assimilated societies are at a disadvantage when it comes to creating a consensus of critical mass that is capable of instituting necessary social/economic/political change.
We may be, to descend into quotidian perspectives, firmly & utterly rooted, in these regards. Whatever the finality of outcomes, I’m a firm advocate for physical reality, as in, physics rules, despite our wishes otherwise; ecosystems behave according to the conditions they find themselves in, oceanic and terrestrial systems are irrevocably determined by their parameters in firm contradiction to what the mortals (us) think or believe ought to be the case, and, in the long run, these will be the determinate circumstances.
Suppose Miller is busy encouraging the national guard etc. vs immigrants and anyone in LA who supports the latter, to sate his own existential angst & hatred vs ‘the other’, but missing an event with fellow travellers, in Moscow this week?
In Moscow June 2025 conference, titled Future Forum 2050 for Multipolar World, organised by Konstantin Malofeeva, with a conga line of Anglosphere pro-Putin, pro-Trump grifters, faux experts and conspiracy theorists including Sergei Lavrov, Errol Musk Snr., George Galloway, Jeffrey Sachs, Max Blumenthal & Alex Jones.
Some may only attend virtually but they represent conspiracies and Kremlin talking points e.g. anti-Ukraine, EU and NATO, promoted by US MAGA White Christian Nationalists & Tanton Network (= Bannon, Miller et al.)
Especially via Murdoch’s Fox News & former presenter Tucker Carlson, with faux anti-imperialist tankies e.g. Jeffrey Sachs and Max Blumenthal, then conspiracies promoted by Alex Jones and the IDW Intellectual Dark Web or ‘Manosphere’.
Further, related over a decade ago former Fox News director Jack Hanick who was co-founder with Roger Ailes was hired by Malofeeva to set up Tsargrad TV to support Putin, the Russian Orthodox Church, invasion of Ukraine and flood Greece with Kremlin agitprop.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/09/western-guests-including-elon-musks-father-to-speak-at-pro-putin-oligarchs-moscow-forum
Hey fellas, thanks for taking this on.
“The essential issue is, I suspect, how do you galvanise enough people to raise the needed issue to the level of acute consciousness …”
That is indeed the overriding question Kanga, and it’s useful and interesting that you used it to introduce the matter of revolutions.
History is full of revolutions as you point out, but this is why your further points about the significance of physical reality and ecosystems are relevant.
Revolutions can be of thought only, as in the Industrial Revolution and the European Enlightenment. But even these revolutions in thinking can later lead to bloodshed. We are still dealing with the aftermath of the two I just mentioned.
Liberalism for example, with its rivers of blood, has been possibly the most notable development from the Enlightenment. And the Industrial Revolution, for all its genuine positive advances, led to great suffering and bloodshed.
But change is a constant, even for a structure that enjoyed the greatest power in human history, and so today we see that the liberal hubris that emerged from the downfall of the Soviet Union, has sown the seeds of the downfall of the liberal order.
Liberalism, based as it is on individualism, has no respect or empathy among its foundational planks, and so liberal theorists, seeing the potential for great profit in off-shoring manufacturing, proceeded to kick-start the development of economic rivals while causing great harm to their domestic base.
This was seen as a sound idea due to the assumption that rival systems would become liberal systems.
They did not.
They sensibly did not.
And so the liberal order created a global ecology (I use “ecology” in its broadest sense) in which it no longer dictates terms, circumstances, or outcomes. Ecologies have their own reality as you point out.
And they don’t know how to handle the new world they created. Their response has been to sow chaos, but chaos is by definition uncontrollable and hurts everything in its path.
If they continue on the present course of turning on their own base in the pursuit of profit, the result will be to raise the general consciousness you mentioned.
But the economic circumstances they created will eventually bring about a change in consciousness at the very top.
Then things get interesting.
Will they bow to the inevitable, or will they follow their flawed instincts?
These are sociopaths after all.
My guess is that their reaction to facing the reality of inevitable change will be to double down. After all, as the old saying goes, when you’re accustomed to privilege, coming back to the field feels like oppression. Just look at the present kerfuffle in Oz about a proposed minor change to superannuation law. That’s oppression right there!
But back to my original point.
Change will come, but we must be active in influencing the direction of developments in order to avoid the trauma of revolution.
There’s no point in reacting to events.
But to stay ahead of events there first has to be a recognition of the problem.
The problem is that the distribution of national wealth is controlled by a minority who have created a system in which social values of cooperation, empathy and respect are regarded as weaknesses instead of the strengths that they really are.
We must take back control.
All that’s needed is some sensible legislated changes to the way we do business.
That will happen if enough of us get involved.
Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, the Maryland immigrant who was wrongfully deported to El Salvador and who had to be repatriated to the US under a Supreme court order, is expected to appear in federal court in Nashville to be arraigned on charges that he helped smuggle migrants – charges that oddly did not exist when he was deported as an alien.
Interestingly, the US Attorney General Pam Bondi has already pronounced him guilty : the presumption of innocence that we all enjoy under our shared system of justice has evidently been set aside in the US or perhaps the AG missed that lecture at Law School.
“I have a cunning plan,” said Stephen Miller to Donald. “Let’s bring back chain gangs under the control of ICE and local law enforcement and send the illegals we capture to harvest crops.”
“What’s in it for me, I mean us?” replied Donald.
“We charge the farmers and growers a to be decided hourly rate per illegal for the work and you’ll be a hero to farming community.”
“What about kickbacks?”
“That can be sorted out later.”
“Sounds good, let’s do it.”
I now read rather than comment at length, as this equipment, cordless keyboard and mouse, is highly defective, with endless errors, insertions, thus tiring editing. Things actually disappear… But, the discussions fuel thought, offer lines of investigation..; futility, tranquillity, but, some “revolutionary” thought.
Dear PP, with apologies as surely you’ve considered the alternatives, but why not swap the cordless bits for ones with cords? Keyboards and mice are cheap and readily available from all the main electronics shops. The AIMN without your insightful and cogent comments wouldn’t be the same.
Kanga, I just came across a great article by Yanis Varoufakis, published today at Naked Capitalism.
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2025/06/yanis-varoufakis-the-economics-of-europes-descent-into-warmongering.html
It covers many of the topics we are speaking of here, and has some great quotes.
The European Union (from its beginnings as the European Communities of Coal & Steel) was an American Construction – a part of a US Global Plan that also comprised the Bretton Woods System, the Truman Doctrine and, of course, NATO. Yes, most Europeans hankered for no more war and no more totalitarianism. But the EU was designed in Washington DC. And it was designed specifically not as a competitive market but as a Big Business Cartel run by a democracy-free bureaucracy (also known as the European Commission) not coincidentally located a stone’s throw from NATO’s headquarters.
The crisis of 2008 was our greatest opportunity to render the European Union viable, and to end its deep dependence on the United States. The French and German banks went bankrupt. The Eurozone’s impossible rules were in tatters. A domino effect, beginning with Greece, was bankrupting our governments. It was the perfect opportunity to transform the EU from a Big Business Cartel, inherently reliant on the US for its aggregate demand, into a functional, internally balanced federation.
Instead, Europe’s radical centre (both the centre right and the centre left) decided that they would change everything so as to ensure that nothing changes. In this vein, they did their worst: Universal austerity for the many. And frantic money printing for the financiers and Big Business.
What happens when you crush the incomes of the many and hand over trillions to the very few? Since the many are too poor to buy high value added goods, business stops investing in productive capital –– while the rich use the free cash to push through the roof house prices, share prices, Bitcoin prices, art, asset prices in general. The natural result is soul-crushing levels of inequality and deep popular discontent.
Liberal Totalitarianism and Ultra-Right-Xenophobic Totalitarianism are accomplices, they feed off each other. Meanwhile, austerity for the many and money printing for the few depletes Europe’s productive foundations, its social fabric, its sense of purpose.
He even indulged in a great bit of sarcasm with this — As for the politicians in this town who will not rest until they see Russia on its knees, I have this to say to them: If you really wanted to weaken Russia, to bring Russia to its knees, you should have worked hard to admit Russia into the… Eurozone. In one fell swoop the euro would have wrecked Russia’s productive basis, it would have indebted its people and its state, it would have made its leaders rush to Brussels and to Frankfurt with begging bowl in hand! You think I am joking. But there is too much truth in this joke for comfort!
This Europe has fallen so far into a moral crevice that it cannot easily climb out of it. Europe’s Liberal Totalitarianism, which we in Greece experienced in all its horror ten years ago, is now everywhere – and it is throwing wide open the gates through which Xenophobic Ultra-Right Totalitarianism arrives to darken our doorstep. The time to rise up against both forms of totalitarianism is now. On behalf of the peoples of Europe.
So, what must we do? Let us begin by grasping that — The economic condition for Peace is to de-couple Europe’s economy from America’s wars. But for that we must end, once and for all, Europe’s dependence on the United States.
All music to my ears.
And many lessons for Australia as well.
Thanks for the pointer, Steve. Yanis Varoufakis is a competent individual who is willing to utter the truths others dare not whisper. After his recent outings in these pages, where, lest we forget, another frequent poster deigned to sniffily dismiss him as a relative nobody, I went on a search & learn mission, downloading and watching the 2024 doco, In the Eye of the Storm, which is a must see for a deep look into this man’s ethos and political/economic positions. I do hope he isn’t fated to being just another prophet in the wilderness.
On revolutions, I read last night that a Harvard Uni-based research unit quantified that a critical mass of a little over 3% of a population base, when formed into a body of mass protest, has historically always achieved its aims.
This equates to 800,000 Australians, 1.9 million Brits, or 10.2 million Americans to
challenge the status quo and be successful. I won’t be around to witness the changes but I reckon in about 30-40 years it’ll be on for young & old.
All the aged politicians will have passed on, there will be new generations of informed young people who’ll be deeply aware of the deep mess that’s been left as a legacy of reigning political & economic structures, they’ll only have to look outside their home (if they have one!) to see the impact of global warming and climate change… deeply stressed supply chains of basic commodities, access to potable water, social circumstances in general including health & welfare and aged communities along with education and employment and a raft of similar existential realities… they won’t be, one can safely assume, a community of happy campers.
Yes, indeed fellow commentators, it’s a dirty job, but someone must take it on, even if only in scribbles. Albeit I maintain confidence that such scribblers, prima facie apply community voice upon opportunity to back-in the scribblings. But the question remains, does each one reduce their own destructive footprint pulping and spreading the murk created by liberalism, neoliberal / neoconservative financialised capitalistic entrapment?
I have done so, mainly due to impositions unimagined. Although initially those reductions were accompanied by fear and apprehensions, as I wrangled my progression, those fears and apprehensions gave way to a sense of accomplishment and liberation. Albeit, it’s an ongoing commitment that requires constant attention.
At this point, I’ll elect laziness, and reiterate my comment to AIMN 16 Dec 2024 article Destructive Despotic Power:
“Since the times of grunts only, there’s a vast history of despotism, beguilement and lies bandied by opportunists for the purpose of generating fear, and then subjugation, brutality and theft from the ordinary folk, so that the opportunists can become supreme – Kings, putative designer godheads, oligarchs, and their lineage. It essentially becomes a competition between opportunists and their flunkies leading to mayhem, destruction and mass bloodletting. The ideas and process have been and continue to be embedded, almost without exception, in the psyche of societies across the globe.
It occupies lore and law. Ironically to the extent that even many ‘blinded’ ordinary folk in aspiration, adopt the processes and ideas in their quests, resulting in an entanglement of lunacy and inevitable societal collapse. And so it goes, now to no curative affect, monetized and adopted as the main game by feckless corporations and their obscured shareholders gouging out society in an ultimately self-defeating raid on their clients.
I have respect for Oz author and academic, Professor John Keane.
In his book The New Despotism, amongst other notable observations, he observes many ordinary folk ignoring or being lazy as to the real issues affecting their lives, opting instead for adherence to ‘the strongman / woman’ and abdication of their own individual responsibilities in a society of humans, and to all other living things and the environment.
There appears to be no example in history of such processes being remediated to enduring effect, rather, just an endless cycle of civilizational collapse. And now, even bottom-up democracy is under severe attack.
There appears to be no alternative but to eliminate the root causes, and to unambiguously constrain the perpetrators. But the question remains for the lawmakers, whose franchise will they adopt?”
I add, the lily-livered govts (all MPs) drinking the Kool Aid of and sponsored by feckless corporations have well established their panopticons, and universally most recently brought in new regs to oppress demonstrations of dissent, and also funding and other regs designed to exclude others and embed their own tenure in govt.
Many rightly wail and scream, whilst the majority in fear and the vain hope of change, will bottle it up and exist with debilitating mind and gut aches. Others will be detained then rendered to the void.
Revolutions of the type in ‘Holywood’ depictions of the past seem almost irrelevant today because of shortage of loyalty as cannon-fodder, and the environmental and financial bankruptcy of the imperialists and the pointless hoardings of their wealthy hangers-on.
The advent of T-Rump II and his lickspittle misery droogs brings forward a masterclass in the acceleration of pointless capture. A 24/7 blithering backed by cops and robbers beholden by a tango with the top gob.
Perhaps the only revolution that will void their onrush is the ordinary withdrawing to a purposeful lesser footprint.
Clakka, thanks for your input.
You’re right about the strongman/woman problem, it’s a significant extra restraint on figuring out the underlying issues.
“I won’t be around…”
Kanga — Same here old mate!
But we just never know.
Your estimate is probably pretty close, but as Lenin once said, “sometimes 10 years of history can occur in one week” or something similar.
Unexpected events can make an impact and change the course of history.
That critical mass figure you found is fascinating.
The magical 3% must be the goal that keeps Sky After Dark ever hopeful! 🙂
“most of my comments on this subject just hang there in the breeze until they blow away’
Why the reluctance?.
Seriously??
* verbosity and you insist on getting the last word. It appears to be a compulsive behaviour
* your comments routinely rely on cherry picking quotes and links. You regularly appear reluctant to argue your case in your own words.
* you have a proven history of making big, bold statements (to provoke a response?), which you then qualify, modify when challenged
I could continue to provide examples of the reasons people often don’t reply to you, but if you spend an hour reflecting on the reasons, you could probably answer the question yourself
Steve, Harvard link here.
And much more here… The ‘3.5% rule’: How a small minority can change the world
Yes SD and Canguro, I already have my termination notice and the mechanisms for a smooth slide-out. C’est la vie.
Kanga, thanks for the links.
When I read the BBC article I realised that the 3% goal is most likely behind US-funded colour revolutions.
Clakka, nah mate — stick around for the fun! 🙂
Steve, apologies for the delay. I’m presently beset by what seem to be minor traumas in the outer family. Shall reply in due course.
All good Julian, looking forward to your thoughts.
In hindsight it seems quite appropriate for this discussion to have formed around Roswell’s pungent article on White House official Stephen Miller, a thoroughly unpleasant person, and his role in the formation, implementation and recent acceleration of America’s current anti-immigration policy. Roswell noted that in pursuit of said policy, Miller was not acting alone, rather He is the purest distillation of a movement that swapped empathy for exclusion, and justice for jingoism.
In commenting on Roswell’s article Steve Davis referred to …this disintegration of values and accepted practices [being] a uniquely US phenomenon or US problem. In the purely American context, that comment clearly applies but, as Steve notes, it also applies in a much wider context and in other parts of the world, with Miller’s behaviour being: …the purest distillation of a movement that swapped empathy for exclusion, and justice for jingoism.
As an aside, and regarding Miller’s character, it is noteworthy that in a rare moment of honesty, an American ABC senior reporter (in a since-deleted tweet) referred to both Trump and Miller as “world-class haters”, for which comment, and after the rather shrill intervention of White House officials, the reporter was suspended.
Apart from the examples Steve provides of “disintegration of values and accepted practices”, one can agree this phenomenon is clearly to be seen in a growing number of places and to a varying degree – from, say, in our own case the spiteful and divisive comments of our lately departed Opposition Leader, all the way to the Israeli approach to “problem-solving” – in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Iran, all the while ably supported and materially assisted by its “great ally” the United States – which incidentally is our “great and powerful friend” and notional protector, one with whom we supposedly share many values – a relationship I submit needing a hasty re-evaluation, seeing that Australia is now a nuclear-armed camp pointed (as it were) directly at China; and our foolish Defence Minister calls on China to explain why it needs to have “such an extraordinary military build-up”. As noted by one commentator a while back: “How careless of China to surround itself with so many American military bases”.
Steve notes a …global tide of restrictions across the West…a clamp-down [and] removal of freedoms that are in fact attempts at thought control…[accompanied by] an air of desperation…, and concludes with a quote from respected Economic and Political Science Professor Radhika Desai, drawing attention to the disintegration of Capitalism and the (political, economic and social) costs of trying to maintain it – something I happen to agree with, both as to cause and consequence; without in the least considering myself a Marxist.
To some persons however, Professor Desai’s “Marxian” conclusion would be anathema and a thoroughly unjustified criticism of our long-standing and respected institutions and our “wonderful Australian way of life” – a case perhaps of defending the indefensible – given the present and growing wealth-gap; the average Australian house price now being over a million dollars; the still unresolved place of our First Nation peoples; the recent and thoroughly unscrupulous pursuit of “the leaners”, as Joe Hockey once called Social Security claimants – as opposed of course to “the lifters”, such as himself and his then Coalition cohorts; that, and the woeful and calculated ignorance of Global Warming and subsequent climate change, along with Insurance companies actively contemplating, and already in some cases rejecting insurance or reinsurance for flood-prone or fire-prone properties; the total corporate capture of our precious gas resources and the avoidance by many other corporates of any meaningful contribution by way of taxation, and so on and so on.
However and notwithstanding Steve’s admirable analysis then and subsequently, there is I think a real sense in which the “ordinary Australian” remains to a large degree untroubled by the exact or precise cause of the unease, or disquiet increasingly being felt. As respected author and commentator John Menadue recently noted on his blog: Democracy is losing its appeal as PM Albanese reminds us. Many people around the world feel alienated and are concluding that the “system” is working well for a rich and powerful few but not for the many. There is a pervasive sense of unfairness. Mr. Menadue had earlier noted: We may be doing better in “trust” than the shambles that the US is becoming, but by almost any measure we are losing trust in our major institutions – parliament, media, business, universities, churches and many more.
As to the general and growing unrest mentioned above, Steve makes a valuable point and one which I think is being deliberately overlooked, namely: The result is mounting protest, but as yet the protests focus on the symptoms of the problem, not the cause…People are frustrated at losing freedoms but are not asking why. Until the realisation seeps into the awareness of the masses that there are alternatives, nothing will change.
Consequently and on any view, a change for the better is required and overdue, but as Steve points out, while alternatives are available (principally to do with distribution, or more precisely re-distribution), there is currently no likelihood of agreement in that regard, and certainly not by the present crop of decision-makers – committed as they are to “maintenance” and not replacement.
So, given that systemic change is both necessary and overdue, how to proceed; what to do; how is the process to be started? Despite Steve’s reminder that We are part of the problem, I would maintain that we are (at the same time) not simply part of the solution, we are in fact THE solution, and by that I simply mean the answer lies very much in how we think and act from this very moment.
Steve hinted at this by referring to the level of mass-awareness – both as to the essential problem and its resolution. In considering this particular aspect, another commentator, Canguro, wrote: ..how do you galvanise enough people to raise the needed issue to the level of acute consciousness, such that you have a paradigm changing event that by consensus acknowledges that the prevailing economic given is a failure, that it works for the few and disenfranchises the many, and that its time of dominance is over?
That comment, like Steve’s, further delineates the subject and provides a path forward, simply because the more agreement you have, and starting from a common base as Canguro suggested, the easier it should be to formulate solutions. However, and given the exigencies we face, and with time running out for unabated resource-extraction, some might think a revolution is required: at best a peaceful transition to a more co-operative way of societal-wide transaction, or at worst an armed insurrection, such as might well happen in America.
By way of counterpoint perhaps, both Steve and Canguro refer to what can be described as “revolutions in thought”, which would in any event have to precede any concrete action by way of reforming/changing political and/or social structures, the better to implement a fairer distribution of society’s goods – it being understood I think that services in turn would require the input of just about everyone – to the degree to which they could physically participate. Overall I think much depends on the level of agreement that can be reached for the necessity for change. That process is ably assisted by discussions such as the present, and has in any case been proceeding quietly for some considerable time and accelerated I think following the implosion of the Soviet Union along with persons becoming more aware of the reprehensible behaviour of the US, particularly regarding its interference in the affairs and countries of Latin America, Asia and elsewhere – mostly it must be said for commercial gain. And as Steve correctly notes, the areas of exploitation are getting smaller and smaller, to the extent that the US is being forced back upon itself, ably assisted by private equity’s infamous corporate raiders – together being the prime cause of much of the present strife in the US, a situation unlikely to be alleviated by those who profited handsomely in the past and wish to continue.
One crucial issue that Steve touches upon and would likely be an import ant part of a change away from an exploitative economic (and political) system would be to what degree the individual might be inconvenienced by having to accept even a slightly lower standard of living in order to accommodate the needs of the whole society. That I think would be partially answered by the fact of widespread agreement that change is required, and for that to happen, a majority of persons must participate. As an example of “non-capitalist social relations and solidarity economies”, one can look at the example of the Spanish Mondragon Cooperatives, an entity which has become the world’s largest Co-Op. See for example:
(1) https://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/how-mondragon-became-the-worlds-largest-co-op
(2) https://globaldialogue.isa-sociology.org/articles/the-mondragon-cooperatives-successes-and-challenges
Concerning the operation and behaviour of different States, and by way of contrast, I find it compelling that the American leadership has such a problem with China, not simply because China is Communist and therefore totally at odds with “American Values & Freedoms”, but rather because China is demonstrably better “at business” than is the US. A common perception in the US and elsewhere is that the Chinese people are regimented and totally without individual choice or expression. It turns out this is far from the case. Consider the following comments:
While direct opposition to the government may lead to issues for the netizen involved, direct opposition in any form also represents a cultural faux pas in Chinese society. The Chinese, like many Asians, avoid direct conflict. In a culture like China, there is a danger that conflict will break down the means by which all matters are progressed — relationships — and if that happens, no further progress can be made.
Confucianism also lays out codes for interactions between different hierarchies in society, ones that emanate from the relationship between a parent and child. The child can gently remonstrate with the parent if they disagree with their decision, but if the parent is unwilling to change their idea the child should accept this as the stability and harmony within the family structure is more important than a passing disagreement.
This notion is also extended to relations between the people and the government. Subtle forms of disagreement can be permitted, and in the right circumstances are successful, but they should never amount to a threat to the stability and harmony of the country.
https://johnmenadue.com/post/2025/06/the-cultural-and-linguistic-roots-of-protest-in-china/
That will have to do, for the moment at least.
Julian, many thanks for expanding on what is really the issue of our times, as it covers everything from climate change to regime change.
It’s so huge a subject that a book could be written about it, and you nearly did! 🙂
Your point that we are part of the problem, yet “I would maintain that we are (at the same time) not simply part of the solution, we are in fact THE solution, and by that I simply mean the answer lies very much in how we think and act from this very moment” is spot on, and cannot be expressed loud enough and often enough.
Your point about the Mondragon Cooperatives is important. It shows what can be accomplished by community effort. In fact, it’s so important that I’m surprised more has not been done by the cultural managers to force Mondragon to conform. After all, the OECD has tried to interfere in the social security structure of Norway because it does not conform to liberal economic theory. If there’s one thing the managers fear, it’s the threat of a good alternative example.
You make the important point that “China is demonstrably better “at business” than is the US.” That one must really hurt, because the US knows it.
Have you noticed that with the Trump regime, Vance is openly expressing these realities in a way that was inconceivable before. The lecture he gave the European parliament a few weeks ago was a cracker.
This is a good thing, but it remains to be seen if these truths spring from purity of heart or a hidden agenda. I’d put my money on the latter.
And thank you for alerting readers to the value of Menadue’s site. He devotes quite a bit of time to China-related issues, and passages such as the one you quoted are important in knowing how others think.
The West has much to offer, but it also has much to learn.
Prefacing my brief comment in regard to Julian’s “A common perception in the US and elsewhere is that the Chinese people are regimented and totally without individual choice or expression” with ‘I’m no expert, but,’ having lived for a number of years in China and having engaged and interacted with many Chinese, possibly at a more intimate level than other western expats due to the relationship formed with my now partner of many years and via her entrée was able to participate in many privileged exchanges… entering into homes, meeting Chinese of all ages and backgrounds, from professional urban people in business and academia through to rural Chinese living simple agrarian lives, hearing their stories, their gripes about the CCP, their interests in Australian and western cultures and so on, I can confidently assert that the Chinese are anything but regimented, or conditioned to group think, or without freedom of expression.
They’re vibrant, intelligent, engaged people who enjoy life possibly to a higher degree than we give credit for, defined by their courtesy, generosity, kindness, good humour, tolerance and forbearance in the face of difficulties and challenges and a people who naturally coalesce in cooperative action when needed. In stark contrast to many western societies, they are not riven by division and self-centred ‘me-first’…isms.
Confucian social teachings are still significant, as are other ancient lores such as Taoist and Buddhist teachings. The CCP is tolerated, not universally loved or supported but nonetheless acknowledged as the de facto reality, unlikely to change and given due credit for its management of that massive society. My partner has more than once made the point that a western-style multi-party political system could never have achieved what the single party systems has, in terms of social & economic development of that country.
An aside: It’s been suggested by some that the Chinese are the most intelligent race of people on the planet. My take on that is that in the context of the developmental aspects of language acquisition; reading, writing, listening & speaking… (a), it’s a four-tone phonetic language (rising, falling, rising-falling, and level), and (b), the ideograms that constitute the written language, literally thousands, for comprehension require both hemispheres of the brain to be engaged; rational & emotional/intuitive, and it’s this overall more comprehensive use of the grey matter that in itself invokes a higher degree of active intelligence. The facts speak for themselves in terms of the number of high-level functioning scientists and engineers that that country generates.
Steve and Canguro, thank you for your several responses.
I regard both as informative and valuable.
Steve reminds us of a simple fact, one not yet understood:
The West has much to offer, but it also has much to learn.
I am ever hopeful that it will, tho’ things will get worse before they get better.
Canga, thanks for a fascinating post.
I see your partner’s views as invaluable.
The Confucian foundations and the advices of Sun Tzu appear to make for a far better society than any of those inculcated into the wantonly brutal and puerile ‘West’.
The ‘West’ keeps propagandizing, banging on typecasting China from the time of ‘Mao’s China’ which was a necessary break from the past, but in its execution became an unfortunate aberration following the years of brutal impositions on China by the untrustworthy and rapacious ‘West’, Japan & Russia.
China ultimately mastered its change, has lifted 100s of millions out of poverty and is now an exemplar of successful modernity, leaving the ‘West’ determined to crumble into a fetid hole of its own making.